Do you still lust for hardware keyboard workstations?

[DevonB]

The new tools allow you to treat the computer as a sort of virtual musician, another member of your band, with complex algorithmic processing. That's how I forsee the future of live electronica, anyway. We need to move away from the extremes of 'click play on a sequencer' or 'improvise on an instrument' and let our computers become another instrument in the band. How we do this is another question, but finding solutions is part of the fun.

Think outside the box. How many people do you think NEED virutal musicians? Church programs is an EXCELLENT example of needing this type of thing. Any performer who needs instant backup would GREATLY benefit from this. I'm also willing to bet a huge chunk of their market is in this, and these features make sense for them. It's not always about 'original' tracks for everyone, just something that sounds good and gets the job done easily.

Devon

[griels]

The new tools allow you to treat the computer as a sort of virtual musician, another member of your band, with complex algorithmic processing. That's how I forsee the future of live electronica, anyway. We need to move away from the extremes of 'click play on a sequencer' or 'improvise on an instrument' and let our computers become another instrument in the band. How we do this is another question, but finding solutions is part of the fun.

Think outside the box. How many people do you think NEED virutal musicians? Church programs is an EXCELLENT example of needing this type of thing. Any performer who needs instant backup would GREATLY benefit from this. I'm also willing to bet a huge chunk of their market is in this, and these features make sense for them. It's not always about 'original' tracks for everyone, just something that sounds good and gets the job done easily.

Devon

I wasn't talking about who NEEDS this, or how big a market there is for it. I'm not interested in easy solutions to a problem. What I am interested in is pushing the boundaries of live performance and electronica. So when people talk about hardware workstations such as the Triton sounding 'good', I couldn't disagree more. To someone who's interested in pushing the boundaries, they are anything but good. I'm sure you can find many more people who would agree with this point of view.

By extension, this is why I dislike the new synthesizer-based romplers on the market such as Atmosphere and Ultrafocus. They just seem geared towards convenience for the composer rather than interest for the listener. As tweakable and good sounding as these romplers are, they are in essence a substitute for the user's own original ideas.

[whyterabbyt]

Joxer the Mighty quoth

Whyterabbyt, get the G2! Mine just arrived this week. If you're into modulars, you'll have a blast with one!

The G2X is the 5-octave-keyboard version with double the DSP power of the G2. S'not out yet AFAIK, but if I ever get my bloody flat sold, I really, really, will be tempted.

Mind you I can build three Athlon64 systems for the money it'll cost...

[saulc12]

Yes, I am lusting after a Korg Triton Extreme, there is nothing quite like it in software...

[DevonB]

I wasn't talking about who NEEDS this, or how big a market there is for it. I'm not interested in easy solutions to a problem. What I am interested in is pushing the boundaries of live performance and electronica. So when people talk about hardware workstations such as the Triton sounding 'good', I couldn't disagree more. To someone who's interested in pushing the boundaries, they are anything but good. I'm sure you can find many more people who would agree with this point of view.

By extension, this is why I dislike the new synthesizer-based romplers on the market such as Atmosphere and Ultrafocus. They just seem geared towards convenience for the composer rather than interest for the listener. As tweakable and good sounding as these romplers are, they are in essence a substitute for the user's own original ideas.

I'm sure you can find people that agree and disagree. It's a market segment. Ok, you don't like ROMpler workstations. There's more out there than just that in hardware.

Devon

[Joxer the Mighty]

The G2X is the 5-octave-keyboard version with double the DSP power of the G2. S'not out yet AFAIK, but if I ever get my bloody flat sold, I really, really, will be tempted.

Oh yah, I'm quite familiar with what the G2X is, but my bank account wasn't big enough to get it instead of its baby brother.

I hear what you're saying about it costing a ton of money, but I also needed a decent keyboard controller. The G2 fit the bill perfectly.