Has digital audio innovation (mostly) stopped?

[Hink]

I also think that people should not buy flatscreen tvs....what was wrong with that B & W you had before? Or that amc pacer?

And dentistry....why the frig has that changed? You don't "need" braces, you could still eat

Or water treatment. People in ____________ don't have treated water.....does't stop them from drinking water.

Sounds ridiculous? That's exactly how I feel every time I hear this nonsense about not needing better technology to make music. As long as you are speaking for yourself, that fine, but it seems like people are always trying to speak FOR people who want updates and new ideas. That really sucks.

I dont think it's nonsense, I think it's a matter of wanting better technology to make music. If one cant make music with the options out there now perhaps they should try something else...like maybe tiddly winks. BERFAB hit on the head imo, all these extras are icing on the cake. If all development were to end now I would still probably be another ten years before I used everything available to me now. This is why you will rarely see me make feature requests, I'm still humbled by what I have now.

FWIW I do not think anyone here is speaking for anyone else, I think it's clear just by the topic that it will be very subjective. I think it's ridiculous that we need to state in every post that what we are posting is in our opinions or we have to make disclaimers like YMMV. That imo should be obvious unless otherwise stated.

[hibidy]

I don't agree. YMMV

But seriously, I really don't see the need for people to interpret wanting improvements or innovations as being spoiled.

[jancivil]

I'm not playing tit for tat, my comments are not that unclear. Agree....disagree. But I see it as a snub towards people who desire something new.

Sure, sarcasm is a better move than addressing points directly.
Yeah, no, your strawman is clear. More generously perhaps, you're bringing things from other topics into this. Again, is this thread to be about updates of things buggy?

I don't know who is dissing people wanting things that are new. Maybe I missed something. I wouldn't focus on that anyway. EDIT: worst thing I saw was 'the obsession with the new, maybe not that healthy'. Big deal, someone's opinion.

I think one can be slanted towards the negative or for whatever reason don't notice, or appreciate certain innovations. The implication of the OP is negating to my view although it generated discussion. Do you agree that 'digital audio innovation has mostly stopped'? I'm not seeing the snub, I do not agree with that bit.

EDIT: Yeah, with respect, I think this is you, that's what I mean by 'strawman'. I'm tired myself of the hoary trope 'it's only the poor workman that blames his tools'.
After a while it comes across as just attitude. I addressed it once as oversimplifying the issue. Also compare your complaint, maybe it's implicit for you 'you have all the technology, you don't need more'. I don't know what someone else needs, but I know of innovation specifically happening and I don't have the sort of worldview to block it out in favor of negativity. However this kind of thing gets to be water under the bridge since I don't resemble the remark so much.

[jancivil]

With what IS available, I agree with Hink in general, if one enjoys access to the good stuff and can't get going, the fault is not in the tech.
But I don't think 'the extras are gravy', I have a couple of things which are definitely game-changers and amount to new procedures and ways and means.

[Jace-BeOS]

I want a technology advancement that gives me my mojo back, after the frelling psych drug brain damage. That would help me make music more frequently. I've done nothing new since December (last year) or January. Heck, how about a technology innovation that is silent window air conditioners? I'd make more music in the three/four months during summer when my third floor studio is uselessly hot and noisy.

Or how about stable operating systems and efficient software code across the board?

Now I'm into wishes for Santa Claus...

Come on, you mythical wish goblins, bring me answers to my prayers!!

[hibidy]

edit, I'm not playing tit for tat, my comments are not that unclear. Agree....disagree. But I see it as a snub towards people who desire something new.

[Hink]

I don't agree. YMMV

But seriously, I really don't see the need for people to interpret wanting improvements or innovations as being spoiled.

well I didn't say spoiled myself but I wont shy away from that. I said I am humbled but I do indeed often consider myself a bit spoiled. This also speaks to Jan's point as there are a lot of breakthroughs that make a huge difference in workflow and especially for her and her composing skills. As usual I'm a bit of a different bread, I sure do love all these features that speed up my workflow, but I do feel a bit guilty when I get less done with more tools . But the truth is, sometimes I miss workarounds and I can say emphatically that I am forever grateful for growing as a musician with such needs for workarounds.

I learned a lot in my life with workarounds and I am not just talking music, now I'm old, I have paid my dues so to speak and I have earned those little shortcuts that make my life easier. But those really frustrating times where I'm about to pull my hair out trying to do something are not something I would like to have not experienced. If everything came easy I would get bored and give up (probably why I play so much chess still, I suck ) but when I spend a lot of time trying to figure something out typically i get a better understanding....and often a new bottle of aspirin

[hibidy]

life is like a box of chocolates.....now excuse me while I go and play around with my VERY INNOVATIVE bitwig

[jancivil]

duplication

[trimph1]

With what IS available, I agree with Hink in general, if one enjoys access to the good stuff and can't get going, the fault is not in the tech.
But I don't think 'the extras are gravy', I have a couple of things which are definitely game-changers and amount to new procedures and ways and means.

I like this viewpoint. There are some neat things out there. And even the hardware as well.

I think it comes down to the music. If I want to improve my music I can use whatever is there.

[DSmolken]

How about SoundDust's "ghost" instruments, using instrument samples as impulse responses on white noise, and then making instruments using the resulting convolved noise? Clever, inventive, and musically useful.

[Hink]

edit, I'm not playing tit for tat, my comments are not that unclear. Agree....disagree. But I see it as a snub towards people who desire something new.

I'm not snubbing anyone and I still have no idea what point you are trying to make. I for one am not saying that future innovations have stopped or should stop. All am saying is that even if it did what I have now would keep me going for the rest of my life. I have 100x what I could have ever dreamed of back in the day but I still want innovation to continue.

The other point I am trying to make is that having to start before technology gave us all these awesome innovations was a benefit for me as it helped me learn and understand better. I would say perhaps i am just a but I cant help but notice all the threads started by people who have been at this for a relatively short time complaining they are out of motivation, they hate their music, and what have you and yet I am still challenged by what I have.

But maybe it is me, I dont like doing things that do not bring me a challenge, I grow from challenges. So I do not know what your problem is with me and others being content with what we have now and not complaining while keeping an open mind for the future. This seems quite logical to me.

I dont buy gear just so I can talk about it on music forums, I buy it to use and when I find something that works for me I can be content. If there is a feature that I wish were there and isn't I am not about to whine about it. Instead I'll find a way because I'll enjoy the challenge and it's very satisfying when I do find a way. Of course some of us have families and such and do not have the luxury of just buying for the sake of buying, we have to work within our budgets so that our families come first.

The fact that I have the best of two worlds (family and a nice studio) is something I take extreme pride in. There are a lot of things I want in life that I may never have, but I can indeed be grateful for all the good things in my life. If more good things come along that's great, if they dont I am not losing anything and I am surely not going to dwell on what I dont have.

[jancivil]

but I cant help but notice all the threads started by people who have been at this for a relatively short time complaining they are out of motivation, they hate their music, and what have you and yet I am still challenged by what I have.

Yeah, who promised any of us a rose garden.

As to the whole 'get off my lawn' type of thing, I do think that someone that learned to edit on a small board attached to the tape deck, cutting the tape with a razor blade, actual 'jogging' the tape to find the spot and marking it with white grease pencil and taping the two remaining ends together {and we were happy to do it } has a certain attitude to the audio editor in a mature DAW, in addition to a skill set as to finding exactly the spot for the seamless edit. So sure, it's easy to resent both ways, there is a worldview coming in. I was anticipating the modern DAW before it existed and I am really grateful to have lived long enough to at the same time have the old ways to bring to bear and have the access I have today.

Not that I am special, but I do have a background in a couple of things that puts me in a position to appreciate the technology. And the really happening things I use present quite a lot to think about, and there is a lot that 'challenges' me. And, no one is going to reinvent the wheel, 'innovation' tends to be in recombining known means. Such as Stephan Schmitt's Skanner; the innovation is in the feedback architecture, and such as how modulation strategies scan the part of the sample you've decided to focus on and feature. This is a new architecture; it takes a certain level of knowledge to even grok it. GeoSonics; there is nothing earth-shattering about two envelopes to a filter regimen but vis a vis the material [tuning nature] and as a whole it is unique; and its 'Jammer' uses known techniques but the combination of them in one interface is unique. See xoxos' 'new sound' thread; similarly, a new slant on some knowledge. So, when I see an overarching rhetorical gesture as the OP, I tend to be skeptical it's really saying what it thinks it is.

So, sue me, I have a certain 'worldview', and I don't think it's very wrong to state that, often enough I see a quality of the malcontent at teh KVR. I think recognizing the problem is the first step to addressing it.

[hibidy]

Hink, you are not crazy, and it's really not directed at "you"

But, I've seen posts all the time about the subject and it baffles me.

Maybe I went around it the wrong way.

[mutantdog]

I remember a few years back, there was a lot of originality and innovation in the freeware scene. That seems to have mostly dried up now though, as was noted in this year's DC. I guess the more experimental commercial developers have to balance innovation with making a sellable product.

I do see an irony in that the increased CPU power of modern PCs is largely being used to model the flaws of old hardware though.