So why do you guys use emulations....

[Crackbaby]

who said linkin park?

Must have gotten them confused with limp bizkit...

how would you EVER confuse those two bands just by the mention of guitar tone....




Perfect example

Oh, i always thought they were the same
They have white clothes and are dancing on a beach or something?

[vurt]

Oh, i always thought they were the same
They have white clothes and are dancing on a beach or something?

is that not westlife?

[Crackbaby]

people are we beginning to see the absolute horror's of emulations now!? With emulations this poor soul can make music! GOD FORBID THIS HAPPENS TO OTHER PEOPLE!

[Sicklecell666]

jeez man..if I didn't use emulation, I wouldn't be able to make music AT ALL right now!

And we'd all be that much happier....


people are we beginning to see the absolute horror's of emulations now!? With emulations this poor soul can make music! GOD FORBID THIS HAPPENS TO OTHER PEOPLE!

[Robert Randolph]

My evil sarcastic "wit" takes some getting used too... i was joking of course.

[Sicklecell666]

heh..my humor's no better as anyone here will tell you

[liqih]

Why the bloody hell cant people take stuff, and make good sounds without trying to "emulate" or "sound like".... even half the time "influenced by" is incredibly bland.

-R bert

well, I may add that -emulation- is where the creativity and art starts, that is more clear in figurative art, but fist melody was maybe the emulation of a bird song,
emulation have a charme on his own as archetipic of art

[Roman Empire]

Roman empire, I totally agree. The idea I was trying to get across is why cant people make new music with emulations!? You certainly CAN! But for some reason a lot of people dont and get pretty hung up on their emulations sounding perfect....

By the above statement, I agree you do not need "new" sounds to make new music...

I think my post to vurt explains my ideas better anyways.

Ah well... I guess that if people can´t make new music, it´s not a question of whether they´re using an emulation or playing the strings of an original egg cutter... they´re just not capable of making new music, and that´s something human, not a matter of emulations...

[Mr Lizard]

Wow, excellent thread. Good points.

For me personnally(sic?) I am getting further and further away from emulation.
For my most recent batch of recordings I restricted myself to what I'd be able to pull off really easily live (this meant no piano or string samples etc.) and I think it forces you to be very creative with the tools you have now.

For emulation, I think that some sounds and timbres are just really ingrained into our musical conciousness - e.g. the piano or guitar tone, that sometimes a part just really lends itself to being heard with that sound.

However, I would suggest this for anybody -
Next time you come up with a hook or melody or something and you think "That part would sound great with X sound" maybe just try some completely different sounds and even sound sources.
Many a time, the results will be surprising and at the end of the day music is about having fun and not about trying to sound the most 'perfect'.

And I think that maybe individualism is lost somewhat to people trying to recreate 'perfection' when thats never going to be obtained is it?
Have fun with your mistakes.

Just my tuppence.

Thanks.

[foosnark]

Perhaps the point was missed a bit....

I am wondering why people TRY to emulate something (that is normally very accessable)... rather than use that technology to create something new, inspiring... or just plain good in it's own rite.

The "rant" was just me going on about how its silly to "emulate" when the real thing will always be just that... the real thing.

Why the bloody hell cant people take stuff, and make good sounds without trying to "emulate" or "sound like".... even half the time "influenced by" is incredibly bland.

-R bert

Why didn't you say that in the first place? I pretty much agree.

(Though I do have emulated guitar power chords in some of my stuff because that's what fit...)

[kritikon]

I wasn't under the impression that so many people here were caught up with accurate emulations rather than the music itself

But even if that were so, if a classic synth or whatever is a good synth precisely because it sounds good and therefore is good to play music of any kind on. Then why on earth wouldn't we want good sounding VSTis too? If a synth sounds good, I want access to that in a PC too - just because it's out of a PC doesn't make it any less worthy, surely?

And I also am firmly of the impression that most of the regulars here make music because of their own enjoyment - to me that is a better reason to make music than the desire to "make it" - that's just self-seeking attention, and a personal insufficiency that has to be compensated for by trying to be famous. Shit, I don't even post any of my music in the cafe, because quite honestly I have no interest either way whether another living soul on earth hears my music, or what they think of it - whether it's me trying to do a certain genre, or me doing something most people would find a complete cacophony of atonal shite. Not that all of my music is like that. I've sold records and discovered in myself that it didn't really mean anything to me (also I'm a bone idle sod who can't be bothered putting in the effort). So a) I'm not going to slag myself off - I make some good music. b) I'm not going to blow my own trumpet either- it may be I'm not good enough to have been succesful. Either way, I enjoy it so that's all that matters to me.

But really, why should only those people with the money, space or hoarding instinct only have access to good synths? I don't understand - of course I want OSCars and MS20s and Obies from within a PC - (and incidentally I don't agree with the impOSCar thing - I find it sounds every bit as good as my old one used to ) Doesn't mean I only try to make 80s type sounds on it though.

And guitars etc - I have no interest whatsoever in learning guitar - I hate guitar music in general, but I might want the odd guitar chord for some dub or whatever - so why wouldn't I use a synth and emulate a guitar with some FX to get the general feel of a guitar sound - I don't care if it's exact or not, but I'm buggered if I'm going to buy a guitar, an amp, a bigger house further away from the neighbours, just to record 3 offbeat short chords. I've got synths that can do that

And it's not a bad thing to make "new" music from "old" equipment, for sure: many here probably do that anyway - but it's also not a be-all-and-end-all. It's no great virtue to be able to play any style of music new or old - music just is, and you either enjoy it or you don't - and if you don't enjoy it, then why play it to start with.

It's an odd sort of topic this one.

[SuitcaseOfLizards]

Ok, only one cuppa so far, so I can't be arsed to read the whole bloody thread. I'm going to respond to the original post, then!

First, on playing emulations of instruments on a keyboard (which is what I assume the business about learning guitar was aimed at). Easy - 50 hours makes you a barely passable guitar player. What if I need to lock into a 32nd note ascending Dorian mode run to finish my masterpiece, and I can't play that well? Either (a) I get to practice for a year or so, or (b) I find a decent guitar simulation and program it via MIDI. Not everyone has the time to become an accomplished multi-instrumentalist (more's the pity, of course, but there it is). I myself play guitar (25 years so far), bass (5 years) and keyboards (5 years) and I have to admit that since I've started learning new instruments, I lose a little bit of the edge I had on those that I used to be 100% on. If I didn't have a day gig, it'd be a different story but I have to pay the rent and buy fish food for my little guys (lol). I'm thinking of dropping the guitar playing so I can focus on bass and keyboards, most of my musical output the past year has been synth-based so I'm sure it'd not be a great loss.. and it would free up time to become a more expert keyboard player.

Second, on emulations of old gear: I'll speak for myself and say that when I get a concept for a song in my head, I hear certain timbres that fit.. many of these are from "classic" instruments (due to my upbringing on Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Megabyte, Software, and other "old school" electronic music). I'll get an emulator so I can get the sound that's in my head, so I can make the song happen. For me, it's not getting an "accurate emulation" for the sake of saying I have one, it's all about the sound I need.

I admit I've seen some elitism with "my Moog sim is better than your Moog sim" but it's not as rampant as that kind of snobbery in other areas, at least in my experience.

[Sepheritoh]

Most of the reasons has already been given. Space being a major one and cost being the next. Where do you buy a strat for $50? Wish I could get to that shop.

I want to make music for my enjoyment. I play guitars and want my guitars to sound good enough for me. An amp emulator like Trash does not really try to emulate anything. There are so many things I can do with it to make my own sounds while still sounding like a strat.

Orchestra emulators like GPO is a no-brainer. Who can afford a whole orchestra that fit in a bedroom? GPO brings the opportunity to a home musician to make really good sounding orchestrations.

I don;t have synth emulations. I just use the 1001 free and other wise much cheaper synths available. I am too stupid with synth programming to program a moog anyways.

Guitar emulators are just a matter of convenience. The only ones I really use a lot is the linplug or sometimes some soundfonts (own or free). I often use it while I compose to play around with the guitars and later re-record the guitars for real.