One Synth Challenge #98: Any One Synth (Photonic Wins!)

[wagtunes]

How come Photonic can essentially say the same thing but nobody rags on his ass? What am I, the poster boy for "We hate that you have an opinion" day?

Relax, no hate at all, your rights have to have an opinion are not in discussion,
just I do not read the Photonic comments the same as yours, so I felt to write a defense
against your more heavy, IMHO, criticisms. Everybody can read them both above.

Maybe I was just expecting too much. I figured any synth meant that everybody was going to put out total gems.

Yeah you and some others seem to share that expectation,
for what is worth I don't, it's clearly not one synth that can change radically what a composer/producer can do.

So in essence what you're saying is this. Person A whether using Omnisphere or Synth1 is going to essentially put out the same level of production.

Well, I learned something today. Because I didn't think that would be the case. But obviously it is.

Maybe I need to listen to all the tracks again and evaluate them with different expectations.

[liqih]

Maybe I was just expecting too much. I figured any synth meant that everybody was going to put out total gems.

Yeah you and some others seem to share that expectation,
for what is worth I don't, it's clearly not one synth that can change radically what a composer/producer can do.

So in essence what you're saying is this. Person A whether using Omnisphere or Synth1 is going to essentially put out the same level of production.

Well, I learned something today. Because I didn't think that would be the case. But obviously it is.

Maybe I need to listen to all the tracks again and evaluate them with different expectations.

Please don't take my words as a rule, <grin>, I just think that since we still used only one synth, the results can't be radically different to the other OSCs.

BTW Omnisphere and sampled based synths weren't allowed if I remember correctly.
I took it easy with the little TAL-Noisemaker, <wink>

[liqih]

I too grew up with the likes of the Beatles, Moodies, Stones, Hendrix, PFM

PFM as Premiata Forneria Marconi?! Cool!
Maybe you know the other prog bands from Itay too.

[wagtunes]

Maybe I was just expecting too much. I figured any synth meant that everybody was going to put out total gems.

Yeah you and some others seem to share that expectation,
for what is worth I don't, it's clearly not one synth that can change radically what a composer/producer can do.

So in essence what you're saying is this. Person A whether using Omnisphere or Synth1 is going to essentially put out the same level of production.

Well, I learned something today. Because I didn't think that would be the case. But obviously it is.

Maybe I need to listen to all the tracks again and evaluate them with different expectations.

Please don't take my words as a rule, <grin>, I just think that since we still used only one synth, the results can't be radically different to the other OSCs.

BTW Omnisphere and sampled based synths weren't allowed if I remember correctly.
I took it easy with the little TAL-Noisemaker, <wink>

Yeah but can't we agree that a synth like Zebra 2 can do more than a synth like Synth1? I mean that SHOULD make a significant difference.

Shouldn't it?

[EnGee]

Dear wagtunes, your problem is you can't stop thinking of yourself!
Relax man! Enjoy what there is outside of your mind! There is a world full of variety and genius ideas

Now, about the 'traditional' OSC. I think I will participate from time to time. It depends on the synth. For example, I downloaded the synth for #99 but I found it a troublesome and a 'challenge' to function. I didn't like it, so I skipped. That to say, I'm waiting for the next challenges and will sure participate if I like the synth and I have something to say 'musically'. It is a great way to put all I learn and be in contact with others' ideas and music. The voting system is much much better than I thought. Now, commenting on songs is not mandatory, so i do when I really feel a need to comment

In the end, I thank the organizers of this challenge a lot! I love the experience and 'winning' is a very secondary goal. The main goal is to make something that I'm convinced of

[wagtunes]

Dear wagtunes, your problem is you can't stop thinking of yourself!
Relax man! Enjoy what there is outside of your mind! There is a world full of variety and genius ideas

Now, about the 'traditional' OSC. I think I will participate from time to time. It depends on the synth. For example, I downloaded the synth for #99 but I found it a troublesome and a 'challenge' to function. I didn't like it, so I skipped. That to say, I'm waiting for the next challenges and will sure participate if I like the synth and I have something to say 'musically'. It is a great way to put all I learn and be in contact with others' ideas and music. The voting system is much much better than I thought. Now, commenting on songs is not mandatory, so i do when I really feel a need to comment

In the end, I thank the organizers of this challenge a lot! I love the experience and 'winning' is a very secondary goal. The main goal is to make something that I'm convinced of

No, my problem is I don't belong with this generation. I listen to the radio today and I can't relate to 90% of what's out there. And we're talking about professional recordings here. Most new TV bores me. I hate the reality show craze that most people seem to love. I'd rather watch shows from the 60s and 70s. I still love the old cheesy video games more than most of the modern stuff which, to me, is more glitz than actual substance.

In short, I don't belong here. I'm the old man trying to be cool in a room full of kids.

THAT'S what doesn't work.

[liqih]

ah, you are here now, so you belong here too. The age matters, but I think that if you accept to be yourself then you are cool by default

[wagtunes]

ah, you are here now, so you belong here too. The age matters, but I think that if you accept to be yourself then you are cool by default

Being myself is not the problem. The problem is trying to relate to a culture that I simply don't have any ties to. It would be like me trying to get into African drum music as an American hot dog eating white boy. It ain't happening no matter how hard I try.

[liqih]

ah, you are here now, so you belong here too. The age matters, but I think that if you accept to be yourself then you are cool by default

Being myself is not the problem. The problem is trying to relate to a culture that I simply don't have any ties to. It would be like me trying to get into African drum music as an American hot dog eating white boy. It ain't happening no matter how hard I try.

Well in this matter I can only speak for myself, if I have a feeling of love or curiosity for a culture that was not in my heritage I can still learn about it and integrate what I like of it into my own. Without that feeling I would simply ignore it.

[wagtunes]

ah, you are here now, so you belong here too. The age matters, but I think that if you accept to be yourself then you are cool by default

Being myself is not the problem. The problem is trying to relate to a culture that I simply don't have any ties to. It would be like me trying to get into African drum music as an American hot dog eating white boy. It ain't happening no matter how hard I try.

Well in this matter I can only speak for myself, if I have a feeling of love or curiosity for a culture that was not in my heritage I can still learn about it and integrate what I like of it into my own. Without that feeling I would simply ignore it.

Well that's the problem. If you're going to vote in a one synth challenge, you can't exactly "ignore" the tracks you don't relate to. There is no option to "abstain" from voting for a particular track. You have to give it some score from 1 to 5.

So the only solution is to simply not participate in the challenge, which is what I will be doing from now on. I don't belong here and pretending that I do is pointless.

[EnGee]

- deleted -

[jmqjmq]

I have to admit, I kind of resent Wagtunes' comments. It is not in the spirit of this competition to call out a group of people for being "lazy" and "not caring" just because you do not like or understand the genre of music they happened to submit. And its kind of ridiculous that Wagtunes' uses age as some sort of excuse for being close minded and immature. I mean this repetitive element of electronic music that he claims to hate so much has been around for decades. Minimal, yes, but still compelling (Brian Eno?, Ahphex Twin ambient works?, Kraftwerk!!?).

Speaking for myself, I chose a synth I was not very comfortable with (oddity2) and style of music (deep house?) that I don't usually do, both in order to challenge myself with learning something new. Was my resulting track great? No, but it wasn't for lack of effort. And let's not overlook the time and technical limitations of this contest, which are limiting indeed.

[wagtunes]

I have to admit, I kind of resent Wagtunes' comments. It is not in the spirit of this competition to call out a group of people for being "lazy" and "not caring" just because you do not like or understand the genre of music they happened to submit. And its kind of ridiculous that Wagtunes' uses age as some sort of excuse for being close minded and immature. I mean this repetitive element of electronic music that he claims to hate so much has been around for decades. Minimal, yes, but still compelling (Brian Eno?, Ahphex Twin ambient works?, Kraftwerk!!?).

Speaking for myself, I chose a synth I was not very comfortable with (oddity2) and style of music (deep house?) that I don't usually do, both in order to challenge myself with learning something new. Was my resulting track great? No, but it wasn't for lack of effort. And let's not overlook the time and technical limitations of this contest, which are limiting indeed.

Well you see, this is another thing that I would never dream of. Why would somebody use a synth they're not comfortable in a music genre they're not comfortable with? I mean doesn't everybody (except for me) enter this thing to do the best that they can?

So obviously my perception of this whole thing is terribly skewed by my own personal expectations, yet again.

While your response baffles the hell out of me, it sure explains a lot.

Now things are starting to make sense if others do what you chose to do.

[wagtunes]

I have to admit, I kind of resent Wagtunes' comments. It is not in the spirit of this competition to call out a group of people for being "lazy" and "not caring" just because you do not like or understand the genre of music they happened to submit. And its kind of ridiculous that Wagtunes' uses age as some sort of excuse for being close minded and immature. I mean this repetitive element of electronic music that he claims to hate so much has been around for decades. Minimal, yes, but still compelling (Brian Eno?, Ahphex Twin ambient works?, Kraftwerk!!?).

Speaking for myself, I chose a synth I was not very comfortable with (oddity2) and style of music (deep house?) that I don't usually do, both in order to challenge myself with learning something new. Was my resulting track great? No, but it wasn't for lack of effort. And let's not overlook the time and technical limitations of this contest, which are limiting indeed.

I found your track. I gave it 3 points. I thought the mix and sounds were fine. I just couldn't get into it musically. And that's on me. I can't relate to this stuff. But there's nothing wrong with your track for what it is. But I had to vote the higher scores for the tracks that I could musically relate to.

But there was nothing "technically" wrong with your track. it just wasn't for me personally.

[zarf]

Why would somebody use a synth they're not comfortable in a music genre they're not comfortable with?

For the pleasure and learning that comes from the challenge. To stretch yourself technically and creatively, while learning from and appreciating others work, in my case,