4 ms·

There's a great BBC documentary on the synthesizer and it's role in the rise of electronic music (in Britain particularly) in the 70s/80s called Synth Britannia

by tommyd 11y ago

There's a great BBC documentary on the synthesizer and it's role in the rise of electronic music (in Britain particularly) in the 70s/80s called Synth Britannia, worth a watch if you like this sort of thing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK1P93r9xes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK1P93r9xes Also on Netflix is a documentary film called I Dream of Wires about modular synthesizers, which I'm yet to get round to watching but is supposed to be very good. Really must have a play on my synthesizers again, they've been gathering dust while I've been focussing on other things but a good synth really is a joy to play with.

mixmastamyk 11y ago
I saw "I Dream of Wires" on netflix. I enjoyed it, and grew up in those days so have a fondness for the sounds. But there was one thing I didn't quite get, which it didn't explain, just glossed over, is why people got so obsessed with synths. It assumed you already know why. I've always tinkered with things, but don't get it. Perhaps because I never had access to one. Commodore 64, yes, soldering iron, yes, modular synth, no.
- CamperBob2 11y ago
  Seems simple enough. If you're a musician, your Great Commission is to create sounds that nobody has ever heard before, and use those sounds to express things that will resonate at some level with everybody. "Synthesis" means creation by composition. I'm not a musician so I can't say I get it either, but I can certainly enjoy the result.
- dmicah 11y ago
  The majority of people never had access to a hardware modular either, unless they were involved with an experimental music program in a University. For the younger generation now interested in hardware modulars, software modulars may have been a gateway. I think enjoying modular synthesis isn't that different to enjoying programming more generally, people like to explore and see what new things they can create.
  - bbgm 11y ago
    I've been into synths and sound design for a while. But even for someone like me, the last few years have been amazing. Two years ago I had a lot of software and controllers. But now you can get high quality analog keyboard synths at great price points (e.g a Moog Sub37 or an Arturia Microbrute), and Eurorack has made modular synthesis cheaper and more accessible than ever before. It's a great time to be into synths.
- camperman 11y ago
  It was a huge thrill to program a synth correctly and get an instrument that sounded exactly like the one used by a famous group in their top ten hit. Today it still boggles my mind that I have a fully working CS-80 as a Reaper plugin.
- ctdonath 11y ago
  Synth are to music what assembler is to programming: you can do anything, total control over every minute factor. Intensely compelling to some of us.
bravura 11y ago
Here's a small bit of irony. Synth Brittania starts with the excitement from musicians listening to "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer. (They say something along the lines of "Wow! It made me feel that I could music too. To play punk you needed to know three chords, but to play a synth you only needed to know one chord.") There's another BBC documentary about Funk music, which predated the synth movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_dXS8UMrxE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_dXS8UMrxE Funk has a very distinctive beat, with an emphasis on the downbeat (one), and the use of many different instruments in percussive ways. That documentary ends with the rise of disco, which had a four-to-the-floor style beat, and was more generically palatable to a broader whitew audience. The song "I Feel Love" is played towards the end of the Funk documentary, as music heralding to imminent decline of funk's popularity.

by tommyd 11y ago

mixmastamyk 11y ago

I saw "I Dream of Wires" on netflix. I enjoyed it, and grew up in those days so have a fondness for the sounds. But there was one thing I didn't quite get, which it didn't explain, just glossed over, is why people got so obsessed with synths. It assumed you already know why. I've always tinkered with things, but don't get it. Perhaps because I never had access to one. Commodore 64, yes, soldering iron, yes, modular synth, no.

CamperBob2 11y ago
Seems simple enough. If you're a musician, your Great Commission is to create sounds that nobody has ever heard before, and use those sounds to express things that will resonate at some level with everybody. "Synthesis" means creation by composition. I'm not a musician so I can't say I get it either, but I can certainly enjoy the result.
dmicah 11y ago
The majority of people never had access to a hardware modular either, unless they were involved with an experimental music program in a University. For the younger generation now interested in hardware modulars, software modulars may have been a gateway. I think enjoying modular synthesis isn't that different to enjoying programming more generally, people like to explore and see what new things they can create.
- bbgm 11y ago
  I've been into synths and sound design for a while. But even for someone like me, the last few years have been amazing. Two years ago I had a lot of software and controllers. But now you can get high quality analog keyboard synths at great price points (e.g a Moog Sub37 or an Arturia Microbrute), and Eurorack has made modular synthesis cheaper and more accessible than ever before. It's a great time to be into synths.
camperman 11y ago
It was a huge thrill to program a synth correctly and get an instrument that sounded exactly like the one used by a famous group in their top ten hit. Today it still boggles my mind that I have a fully working CS-80 as a Reaper plugin.
ctdonath 11y ago
Synth are to music what assembler is to programming: you can do anything, total control over every minute factor. Intensely compelling to some of us.

bravura 11y ago

Here's a small bit of irony. Synth Brittania starts with the excitement from musicians listening to "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer. (They say something along the lines of "Wow! It made me feel that I could music too. To play punk you needed to know three chords, but to play a synth you only needed to know one chord.") There's another BBC documentary about Funk music, which predated the synth movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_dXS8UMrxE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_dXS8UMrxE Funk has a very distinctive beat, with an emphasis on the downbeat (one), and the use of many different instruments in percussive ways. That documentary ends with the rise of disco, which had a four-to-the-floor style beat, and was more generically palatable to a broader whitew audience. The song "I Feel Love" is played towards the end of the Funk documentary, as music heralding to imminent decline of funk's popularity.