3 ms·

Total guess, I've never seen one of these things in person, but: guessing that the knobs have some logical relationship to each other, like knobs in one row sha

by a3n 10y ago

Total guess, I've never seen one of these things in person, but: guessing that the knobs have some logical relationship to each other, like knobs in one row share a subject, and moving to a knob left or right changes the same thing, but more in one way than another way. Also, one reason I still like physical books is that when I'm looking for something that I've read before, I know it's on a left or right page, and whether it's top, middle or bottom. There's probably a mind theory that explains that, and knob location is probably related. Guess. Maybe this also has something to do with it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception But to me it's all just knobs.

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
It is all just knobs. There are different standard types of modules - oscillators to make a sound, filters to shape the colour, envelope generators and low frequency modulation sources to control how it changes over time - and once you learn the main types you're good to go on most modulars. (Except for some of the weird new ones that have unusual modules you probably haven't used before.) Is it a good interface? No. It's a terrible interface. Ironically it severely limits what you can do, because your arms are only long enough to reach a few feet - unless you wear roller skates. If you need a module you don't have you can't complete a patch. You can only get more modules by buying them, and then they take up space whether you use them or not. They're priced somewhere between sort-of cheap and unbelievably insanely expensive. When you make a patch, It's impossible to reproduce it with perfect accuracy. It takes a long time and copious notes to reproduce complex patches with imperfect accuracy, and any half-way complicated patch disappears into a mess of wires that's very hard to disentangle - conceptually, and literally. I'm half a fan. I like some of the sounds, especially from the Major Name brands played by people who know what they're doing. But I also wish we could move on and start making software more interesting, more controllable, and better sounding.
- golergka 10y ago
  The things you mention are artistic limitations - tbey are features, not bugs.

by a3n 10y ago

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago

It is all just knobs. There are different standard types of modules - oscillators to make a sound, filters to shape the colour, envelope generators and low frequency modulation sources to control how it changes over time - and once you learn the main types you're good to go on most modulars. (Except for some of the weird new ones that have unusual modules you probably haven't used before.) Is it a good interface? No. It's a terrible interface. Ironically it severely limits what you can do, because your arms are only long enough to reach a few feet - unless you wear roller skates. If you need a module you don't have you can't complete a patch. You can only get more modules by buying them, and then they take up space whether you use them or not. They're priced somewhere between sort-of cheap and unbelievably insanely expensive. When you make a patch, It's impossible to reproduce it with perfect accuracy. It takes a long time and copious notes to reproduce complex patches with imperfect accuracy, and any half-way complicated patch disappears into a mess of wires that's very hard to disentangle - conceptually, and literally. I'm half a fan. I like some of the sounds, especially from the Major Name brands played by people who know what they're doing. But I also wish we could move on and start making software more interesting, more controllable, and better sounding.

golergka 10y ago
The things you mention are artistic limitations - tbey are features, not bugs.