Adventures in Electronic Music (2011)(charlespetzold.com)
charlespetzold.com
Adventures in Electronic Music (2011)
https://www.charlespetzold.com/etc/AdventuresInElectronicMusic/
32 comments
Pretty crazy when I think about how much money we spent as musicians buying hardware just to make music and now how everything from synths to guitars, and most modern music is made 100 percent on laptops with software and samples now. Pawn shops are literally full of crusty old gear that won't likely be sold to anyone butt museum curators and nostalgic producers with money to burn.
There will of course be people who will say that analog sounds better, but nothing beats being able to save the position of every knob and not have to worry about your kids coming in the studio and messing up your perfect tuning by playing around. The main gripe I have is that the software is still priced too high, but thank goodness we're not wiring and tuning hardware moogs any more... Most producers that know the real pains of getting the perfect tone back then (prior to making each recording) will agree.
There will of course be people who will say that analog sounds better, but nothing beats being able to save the position of every knob and not have to worry about your kids coming in the studio and messing up your perfect tuning by playing around. The main gripe I have is that the software is still priced too high, but thank goodness we're not wiring and tuning hardware moogs any more... Most producers that know the real pains of getting the perfect tone back then (prior to making each recording) will agree.
> The main gripe I have is that the software is still priced too high
Many plugins are crazy expensive, but you don't have to buy them to make music. Vital (synth) is free, VCV (virtual modular) is free, Cardinal (VCV as VST) is free. Reaper (DAW) is $60 (one time payment) and comes with every mixing plugin you'll ever need, plus an immense library of other free ones, plus the ability to code your own.
I'm slowly recovering from GAS [0] myself; in many cases, having fewer plugins helps music making and does not hinder it, because it's better to know some tools inside and out than know many superficially, and it's also better to spend less time choosing a tool and more time using it.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_addiction#Gear_Acquis....)
Many plugins are crazy expensive, but you don't have to buy them to make music. Vital (synth) is free, VCV (virtual modular) is free, Cardinal (VCV as VST) is free. Reaper (DAW) is $60 (one time payment) and comes with every mixing plugin you'll ever need, plus an immense library of other free ones, plus the ability to code your own.
I'm slowly recovering from GAS [0] myself; in many cases, having fewer plugins helps music making and does not hinder it, because it's better to know some tools inside and out than know many superficially, and it's also better to spend less time choosing a tool and more time using it.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_addiction#Gear_Acquis....)
Ardour (DAW) is both gratis and libre (though supported ready-to-run builds cost at least US$1). Other gratis and libre DAWs include QTractor and LMMS and likely soon ZRythm.
Bespoke, an innovative, idiosyncractic modular music making environment, is also gratis and libre.
The LV2 plugin API has on the order of a thousand gratis and libre plugins that do almost anything you can imagine, and a bunch of stuff you probably cannot, and there are also many VST and AU plugins that are gratis (but frequently not libre).
Bespoke, an innovative, idiosyncractic modular music making environment, is also gratis and libre.
The LV2 plugin API has on the order of a thousand gratis and libre plugins that do almost anything you can imagine, and a bunch of stuff you probably cannot, and there are also many VST and AU plugins that are gratis (but frequently not libre).
> and likely soon ZRythm
For now it seems the gratis version of ZRythm has "Save/load disabled" (!) and doesn't even include access to the PDF manual (!?); do you have information about their plans in the near future?
(That said, the paid versions of ZRythm are really inexpensive.)
For now it seems the gratis version of ZRythm has "Save/load disabled" (!) and doesn't even include access to the PDF manual (!?); do you have information about their plans in the near future?
(That said, the paid versions of ZRythm are really inexpensive.)
Hi I'm the Zrythm author. No plans to change the current price model because it's reasonable (based on user feedback) and seems to be working. Haven't seen any good arguments against the current model other than people wanting everything to be gratis, but I'm all ears if you have recommendations
As someone that went the other way (100% software to mostly analogue modular) I’d have to disagree. Part of the pleasure of using analogue hardware synths is that you’re forced to treat them like a musical instrument, rather than like you’re coding the music. You record yourself performing and the musical part of your brain responds, leading to more interesting (IMO) results. It’s an intuitive rather than an intellectual process.
I get it, I'm mainly talking about how the historical/economic divide has changed for new musicians... Now a kid can save up and buy a used laptop for $400 and make music with bootleg software, whereas back in the 80s and 90s music could only really be produced and released by sponsored and wealthy artists that had funding to buy gear and studio time. Many don't have even the space to set up a proper analogue rig, for a signed/funded artist space and gear are usually not a problem.
Now the biggest problem musicians have to battle with is just getting around algorithms in order to be seen and heard. :P
Now the biggest problem musicians have to battle with is just getting around algorithms in order to be seen and heard. :P
True, though the cost of hardware isn't really that much, especially if you're ok with buying Behringer. A lot of the costs of studio setups used to be expensive mixers/reel to reel tape machines and that is certainly better done in the laptop nowadays.
> As someone that went the other way (100% software to mostly analogue modular)
Software modular -> hardware modular or Non-modular software to modular hardware?
Software modular -> hardware modular or Non-modular software to modular hardware?
I did everything on the software side including extensive use of Max and Reaktor.
While you’re probably right about studio production, I think we’re in a freshly rising wave of new folk sounds and outsider composition.
Those pawn shop guitars are still finding their way to local stages and TikTok videos, and that moog you got sick of tuning and patching to reproduce a sound just got used for some analog nerd’s new daily ambient track on Soundcloud.
Making music is too exciting for instruments to collect dust. The retirement of a lot of these instruments from studio production may even be somewhat responsible for the rise of all these new folk sounds.
Those pawn shop guitars are still finding their way to local stages and TikTok videos, and that moog you got sick of tuning and patching to reproduce a sound just got used for some analog nerd’s new daily ambient track on Soundcloud.
Making music is too exciting for instruments to collect dust. The retirement of a lot of these instruments from studio production may even be somewhat responsible for the rise of all these new folk sounds.
I think you underestimate the inspiration you get from touching a physical instrument and turning knobs with direct effects.
It's the same with GUI design in music software, really.
How you make the music affects the music itself a lot.
I don't think we'll see instruments and gear disappear.
I love both worlds though.
I love both worlds though.
In my opinion it's not so much the case of analog sounding better, it's about the difference in tangibility when I use analog gear and the focus on sound rather than the music theory.
When writing using software I spend far more time thinking about the music theory. This usually leads to pretty sterile sounding (but musically good) pieces.
When I write using analog I focus more on the sounds and how they work together, spending hours tweaking knobs and faders. There are far more "happy little accidents" when doing this, most of which I couldn't imagine doing with software since they are not planned. I write much more interesting music using analog.
It's similar to playing a real guitar versus a software guitar synth, there are weird little quirks and surprises when playing a guitar that can't be emulated with software.
When writing using software I spend far more time thinking about the music theory. This usually leads to pretty sterile sounding (but musically good) pieces.
When I write using analog I focus more on the sounds and how they work together, spending hours tweaking knobs and faders. There are far more "happy little accidents" when doing this, most of which I couldn't imagine doing with software since they are not planned. I write much more interesting music using analog.
It's similar to playing a real guitar versus a software guitar synth, there are weird little quirks and surprises when playing a guitar that can't be emulated with software.
That's where recording samples of analogue gear comes into play...
You can play an organic riff, or even an entire part and then integrate it with fully digital work in most modern DAWs, and then all the effects and settings can be saved, this allows a much more consistent and clean sound.
In the digital world there are tools to completely remove artifacts like humming, clicks and pops, even undesired notes... Stuff I dreamed about years ago being able to do is now possible.
I think it's hard now to not be able to say digital is better overall. Even if you record full analogue, the process of music reaching people you don't know usually relies on some form of digital encoding or conversion to reach the public's ears, unless they spend a lot on vinyl and high end tube amp sound systems (or vintage ones).
You can play an organic riff, or even an entire part and then integrate it with fully digital work in most modern DAWs, and then all the effects and settings can be saved, this allows a much more consistent and clean sound.
In the digital world there are tools to completely remove artifacts like humming, clicks and pops, even undesired notes... Stuff I dreamed about years ago being able to do is now possible.
I think it's hard now to not be able to say digital is better overall. Even if you record full analogue, the process of music reaching people you don't know usually relies on some form of digital encoding or conversion to reach the public's ears, unless they spend a lot on vinyl and high end tube amp sound systems (or vintage ones).
It sounds like you're just talking about the difference between knobs vs mouse clicks ;)
Yes, and it's a massive difference. Using analog you can quickly manipulate all the knobs and sliders in front of you, often simultaneously. Using a mouse is always going to be less easy
That’s part of it, though it can also be about having something that’s fixed rather than infinitely configureable and the mental muscle memory that results.
You’re right, the pawn shops are filled with old gear that was very pricey - but it’s not the moogs or even the dx7s, instruments that were fun to play in 1992 or 1982 are fun to play in 2022 - it’s the tools from the early digital era that are junk now. ADATs, and firewire audio interfaces, mixers, zip drives, etc.
All things that were killed by software updates or ports being left off new hardware, or changes in techniques.
All things that were killed by software updates or ports being left off new hardware, or changes in techniques.
When you use physical gear you can _perform_ more as a musician and less as a composer/producer. Yes you can do an amazing ableton/bitwig based live set, especially if you have a midi controller or two, but the fewer training wheels you give yourself and the more you rely on in-the-moment generation of sounds, the closer you can get to the magic of a live performance.
Just because it's analog doesn't preclude presets. Analog generally refers to the signal path, not the control path.
The Analog advantage (on tone at least) is most obvious in high frequency sounds and audio rate modulation. This is due to DSP sample rates / aliasing / nyquist limitations. The main disadvantage is cost as many things components have to be physically duplicated rather than just copied in software.
The Analog advantage (on tone at least) is most obvious in high frequency sounds and audio rate modulation. This is due to DSP sample rates / aliasing / nyquist limitations. The main disadvantage is cost as many things components have to be physically duplicated rather than just copied in software.
"but nothing beats being able to save the position of every knob and not have to worry about your kids coming in the studio and messing up your perfect tuning by playing around."
That's where im at now. Love playing around, but how to save the state of anything _before_ i start messing ie at the beginning of a tune?
All i can think of is diving back into sysex and doing dumps, but i only can see the optikns on my hardware items.
That's where im at now. Love playing around, but how to save the state of anything _before_ i start messing ie at the beginning of a tune?
All i can think of is diving back into sysex and doing dumps, but i only can see the optikns on my hardware items.
This is crazy side-related but he mentions that his first purchase was a synth an a TEAC-3440 tape recorder. I bought this exact same tape recorder probably about 15 years ago for peanuts, called Tascam for a belt and spring, which they sent to me FOR FREE. I was able to figure out how to put these parts in as a 19 year old and get this thing working perfectly(it was pretty easy I think).
Anyway, I loved that tape deck. A good friend had found some german language tapes in Ann Arbor and gifted them to me which me and my bud used to record music over. I eventually gifted this tape deck to this friend. I think it is worth a decent chunk of change these days too!
Back then synths(and analog recording gear) were dirt cheap, I've made thousands and thousands of dollars on them just because we got into them into the 2000s as teens. Good times!
Anyway, I loved that tape deck. A good friend had found some german language tapes in Ann Arbor and gifted them to me which me and my bud used to record music over. I eventually gifted this tape deck to this friend. I think it is worth a decent chunk of change these days too!
Back then synths(and analog recording gear) were dirt cheap, I've made thousands and thousands of dollars on them just because we got into them into the 2000s as teens. Good times!
Like the author, I was fortunate enough to be inspired by some of the early electronic music including Carlos and minimalists like Glass, and Reich. My public high school was very spoiled and we had an EML 101, 200 and 400, as well as some early MIDI stuff - CZ-101, RX-7. I'm pretty sure we had one of those Teac tape decks as well, because the mention of simul-sync triggered some recognition deep in my brain.
Unlike the author, we had sequencing with the EML 400 which is still one of my favorite analog sequencers, and we had an Alpha Syntauri which was an Apple II based system with a custom expansion card that did additive synthesis and sequencing (it was pre-MIDI).
It's really crazy to think of how hard it was in the early days to just go out and buy things that we can now do with a cheap or free app on our phones. Recently with Dave Smith's passing, I was reminded of how huge of an impact his co-invention of MIDI was. My personal intro into the stream of electronic music equipment history was just as MIDI had been recently introduced and before digital synths replaced so many analog ones.
We've now come full circle in that analog modular synths have had a huge renaissance and there's a fair amount of even cheap stuff which has both MIDI and analog CV/gate. Moog, Sequential Circuits, Roland, Yamaha and Korg have all reprised their most popular respective pre-MIDI analog machines.
It was struck by how he ended up wire-wrapping various CMOS stuff together in the name of making music. While not everyone takes up a soldering iron, it's often the case that so many electronic music people get lost in building their systems starting with various levels of building blocks. Some may be content with finding a few special VST plug-ins for their DAW, while others may solder PCBs for some of their analog modules from a kit.
I founded a company to create a General MIDI synth for the Palm platform. I did this mostly because I wanted to recreate the experience of sequencing with an EML 400, and the Palm was a relatively popular platform and affordable way to have a touch screen (albeit resistive and 160 x 160 black and white) to interact in real time with the synth module. This was not exactly a huge success, but much like the author, my burning desire to interact with a certain sort of sequencer lead me to learn a lot about electronics and product development. That I don't regret.
I'd love to hear a follow-on to his musical journey, but reading through some of his blog, it seems other advocations have taken his focus.
Unlike the author, we had sequencing with the EML 400 which is still one of my favorite analog sequencers, and we had an Alpha Syntauri which was an Apple II based system with a custom expansion card that did additive synthesis and sequencing (it was pre-MIDI).
It's really crazy to think of how hard it was in the early days to just go out and buy things that we can now do with a cheap or free app on our phones. Recently with Dave Smith's passing, I was reminded of how huge of an impact his co-invention of MIDI was. My personal intro into the stream of electronic music equipment history was just as MIDI had been recently introduced and before digital synths replaced so many analog ones.
We've now come full circle in that analog modular synths have had a huge renaissance and there's a fair amount of even cheap stuff which has both MIDI and analog CV/gate. Moog, Sequential Circuits, Roland, Yamaha and Korg have all reprised their most popular respective pre-MIDI analog machines.
It was struck by how he ended up wire-wrapping various CMOS stuff together in the name of making music. While not everyone takes up a soldering iron, it's often the case that so many electronic music people get lost in building their systems starting with various levels of building blocks. Some may be content with finding a few special VST plug-ins for their DAW, while others may solder PCBs for some of their analog modules from a kit.
I founded a company to create a General MIDI synth for the Palm platform. I did this mostly because I wanted to recreate the experience of sequencing with an EML 400, and the Palm was a relatively popular platform and affordable way to have a touch screen (albeit resistive and 160 x 160 black and white) to interact in real time with the synth module. This was not exactly a huge success, but much like the author, my burning desire to interact with a certain sort of sequencer lead me to learn a lot about electronics and product development. That I don't regret.
I'd love to hear a follow-on to his musical journey, but reading through some of his blog, it seems other advocations have taken his focus.
I've read Petzold for years across a bunch of different mediums, but never realized he was such a synth / music nerd. It's always fun to see a different aspect of someone like this out of context. Cool article.
Very motivating article.
I encountered LOGO when I was a kid and did not fully understand its elegancy.
Many years later, I leant engineering in college and then shifted to language study and instrument playing. Finally, I landed on live coding and made this live coding language in my PhD study(https://glicol.org).
I think in this era, music tech is much more democratised and we can easily access many kinds of software freely.
But the beauty of hardware is irreplaceable and building some hardware is always one of my goals.
Windows defender reports "Exploit:HTML/IframeRef.R!MTB" on this page, it's the first time I've seen it report anything.
Malwarebytes also blocks the site, saying it's infected with a trojan.
Me too - I just found it on the wayback machine though - [1]
[1] - http://web.archive.org/web/20220610184600/https://www.charle...
[1] - http://web.archive.org/web/20220610184600/https://www.charle...
Does it trigger the same warning in Wayback Machine? Sorry I don't have Windows to check, but it might be good to alert the author.
It is a spectacular look at the history of electronic music from the view of a veteran music hacker. The clean page layout shows the care and detail that Petzold brings to all his work. Furthermore, it features a great photographic history and audio samples from the instruments. Very nice! .