Is your rig FUN? Tell me about it.

[idiotboy]

Yeah, it's a good thing that software is so reliable and trouble-free, otherwise setAI's argument would be nonsense.

 

[Delicious Lamprey Problem]

Computers are hardware, too. They're just ugly hardware.

[AfroRouge]

SetAI is a known quantity.

I also know this: working with a computer is about as fun as taking sandpaper to my crotch. Notions like subjectivity are irrelevant in SetAI's Bitter Compuvangelist universe.

I'm with DLP's "Elektron" answer.

[setAI]

if computers were not fun- then how come they have become the primary source for ALL entertainment- especially TV/movies/games/music/ porn/ social communication- why do people spend ALL of their leisure time using a PC even though they have to do work on a PC all day? [ if you don't- you are the exception]

that was one of the main things that excited me ten years ago when real-time soft synths were available- I was finally able to make music on the device that I did EVERYTHING else with- the device I haven't once been tired of using all day every day since I first touched a personal computer in 1981

[Delicious Lamprey Problem]

If cops were not fun, then how come they've become the primary source of ALL law enforcement?

Fail.

[augerinn]

why do people spend ALL of their leisure time using a PC? [ if you don't- you are the exception]

 

 

I don't.

 

Who else here is an "exception" ?!?!?!

[coyote-1]

The way to do that is to not do it for a living.

AWESOME! You found a way to separate the attitudes from the art! That's the golden fleece of music. A miracle is born...

I spent many years gigging as a drummer, and played bass or giutar or keys in various performing bands. Right now I'm no longer doing that; I'm just playing drums with a guitarist and bassist/Stickist on a weekly basis. We simply plug in and power up and start playing & listening, and whatever comes out is what we get. Sorta like three Jackson Pollocks working together on one painting simultaneously. Sometimes it doesn't work.... but sometimes it DOES work, and those moments are pure magic. Freeform rock, if you will.

[AfroRouge]

if computers were not fun- then how come they have become the primary source for ALL entertainment

 

 

You really are convinced that you know everything.

[augerinn]

You really are convinced that you know everything.

That's impossible, because I know everything......

[ChristianRock]

The funny thing is, to call a noob like me a leader of anything in Synthdom is just a bad repetition of the "Life of Brian" plot.

 

Anyway, talking about fun. Right now I don't care about fun. I just started taking piano lessons and I have finger exercises to do. Fun is something that's down the line, when I can actually play all the notes I have in my head at any given moment. Ever since I started playing guitar though, for some reason, practicing scales has always been fun. So right now it's not different on the piano (well, piano-like controller). I enjoy going up and down the keyboard doing my exercises and feeling the muscles in the back of my hand tightening up.

[Khazul]

this is EXACTLY why I gave up my similar pile of gear for a laptop- if I were to have this studio today by the time I hunted down and fixed all the bad cable connections and sorted out the ground loops and crackling mixer pots- I would have neither the time nor the desire to make any MUSIC

 

 

I have about 250+ separate audio cables in here, a total of about 1/2 mile of them. There are about 50+ music related devices hitched up via all those cables, including patch bays etc. Naturally they all need mains connections - sop thats a huge collection of mains blocks. Then there lighting rigs that plugged in half the time for lighting design, two laptops and thier horrible power supplies - each with audio interface plumbed into everything else too. The home hi-fi and projector etc is all plumbed in along with various other computers and random other audio related gear in additionto the core studio stuff and a loom 4" thick running under my desk with about 50 or so cables in it - each about 20ft long. Ie whats should be complete hell, but strangely isnt at all. The hell bit only starts sometimes wehn I decide to switch the computer on and record stuff there instead of elsewhere.

 

No mains buzz problems, no bad connections, no induced noise from computers or otherwise (just sometimes when a mobile phones get stuck in the wrong place - normally they are banned form anywhere nearr this lot), no scratches when you patch stuff up in the patch bays - actually the nosie flooor is really low - even when Ive bounced a signal between the patch bays and the synths rack a few time due to a load of synth chained together (ie potential of 100ft+ of cable winding its way around loads of computers and general crap).

 

About the only maintenance needed is eventually I will have to replace the patch bays, dop the odd firmware upgrade etc - connectors are starting to wear out, but they aint scratching yet and keeping things dusted. Still - better than connector wear on less easily or cheaply replaced gear.

 

It is possible without much effort to not suffer from what you describe. The converse of computer hell equally applies to several poor sods too. Actually just one of the 4 computers causes me more grief and downtime than the rest of the audio gear combined - never mind when you tot up all 4 of them.

[Cygnus64]

if this is true- you are LUCKY- I have a closet full of broken samplers/synths/mixers and FX that constantly remind me that not only is hardware NOT fun- but worthless-

In that case you are DEFINITELY using them wrong and breaking them.

I've been buying synths for a quarter-century. Never had one break, I've probably owned 30. I've never had one repaired, no need.

Of the hundreds of pieces of gear I have owned, I have had trouble with 3. My cat pissed on my Soundcraft mixer, my Alesis RA100 sucked and my Quadraverb was noisy. Other than that, it's plug and play. I had one Korg X50 that was defective and in my house for an hour before it went back.

Wipe your keys off once in a while.

[carbon111]

This thread is starting to not be about "what makes a rig fun".

For me, a huge component of what makes a rig fun is variety. I have a few usefull softsynths and about ten hardware synths that run the gamut of synthesis types.

The ones that are the "most fun" are probably the Juno 60 and Nord Stage because of their immediacy and "massive sweet spots". For the fun of tweaking deep synthesis engines with ease, nothing beats my Oasys. In a more exploratory mood, the Nord modular or Serge Modular are more fun because they can be whatever I can dream up.

[soundwave106]

this is EXACTLY why I gave up my similar pile of gear for a laptop- if I were to have this studio today by the time I hunted down and fixed all the bad cable connections and sorted out the ground loops and crackling mixer pots- I would have neither the time nor the desire to make any MUSIC

 

 

A) If you buy quality cables (meaning good jacks), you don't get the bad cable connections that often. Avoid the Monster / Hosa garbage for audio. MHO.

 

B) Ground loops are easy to avoid. Start with a single ground point for your studio if possible, with no difference in ground potential. You can also buy isolation transformers if you cannot avoid the hum.

 

C) Today's project studio mixer is not like project studio mixers from 1987. I've never had the crackling knob problem on a Mackie.

 

D) If you take your time to lay out and label your wires, the spaghetti is less.

 

I've honestly had worse issues with the computer side -- eg getting the Fireface's routing to play nice with my setup, digital clock issues, unstable VSTs, getting the buffer settings right, etc.

[MarkShovel2]

I enjoy using the VC-2 card in the V-Synth and telling my dog "Thor" that he is gay!

"Thor is Gay"

He just looks at me like I am crazy.

Just thinking about this has made me laugh....

Mark

[Cygnus64]

This thread is starting to not be about "what makes a rig fun" .

OK, back on topic:

My rig is fun because I finally have a reasonable version of an orchestra at my fingertips. With Garritan and 3 romplers plus an in-house string section, I can do what I wanted to do 20 years ago and have it sound pretty good.

[J05H]

OK, back on topic: My rig is fun because I finally have a reasonable version of an orchestra at my fingertips. With Garritan and 3 romplers plus an in-house string section, I can do what I wanted to do 20 years ago and have it sound pretty good.

That's basically what I bought the Mac Pro for. It's really great when you can load a ton of orchestral stuff along with a video track, and have the CPU meter not budge.

[J05H]

Hmmm.... definitely thinking that an M3/Radias might be the way to go. I really wish I could afford an Oasys. I beat up the one at the Seattle GC last night and had the time of my life. Oh well. Maybe my next movie will open some doors for me.

Hey Carbon, want a movie credit?

[carbon111]

Hey Carbon, want a movie credit?

As long as it's not one of those movies with the "chicka-chicka-bow-wow" guitars.

You're welcome to come up north some evening and try out some of the synths in my project studio.

...and don't forget, The Annual Northwest Synthesizer Meeting is coming up pretty quick.

[raffor]

Nice. Anti-Christian hate comments are no better (or worse) than hate comments directed towards any other group.

So, let me ask you one more thing, since you were using these harsh accusations on me. When somebody says that it is Gods will to drill in Alaska, is this a hate comment directed towards me?? After all, they are using Hardware to do so!

[raffor]

I am missing the vintage corner a little bid, but this one looks much nicer than a screen full of VSTis. Also, and I had to learn this the hard way, all of my hardware instruments (even they are pretty much a computer with a keyboard and user interface, are still in use whereas lots of my software investments are ... how do I put it ... in a box (and pretty much useless)!

Now you can call me old fashion.

[Bunjamin]

Hey I have a gear question and I dont want to make a new thread. I am mostly a guitar player but I have a few songs I can do on piano. Seeing as how I will need to do these live would I be able to amplify a MIDI controller going into my laptop? Would it sound ok even if its my laptops sound card?

[raffor]

Hey I have a gear question and I dont want to make a new thread. I am mostly a guitar player but I have a few songs I can do on piano. Seeing as how I will need to do these live would I be able to amplify a MIDI controller going into my laptop? Would it sound ok even if its my laptops sound card?

 

 

How does audio sound via your laptop. If you play a CD or mp3. That is what you can expect your piano to sound.

[Metrosonus]

maybe setai, i you own a condo / house, you need to invest in a front end surge protector, seriously.

[Mike Conway]

Hmmm.... definitely thinking that an M3/Radias might be the way to go. I really wish I could afford an Oasys. I beat up the one at the Seattle GC last night and had the time of my life. Oh well. Maybe my next movie will open some doors for me.

What's your next movie? What kind of stuff do you do? I scored this

with the OASYS. Still editing and applying After Effects (like the gunfire). Should be done, soon.

Back to your original question, my idea of fun is having my left hand on the

and my right hand on the OASYS. I used to use 14 synths/samplers at once (very few cable problems, btw), but I'm just liking the simplicity of reaching for these two NAMM 2005 offspring and just "playing."

BTW, I don't think there is anything lacking with the setup you already have.