Monthly Archives: November 2012

Fun with Isomorphism

Every musical instrument has limitations, not only in terms of its range and timbre but in terms of the mechanical possibilities it provides. If you want to be able to play chords, a clarinet would be a poor choice — … Continue reading

Posted in microtonal, music, technology | 4 Comments

Keys Without Locks

Today’s software instruments can quite easily play notes in any arbitrary tuning system that you might devise. But those of us who go in for this sort of thing soon confront a serious problem: The standard pattern of white and … Continue reading

Posted in microtonal, music, technology | Leave a comment

Appreciation

I have to say, I’m impressed and heartened by the enthusiasm I’ve seen in the last few weeks from those who love Buchla 200e series instruments. I think it’s wonderful that people care passionately about their synthesizers. I hope you … Continue reading

Posted in modular, music, technology | Leave a comment

Testifyin’

Barring a few isolated examples such as the lightning-flashes in Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, instrumental music is entirely abstract. The sounds we hear evoke responses in us, yet those responses are private, and the methods by which the sounds evoke the … Continue reading

Posted in music | 5 Comments

Kind of Blue

A couple of months ago I got myself in some trouble — got some people mad at me. I had initially agreed to write the manual for a Buchla synthesizer (the “affordable” $15,000 Skylab system) in exchange for getting to … Continue reading

Posted in modular, music, technology | 3 Comments

Something Old, Something New

I’m not sure what crevice in my subconscious this idea popped out of. By the end of the last century I had long since stopped writing and recording songs with lyrics. My voice, never inspiring to begin with, had become … Continue reading

Posted in music | Leave a comment