Re: [Leica] Is It "analog" or Is It Digital? Drifting OT a LOT

[Johnny Deadman <lists@johnbrownlow.com>]

I have a bunch of digital instruments... the Emagic EXB3 Hammond, EPV88 
electric piano, plus a Line6 Pod guitar amp emulator. They are all of 
them useful, but they are none of them at all like the real thing in an 
A/B test. For example, an A/B of my Jazzmaster through the Line6 Fender 
Twin Reverb emulation compared with my real vintage Fender Twin is 
staggeringly different. The tonality is clearly similar but the amp is 
infinitely more live-sounding and playable.

Ditto the Hammond and the EVP88 -- both capable of a wide variety of 
useful recordable tones, but with only a fraction of the texture, 
tonality and playability of the originals. They are all great tools, 
but only convincing when you haven't played the real thing. I've also 
played the Native Instrument B4 Hammond emulation, with the same 
result. I think the same thing is true with the analog synth 
simulations.

On Wednesday, August 6, 2003, at 11:19 AM, Randy Jensen wrote:

> There are definitely digital instruments - and some that claim to 
> generate
> the waveform not from sampling a real instrument but recreating each 
> part of
> it and even allowing you to create virtual instruments that are 
> impossible
> in reality.
>
> HOWEVER, someone mentioned on here that they're a drummer.  So am I.
>
> Go down to your local music store (or go into your home studio) and 
> play a
> properly tuned Drum Workshop (or other high end kit) set, with 
> K.Zildjian or
> HH Sabian (or whatever high end cymbal you prefer).  Do things that are
> unique (rolls, etc).  Then play on the BEST, MOST EXPENSIVE Roland 
> digital
> drum set you can find.  It will leave you very flat.
>
> Yes, you can play a virtual snare that's 500 feet deep by 8 inches wide
> (sorry, don't have my metric calculator on me).  But you can't do a 
> proper
> roll.  It doesn't feel right and it doesn't sound right.  It's much 
> better
> than if you tried this experiment 5 years ago, but it still isn't good
> enough for certain things.
>
> My DW kit can't sound like a piano.  It can't make farting noises or 
> TR808
> bass drum sounds, but it kicks ass at "drum" sounds.
>
> But all this wouldn't stop me from adding a couple digital drums to my
> acoustic kit for certain kinds of music - the same way I would add a 
> digital
> camera to my arsenal for certain photographic jobs.  They can coexist 
> very
> nicely.
>
> My $0.02, and my strange analogies, which only drummers might 
> understand....
> :)
>
> Randy
> www.randyjensenphoto.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Eric Welch
> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 10:46 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Is It "analog" or Is It Digital? Drifting OT at 
> tad
>
>
>
> Jean-Michel,
>
> You are quite right. Beethoven had in mind the musicians taking the
> discreet notes and making them anything but. Having played the violin
> for 19 years, I think I can answer that one pretty accurately. The
> notes on paper are not digital any more than cursive writing is. My
> violin teacher used to criticize Jascha Heifitz, the famous violinist,
> because his technique was so perfect, so accurate a representation of
> the musical notes on the paper, that he felt he wasn't much of a real
> musician because he never put into the music who he was. Whether that
> was in fact the case or not, the point is well taken for me. Music is
> more than discreet notes at a mathematically perfect pace. It's taking
> that as the starting point, and then the musician making the piece
> theirs.
>
> Photography is the same. We take an "accurate" two-dimensional
> description of the world that the lens projects onto the
> light-sensitive surface and we "make it our own." Even journalists.
> Because we pick the angle, the crop and the timing (not to mention
> exposure) and create a "slide of life" that we perceive to be
> significant.
>
> On Tuesday, August 5, 2003, at 05:39  PM, Jean-Michel Tomaschett wrote:
>
>> "analog recorded audio" has nothing to do with what Beethoven had in
>> mind
>>
>
> Eric Welch
> Carlsbad, CA
> http://www.jphotog.com
>
> Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco. - Will Rogers.
>
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John Brownlow

http://www.pinkheadedbug.com
http://www.unintended-consequences.com

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