[NewMusic] acoustic vs. electronic

Barry Threw bthrew at gmail.com
Tue Jan 9 21:58:38 PST 2007


Yeah, I understand where you are coming from.  And I agree with the 
sentiment.

But what I was referring to was a problem I have many times when 
building instruments.  You have to define the limitations.  You have to 
create something elegant that has a wide range of sounds but yet has a 
usable interface.

Your bass has a wide (infinite?) range of sounds, however, it would be 
hard to argue that the range of sounds I can get with my computer isn't 
larger.  This isn't necessarily good, its actually a huge problem for 
me.  This is the endearing part of the limitations of acoustic 
instruments to which I was referring.

I guess perhaps it is better phrased: acoustic instruments have 
developed over years, and this kind of maturity is hard to reproduce 
when designing a new instrument from scratch.

b


Damon Smith wrote:
> On Jan 9, 2007, at 9:41 PM, Barry Threw wrote:
> 
>> I like it that acoustic instruments have limitations.  This gives them
>> an elegance and grace and makes them manageable.
> 
> - I don't really agree that they do. Just like a computer they depend 
> on your creativity and imagination. Technical progress on acoustic 
> instruments has never slowed down.
> 
> Damon
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic
> 

-- 
barry threw
composition : sound : programming
http://www.barrythrew.com
bthrew(at)gmail(dot)com
857-544-3967

(if you would see the stars clearly,
look hard at the surrounding darkness)
		-Ooka Makoto


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