The best of times?

[johnchop]

Absolute brain melt from all these product drops in the past week.

 

The sheer range of cool sh*t — especially relatively affordable cool sh*t — is continually mind-blowing to someone who wandered music stores (remember those?) in the 80s and wondering if the Korg M1 or D50 was just the end-all-be-all. (There was also a Matrix 12 on the display floor, and that thing was from outer space and sonically crushed everything in its path.) 

Even the stuff that’s spendy, e.g. Polybrute or Iridium, is still so gobsmacking potent.

 

What a time to be alive. 

Anyone else feel this way?

Perhaps not if you don’t like soft synths, or iLok, or external power supplies, or lack of expression pedal inputs, or any of the other things we tend to whine about. 
 

I just know that 11-year old me would fall over at what’s available.

 

Just me?

[JamPro]

We are certainly living in "peak keyboard".  Digital pianos that sound good and play well and weight under 20 kilos and fit in the back of a car; an entire Synclavier-like synth that fits in your laptop (at a workingman's price); sample instruments that do not require looping of the sustain tail; impulse responses of every major studio and cathedral ever built available on your computer for your production; and so on.

 

Sadly, if current trends hold, all that low-priced sonic goodness will likely be married to AI and packed into a device the size of a car key-fob that outputs music constantly, and music making and production will become a process not requiring any human involvement.

 

 

[SMcD]

­

[johnchop]

JamPro … AI isn’t the only thing that produces crap for cheap. Ever hear me play?

 

 

SMcD… points for inscrutability. Okely dokely. 

[SMcD]

Wrong thread. That's what I get for having too many tabs open at once.

[marino]

I went thru the whole 70/80s period, and I'd say that the era we're living right now is the most exciting period in history for electronic instruments.

What's changed is the scenario... just a fraction of the opportunities to play these instruments onstage compared to the old times, especially earning enough to justify the purchase of $3000 synthesizers...

[RABid]

Back in the 80's when I decided to go full time I built my keyboard rig with savings from working at a coal company, I paid...

 

Rhodes Chroma - $5400

MemoryMoog - $4800

Moog Source - Don't remember

ElectroVoice 18" 3 way keyboard cabinet on casters - A LOT!!!

Crown Amp - $1000+

Ashley Mixer - $900?

Digital Delay - $800

 

Now for the price of a Chroma I have a Roland Fantom 7,  Hydrosynth Delux, EV powered cabinet and a decent mixer. 

 

On the other hand, back in the early 80's I was making $100 a night, three nights a week playing in a small town lodge while also holding a good paying day job. Now in my same small town, no one is making that. There are a few scattered one night jobs, but clubs are playing recorded music.

[johnchop]

I’m thinking more about music tech as creative tools here, although I recognize that there are still a lot of products and innovations specifically aimed at the performing musician.

[Stokely]

No doubt about it to me.   Having tons of synths, sampled instruments and effects all in a small metal box where I can record dozens of tracks easily?   Visible on a big 32" screen....automation on every synth parameter and audio aspect right there to be recorded or drawn?  Being able to bring up a session in literal seconds and having it be exactly the same?  I would have killed for all this in the 80s and 90s.

Not to say it's "better" in all ways, just miles and miles more convenient.   The sampled instruments ARE much better.  I remember loading a trumpet sample into a Synclavier in 1990 or so from a giant winchester cartridge...talk about underwhelming when you finally got to listen to it  

Ironically though my live rig isn't all that much different, since I don't use software live....just better by degrees.  B3 organ is probably the biggest gap in quality, followed by piano (my old piano was a JX10 and then a Proteus).  Synths could be excellent back in the day of course (My JX10 kicked ass), though in my case I never owned my own fx units so I didn't get that really nice verb/delay (think Van Halen 1984) until I visited a studio.

[RABid]

The real innovation now is the blending of hardware with software. Live + Push, FL Studio + FL Keys, Bitwig + Nektar Aruba. I look forward to stand along boxes improving. Push 3, Machine +, MPC Live II. Great portable devices, but all in need of more power.

[David Emm]

The D-50 *is* an end-all/be-all, to a certain degree. I have a tidy bagful of patch sets for it and the range is far greater than you'd expect. It has a slightly screechy aspect here & there, befitting the tech of the time, but its a minor element. The Cloud version is comparable to the cleaner plugs-ins we see as standard now.      

 

I'm impressed by several shiny new things lately, but its funny to consider that a software version of THAT would be one of them. Best of all, its practical. Its not always my first go-to, but it layers like a champion. I follow new releases as eagerly as anyone else. I've simply reached the point where consistency feels more inspiring than novelty.

[Adan]

A year ago I finally got a grand piano, so yes, it is the best of times.

[J.F.N.]

We definitly live in an interesting time with loads of gear available for reasonable prices, and lots of different choices no matter what category we're talking about. 

 

I bought my Korg Prologue 16 new for 1000€ (VAT deducted as I have a company), a 16 voice synth providing a fantastic hybrid between true analogue and modern digital technology, that's not a lot of money. Got a Deepmind 12D, 12 voices analogue with a very powerful digital FX section, for about 600€, and so on.. Just purchased an MPC Key 37, a full on studio at your fingers in a very comprehensive litte 3 octave package, for 800€ ... Looking at what we can get for the money these days, it's indeed totally incredible!