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Re: [microsound] [.microsound] "sound" of max/msp



on 7/26/01 8:57 PM, Joshua Maremont at thermal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> 
> Yes.  The guitar has nearly infinite possibilities as well, yet metal bands
> never get past the chunka-chunka output type.  Much of the pop/dance
> digital music seems to fall into the same trap.  When I first tried out the
> Bitcrusher plugin in Logic I thought:  ah, that is how everyone is making
> That sound.  But even the limited Bitcrusher is capable of so much more
> than That sound.  Similarly a quick look around Reaktor's preprogrammed
> libraries let me to think:  ah, this is how everyone is making These sorts
> of tracks.  But my early fumblings on the tabula rasa of a new Reaktor
> ensemble have made very different sounds (perhaps because I have not yet
> advanced very far).  I am sure MAX/MSP has a similar near-infinity of sonic
> possibilities. [...snip...]>

It's interesting that someone mentions this.  There was a short thread on
the same (nearly) subject on the Max/MSP mailing list some time ago.  The
original poster was claiming that the sound he was getting from MSP was
lacking on "depth" (if I recall well).

I admit that I've heard a number of great, even outstanding pieces done with
the help of MSP but I, too, have always found that the sonic quality of
other tools was more satisfying.  On the other hand, compared to other
tools, the patch development cycle was much more quicker...  at least for
me.  And, having attended several performances done by composers using MSP
I've found certain "trends" in abuse of certain demo patches.  I don't mean
to discourage anyone from using MSP (I am totally into PD lately - same
idea, same drawbacks, same advantages (with some variations, perhaps)) which
is a truly great tool, but people should probably take more care when
developing with MSP.  Sure you can whip a patch in a day.  But it's so easy
to fall into sloppiness after a few such experiments.  Been there already.

The analogy of the guitar is such a good one.  I mean, I had a hard time
telling one "guitar god" from another in those times (when it mattered).
And then I discovered guys like Ry Cooder, Ralph Towner and Leo Brower :)

Anyways, haven't heard that AE album but I'm definitely curious to check if
it actually "smells" MSP.


cheers
../MiS