Narrow & Prax.. and this is really aimed more toward Prax, a little about me. I’m 52 yrs old, and first began in music by learning guitar (started at age 12). I took lessons, and learned to read music, complete with a good practical understanding of music theory. Soon, I was in bands, and played the Metro-Detroit area bars up until my late 20’s. I gave it up because of the “feast or famine” situation I always found myself in, and, I didn’t need to depend on it: I grew up in a TV repair shop (my Dad’s), and obtained 2 degrees in electronics, as well as obtaining a C.E.T license (no easy feat). As a kid, I was a big reader of Popular Electronics, Electronics Now, etc, and actually built many of the projects outlined in the books, including etching my own circuit boards. So, I went to work for Sears Product Services, and spent another decade employed there in their electronic repair division (Div 57). I left Sears when I got married (my 2nd marriage) and moved to the Washington DC area, as the woman I married was an attorney there, and it made more sense for me to move. I started my own software business (I write e-commerce applications, and am fluent in several computer languages) and have done very well… hence why I have the ability to purchase the things I want in life, like my Moog stuff.
Now, let me address a few of your statements:
”maybe the first thing is to think about what musical goals you have, and then find out how to make that gear do those particular things”
”Ideally, this step is taken before purchasing a lot of specialised and expensive gear That’s the funny thing about Moogs. They really don’t do “everything,” it’s more a matter that they do a comparatively narrow range of things exceptionally well. You should definitely know a) what they sound like and b) what isn’t their strength prior to buying one.
These days with the internet (and youtube etc) there’s every opportunity to know what gear does (and even how to use it) before you buy it.”
I was struck by these statements, as I have a 20 yr old son (I’m stepdad) whose band is touring now here on the East Coast, and your comments remind me of my discussions with him. His band plays mostly original music, and he grew up playing much in the manner you two espouse: decide what you want to do first, then create. Maybe needless to say, but this is why most of their music, much like your demo Prax (although they’re more pop/punk) ends up the same: no soul.
Now, why is this, the reader might ask: it’s because my son no more understands the artistic creative process than these two do, and the process hasn’t changed in many thousands of years, and I’ll explain it the same as I did to my son:
Michelangelo, DiVinci, Raphael, or even Mozart didn’t approach their craft by deciding what they wanted to do, and then short-cutting their way to it. They began by apprenticing themselves, taking lessons, sketching the Masters for years. This created a bond between their skills, and their souls. Thus, when life dealt them a losing hand, they went to their instrument. When the woman they loved dumped them, they went to their instrument. It’s no different today.
When Lennon & McCartney wrote “Across the Universe” it was written from the heart. Does anyone honestly believe that Paul & John had a conversation that somehow went “by the time we’re half way through with the group mate, I want us to write a song that expresses how ‘nothing’s gonna change my world.’” Of course not. Their music had meaning, because they understood and had adhered to the true creative process: they did not short-cut.
When I posted, I thought maybe there was someone else who, like me, knew music and electronics, and had created some pages of patch examples (and by the way, I owned my LP for a few years now, it’s the MF’s that are new). If there is, I’d appreciate it. That’s all.
That’s the funny thing about Moogs. They really don’t do “everything,” it’s more a matter that they do a comparatively narrow range of things exceptionally well. You should definitely know a) what they sound like and b) what isn’t their strength prior to buying one.