Single VCO Shanty
Hear ye, all ye folk at sea,
And listen to my litany.
I dream of things that are not there,
just as I have but little hair.
Of visions shall I sing to you,
of things that I deem fair and true.
I am now older, but no wiser.
I want a brand-new synthesizer:
One VCO, a sub to add,
some glide would also not be bad,
and sides of wood, a panel clean,
some sturdy knobs, a filter mean.
I wish there were a thing like this:
a smaller synth that makes a hiss.
With noise and funny bloops and bleeps -
that’s something that I’d like for keeps.
It should be flexible in sound,
so that you’d want to clown around.
But when you want to make it sweet,
you’d turn some knobs and make it neat.
A keyboard that is nice to play,
a slightly slanted panel, say.
And knobs that turn without a fight,
One LED that burneth bright.
It need not have a thing inside
that stores the sounds that I’d provide.
Plain simple, humble, ergonomic -
without a product name that’s comic.
And how about a MIDI jack?
I’m sure it could go on the back.
So that I also could combine
this synth with other toys of mine.
Two wheels for pitch and modulation
Would serve for extra animation.
A little knob to make a drone
would put some flesh right on the bone.
A smaller synth to take to town
that never ever lets me down.
To plug and play and tweak away,
for that, dubloons I’d freely pay.
The heroes and the bards of old
have sung with voices proud and bold,
of moonbeams, stars and galaxies,
of tuning in and hugging trees.
So hear ye, sailors out at sea!
Embark on one more dream with me.
We all get older, but no wiser.
'Tis time for a new synthesizer.
