I Dream of Wires....

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Novem
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I Dream of Wires....

Post by Novem » Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:02 am

I was just looking on Netflix to see what's been added tonight, and was surprised to see
I Dream of Wires is on there now! I'm watching it now..and wanted to share in case anyone
Else was looking to watch this.

Novem.

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MC
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by MC » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:31 pm

I have the Hardcore Edition DVD. Four hours long. Definitely for hardcore users.
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by EricK » Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:14 pm

I prefer the british narration. I haven't watched the whole theatrical edition yet.
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by jsharpphoto » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:35 pm

I have only seen the hardcore edition... that being said, I would probably like the regular version. I really enjoyed all of the modular history and hearing from different artists, but the last 2.5 hours just seemed to be various eurorack manufacturers giving each other a reach around. Do we really need to hear from every single module maker? and every shop that sells them? It also seemed to be anti-moog.

Great soundtrack though. Solvent does some very nice work.
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by dave500 » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:47 am

thanks for letting me know it is on Netflix. :D
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EricK
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by EricK » Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:45 pm

jsharpphoto wrote: It also seemed to be anti-moog.
Yeah, it does have pro-eurorack and anti-Moog biases. I mean, the one guy referred to Moog as the "kleenex" of synthesizers.

Now he might have been implying that it was a household brand, but I wouldn't compare a Moog modular to something I would use to blow snot all over.

I heard from one person that they had no plans on including Bob at all.

But it is funny if you follow IDOW on facebook, they try to micromanage how everyone perceives the film. They will read negative comments from reviews and then try to answer all of them, even denying the bias exists. This was after they ended the moratorium on writing reviews. :)


I thought it was a great film, but they panned by all the historical synths at a lightning pace and spent way too much time in act 2 losing track of the narrative. Also, I wanted to hear more of what the people were DOING on the modulars and I think they just filled in most of that with the soundtrack.




I also want to add that it is my opinion that the introduction of the Moog Voyager was the catalyst to the Analog Renaissance we currently find ourselves in. That was the first "legacy" product and I'm not sure if there was anything like it at the time it was released.
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by jsharpphoto » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:03 pm

I think it was pretty anti-east coast in general, not just moog. All the comments about using a keyboard to control a synth means you lack creativity. "I didn't want a black and white keyboard, because that meant I was going to make regular music."

Nonsense.
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by Bryan B » Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:05 pm

Interesting responses from watching this. I like all coasts and it did seem to focus more on the West coast, but it did go into a good amount of history and depth about East Coast as well. I even thought it left it a draw as far as which was better or first.

I felt it wasn't picking sides, but conveying a lot of information. If I felt it was picking on either side, I would have been a bit upset as I donated to help it become reality. The people they interviewed had opinions on which was better and why, but that is what makes it interesting to me and what makes it a documentary. The creators have stated they had a very limited travel budget and couldn't possibly cover everything and everyone.
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by jsharpphoto » Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:53 am

Did anyone else feel like they only included Gary Numan in the film because they used his song title for the name? To the best of my knowledge, none of the signature Numan sounds were modular.
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Trigger
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by Trigger » Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:54 am

Somewhat interesting overall, BUT...
Where was Don Buchla?
Suzanne Ciani?
If they can get Morton S, why not them?
Where was Keith E?
Dick Hyman?
Anyone from Mother Mallard? And on and on...
Even Nyle Steiner manufactured modulars. His approach was different enough
to at least warrant a mention. And AFAIK, everyone mentioned are still alive.

And I saw the version with the female narrator.
They need to re-record with the correct pronunciation
of "Synclavier".

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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by JohnLRice » Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:39 am

EricK wrote:I also want to add that it is my opinion that the introduction of the Moog Voyager was the catalyst to the Analog Renaissance we currently find ourselves in. That was the first "legacy" product and I'm not sure if there was anything like it at the time it was released.
Hard to say but I think Doepfer, Modcan, Synthesis Technology, Synthesizers.com and others were first and generally more influential in the analog and modular resurgence than the Voyager.

1995 Doepfer A-100 analog modular system introduced
1997 Modcan modular founded
1998 Synthesis Technology modular founded
1999 Analogue Systems sells modular to Radiohead
2000 Synthesizers.com modular introduced
2001
2002 Moog Voyager released
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thealien666
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by thealien666 » Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:13 pm

Yep, you're absolutely right John.

At the time Synthesizers.com was created and started selling modules and systems, Big Briar (later becoming the current Moog Music) was selling Moogerfoogers effects pedals.

I personally consider Doepfer one of the first, if not THE first, company to relaunch the analog subtractive synthesis interest.
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by JohnLRice » Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:08 pm

And there were some modular hold-overs that sort of kept things alive through the 1980's and 1990's but without a strong internet like we have these days and most of the companies being too small to afford much magazine advertising they weren't on many people's radar. Companies like PAiA, Aries, Don Martin's Moog, Mike Bucki's Moog/Modusonics, Serge too I think?
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by EricK » Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:26 pm

Excellent points, J&A.



There’s a lot of information that I’m not privy to to be able to say definitively what types of sales records those “early” modular companies had. I would like to see some people comment who were into modulars at that time to shed some light on this. Perhaps they frequented those long running Synth DIY forums?

I started playing music in 1994 and I watched things transition away from analog rather than towards it. Software was getting better and cheaper. Music equipment in general was getting cheaper than it was when my sister (five years my senior and was playing music for probably a decade before I got started) was active. It was all about the dominance of digital and the perfection of the workstations. There was more of an emphasis on emulating analog technology rather than recreating it.

So I wonder who was buying modulars back then? How many systems did Modusonics pump out? Where was the music? I’ve been listening closely to commercial music since I first purchased the Voyager and it has only been since the LP really came out that I began noticing higher quality synth tones in commercials.

I guess the question that I’m asking is did modular really have much appeal beyond the small synth forum communities?

If one can go back to 2004 and peruse the Music123, Thoroughbred, or Sam Ash, Musician’s Friend, Guitar Center, Sweetwater catalogs, etc, I don’t believe there was much to be found in the way of analog monosynths. I remember the Voyager, A6 and the Access Virus were about the only ones that I know of that were in that price range…which is in the higher end of the price range that the consumers who drive these trends can afford.

It is my opinion that the release of the Voyager was very significant because unlike some of those other brands, Moog’s name was a superpower. And Big Briar was releasing filters and ringmods since 98 and they sold tens of thousands of those units to demographics well outside the synth bubble. And According to a former Moog engineer, the Voyager had its genesis in ’98 and they didn’t expect to sell more than 1200 of them.

I think the people who were buying modulars in the 90s already had their ponytails well established. These are the same people who were getting on the VCS3 waiting lists in 1991.

I think that while I might have reached a bit by arguing that the Voyager was “THE CATALYST” I think that it is still a glaring omission from the resurgence narrative of IDOW.

And while the analog renaissance is more broad than just synthesizers I don’t think that we would be where we would be with the remaking of Arps, Korgs, Rolands, Sequential etc without the Voyager.
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thealien666
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Re: I Dream of Wires....

Post by thealien666 » Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:25 pm

Interesting questions EricK. But answers to some of those questions might never be revealed...

I do agree that the Voyager, even though it might not have been the absolute leader of the "real analog renaissance" IMHO, it's still had quite an important role in sustaining the interest in products from a well known company called Moog Music.

Without it, there wouldn't be a Sub37 today and all the models in between, that's for sure.
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