Synth Maker In The Press :-)

malc · 4 May 2005

Thanks Inigo,

Sadly no Czech translation on Alta Vista 🙁

Good luck with the gig!

Malc.

ik_ik_ik · 4 May 2005

Thanks Malc, yeah, translating is tricky even with a dictionary, believe me 🙂 Here's the english version...

3. You prefer digital way of production, if it is not a secret, which kind of equipment do you use for your amazing productions?

Having been producing music for nearly 20 years in many different ways it’s difficult to point to something in particular that’s a key to my productions – my studios have changed a lot over the years and so have the options available. Things are changing at an amazing pace. I’ve always used computers at the core of my studios and have generally worked with a lot of digital synthesisers and processors but I do have some modular analogue equipment which has its strengths too. Fitting the pieces together is much more important than what the individual pieces are.

Recently I’ve been using software a lot more than in the past. There are a lot of very interesting and usual applications appearing, a lot of very talented and passionate independent software developers and some strong communities too. It’s due to the internet. One thing that I’ve been using for two years which has made a really positive change to the way I make music with software is an application called EnergyXT. I also develop a lot of my own code and techniques which is not really a secret but definitely not something that everyone can just start doing. It is a without doubt a way to get something unique though. I’m very interested in using more open-ended ways of working such as with the software Pd, Max-MSP, SynthMaker and SynthEdit for example. There is always a lot more to learn.

Having said this I have a strong opinion that it is dangerous for people to think that certain equipment will give them certain results. You can’t buy talent. I believe it’s possible to create something good from almost anything but most people don’t know how to do that, they can’t see how to use the tools or what they might be able to do with them. Perhaps they’re not even sure what they are really trying to achieve. Enjoying what you do is very important so of course anyone can still enjoy creating something, it’s just as valuable on a personal level, it’s harder to make something that is engaging for other people too. Of course, people also have very different objectives for creating music, or anything for that matter, so it’s a huge subject.

Tom7777 · 4 May 2005

I'll be supporting The Prodigy next weekend in Brno, Czech Republic

Cool, well done 🙂

I think press is good but it also has its down sides. I like the SM community around the sort of size it currently is at the moment because when they get really large you get loads of people that has not read the documentation and ask basic and the same questions every week. Also its then much harder to know and get to know other people because theres so many of them 🙂

ik_ik_ik · 4 May 2005

Tom7777 wrote: I think press is good but it also has its down sides. I like the SM community around the sort of size it currently is at the moment because when they get really large you get loads of people that has not read the documentation and ask basic and the same questions every week. Also its then much harder to know and get to know other people because theres so many of them 🙂

I agree! 🙂 Some similar sentiments shared in the interview. (btw the whole thing is up on my site in English - should've mentioned before in case anyone's interested)

Heh, don't worry, I won't be wearing my "SM - I'm An Early Adopter, Are You?" t-shirt on stage 😀 Not yet anyway... Just thought the guys might like to know their work's appreciated - which is is, a lot.

Cheers!

skOre · 4 May 2005

Yeah right, like we should get the names of the first 500 users and get only them into a special "elite-forum" that we can only appoint new members into 😀

Tom7777 · 4 May 2005

Heh, don't worry, I won't be wearing my "SM - I'm An Early Adopter, Are You?" t-shirt on stage 😀 Not yet anyway... Just thought the guys might like to know their work's appreciated - which is is, a lot.

Yes there work is indeed great, it was just my opinion really, if the forums had thousand of members like KVR or somewhere i would probably visit much less, read about 5 posts and post much less like i do which is what im like when i visit KVR because half the stuff is just a waste of time with someone saying something like "i can't hear anything" and when i see something like that im always like yeah ok, have you ever heard of a manual or documents which basically all the modular apps have and its so basic that i can't see why loads of people cannot figure it out.

But im sure Malc and Jorge want to become rich and i hope they do so some day because they work so hard on SynthMaker which i now think is up there with the best modular apps now and when it reaches V1 will probably be the best there is. 🙂

a special "elite-forum"

Now that sounds good, we could have downloads other users can't get 🙂 hehe

malc · 4 May 2005

It is nice to have a smallish community I agree. I really enjoy working on SynthMaker. It's a full time job for me and Jorge and we're hoping that it will continue to be this way.

As for becoming rich, well we're a long way off that 🙂. I can honestly say that this is not what motivates us. It would be great to get to a stage where we could work on the software without worrying about income. That would be our ideal.

In order to do that sales will obviously have to grow. Not everyone wants to get involved in the community but I think as sales increase the community will increase proportionately, it's unavoidable.

We shall see 🙂

Tom7777 · 4 May 2005

In order to do that sales will obviously have to grow. Not everyone wants to get involved in the community but I think as sales increase the community will increase proportionately, it's unavoidable.

Very true, when it does you might have to hire some more coders becuase im guessing the request and bug fix list keeps getting bigger. 🙂 On that note, i know i sent you a lot of stuff in my recent PM message but i have even more if you want them 🙂

stefan · 4 May 2005

Tom7777 wrote: In order to do that sales will obviously have to grow. Not everyone wants to get involved in the community but I think as sales increase the community will increase proportionately, it's unavoidable.

Very true, when it does you might have to hire some more coders becuase im guessing the request and bug fix list keeps getting bigger. 🙂 On that note, i know i sent you a lot of stuff in my recent PM message but i have even more if you want them 🙂

either that, or the user base starts implementing stuff themselves, and malc and jorge just concentrates on bug fixes 🙂

malc · 4 May 2005

Tom7777 wrote: i know i sent you a lot of stuff in my recent PM message but i have even more if you want them

Yeah, send everything you have. Email it if it's large.

Thanks

ik_ik_ik · 4 May 2005

Tom7777 wrote: a special "elite-forum"

Now that sounds good, we could have downloads other users can't get 🙂 hehe

yeah, and those t-shirts too 🙂

Shifrin · 4 May 2005

I want an 'I'm an SM Early Adopter' t-shirt 😀

Shif.