Richard D James on the Planet Mu Message Board

i snatched this from another forum, but the planet mu has been recently been hacked so i assume that they are undergoing some data arrangement

he goes on under the alius of Analord

  Quote

some people bought the analogue equipment when it was unfashionable and very cheap though.

some of us are over 30 you know!

anyone remember when 303`s were £50? and coke was 16p a tin? crisps 5p

 

also you have overlooked A LOT of other points because its not all about the overall frequency response of the recording system its how the sound gets there in the first place.

here are some things which you can`t get from a plugin,they are often emulated but due to their hugely complex nature are always pretty crass aproximations..

 

the sound of analogue equpiment including EQ, changes very noticably over even a few hours due to temperature changes within a circuit.

Anyone who has tried to make tracs on a few analogue synths and make them stay in tune can tell you this,you leave a trac running for a few hours come back and think Im sure I didnt fucking write that,I must be going mental!

 

this affects all the components in a synth/EQ in an almost infinte amount of tiny ways.

and the amount differs from circuit to circuit depending on the design.

 

the interaction of different channels and their respective signals with an analogue mixer are very complex,EQ,dynamics....

any fx, analogue or digital that are plugged into it all have their own special complex characteristics and all interact with each other differently and change depending on their routing.

Nobody that ive heard of has even begun to start emulating analogue mixer circuitry in software,just the aesthetics,it will come but im sure it will be a crap half hearted effort like most pretend synth plugins are.

they should be called PST synths, P for pretend not virtual.

 

Every piece of outboard gear has its own sound ,reverbs,modulation effects etc

real room reverb, this in itself companies have spent decades trying to emulate and not even got close in my opinion, even the best attempts like Quantec and EMT only scratch the surface.

 

analogue EQ is currently impossible in theory to be emulated digitally,quite intense maths shit involed in this if youre really that interested,you could look it up...good luck.

 

your soundcard will always make things sound like its come from THAT soundcard..they ALL impose their different sound characteristics onto whatever comes out of them they are far from being totally neutral devices.

 

all the components of a circuit like resistors and capacitors subtley differ from each other depending on their quality but even the most high quality milatary spec ones are never EXACTLY the same.

 

no two analogue synths can ever be built exactly the same,there are tiny human/automated errors in building the circuits,tweaking the trimpots for example which is usually done manually in a lot of analogue shit.

just compare the sound of 2 808 drum machines next to each other and you will see what I mean,you always thought an 808 was an 808 right?

same goes for 303`s they all sound subltey different,different voltage scaling of the oscillator is usually quite noticable.

 

VST plugins are restricted by a finite number of calculations per second these factors are WAY beyond their CURRENT capability.

 

Then there is the question of the physicallity of the instrument this affects the way a human will emotionally interact with it and therfore affect what they will actually do with it! often overlooked from the maths heads,this is probably the biggest factor I think.

for example the smell of analogue stuff as well as the look of it puts you in a certain mental state which is very different from looking at a computer screen.

 

then there is analogue tape...ah this really could go on forever....

 

im quite drunk cant be bothered to type anymore...

so yeah,whatever, you obviously dont have to have analogue equipment to make `good` music in case thats the impression im giving,EVERYTHING has its uses .And not all anlaogue equipment is expensive you can still get bargains like old high end military audio devices,tape machines fx etc just go for the unfashionable stuff.

 

Richard.

Flintstones form jazz band

edit:snap

lol pwn

etc

it's been on the talk page of the wiki article since it was posted.

people were giving him shit in the mu thread and jess was all 'if you knew who you were talking to... *worships*'

lol drama

  Quote

You only have to listen to old Chicago house records and early Detroit

techno to hear all the 808 variations

Especially if you get into listening to one artist,derrick may`s 808

sounds really slappy..ok trax are produced differently but you can still

hear the differences.

 

Ive had 2 808`s and the bass drums were almost identical ,which created

a mad flange when played together but nearly all the other sounds were

really different and run side by side sounded totally wicked!

  Quote

And don't forget the serge/wilson delay,that does it as well

That module sticks out like a lovely sore thumb as all the other serge

modules are very smooth apart from the waveshapers.

 

Its really,really crunchy on the longest delay times,im well into it.

Well actually im into all 4 of them

:)

  Quote

Apart from electrocuting yourself what possible way could you kill

yourself with an analog synth?

Ive got a rack of modular behind my head and the shelf looks pretty

sketchy ,id hate to die under a load of modules.

Maybe you could make up an elaborate modular patch to die..killed by an

envelope generator with a really long attack.

He posts random crap on internetz just like the rest of us :grin:

  Quote

Being lucky enough to have one I have to tell you that you are wrong

twice,there is a sequencer on the gx1!! I haven't read about it anywhere

else so now you know .

And you can actually change the parameters really easily while the

cartridges are plugged in!

Just stick up a list of all the parameters against numbers by your gx1

Then just adjust each one as required with a screwdriver.

If you select patch 10 on each of the synths then the cartridges at the

front can be reached easily ,after awhile you learn the numbers easily

like pwm is number 14 etc

Then you are programming the presets directly and do not need the tone

board or the programmer,decent.

 

You can feed any of the drum instruments to trigger the solo synth!

E.g every time the kick drum sounds or the Hihat etc the solo synth can

be triggered which actually gives you untold pattern possibilities if

you combine the drum pattern selectors.

 

Then you can either manually play the key you want with it being

triggered in sync.

Or just let it trigger automatically.

Also the same drum instrument pattern is fed into a s/h which in turn

can randomly select the pitch of the solo synth and the cut off

frequency of both filters, with varying amounts ,sliders for each.

Instant acid and from the 70`s!

if only keith emerson has used it this way!

Instead of that fanfare for the common prick stuff.

Dance music history would have been completely different

**smile**

has he never posted here?

  kaini said:

give us a snare rush

ahh, i did'n know that, my bad

hehe

  AlexPallas said:

has he never posted here?

Who knows? Never obviously, like signing the post Richard or anything.....

he should totally be an open internet figure.. i mean, what has he to lose. all we'd do is be like "hey rich when's the next album out" and he'd be like "fuck off mate" and we'd be like "ok! :-D"

he would lose his pride

I could read his thoughts on gear all day...

I actually found quite a lot of his Usenet posts once with some tricky googling... too tired to find it now though

those quotes are quite good

  Burger said:

those quotes are quite good

nice.

  αnalogue ψings said:

  Quote

Being lucky enough to have one I have to tell you that you are wrong

twice,there is a sequencer on the gx1!! I haven't read about it anywhere

else so now you know .

And you can actually change the parameters really easily while the

cartridges are plugged in!

Just stick up a list of all the parameters against numbers by your gx1

Then just adjust each one as required with a screwdriver.

If you select patch 10 on each of the synths then the cartridges at the

front can be reached easily ,after awhile you learn the numbers easily

like pwm is number 14 etc

Then you are programming the presets directly and do not need the tone

board or the programmer,decent.

 

You can feed any of the drum instruments to trigger the solo synth!

E.g every time the kick drum sounds or the Hihat etc the solo synth can

be triggered which actually gives you untold pattern possibilities if

you combine the drum pattern selectors.

 

Then you can either manually play the key you want with it being

triggered in sync.

Or just let it trigger automatically.

Also the same drum instrument pattern is fed into a s/h which in turn

can randomly select the pitch of the solo synth and the cut off

frequency of both filters, with varying amounts ,sliders for each.

Instant acid and from the 70`s!

if only keith emerson has used it this way!

Instead of that fanfare for the common prick stuff.

Dance music history would have been completely different

**smile**

just read up on this thing.. insane. how on earth did he get it?

lovely article: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb00/articles/yamahagx1.htm

  æsterlingman said:

he should totally be an open internet figure.. i mean, what has he to lose. all we'd do is be like "hey rich when's the next album out" and he'd be like "fuck off mate" and we'd be like "ok! :-D"

on a board like this, it'd be like encierro, the running of the bulls...

everyone'd be all, "hey richard, hey richard!" like kids in the back seat of a car. anyone he did not answer to might feel shunted. he probably does not want this, and the easiest solution is to just not appear as himself, if he appears at all.

but, the way he's doing it on the planet mu message boards - randomly dropping in rather than becoming involved - would probably work out well enough

what was that about 25% of the people on this board being aphex twin?

does anybody else find it slightly disturbing that rdj is into snake oil audiophile crap more than he seems to be into actual music composing these days? the last 3 interviews ive read of him are rants on why he loves analog and thinks digital is shit. Give that shit a rest already. I love you richard, but honestly just make good music and shut the fuck up.

for some reason its like shoving a white hot needle in my eye when i hear people talking about how much sound cards color the sound of something. Its just the most rediculous and pointless thing to focus on, eventually in time digital will be able to emulate any analog equipment with ease, when this time comes then i will be free of painful analog vs digital talk.

  Dr. Elemeno von Hat X: PhD said:

just read up on this thing.. insane. how on earth did he get it?

 

lovely article: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb00/articles/yamahagx1.htm

That was a really interesting read, ta for posting

Sounds like a beast!!

  Ghostbusters III said:

does anybody else find it slightly disturbing that rdj is into snake oil audiophile crap more than he seems to be into actual music composing these days? the last 3 interviews ive read of him are rants on why he loves analog and thinks digital is shit. Give that shit a rest already. I love you richard, but honestly just make good music and shut the fuck up.

 

for some reason its like shoving a white hot needle in my eye when i hear people talking about how much sound cards color the sound of something. Its just the most rediculous and pointless thing to focus on, eventually in time digital will be able to emulate any analog equipment with ease, when this time comes then i will be free of painful analog vs digital talk.

What is your point? You're just being the very thing you purport to despise! I didn't see any ranting of analogue versus digital, all saw was a (correct) critique of the difficulties of emulating analogue signal generators and filters in software. Its not a religious thing, its science, like L'Oreal.

Also, your key word is eventually. And ridiculous is as I have written it.

PS whilst I would never say something as gauche as "analogue is better than digital", there's more than just the science behind preferring analogue - its an outlook on life in general. If that sounds pretentious, then guilty as charged.

i found the so called "rants" about analogue equipment rather enlightening.

what I would love to see more than a million naked girls is Richards Studio gear pr0n

  Ghostbusters III said:

does anybody else find it slightly disturbing that rdj is into snake oil audiophile crap more than he seems to be into actual music composing these days? the last 3 interviews ive read of him are rants on why he loves analog and thinks digital is shit. Give that shit a rest already. I love you richard, but honestly just make good music and shut the fuck up.

 

for some reason its like shoving a white hot needle in my eye when i hear people talking about how much sound cards color the sound of something. Its just the most rediculous and pointless thing to focus on, eventually in time digital will be able to emulate any analog equipment with ease, when this time comes then i will be free of painful analog vs digital talk.

he'd also likely be stampeded by trolls if he appeared

  amni said:

what I would love to see more than a million naked girls is Richards Studio gear pr0n

i know, man. he must have some amazing photos in general from his life...

maybe he should just start a blog? that could be totally one-way if he wanted...