New Clavia product due at NAMM 18th Jan

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:35 am Post subject:

I just play the 'I am only a bystander...' so I just wonder why a musician will chose a particular synthesizer.

Regarding musical instruments, there are some which are almost 'ready' concerning development, not the 'literature' (the music itself, the notes), but the instrument is finished. A good example is the violin. Certainly the synthesizer is not. It looks like their players are given it up very easely on a particular synthesizer.

The question: which synth did you ever gave up and why?

Wout

elektro80 · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 10:01 am Post subject:

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:34 pm Post subject:

blue hell · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject:

3phase · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:06 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:30 pm Post subject:

dasz · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject:

you make a good point. I wonder at which point Yamaha, Roland or Korg swamp this market with dozens of models regardless whether they sell well or not.
/Dasz

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:07 pm Post subject:

Yes, they could.. and..

We already know that gear like the Clavia Electro can have some appeal in the market even though Clavia hasn´t fashionably managed to create new improved and insanely cool models for every new season. This is interesting. Why change a good thing?

In general, the big polkaboards ARE being sold as preset monsters supposedly capable of any conventional sound imagineable. The fact that gear like Electro is selling seemingly well is proving the polkamarketing to be wrong.. or the Electro owners to be airheads. I guess we can expect some sort of reaction here. Someone like say Korg will either repackage a polkaengine into something that looks convincingly like an Electro killer, or start communicating to the airheads that a polkaboard REALLY does the job. Perhaps we will see both these possible scenarios.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject:

At least both Korg and Roland have managed to bring convincing products to market as a response to products like the Nord Lead (1), the Virus and simiilar designs. Uh.. and do any of us really remember the red Roland variphrase box? Shocked

E-MU tried to conquer the market with a wide range of basically the same thing ( numerous incarnations of the Proteus 2000 ) only to be terminated by the low end polkaracks. I guess the lesson is never try to outpolka the polkamanufacturers.

My observation is that Korg, Yamaha and Roland are capable of bringing excellent products to the market and they have shown since the late 90s that what they are about is basically responding to trends. Softsynths.. ? Ok.. we can do that.. VA??? Shocked

OK.. we can do that too! And so on.. Their own preferred product ranges are still the polkamonsters. Whenever a trend emerges they simply try to plug that hole.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:48 pm Post subject:

The big 3 polkakings have been far less innovative outside of the polkaracket than one might think. They have managed to bring stuff to the market (as ar as I can deduct ) only as a response to what the small nerdy brands like Clavia, Waldorf and others have produced.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 5:21 pm Post subject:

I consider that the Korg R3 to be a G2 inspired product. It is not quite modular, but it uses the same computer integration scheme as the G2. The actual synth has far less controls than the G2, but the idea is that you make all your patches using the editor software.

astroid power-up! · Joined: Mar 23, 2004 Posts: 334 G2 patch files: 15

LOL polkaboard HAHAH

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:27 am Post subject:

Yes, well.. Laughing

but I think the polka-angle is a valid way to look at this. Just look at how Korg has managed to build it´s latest line into something that can be updated spring/summer/autumn and winter with new models that make the older stuff "obsolete". Hey, there is even a polkadevice with a tube in order to add that warmth!!!
Many of the polkadesigns have awesome synthengines but the most important UI element is the reset buttons. Making soundsets for these is an industry by itself. I`m not saying these products are bad or that the 3 Polkakings are evil. The products are often even far better ( in a weird way ) than what the marketing is communicating. I´m trying to make a point or 3 about how the polkaclass of electrionic instruments are dominating the market and how the polkavendors are doing business.

Fozzie · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:19 am Post subject:

Wout Blommers · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:29 am Post subject:

Boom-pah, boom-pah, boom-pah, boom-pah, boom-pah...
What's wrong with a polka?

Wink

Wout

dorremifasol · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:42 am Post subject:

I like my polkamotif ES, but I have much more fun with the G2. Creating sounds is very rewarding and the G2 excels in that above any other hardware synthesizer, IMHO.

monobass · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:00 am Post subject:

Did anyone work out what the blurred out things in the pic of Clavia stand were?

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:07 am Post subject:

Keysandslots · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:55 am Post subject:

I'm not sure where the Prophet V discussion was moved to but I'm kinda itching to get into it, even 'though it's probably a thread hijack. Mods, move or delete as you feel necessary.

Way back in the 80s, when polyphonic synths were new, I was about to go on the road with a disco showband. We were playing covers, mostly Donna Summer, Earth Wind and Fire, Tower of Power and all sorts of other stuff. I wanted to bring my 88 Rhodes and a polyphonic synth that was something more than a string machine.

I spent all sorts of time demo'ing the Prophet, Oberheim (OBX I think) and a used Oberheim 4-voice. Of the three, the 4-voice was by far the best sounding, it was amazing! Unfortunately, I thought patching it live would be a problem, so it was down to the other two.

I ended up buying the Oberheim OBX. I felt the Prophet sounded thinner but the extra modulation was tempting. The Oberheim seemed to sound fatter and warmer, and I knew I needed to do strings, horns, organs and that sort of thing, so a new Oberheim and flight case came home with me, costing $6500.00 at the time, for a six-voice version!

I sold the Oberheim when I got out of the music business and went back to college. I miss it (and the Clavinet C I sold) sometimes, but I'm really kicking myself for not buying the 4-voice.

Randy

astroid power-up! · Joined: Mar 23, 2004 Posts: 334 G2 patch files: 15

lemme just say that i recently went to guitar center and was shocked to find that the roland juno-g is a polkaboard ("physical modelling" but i think that counts), not a va. are people really that dense? do i just not get it?

it's like they're saying "you remember that cool juno from the music videos? well this one is like that, but makes EVERY SOUND"

deknow · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:26 pm Post subject:

randy, unless you had a healthy supply of rodies, i think you back is probably happy you didn't opt for the 4 voice!

deknow

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:31 pm Post subject: