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RE: Reflections on right brain/left brain approaches to gear
Thanks for opening my mind up, i just learnt something huge about myself.
cam
S V G <vsyevolod@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> After just posting that last bit on the FCB1010 MIDI pedal, I
>started ruminating a bit on the
>process that I go through as a musician in developing a relationship to
>my gear. Someone on
>another list recently made an excellent observation comparing physical
>patchcords (like with the
>old style modular synthesizers) to LCD menu screens. He said that the
>patchcords are more "right
>brain", you can see at a glance what is going on and take actions from an
>intuitive part of
>yourself in the patching process. What Brian Eno refers to as "rapport"
>with ones chosen gear.
>LCD screens are more "left brain" and require you to enter a different
>way of thinking in order to
>alter a patch. Perhaps this way of thinking doesn't come easy for some
>people (like myself).
>
> I don't know if the "left brain/right brain" analogy is accurate,
>though his words spoke
>volumes to me. The FCB1010 is a difficult beast for me to wrap my brain
>around and it isn't
>getting any easier for me as the years roll on. There's not even an LCD
>screen... Also for me,
>MIDI (the way it is currently applied), is non-intuitive, non-"right
>brain" if you will. One of
>the greatest things to come out in the last ten years of gear is the
>entire Electrix line. Or at
>least for those of us who relate well to this style of gear interaction.
> Though I have never
>tried using the EDP, the discussions that ensue here on this list push me
>further away from it as
>they seem to speak of a way to approach the pedal that runs counter to
>what feels good to me. I
>wish this wasn't so, as the EDP seems so powerful. Perhaps someday I
>will come across one of
>these little hummers and my thoughts about it will be proved incorrect.
> I have to limit the
>amount of gear that I buy based on how accessable it is to me to
>understand and utilize. So much
>of what has been produced over the last 20 years seems "unfriendly" to me
>and my way of working.
>
> I don't want to start any flame wars here, rather the FCB1010 and
>its awkward programming
>style led me to ruminate a bit. I put it in the "left brain" camp. I
>would imagine that for some
>"left brain" oriented people, the LCD screen actually works more fluidly
>in their music making
>process. To those who easily understand computer software and
>programming, certain pathways have
>been etched into their brain and the way they relate to these things. Or
>so it seems to me. Once
>the FCB1010 is well programmed, it may move itself over to the "right
>brain" camp. Maybe. Same
>goes for the EDP. It may serve as an unusually intuitive tool for me, if
>I am ever able to get
>past the user interface. Once my feet start dancing on the pedals, who
>knows how easy it will be?
> My sense is that Andre and others on this list already have this
>relationship to the EDP, perhaps
>even the FCB1010...
>
> Another analogy comes to mind with the generic stomp box vs. the
>Line 6 stomp box modeler. I
>have owned all 4 of their effect modelers and have felt myself not able
>to relate to them
>intuitively (programming them that is). The resultant effects don't seem
>to do what they are
>supposed to do. Other stomp boxes seem so intuitive on the other hand,
>even the complex ones. I
>suppose it all has to do with how the boxes are set up internally, how
>their logic is constructed.
> On the plus side, in the process of owning these effect modelers, I have
>come across other gear
>that does the job much more simply and directly, not to mention sounding
>better to boot. So I
>have a debt of gratitude for those humble Line 6 boxes. They taught me
>that there are ways to
>achieve what I want, in ways that work for me, and with some patience I
>will find that way for
>myself. (anyone interested in a used FM-4 or MM-4?)
>
> I am still struggling with my Roland GR-33 and my Axon AX100-SB
>guitar synths. The Axon is
>far more powerful and far more difficult for me to work with. The Roland
>is more of a Plug'n'Play
>module, with crappier tracking and sounds, yet the footboard controls
>make parts of it more
>accessable. They both rely on small LCD screens and way too many menus
>to scroll through, not to
>mention Owner's Manuals that were written by aliens... The bottom line
>may turn out that they are
>not worth the trouble for me. The jury is not out yet.
>
> And with all that Electrix has gone through in the last few years,
>the bugs and
>inconsistencies and ultimate demise that is their legacy, ya still gotta
>love 'em. I have all 6
>of the Electrix modules, (indeed it seems like a modular synthesizer from
>the old days), and I
>wouldn't trade them for anything. One quick look at the rack and I know
>intimately what is
>happening to my sound.
>
> In none of this discussion do I mean to imply that either right or
>left brain approaches are
>superior to one another, or that one way of working is mo bettah than
>another way. I'm interested
>in hearing from people what works for them.
>
> Cheers,
>
> SVG
>
>
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