Thursday, August 25, 2005

To synth or not to synth.

So anyway, as some may have notice, Mr. Robert Moog (by the way it's pronounced Mohg, for those that didn't know) passed away a couple of days ago. I don't know, somehow I feel like I should be a little more bummed than I am about that. I absolutely love synthesizers, in particular, I love emulating acoustic sounds on synthesizers. I don't know the first thing and could generally care less about waves, saws and pads (aside from the occasional nostalgic re-creation of certain 80's tunes). And aside from the basic history, I don't really know much about Mr. Moog or his invention. But I do love what came of it - sitting in your studio/lab/bedroom/basement/etc creating entire ensembles with a single machine...ooooh bebe, gets me all excited. I absolutely hate the way certain parts of the film music community have basically raped and bastardized the use of synth in modern music (you don't have to be a rocket surgeon - that was intentional btw - to guess who I'm referring to).

Anyway, don't really have much to say on the subject; just noticed it; felt sad for a few minutes; thought I'd share with the rest of the world. It's inevitably disheartening to know that just about everyone whom I've either idolized, or who has created something that I idolize will die in my lifetime. I guess I just hope that when I'm gone, I'll be remembered for creating something as well.

2 comments:

Herr Vogler said...

I understand. It's difficult knowing that there have been people I wanted to meet but they died before I had the opportunity (like Jerry Goldsmith). There are others, mostly composers, with whom I've always wanted to say, "Yeah, I took a lesson with him/her", but know that, by-and-large, that's probably not going to happen. It's sad, but in the end it could be us that others are wanting to meet and study with. Who knows?

On another note, I was helping another composer colleague move this weekend and all of us helping him move were composers and I was the only one not taking my doctorate at UMKC. It sounds like I made the right choice. They sat and complained at length about how they wanted a challenge with their doctoral program and weren't getting it and because none of them was 1) Asian, 2) Gay or 3) Both they weren't going to get ahead in the program. How sad.

Scratch UMKC off the list.

Mikey the Pikey said...

Duh! (interpret that as you will)