Originally posted to analogue-heaven@hyperreal.com on Jan. 17, '96:

Hello,

I have been kind of lurking on analogue-heaven now for awhile and I think it is a great resource for technical synth info. But, I don't see much discussion beyond the hardware. So having said this, I want to share some of my thoughts on analogue synthesis.

I got into doing analogue stuff only a few months ago with a purchase of an Odyssey. I have been playing with keyboards for many years, but I never got serious about it. I think it is because I was using all those synths loaded with preset sounds.

What I like about my Odyssey is the layers of complexity in the sound. I think because I have an understanding of how much is going on inside the synth, I can really hear almost infinite detail in the textures. The closer I listen, the more I hear.

I think this is unique to good analogue synths because those fatty capacitors and discrete transistors add so much warmth to the sound by producing natural resonance and harmonics in the signal. In a sense, it is noise. But it is not that horrible, high-frequency digital noise, it is warm, thick noise. But if you listen to the noise carefully enough, you can here that it is in fact mathematically predictable signal. "Mathematically predictable" meaning if you really studied the circuit at a "physics" level, you could calculate out this noise.

The deeper you concentrate on these complexities in the texture of the sound, the more appreciation you have for the complexity of the system generating the sound. Sometimes, I feel I can nearly see the grid of circuits the electrons are flowing through to create the sound.

This is an almost euphoric experience. By concentrating more and more on the sounds, it gets to the point where you are no longer just listening to the music. You are a part of it. The music gets into your head and it nearly takes control of your brain. But this positive thing, because once the music is controlling you brain, it can start to take you higher (or, I suppose it could take you down too, but I'm into listening to music that makes me feel up, not down)

No other instrument I have ever heard effects my brain like this. I am not sure why. It is probably because analog synths produce such mathematically pure music. All other acoustical instruments have to much natural noise in them... my brain can't detect the mathematics in the natural noise because it is just to complex.

I can let analogue synthesized music raise me into very high, euphoric states. I think the mind-set I achieve while listening to this music is similar to what people reach when they practice mediation for years and years. I think I am taking a shortcut to that sort of mental void that is so euphoric.

I take this euphoric feeling with me into the rest of my life, and I really think I enjoy life more because of it. Spirituality through electrical engineering.

Is analogue a revolutionary technology that, once it spreads out of the subculture, will redefine what we call "music?"