[A6] Since we're comparing apples and oranges...

[F.A.S. Truhan III]

> > > On paper, the A6 should easily be able to replicate this, but for the 
> > > most part, I haven't been able to reproduce the magic.  I'm beginning
> > 
> > When you say this do you mean the same type of patches or magic in
general? 
> > Wondering if you mean the whole synth or just these particular sounds. 
Can 
> > you get magic out of your A6?  Try to flip the excersie and ask if the
M1000 
> > or M6R can match the A6 in it's magic.

	That underscores one of the primary points I was trying to get across
during this whole thing. So many people seem to look at the A6 wholly in
terms of imitative capability. It can't sound like my Mini, so it's crap or
it can't sound like my Juno so it's crap, etc. etc. 
	Do you ever hear an A6 owner saying 'oh, this CS-80 can't sound like my
A6, so it's crap, and this ARP 2600 can't sound like my A6 so it's crap'?
	Back when analogue was the only choice, it was pretty common to see
artists have a number of synths from different makers. I somehow doubt Tom
Oberheim's design goals had anything to do with how much he could make an
OBX sound like a MiniMoog or a Prophet 5. I doubt anyone at the time
bitched that it couldn't either, I think they'd have owned the synths they
needed to own to get the sounds they wanted to get. I don't think I've ever
read about Gary Numan bitching about how his OB-XA didn't sound like his
PolyMoog, or how his MiniMoog didn't sound like his Pro-Soloist. 
	I'm sure Alesis deserves alot of the blame for the A6 getting evaluated on
how much it can sound like Moog/Oberheim model X because of how much
marketing played up what the tonal references for the oscillators and
filters were when they designed it. But, I think if you look at it as it's
own thing that can also do passable impressions of some older synths
(compared to how one might regard a Dave Smith PolyEvolver Keyboard as a
new fun thing that can do some older Sequential style sounds) you might be
alot happier when playing with it in a store or studio. Alot of people are
having fun making good music with their A6, and half the people who tried
to pick out an A6 from a Mini just now couldn't do it, so I'd think the
proof is in the pudding.

> I liked the magic of my M6R but sold it when I got the A6.

	Admittedly though, much like Michael Caloroso, I liked the magic of my
Prophet 5 plenty but I sold it after I had my A6 for a while. On the other
hand there are a few old synths I'd like to have that would coexist well
with my A6. Different people have different ideas about how much one synth
overlaps the ground covered by another, and how inimitable others are. I
don't see why so many want to make this and us-vs-them, black & white
argument. A war of absolutes is almost by definition idiotic. 

>I have an M6R and an M1000 in my rack.  These units produce instant  
> magic on touch, the kind of sounds that strike the nerve that says,  
> 'this is special'.  Some of the horn and liquidy factory patches come  
> to mind.
> On paper, the A6 should easily be able to replicate this, but for the  
> most part, I haven't been able to reproduce the magic.

	It's all relative. There are sounds from old records I dig that from
reading I know were made with an OB-XA. I got to play one of these a few
times. When I've used the A6 to get into that universe of sound but put my
own spin on it (you know, changing that 3-4% to what I think that patch I
liked should have sounded like) I've been pleased by the results I got. 
	I'd say the A6 is more 'textured' than 'liquidy', though I've gotten some
A6 sounds that sound liquidy to me. Conversely, I'd never have thought to
call any Oberheim liquidy either, I'd put them more in the gritty/textured
camp.  
	Trying to get one synth to sound like everything is just plain dumb, it
won't work and it can't happen. In the past I tried that for too long, and
I think if you ask Mark Pulver about the headaches I probably gave him five
or so years back with my ceaseless questions in that area, I'm sure he'd
say amen. If you have to own a couple of synths to get the sounds you need,
you just have to. Only you can be the judge of what's close enough. Shitty
answer in some ways probably, but I find the truth is often a cruel bitch.

                                                   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>FasT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
          "Hrm i just really don't like the first one lol:-) if it's the
mini, it's a bad mini!:-D" - Ryan Lunenfeld picking the Andromeda 6 over
the MiniMoog. DOH!