tfinn wrote:
quoted 2 lines Digital will ALWAYS be an approximation of our analog world. Else it> Digital will ALWAYS be an approximation of our analog world. Else it
> ceases to be sampling -- it will be copying, and it will be analog.
But if ideal sampling occurs satisfying the Nyquist criterion, and
quantization occurs to a point beyond our ability to discern information,
then to us (in the experiential realm) what's the difference? I guess we
are left with the old question about if a tree falls in the forest, and no
one is around to hear it, does it make a sound. Whatever.
the Nyquist criterion is your friend...
As an aside, what are your opinions on digital vs. analog _synthesis_? In
the current state of affairs, barring $200,000 machines contrary to the
whole point of this music, I overwhelmingly prefer the latter, for the
following reason:
Analog synths, like any other "analog" instrument such as the violin or
piano, have _dynamically indeterminate_ outputs. All the imperfections in
an analog system change unpredictably over time, and are often nonlinear.
This generates in the listener a feeling of warmth, of "naturalness", of
flow.
Digital synths, with all their conveniences, to this date generally lack
this characteristic. Much of digital synthesis in the consumer market deals
with manipulating preset, statically determinate waveforms. The only noise
that gets introduced is quantization error, which is necessarily static. In
other words, you play a sound, and you know exactly what it's going to sound
like - no suprises - everything cold, static, determinate. The basic
techniques may be copied from analog synths, but without their
"imperfections". There is, however, a way around this. By introducing
filters (preferably with feedback) that incorporate nonstationary
_stochastic_ elements, one can hope to approximate the wonders of the analog
world. One way to do this is to incorporate human feedback. At least this
is my theory - no time to implement it :(
I just wish that as the music gets more "biomorphic" (how I consider Black
Dog, B12, etc.) the synthesis techniques will also.
quoted 5 lines Off in the ozone...>
> Off in the ozone...
>
> tfinn@crash.cts.com (Preferred)
> The Finn/ VLA
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"the only constant / Harvey D. Thornburg \ "the only certainty
thing is change" / \ is uncertainty"
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