famous beagle
Well-known member
It wouldn't be my first, and it won't be my last. I play some keys, but it's not my main instrument at all, and so I'm not very knowledgeable with regards to keyboard rigs.
So ... in the 70s, most of the analog synths had a bunch of knobs or sliders, etc. that allowed you to tweak the sounds in real time right from the front panel. I realize, too, that this was the way you actually created the sounds in the first place (by twisting knobs flicking switches, etc.).
In the 80s, however, when digital synths arrived, the typical synth did away with all of those knobs and instead had mostly just buttons. You created the sounds with menus, etc.
My question is this: Why did all those knobs for real-time tweaking go away? If you wanted to sweep a filter while playing a digital synth, for example, what did you do?
My guess is that all of those options were MIDI-controllable. But if so, what MIDI controller was used to do it? I don't know that I've ever seen such a thing.
Anyway, thanks for any input. This has just always puzzled me. IMO, one of the coolest things about those analog synths is the full access to so many real-time tweaking features on the fly. And that doesn't seem to be available on a typical digital synth. Or am I wrong?
So ... in the 70s, most of the analog synths had a bunch of knobs or sliders, etc. that allowed you to tweak the sounds in real time right from the front panel. I realize, too, that this was the way you actually created the sounds in the first place (by twisting knobs flicking switches, etc.).
In the 80s, however, when digital synths arrived, the typical synth did away with all of those knobs and instead had mostly just buttons. You created the sounds with menus, etc.
My question is this: Why did all those knobs for real-time tweaking go away? If you wanted to sweep a filter while playing a digital synth, for example, what did you do?
My guess is that all of those options were MIDI-controllable. But if so, what MIDI controller was used to do it? I don't know that I've ever seen such a thing.
Anyway, thanks for any input. This has just always puzzled me. IMO, one of the coolest things about those analog synths is the full access to so many real-time tweaking features on the fly. And that doesn't seem to be available on a typical digital synth. Or am I wrong?