> Zoe, I didn't mean to pick you out in particular through your use of the word 'fetishist'.
Oh, I wouldn't mind even if you did. I know I can come off a bit confrontational online where you can't hear anyone's tone of voice or anything.
> I just found it overwhelming that after (I felt like) I explicitly stated that I did not want to get into a debate about the various benefits of all-analog/hybrid/digital synths -- in fact that I was just here to ask a technical question -- I received (what felt like) a barrage. Most of it well-meaning perhaps, but in one lump of (again, what felt like) disagreement.
I don't think anyone was trying to start an argument, so much as give the advice that they wish others would give them more. One of the common mistakes people make is to ask how to do something very specific, when they should be asking a broader question, because it turns out the best way to accomplish the overall goal they have isn't necessarily the specific route they're trying. People pull me up on this all the time, and as part of my day job I have to do this with my employer sometimes, and it generally leads to less wasted effort, is all.
> I have used so many different electronic and acoustic instruments over the years. I have made great music with the chuck-everything-in-there formula (e.g., guitar + ebow + pedals + yamaha cs-10 + kaoss pad + digital reverb + field recordings + VST plugins), and I have also been buried in sludge because of all the options. I wanted to get back the the _very_ _basics_. At first I thought I'd go all-Doepfer, but instead an all-analog approach is the way for me to simplify. It may be completely meaningless to many, but for where I am now, and what I am trying to achieve, it makes sense!
Ah, now having less gear so you can learn what's left inside out is indeed a good idea. The only part I'd question, to make sure you've thought it through, is the criterion of what stays. I'd recommend keeping what's most useful to you, regardless of how it works behind the scenes. Think of each module as a black box, if you're not going to modify it: it doesn't matter how it converts the inputs to outputs. It matters how easy it is to use, how versatile it is, and how good it sounds.
> There are a lot of rumours on these forums about people who just collect these things and never make any real music on them. So what It makes them happy, and it keeps the module-designers in business. And maybe a contingent of analog-collector-freekz will push the development of modules displaying even more creative and twisted uses of analog circuitry.
Oh, I certainly don't mind that collectors exist, I just have to be constantly vigilant to make sure I don't become one myself. As fun as it is to build up my synth, it's even more satisfying to make music, and it's all too easy for me to forget that! (And I say this as someone buying more Doepfer modules later today...)
Anyway, I, and I think others, just wanted to make sure you'd given sufficient thought to why you'd want an all analogue setup. If you have, great. Go for it! It's just in my personal experience, I make the best music when not constraining myself in that way, so I thought the same might be true for others. If it's not, cool, go forth and make some good purely analogue music. :)
All the best,
Zoë.