You must know about http://www.ptank.com/blog/ , yes? :)

Yes shane, that's shocking! Generally, aftertouch is grossly underimplemented (and that's just channel pressure I'm referring to, don't get me started on polyphonic aftertouch) — I'd like to know if it adds a substantial cost to a keybed to add it? It's so odd because aftertouch is so easy to use (once you know what it is).

I get so righteously angry watching old Vangelis videos where he plays a CS-80 with aftertouch and a ribbon controller, and wonder why we haven't come a lot further in this department in the decades since. It's like, the synth world's equivalent of lost ancient civilization's secrets.

Who is their mostly black cat? He/she is a star! I remember seeing the cat in a previous video.

I heart these guys' creativity, they look like they're having fun combining accessible song hooks with these somewhat unsettling atmospherics. I think they have the "long intro worth waiting through" thang down to an art and/or science now.

@Polite http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tr... ;)

Trying to define "talent" is always worse than finding out for yourself whether you have it. :)

@Gordon What you say I've often observed. And I adore seeing the massive analogue museums some collectors have compiled, it shows passion. While I wouldn't shell out dough on those and I don't have the physical space to house such magnificent beasts, I love the sounds, and I can think of a few non-musical extravagances that I'd buy precisely because of emotion.

I've held an increasing belief that when we can surpass limitations, our nostalgia factor for those previous restrictions multiplies exponentially. Value becomes not just about the devices themselves, but social status associated with them (e.g., the prestige of a DJ using a REAL TB-303 opposed to a software plugin — if you care about such things, I don't as long as I'm pleased with the sound).

But today, we have so many awesome free plugins.

@synthhead And here I am playing SampleTron's Optigans!

Agreed with some of the above. "741 MB" is meagre compared to many virtual instrument sample libraries; it's misleading to call it "enormous" in a day and age where 2TB hard drives cost less than US$100. In comparison with that, "2 GB of additional content" isn't impressive either. Disappointed to see Erik Norlander make such a claim too — his demo song for the Alesis QS-series over a decade ago is a fave, but spec-wise, they're stretching.

HOWEVER, numbers aside, where these "legacy" devices continue to have a foothold is when veteran sound designers make sounds (regardless of raw memory count) expressive and articulate and use the hardware controllers to make it playable live without a second thought. The "arpeggiators" make me think of how Korg Karma doesn't have a great software synth counterpart yet. I'm disappointed when I download some soft synths and it boasts many presets but most of them don't make use of mod wheel, aftertouch (highly underrated), etc.

Therefore, Yamaha's focus is off: instead of trying to compete on spec counts where they've been soundly trounced time and time again, they should focus on the robustness of their hardware, e.g., "For live players, it's as solid as a tank!" (I don't know if that's actually true of the Motif XF, but with prices like that, it had better be.)

Overall, I'm disappointed that subsequent generations from the old-guard of hardware synth manufacturers tend to be incremental and lodged too much in tradition. NOT ENOUGH BELOVED ADVANCES. I can draw a sore comparison to Apple here: I heart my 2008 Mac Pro, but the newest update is underwhelming in its lack of superb advances (boasting a "1.3x" speed gain over the previous gen on some of their marketing pages is sad!). In a similar way, these Motifs haven't fundamentally changed in a stretch of years.

I'm pretty much with the economical-minded folks here — being resourceful appeals to me, especially given the crazy costs of these buggers.

A most striking difference — of what's been released so far — is that these previews largely contain melodic minor modes, which is common in contemporary electronic dance music. There are some cool parts, but so far, the ostinato-rich riffs sound reminiscent of Philip Glass or even Hans Zimmer's work for Inception.

Bursts of feedback and characteristic "Daft distortion" aside, what Daft Punk are missing from Carlos' unique score is that she explored many exotic realms of awkward intervals, dissonance, and in her broader work, microtones. While I tend to be a bigger fan of Carlos' more hummable stuff, understanding this — the alien aspects of the music complementing the then-new computer animation — is key to understanding why the original Tron score worked for the movie it supported. Of course, virtual reality is a lot more familiar to a mass marketplace today.

But still, the visual aspects of Tron: Legacy looks like a sensible extension of its predecessor given today's technology. So far, the music isn't equivalent. I keep hoping for Daft Punk remixes of the original Tron theme.

I've been high on mid-90s melodic techno recently, like Utah Saints and Psykosonik. In particular, the Hackers and Mortal Kombat soundtracks (which share Orbital's "Halcyon" and Orbital's back with some new tracks tinged with retro influence, whee).

I applaud Moby's continued evolution, altho in recent years, he'd made more subtle changes than wild style shifts.

Related thought: some classic dance sounds from the JD-800 (and similar models) have been mistaken from sampled guitars. Including, apparently, Prodigy's "Voodoo People" riff. http://theprodigy.info/equipment/JD-990.shtml

I wrote to Roger praising him for this video — which is essentially a tight, apt "project preset" in his inimitable style. It convinced me to try... and then buy it. I thought CamelSpace was neat but AdrenaLinn Sync goes beyond: its particular combo routing of effects leads to some super-unique possibilities. In particular, how it can pitch its filter has added lush resonance to my drum loops.

I also sent Roger a lovely gem of a track I used AdrenaLinn Sync on, which may be making an appearance soon. :)