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Medieval

teenage.engineering

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271–280 of 341 posts

Re: Medieval

#271

Post by uncivilized »

kstrauser wrote: post #74
whatshisface wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think their target audience are well-heeled Apple customers who like to imagine that they are musicians. Hacker culture doesn't have a "collector of expensive African originals" role, so "amateur who collects equipment far out of proportion to the time they invest in using any of it" has formed to collect the same psychological energy. It's about the combination of the creator fantasy on the surface backed up by th…

You’re not totally wrong, just mostly. I use Apple stuff. I bought an EP-133 at launch. That part was true. I also spent thousands of hours with a MIDI setup on my Amiga when I was in high school, teaching myself how to program the little FM synth my parents bought me for Christmas, and learning the theory of what makes a drum pattern sound good. I don’t have thousands of hours available anymore. I still want to dabb…

Your comparison of TE to BMW is apt. As is OP’s comparison to Apple.

For those of us who have raced cars on a track, we see the BMW E36 M3 (90s) as the last proper race worthy vehicle. People who drive BMWs now just want a “nice car to drive” and spirited drivers don’t want anything to do with them.

Likewise, people who use TE instruments want to feel like they are making music, even though they are not using the hardware or software conducive to do so.

Re: Medieval

#272

Post by cschneid »

This made me think of a question I've had for a bit now.

What is the cheapest way to get a grid of buttons that wires into a laptop (mac if it matters) to play sound effects? My wife is a teacher and would really enjoy hitting a button and getting some dumb sound effect to play. But it's just a lark, so it's not worth too much $ invested.

I had assumed a cheap drum pad + midi, but not 100% sure that makes sense.

Re: Medieval

#273

Post by pfyra »

cschneid wrote: post #272

This made me think of a question I've had for a bit now. What is the cheapest way to get a grid of buttons that wires into a laptop (mac if it matters) to play sound effects? My wife is a teacher and would really enjoy hitting a button and getting some dumb sound effect to play. But it's just a lark, so it's not worth too much $ invested. I had assumed a cheap drum pad + midi, but not 100% sure that makes sense.

Perhaps a "game" with a different sound for each key on the keyboard? Can be created quite simply with SDL.

Re: Medieval

#274

Post by disconcision »

diggan wrote: post #205
WatchDog wrote: post #44

Has anyone began dabbling in music production, just to play with some of teenage engineering's gadgets? I'm pretty sure if I bought one, it would just sit in my cupboard, but I'm looking for an excuse to buy one, has anyone here gotten more use out of one of their gadgets than they expected they would?

Maybe start with something cheaper to evaluate if it's something you want to do long-term, and if it fits, start looking at the TE stuff, you'll know better what you want then too. Good entrypoint is the Novation Circuit family of devices. Circuit Rhythm is mainly around sampling and a drum machine, Circuit Tracks a all-in-one groovebox. Both of them are a lot of fun :) Eventually you'll probably be better served by…

the novatron devices appear to be more expensive than the linked TE one?

Re: Medieval

#275

Post by samatman »

cschneid wrote: post #272

This made me think of a question I've had for a bit now. What is the cheapest way to get a grid of buttons that wires into a laptop (mac if it matters) to play sound effects? My wife is a teacher and would really enjoy hitting a button and getting some dumb sound effect to play. But it's just a lark, so it's not worth too much $ invested. I had assumed a cheap drum pad + midi, but not 100% sure that makes sense.

Search for "effects pad" on your online marketer of choice. Show a few to your wife in the affordable range (whatever that means to you), get the one she likes. Personally I would make sure the screenshots do not include the price tag, but that's me.

Re: Medieval

#276

Post by gaudystead »

cschneid wrote: post #272

This made me think of a question I've had for a bit now. What is the cheapest way to get a grid of buttons that wires into a laptop (mac if it matters) to play sound effects? My wife is a teacher and would really enjoy hitting a button and getting some dumb sound effect to play. But it's just a lark, so it's not worth too much $ invested. I had assumed a cheap drum pad + midi, but not 100% sure that makes sense.

My guess would be to build a DIY Stream Deck (basically a standalone keyboard with macros mapped to the keys), such as the one found here:

https://www.partsnotincluded.com/diy-stream-deck-mini-macro-...

Re: Medieval

#277

Post by Bjartr »

cschneid wrote: post #272

This made me think of a question I've had for a bit now. What is the cheapest way to get a grid of buttons that wires into a laptop (mac if it matters) to play sound effects? My wife is a teacher and would really enjoy hitting a button and getting some dumb sound effect to play. But it's just a lark, so it's not worth too much $ invested. I had assumed a cheap drum pad + midi, but not 100% sure that makes sense.

Cheapest grid would probably be an external numpad controlling a soundboard

https://github.com/Shadetheartist/Numboard_X

Re: Medieval

#278

Post by tayistay »

whatshisface wrote: post #39
stitched2gethr wrote: post #31

I'm a fan of Teenage Engineering. I think they make some really cool products but they have a few that really makes me wonder, who is this for?

I think their target audience are well-heeled Apple customers who like to imagine that they are musicians. Hacker culture doesn't have a "collector of expensive African originals" role, so "amateur who collects equipment far out of proportion to the time they invest in using any of it" has formed to collect the same psychological energy. It's about the combination of the creator fantasy on the surface backed up by th…

Blasphemy! Thou shalt not present such claims without the proper scrolls and ledgers of sales to substantiate. Ist thou not acquainted with the more-expensive instruments of musical synthesis available?

Re: Medieval

#279

Post by swozey »

These bastards. I know I'll use this thing 5 times and I've resisted buying one but they look so cool I want one.

I love medieval stuff. They're even being campy/mocky and I don't care I want a medieval synth.

Re: Medieval

#280

Post by subjectsigma »

eweise wrote: post #265
theahura wrote: post #252

O man I love teenage engineering. I built a visual archive of their work just a few days ago -- https://play.soot.com/teenageengineering

Most of the stuff seems way overpriced https://teenage.engineering/products/field-desk Looks like a $100 desk for $1,600

This is the 10,000th time someone has posted TE products to HN and said they're overpriced. They make high-end luxury products for rich people, if you think it's too expensive then you're not the target audience. This is like saying a Lamborghini is too expensive because you can by a Toyota that does 90% of the same stuff for a fifth of the cost. Every one knows, that's the point.

I mean I get it, I would never buy anything from TE either, just like I can't afford a Lamborghini. But I can still look at it and go "Wow, that's really pretty."

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