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Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

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Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#91
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment is hilarious, but as I deal with UIs a lot, the sheer complexity of all those knobs kind of astounds me that he can deal with it all, and in real time to make music. Wow. I've loved his music since the late 70's, it's great to hear it again.

Total guess, I've never seen one of these things in person, but: guessing that the knobs have some logical relationship to each other, like knobs in one row share a subject, and moving to a knob left or right changes the same thing, but more in one way than another way. Also, one reason I still like physical books is that when I'm looking for something that I've read before, I know it's on a left or right page, and w…

It is all just knobs. There are different standard types of modules - oscillators to make a sound, filters to shape the colour, envelope generators and low frequency modulation sources to control how it changes over time - and once you learn the main types you're good to go on most modulars. (Except for some of the weird new ones that have unusual modules you probably haven't used before.)

Is it a good interface? No. It's a terrible interface. Ironically it severely limits what you can do, because your arms are only long enough to reach a few feet - unless you wear roller skates.

If you need a module you don't have you can't complete a patch. You can only get more modules by buying them, and then they take up space whether you use them or not. They're priced somewhere between sort-of cheap and unbelievably insanely expensive.

When you make a patch, It's impossible to reproduce it with perfect accuracy. It takes a long time and copious notes to reproduce complex patches with imperfect accuracy, and any half-way complicated patch disappears into a mess of wires that's very hard to disentangle - conceptually, and literally.

I'm half a fan. I like some of the sounds, especially from the Major Name brands played by people who know what they're doing. But I also wish we could move on and start making software more interesting, more controllable, and better sounding.

Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#92
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Total guess, I've never seen one of these things in person, but: guessing that the knobs have some logical relationship to each other, like knobs in one row share a subject, and moving to a knob left or right changes the same thing, but more in one way than another way. Also, one reason I still like physical books is that when I'm looking for something that I've read before, I know it's on a left or right page, and w…

It is all just knobs. There are different standard types of modules - oscillators to make a sound, filters to shape the colour, envelope generators and low frequency modulation sources to control how it changes over time - and once you learn the main types you're good to go on most modulars. (Except for some of the weird new ones that have unusual modules you probably haven't used before.) Is it a good interface? No.…

The things you mention are artistic limitations - tbey are features, not bugs.

Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#94

Jean Michel Jarre - Rendez-Vous Houston (VHS), 1986 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iVQ2o-PI9M Fantastic collection of TV sound bites begins at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iVQ2o-PI9M&t=57 This love of some french artist in Houston felt odd when I last rewatched this, about ten years ago. Loved the enthusiasm and openness shown in this video.

I was there and just the right age to be really excited about it. 1986 was a rough time in the Houston economy with the price of oil in the toilet, office buildings standing empty, and sad gestures like the city handing out "I'm Houston Proud!" bumper stickers trying to bolster the city's reputation in any way. This concert was an enormous free public event for the whole city, international and futuristic. He brought a Laser Harp! It was super exciting.

Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#95

Much of the equipment consists of analog modular synths. If that intrigues you, definitely check out the recent documentary on the topic "I Dream of Wires" ( http://www.idreamofwires.org/ ). It is on Netflix streaming, but there's also an extended version that is a bit more geeky. The documentary does a great job of covering synthesizers from the Moog days to the present revival of analog synths. Interesting stuff.

Also see the Muffwiggler forums[1], the largest modular synth community on the internet.

[1] - https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/index.php

Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#96

I used to listen non-stop to this album in college, late 80s. Listening to it after all these years, it is still exciting but I don't think JMJ is going to age well. This album with its Chinese street sounds and all the mythology around the trip was heady and amplified the psychological impact. But it also sounds a bit plastic, too much mascara, if you will. I couldn't loop listen this again. Once in a while, sure. I…

I despise Kraftwerk and love Jarre.

It's all just a matter of taste.

Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#97
post #22

Fans of Jean-Michel Jarre often also like: Tangerine Dream (DE): My favorite recordings are Logos and Poland (both live recordings), but there’s many other great ones, e.g. Force Majeure, Phaedra, Quinoa, … Redshift (UK): Love almost every single album they made. My all-time favorites are Redshift Wild 3, Redshift Wild 2, and Wild (all live recordings). Peter Baumann (DE): I particularly like the first few tracks of…

Kraftwerk Vangelis Kitaro Klaus Doldinger (esp. Constellation) If you can't find something let me know. Enjoy!

Kraftwerk+++

Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#99
post #22

Fans of Jean-Michel Jarre often also like: Tangerine Dream (DE): My favorite recordings are Logos and Poland (both live recordings), but there’s many other great ones, e.g. Force Majeure, Phaedra, Quinoa, … Redshift (UK): Love almost every single album they made. My all-time favorites are Redshift Wild 3, Redshift Wild 2, and Wild (all live recordings). Peter Baumann (DE): I particularly like the first few tracks of…

Also if you can find it - Steve Tibbets.

Re: Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe IV (1981) [video]

#100
I will always associate his name with 'Oxygene' and the soundtrack to the movie 'Gallipoli'.

His work really made me want a Sequential Prophet 5 synth back in the 80's. Never got one, but I see now that Dave Smith Instruments has released the Prophet 6, based on the same concepts, but improved... [0]

[0] - https://www.davesmithinstruments.com/product/prophet-6/

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