What's on your playlist lately?

Daniel Edwards said:There’s also all this other gear out there; modern musicians—the pretentious ones, anyway—use all sorts of high-tech wonders just to prove how cool and "different" they are.

Sure, everything is being manufactured and released these days, but at the end of the day, what I value most is someone who can actually sing their heart out, maybe accompanied by a decent guitarist or someone on an accordion. 😳

Don't get me wrong, those gadgets are interesting and they produce beautiful sounds, and part of me would love to tinker with every single one of them. But I'd need to actually know how to operate them without having to wade through a 500-page manual or seek out some Tibetan monk who claims to be the sole keeper of that instrument's ancient secrets. 😕

goldenscout14 said:The Moog Model D.

I actually had him staying at my place for about a month or so. 🙂
beast.

hollowsailor48 said:I actually had it right here at my place for about a month or so. 🙂
The beast.

What on earth happened that forced you to part with it—did you need to upgrade to a new car or something? 😁

Did you even get a chance to play it, maybe record some samples so you could keep those sounds forever?

Honestly, I’m convinced more than half of the synth-pop hits from the 80s were born on the wings of that beast...

Despite all these fancy musical tools at our disposal, the human element remains the absolute most important factor. Everything has been upgraded and modernized, yet music itself hasn't actually become any better than what we had in the past 🤷

goldenscout14 said:So, what actually happened that forced him to bail? Was it some sudden need for a new car or something else entirely? 😁

It wasn't actually mine; I just picked it up from some guy.
He let it go for something in the ballpark of $2,500. He was strapped for cash and didn't even have any MIDI gear to work with, so he just moved it on.
He picked it up over in Germany for about $2,600.😛

Did you actually get any hands-on time with it? I mean, did you sit down and play it, or better yet, record some custom samples to keep in your back pocket forever?

I spent all my time playing them, programming them, even falling in love with the sound of them—but I never actually sat down to bounce them to audio. I just couldn't find the time. 😵
I finally pulled the trigger and picked up the Arturia emulation of the Jupiter-8. (who, by the way, is doing a stellar job) At least I can find some small comfort in this while I figure out how to sell a kidney to fund something actually worthwhile.

Honestly, I’m convinced that more than half of the synth-pop we heard throughout the 80s was essentially birthed from the wings of that one specific beast.

I know. 😉
Jackson’s Thriller was actually put together using a J8 and a massive collection of soundtracks. Scarface

mellowmaker7 said:man, have you seen how much you can squeeze out of a steakhouse menu? A billion combos, a million flavors. It’s endless.

I mean, sure, any serious instrument basically has infinite possibilities. You could spend your whole life learning drums or guitar and still never master everything they can do.

What I'm getting at is, if he starts hunting down those weird, non-standard instruments, he's gonna need a poster the size of a football field just to fit them all in. There are way too many of them.

Besides, I think he was just looking for the stuff you actually hear in modern pop and rock, not some niche alternative sounds.

mellowmaker7 said:even with all those high-tech tools at our disposal, the human element remains the most critical factor. Everything has been upgraded and modernized, yet music itself isn't actually any better than it used to be. 🤷

The truth is, people just don't approach their craft with any sense of sincerity anymore. It’s all about chasing a quick buck or some fleeting fame. Everyone nowadays is desperately trying to reinvent themselves as the next Skrillex or Deadmau5 (and I am talking specifically about the mainstream scene)
I’m honestly sick to death of today's overproduced, overcompressed garbage, as well as those endless "How to sound like Skrillex / Deadmau5" threads on Music Production forums and all the mindless tutorials flooding YouTube.

So, what exactly is this poster going to feature, other than just a collection of instrument photos pulled from various posts on this thread? 😁

I assume there’s going to be some actual text included, and you'll need to have a bit of expertise on the subject matter too, right? 😁

Honestly, I'm right there with you on this. I've always had a massive soft spot for collecting vinyl and posters.😳

Just throw on some synth, crank a vintage filter in Photoshop, and slap on some hipster font (maybe Helvetica or something similar) and boom—you’re done. "Music is mainstream"

Yeah, perfect for two people.

Anyway, if you're looking at "keyboards," you can basically split them into digital ones, stage pianos, electric organs like a Hammond, analog synths, digital synths, and arrangers. There might be some other niche stuff out there, but those are the big players.

And drums? You've got your choice between electric and acoustic.

hollowsailor48 said:It’s because people have lost any sense of sincerity in their craft. It’s all about the bottom line and clout now. Everyone is desperately trying to be the next Skrillex or Deadmau5 (and I’m talking about the mainstream scene here)
I am genuinely disgusted by the overproduced, overcompressed garbage being pumped out today, not to mention those endless "How to sound like Skrillex / Deadmau5" threads on the Music Production forums and those mindless tutorials scattered across YouTube.

Precisely,

The industry has set such suffocating standards that sheer overproduction has become the primary metric for success. Anyone who dares to experiment or aim for a different aesthetic is immediately sidelined, dismissed under the pretense that their sound simply isn't "high quality" enough. I cannot wrap my head around how we transitioned into this era of pure technical competition. That fundamental connection—the ability to convey raw emotion and a personal message through sound—has completely evaporated. I feel it most acutely when I'm driving and flip on the radio; they take songs that are already heavily compressed and slap even more compression on them until everything is flattened into total mediocrity.

As for Skrillex. I honestly don't understand how anyone can just lie in bed and listen to that stuff.

I think you guys missed the point here—the guy actually needs help designing a poster, not a lecture.😁

There’s always good music out there if you actually bother to look for it. It’s not all just over-compressed, over-produced garbage... unless I guess MTV is basically your entire worldview.😁

mellowmaker7 said:When it comes to Skrillex, I honestly can't wrap my head around how anyone could just lie in bed and listen to that stuff.

Look, I’m not exactly running in the mainstream circles—I’m more of a fan of pure dubstep and all that wobble roar nonsense myself—but you seriously can't deny that Skrillex is a creative force who actually knows his craft. He earned every bit of the fame he has.

hollowsailor48 said:I don't really hang out in the mainstream scene—mostly because I'm a die-hard fan of dubstep and all that wobble roar nonsense—but you can't deny that Skrillex is a creative guy who actually knows his craft. He’s earned every bit of the fame he has.

I honestly can't say if the guy is creative or not. I listened to a single track once, didn't care for it, and never bothered to dig any deeper. At the end of the day, it's a matter of taste. I'm not questioning his ability to innovate, but I just don't enjoy it. Throwing a million effects at everything isn't "feeling"; it's just a massive demonstration of force. Less is more. Instead of showing off technical prowess, there should be more soul, more of the artist himself behind the sound.

Two tons of this guy is more than enough for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9te0...layer_embedded

brightridge59 said:Alright, so what’s actually going on this poster besides just a bunch of gear photos ripped straight from this thread? 😁

I mean, there’s gotta be some text on it, right? You can't just make a poster without knowing what you're even talking about. 😁

Look, it's an American-style poster, I just need to list the gear names in English. 😁 Half of you guys were messing around here and half weren't, so just throw those modern instruments on there and write their names in American. 🙄

You really earned yourself a slap on the wrist from Germany.

A Synthesizer is a Synthesizer in English. The model name stays exactly what it is—so a Moog Model D is still a Moog Model D. A Yamaha is a Yamaha.

A laptop is a laptop. A tone generator is a tone generator. Software is software. A musical instrument is a musical instrument.

Tell the professor that if she actually intended to bridge the gap between learning German and modern music, she completely missed the mark; most modern music is built entirely on English terminology, and even then, English borrows heavily from other languages. It seems like most kids today—unless they’re true enthusiasts—don't even realize what the foundation of modern music actually looks like.

Next time, maybe she should stick to traditional German instruments, like the schäferpfeife. See? Now that's an interesting German word and a legitimate instrument.

Sean Doyle97 said:if you don't get that getting an A is fair, you're just clueless😁

I agree. Seriously, my generation—not even counting the older folks—didn't grow up with the Internet, Google, or Facebook. We just had books, and we figured things out anyway. I highly doubt there isn't a single book out there about musical instruments (especially nowadays!). If you're stuck, sure, ask someone, but this is so easy it’s almost ridiculous. It’s actually pretty sad how everyone wants everything handed to them on a silver platter without lifting a finger.