Hello there im a music student from england and im wirting a paper on why people still use an analog system in a digital world .
and i was wondering if any one could tell me
why you still use analog ?
what sytem you use and how long ?
or just anything that you think might help .

thanks for reading
yours
Richard Bloomfield (25 UK )

Well Bloomie23, you have asked one of these easy questions with hard answer. Not to mention unspecificness of question with so many possible answers.

First of all, I don't get it about what digital world You are talking. This world we live in is not a digital, it is analog. So it's pretty much understandable why analog systems "survive" even though digital systems seems superior to them.

From the above, it's quite clear that, in order to communicate with digital systems, we need conversion, and conversion is always source of irregularities, errors, noise, and everything else that might distort or degrade the original signal (and we don't want it).

When we talk about sound, CD-s compared to old vinyl disks sounds sterile (although CD-s don't suffer from cracks and noises like vinyl), and sound from vinyl sounds natural.

When we talk about synths, analog synths are part of the history of development of musical instruments, and therefore part of the music we listen (or listened). So if You want to have this specific sound, You will need original analog instrument, or at least good digital simulation. Of course simulation or copy cannot "beat" original by definition.

The reason why there are still more new analog synhts is the fact that analog electronic produce much thicker sound compared to digital synth, and it's preferable for use in creating music that resembles the time when analog sound was popular, or even modern "electronica" music.

Hope this helepad a bit.

Hi
I agree with kalimero, as digital systems are superior then analogs system.

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Digital systems are always just an image of analog systems but they are always an aproximation limited by the digital resolution. Plus digital modelling is always an aproximate science. Digital will always be second best to the actual technology it is modelling. The best modelling can be is perfect but that never happens so digital is always second best. Convenient yes, but still second best.

I have a rather unpopular opinion on why some musicians prefer an analog synth over a digital workstation. The first half of the reason is many musicians appreciate the nostalgic "feel" of playing vintage instruments and in addition, they love the added audio warmth that some claim cannot be digitally reproduced. I agree to some extent with this part, although I still use mostly soft synths and a Kurzweil workstation.

Now for the "unpopular" part. The other half of the reason I believe is mostly based on the snobbery. Some musicians feel that if you are not using solely analog synths that you are somehow making inferior music with your "digital toys". There was a trend a few years back of paying top dollar for vintage synths. If you are a synth collector or a multi millionaire, thats fine. But it is ridiculous to buy thousands of dollars worth of old gear just so you can say in the footnotes of the album, that your record was made using ONLY ANALOG gear.

Digital workstations and softsynths have come a long way in successfully reproducing the warmth of analog. Although some will claim there still is a subtle difference, most people who are pounding the floor at the clubs listening to your track could care less what synths were used.

I agree with Chris Attison fully on his reply.

I myself have only one analog synth - A roland SH-09 and I admit its not the best example of what some people may term as an "analog beast". I have owned it for around 10 years, and I use it for creating sub basses in my music.

I however am not one of the analog snobs- and there are plenty of them.I like to term what is CAOD -Compulsive Analog Ownership Deficancy. It comes in many different categories, the techno geek, the beardy weirdy 50 prog rock collector who would not even part with even a curtis chip over a ransom demand, the pro musican who has the cash to do so and the truly blinkered synth groupie,( who will trawl through various internet auction sites, outbidding everyone and paying obscene amounts of money for analogs "or any synth for that matter"), that is honestly unacceptable beyond the proper expected price bracket. Almost to the point they do without daily life needs such as food, heat and possibly toilet paper.

Although its possibly a tad sarcastic, it has its truths. Apart from one of these examples,the use of analogs in music is because of the usual snobbery term - that analogs sound so much richer than digital (although to a point its true - especially due to analog low pass filters). They are also easier to program with satisfying results. Although my system is mostly digital, I hate programming digital synths (apart from my V synth). So complicating and headaches from staring at little screens to find parameters and system exclusive settings.

There is however another point of thought, not because what analogs are, but what they mean to us.

The use of analogs has become reliant on a "cultural food chain" that is based on points of music milestones and our early youth experiences of our chosen music idols .

For example the Akai MPC 60 and Emu SP1200 are held as todays Rap Musics holy grail... Yes these giants of men will tell you all about the gritty 12 bit sampling sound, but behind the technological facade, there behind the front are little 12 year olds bursting to get out and say that because Public Enemy used them, so must they, therefore fulfilling a childhood wish.

The TR808 and 909 are the same amongst todays techno musicians. The 808 although different that its provision within music has evolved from its trademark bass drum, into providing new uses as providing low level sub bass kicks in which to layer samples to create new monster kicks, the 909 in comparison has been done to death and is so very passe. However people swear by it because their musical heroes used them, and so they become coveted items to satisfy closer links from youth culture.

In less complicated terms our choices of using and sourcing various types of equipment but especially of analogs amongst lots of users because its what our music idols used. There are many examples of past masters of analog, Tony Banks, Gary Numan, Ultravox, Richard Barberi, Rick Wakeman etc, that progressed from analog ( as thats was avaliable at the time), but soon moved on to digital technology when it advanced and never looked back.

We as mere people, were sucked in by the image and sound of past masters and the emerging synth acts of the 90s and early 2000's acts such as orbital, 808 state, Orb etc that actlivly used analogs within setups and held in such high regard, that it created a rose coloured specs effect, to the point it clouds and influences our judgement against the analog/ digital debate. And because of this and the influence of new acts appering on the market, with invested advances from their labels to afford sourcing analog equipment for recordings. Unfortunatly because they will state to various recording magazines within interviews that this particular analog item was the dogs bits,. This is then passed on to would be unsigned emulators of the music genre, therefore creating a mad rush to pay huge amounts of cash for TB303s etc. Its all to do with hype.

For example youtube is full of Numan fanatics constantly posting their versions of the polymoog Vox Humana preset sound on thier modern synths. Now put them in a situation to offer them either a free Polymoog or a new Alesis Andromeda. My bets is they will take the Poly over the Alesis...Why - The Alesis is perhaps one of the best (if slightly expensive) synths out there - the Polymoog on comparison is dated, less flexable and technically unstable against the Andromeda, but they will take the Poly becouse it is an icon of association.

I however am no better, I want a Jupiter 8 cause most of my synth heros do, can I afford it... NO!

Do I want to either - No, I would not be influenced and persuaded from greedy individuals preying on the market of analogs. And it is this that angers me a great deal. "Oh but its quality and so rare etc" the seller will tell you for his sad looking Juno 60, in bad need of overhaul and MOT and on the last step to frying its own brains, just to confirm a sale to the over-inflated market. And before anyone states the old chestnut- you have to consider what they were new... Rubbish!! - A ferrari new 20 years ago cost well over £120 grand, today you can pick one up for £25-30k.

Everything depreciates with value - with exceptions to housing and the scurge of the self imposed property developer greed and lack of housing supply.
It prays on the desperate and needy, the same for analogs.

However, one said thing of analogs, is that they offer so much hands on control, instead of fighting against the PHD Physics of digital systems, with sub systems and menus - and thankfully this is changing back to analog tactile knobs. I mean imagine if the DX7 came with a fully compatible analog structure of knob control programming, People would not have dissed it so much in the early 2000's for being so notoriously difficult to program. And if it had that, would they incur a higher premium than the paltry amount they reach these days from its new price.

It bears a thought