Re: Real-time category

[S V G <vsyevolod@yahoo.com>]

     Apologies to anyone who's feathers got ruffled.  I myself have a gut 
understanding of what
Kim and Travis and others are trying to say.  Let me put it yet another 
way.

     If I own a set of Roland V-drums, I would expect a RTOS engine to be 
driving them.  Latency
is not so much the issue here, any latency within reason can be adjusted 
to, whether consciously
or otherwise.  But if there is an occassional strike that causes a note to 
sound at anything less
than when I expect it to sound based on all the other notes I'm playing, 
this will definately
erode my sense of being able to use this machine to play in a groove.  I 
would develop an innate
distrust in the machine and whether or not I realized what sort of OS it 
contained, I would
eventually sell it on eBay where I got it in the first place and move on.

     Some uses of Loopers have a requirement that is similar to what I 
just mentioned.  Other uses
have no such requirements.  I myself use Loopers in both ways.  I intend 
no insults to anyone who
uses software Looper X or hardware Looper Y.  Please understand that I am 
not trying to pick any
sort of fight.

     Allow me to offer a fuller explanation.  If in your musical studies 
you develop a sense of
subtlety in timing (one of the prerequisites in being a Real Musician) 
then this is quite
apparent.  In my work with other musicians, I find that Real Musicians are 
few and far between.  I
play in an African Marimba ensemble where timing intracacies will make or 
break the music.  I
found myself utterly aghast one day when I learned how few people in my 
band (at the time) could
not even clap their hands together in a steady way without perceptably 
speeding up or slowing
down.  Yet if you asked any of these people whether or not they could 
honorably execute such a
task, most people would answer in the affirmative.

     If you have a sense of subtlety in musical timing issues, there are 
certain things that you
would bring forth in a discourse such as this one we are engaged in.  If 
you don't, you might
perhaps overlook some things or treat them as if they aren't really that 
important.  This is where
I am coming from when I ask someone (with no disrepect intended) whether 
they are truly a musician
who relies on this sense of subtlety.  If these words irritate you, I 
apologize as that is not my
intent.  At the same time, an intellegent discourse on this whole subject 
would be all the richer
if such views were allowed.

     With all due respect,

         Stephen






__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com