Digital Flotsam

...I just finished a significant amount of work. Now to send it where it's going and start the next chapter of things. In the meantime, it's time for (you guessed it) another narrowly-targeted technology mini-ramble.

It's interesting when random technological detritus from the "obsolete" pile of history can be repurposed in a modern context. Case in point:

Please find enclosed one Oberheim Systemizer. An obscure MIDI box from the late 80s, it allowed an entire studio full of MIDI instruments to be marshaled conveniently and powerfully under the control of one MIDI controller, no matter how unsophisticated that controller was. For up to 16 MIDI instruments you could layer, create keyboard splits, positional and velocity and aftertouch crossfades, as well as a host of other musically powerful functions such as having each successive note you played be sent to a different instrument, just to name one example.

These devices never really caught on at the time- While undeniably powerful, their cryptic programming method (via a cheap two-digit LED display that was common at the time for low-end MIDI devices) and dubious plastic hardware neither won friends nor influenced people. However, this quirky little box has proven interestingly useful lately when brought into the modern world of software instruments- It allows for some fascinating and unpredictable sonic possibilities, and cost precisely $40 on Craigslist. And interestingly, there is no readily available way to achieve the Systemizer's functionality these days without a significant amount of custom programming, which results in a certain potential for interest and uniqueness. Everything old is new again (again.)