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Conference napalm::commusic_v1

Title:* * Computer Music, MIDI, and Related Topics * *
Notice:Conference has been write-locked. Use new version.
Moderator:DYPSS1::SCHAFER
Created:Thu Feb 20 1986
Last Modified:Mon Aug 29 1994
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2852
Total number of notes:33157

967.0. "Letting My Kids Use My Synths (Synths 'R' Us)" by ECADSR::SHERMAN (Sure... blame the *computer* ) Thu Oct 01 1987 15:59

    Lately, we've been having a lot of fun with my two year-old and
    my 'studio'.  Often I turn everything on and let the tyke mess around
    with the keyboard and such.  I guess it's a poor man's version of
    an automatic randomizer.  (Actually, it can lead to new ideas ...)
    Anyway, he has lots of fun.  Lately, I've been hooking up a mic
    to the MV2, turning on the speakers, and letting the kid have at.
    The multipan, echos and long delays (about .5 sec) keep the rug
    rat entertained for upwards of half an hour.  Gets a bit annoying
    when he screams, but it's no big deal.  My wife and I get a big
    kick out of watching the boy enjoy himself.
    
    Steve
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967.1AKOV76::EATONDThe Mike Mongeon Band: 10/9, HoldenThu Oct 01 1987 16:236
	I keep my 'pre-MIDI' analog mono synth set aside for this very
purpose - entertaining stray kids while trying to do 'serious' music.  I've
been quite surprised at the tones my 4-year-old boy has come up with - mostly
in the category of 'sound-effects'.

	Dan
967.2Well, well ... there are othersDYO780::SCHAFERDragons is *so* stupid ...Thu Oct 01 1987 16:2512
Interesting ...

   I have a couple radiation-hardened ARPs laying around that I will turn
   on and let my (now almost 5 ?!) daughter play.  It's amazing some of
   the riffs and effects that she pulls off.  (You don't need M or Jam
   Factory with a kid in the house.)

   Unfortunately, the wife is not so fond ... the kid's last filter
   rez/sweep sent the cat on a tear thru the house and scratched up a
   floor she just stenciled ... 

8-)
967.3Childish Dreams4TRACK::LAQUERREThu Oct 01 1987 16:2516
    
    Sounds like fun!  It's amazing how fascinated our 11-month-old is with
    musical instruments.  I keep my acoustic guitar leaning in a corner of
    our den.  He's learned to crawl, stagger, or drive his walker up to it,
    pull open the unlatched case, and drag his fingers across the strings.
    As he's strumming, he has this need to look up at an adult every few
    seconds with this huge smile on his face just to show how proud he is
    of this accomplishment. 
    
    When it comes to my keyboard, all he needs to see is the exposed white
    and black keys as I remove the cover and it's fun time. I'm hoping that
    as my home studio expands, I can have a room full of equipment for him to
    grow up with.  Like I try to explain to my wife Sheryl, all these
    instruments and gadgets aren't for MEeeee.  They're for our son! 
    
    Peter
967.4What we gain... what we lose...DREGS::BLICKSTEINDaveThu Oct 01 1987 16:4923
    Adrian Belew (Frank Zappa Band, King Crimson, The Bears, etc.),
    noted guitarist has a cut on his "Lone Rhino" album that's a tape
    of his 4 year old daughter picking out notes on the piano.
    
    There's a liner note that says this occurred one night in the studio
    as he was holding her while keeping the sustain pedal down.  When
    he listened to the tape later he was amazed by the "adult"ness of
    the piece and added some guitar parts to it and put the thing
    eventually made it on the album.
    
    As I read that liner note before having listened to it I was thinking
    "what typical parental my-kid-is-special bullpucky".  I have to
    admit that is my typical reaction.
    
    HOWEVER!!!! When I finally got around to listening to that piece,
    much of what he said struck me and I really like that piece.
    
    I seem to have no choice from my own observation to accept that
    yeah, it sound like parental pride, or some sorta of ridiculous
    projection about the gift of childhood, but it's really true.
    Kids are capable of some truly amazing things.
    
    	db
967.5Electronic KidFGVAXZ::MASHIACrescent City KidThu Oct 01 1987 18:3224
    My son (18 months) has his own Casio keyboard, complete with automatic
    drums/fills and bass.  He *loves* it, especially the drum button.
    He's into turning the volume up as loud as it will go, turning the
    tempo up as fast as it will go, hitting the drum button, giggling
    delightedly for a few seconds, and then crawling (now walking) away.
    My wife has since removed the batteries and the adapter. :-)

    But I wanna tell ya', those things are *sturdy*.  It's survived
    being dropped, drooled on, played as a drum with a stainless steel
    tablespoon, and danced on with hard soled shoes (His, not mine).
        
    He also loves the microphone-and-digital-delay trick, especially
    when I use the "infinite repeat" button.  He keeps looking at the
    speakers, looking for the other two kids.  

    When I got my Dr. T's sequencer software, the first thing that got
    recorded was him falling on my CZ101.
    
    He also likes to play my acoustic guitar, but only when *I'm* playing
    it!

    Boy, if I'd had that kinda stuff when I was his age...
    
    Rodney M.