Comments on: The worst piece of gear I ever bought. Airsynth. http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/ Mon, 20 May 2013 18:44:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: lextrical http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-7387 lextrical Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:11:19 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-7387 I have always found the Airsynth to be quite a lot of fun and used it for both recording with my band and on tracks for the daily music bean project on my blog. I believe that Wayne Coyne uses one fitted inside an acoustic guitar with the controller poking through the soundhole. I have always found the Airsynth to be quite a lot of fun and used it for both recording with my band and on tracks for the daily music bean project on my blog. I believe that Wayne Coyne uses one fitted inside an acoustic guitar with the controller poking through the soundhole.

]]> By: Oliver Chesler http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-7358 Oliver Chesler Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:47:36 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-7358 Thanks for your use case. I never hooked my AIrsynth through anything so indeed you may have morphed it into something better. I remember in my 90s studio taking 5+ hardware devices and putting them through each other trying to get a different sound. Thanks for your use case. I never hooked my AIrsynth through anything so indeed you may have morphed it into something better. I remember in my 90s studio taking 5+ hardware devices and putting them through each other trying to get a different sound.

]]> By: Jephix http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-7354 Jephix Thu, 08 Apr 2010 06:34:51 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-7354 I would just like to add my own opinion about the Alesis Airsynth and AirFX. I have both of them and put them to great use in 2 different live bands and currently in my studio setup I am transforming them into something much better than what they can do just by themselves and in original condition. When I hooked them up together, running the Airsynth through a behringer virtualizer pro multi-fx unit, and mixed the microphone through that and also into the AirFX and back out into a digitech vocal 300 foot-pedal, I must say that achieved a level of effect-expression that is hard to achieve in other ways. For along time I was getting sick of programming things and wanted to make a more real-time expressive crazy fx rig... perhaps all these pieces of equipment aren't much by themselves, but you would be surprised at how well they can be utilized for some very unique, texturized and expressive atmospherics and even some melodic elements as well.... I am more excited about getting the Photon which has the xyz dome as a midi controller, that way I can choose exactly what parameters I want to control with it. Anyway, with an airsynth, airfx, and the vocal 300 foot pedal I can basically be controlling and morphing 9 different parameters simultaneously. I would like to see someone try to turn 9 rotary knobs at the same time or 9 sliders, and all in different purposely directed motions. This complex use of these apparent "toys" actually worked wonderfully when I played in a psychedelic improv band along with a keyboard of course, and then when I was in a post-hardcore scream-o-ish band I was playing keyboards and singing, and we had some very interesting intros and bridges where I would use the airsynth and airfx very musically, and could memorize using them the same way in the songs - all live - and the cool part is it has wonderful potential for expression within a memorized set of parts. If you want proof and someone comments back I will put my e-mail address up here and then get ahold of me I will send you some mp3s. Currently however for those airsynth haters on here you will probably appreciate that I removed both the airsynth and airfx from their cheesy plastic cases along with the vocal 300 and they are set up so that I can still play them normal but I am also working on circuit-bending them for achieving a whole new level of unique sound from these wacky one-of-a-kind devices, so honestly controlling 3 parameters simultaneously with one hand is not easy to do without using either an infrared-type unit like these or something like the Wacom pen tablet to midi, which offers perhaps a little more control over the specific directions of the 3-axis parameters (x, y, and pressure). By itself, yeah the air-synth isn't going to sound very useful in the studio, but put it into a jam-band setup with some other crazy shit and you'll see that it has some uses when combined with other units... and if someone has both an air-synth hooked into an air-fx, you can really achieve some unique sounds and very expressively. Peace! I would just like to add my own opinion about the Alesis Airsynth and AirFX. I have both of them and put them to great use in 2 different live bands and currently in my studio setup I am transforming them into something much better than what they can do just by themselves and in original condition. When I hooked them up together, running the Airsynth through a behringer virtualizer pro multi-fx unit, and mixed the microphone through that and also into the AirFX and back out into a digitech vocal 300 foot-pedal, I must say that achieved a level of effect-expression that is hard to achieve in other ways. For along time I was getting sick of programming things and wanted to make a more real-time expressive crazy fx rig… perhaps all these pieces of equipment aren’t much by themselves, but you would be surprised at how well they can be utilized for some very unique, texturized and expressive atmospherics and even some melodic elements as well…. I am more excited about getting the Photon which has the xyz dome as a midi controller, that way I can choose exactly what parameters I want to control with it. Anyway, with an airsynth, airfx, and the vocal 300 foot pedal I can basically be controlling and morphing 9 different parameters simultaneously. I would like to see someone try to turn 9 rotary knobs at the same time or 9 sliders, and all in different purposely directed motions. This complex use of these apparent “toys” actually worked wonderfully when I played in a psychedelic improv band along with a keyboard of course, and then when I was in a post-hardcore scream-o-ish band I was playing keyboards and singing, and we had some very interesting intros and bridges where I would use the airsynth and airfx very musically, and could memorize using them the same way in the songs – all live – and the cool part is it has wonderful potential for expression within a memorized set of parts. If you want proof and someone comments back I will put my e-mail address up here and then get ahold of me I will send you some mp3s. Currently however for those airsynth haters on here you will probably appreciate that I removed both the airsynth and airfx from their cheesy plastic cases along with the vocal 300 and they are set up so that I can still play them normal but I am also working on circuit-bending them for achieving a whole new level of unique sound from these wacky one-of-a-kind devices, so honestly controlling 3 parameters simultaneously with one hand is not easy to do without using either an infrared-type unit like these or something like the Wacom pen tablet to midi, which offers perhaps a little more control over the specific directions of the 3-axis parameters (x, y, and pressure). By itself, yeah the air-synth isn’t going to sound very useful in the studio, but put it into a jam-band setup with some other crazy shit and you’ll see that it has some uses when combined with other units… and if someone has both an air-synth hooked into an air-fx, you can really achieve some unique sounds and very expressively. Peace!

]]> By: Guillaume http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-5316 Guillaume Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:14:27 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-5316 or a useless piece of crap... ^^ or a useless piece of crap… ^^

]]> By: Guillaume http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-5315 Guillaume Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:13:49 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-5315 I bought the other box, the blue one when it came out, hopefully, i was convincing enough at the music shop when i gave it back after the week end, explaining what a piece of useless crap it was. I got my money back. I bought the other box, the blue one when it came out, hopefully, i was convincing enough at the music shop when i gave it back after the week end, explaining what a piece of useless crap it was. I got my money back.

]]> By: Oliver Chesler http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-472 Oliver Chesler Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:59:12 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-472 Hi Rozling! That IS funny... I can't believe you liked the Airsynth! But hey that goes to show you life is mostly subjective. Sorry about your Hammond... I'm sure it sounds amazing while it runs. Hi Rozling! That IS funny… I can’t believe you liked the Airsynth! But hey that goes to show you life is mostly subjective. Sorry about your Hammond… I’m sure it sounds amazing while it runs.

]]> By: Rozling http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-471 Rozling Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:25:39 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-471 Hm, funny - I owned an AirFX and absolutely loved it, found that I tended to write more songs with the thing because it was so much fun. However it still ended up as one of the worst pieces of gear I bought because not one but two of them just fizzled out - they seemed to have roughly the same shelf-life as a watermelon... The other worst piece of gear I've bought is my Hammond L100 - hundreds of €€ sunk into it and it still trips the mains electricity breaker every time I switch it on :( Hm, funny – I owned an AirFX and absolutely loved it, found that I tended to write more songs with the thing because it was so much fun.

However it still ended up as one of the worst pieces of gear I bought because not one but two of them just fizzled out – they seemed to have roughly the same shelf-life as a watermelon…

The other worst piece of gear I’ve bought is my Hammond L100 – hundreds of €€ sunk into it and it still trips the mains electricity breaker every time I switch it on :(

]]> By: J http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-464 J Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:45:21 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-464 I know the feeling; I own both an airsynth and a theremin. While I have never used the theremin in recording, it is still a fun toy and I'm constantly hooking it up whenever someone spies it in my studio. I know the feeling; I own both an airsynth and a theremin. While I have never used the theremin in recording, it is still a fun toy and I’m constantly hooking it up whenever someone spies it in my studio.

]]> By: Mark http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/comment-page-1/#comment-462 Mark Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:38:11 +0000 http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/02/29/the-worst-piece-of-gear-i-ever-bought-airsynth/#comment-462 "With the wonderful magic known as eBay I reduced my chances of getting into heaven by putting the dam thing up for auction." Omg! Haha. That had me laughing harder than I have laughed in months. Mate, I so know what you are talking about... I've stopped counting my guilt-ridden ebay sells. See you in hell. “With the wonderful magic known as eBay I reduced my chances of getting into heaven by putting the dam thing up for auction.” Omg! Haha. That had me laughing harder than I have laughed in months. Mate, I so know what you are talking about… I’ve stopped counting my guilt-ridden ebay sells. See you in hell.

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