11ish schrieb:
Actually, that's one thing I like about the Cwejman, it's not presenting itself as the "new" Moog-clone or Arp-clone or whatewer, all the more it's a new instrument in its own right.
Well I listened to all the examples in your twango account, and that indeed confirms the above. It's not a clone of a well known vintage synth with a familiar sound.
One reason why I have my difficulties with discussions about sound or sound quality is that I use instruments like these for something that could be called "live action" (even if no one's watching or listening
), meaning: the process of patching and playing the system is more important than the result (a recording is little more than the documentation of that action). That's *one* idea of music making that I'm after recently (one other diametrical idea is making perfect tracks, which I also pursue at other times - that's a completely different thing but just as good, of course). That's why I prefer to use joysticks and the Wiard JAG over a keyboard. I'm not aiming for "music" in a traditional sense here, rather for something like spontaneous abstract expressionism (please don't judge my above demo in that respect - that was just a stale example for panning the filters. I have better recordings, but not on my HD at the moment...). Anyway, in that action, the most important thing is flexibility and openness. That's why I use modular stuff anyway. (Of course, as I said, I have to like the sound.) In that respect the S1 is brilliant. You have so many patchpoints, inputs even for the delay parameter of the envelopes, for example. I've had it for a year, but still have only scatched the surface (main reason, of course, is my time consuming job, grrr). So that is a very short hint at what I am doing with these things. I was very much inspired by the approach of musicians like Thomas Lehn or Haino Keiji in this particular method and aim.
I get the idea. More oriented on performance. When I try that the problem mostly is that I'm having a lot of fun, but at the same time I'm boring the crap out of the audience. You have to be good to keep the listener entertained. With a S1, a couple of nice controllers, and a firm understanding of the gear, I can see some light at the end of the tunnel, yes.
Your demos prove this synth is capable of a vast array of different sounds.
You could, of course, just as well use the S1 for track compositions. You mentioned the demo tracks on the old Cwejman website... I happen to have them on my hard drive. Hoping this poses no problem copyright-wise, I post them here. [snip] I remember these were also a major factor in my decision to buy one...
Yes, it was Cwejmachine that impressed me so much. And it still does. Having listened to all the examples here, I made the following conclusions:
1. I love the S1. I love the sound and it's capabilities. It indeed has its own character, and its indeed capable of doing New School kinda stuff, like Mic said. It would fit perfectly next to my MOTM rig, that has a more American sound (but of a modern, high quality).
2. I think I understand now why the S1 changes owners that much. Yes, I really think there's something 'wrong' with it, in the viewpoint of the sellers. It doesn't really do the fat vintage stuff, at least not without some extra effort. It's the S1's own character that makes it both unique and less popular. If I had to choose a single analog synth, my choice would be the MOTM, not the S1.
3. Until I hear S1 demos that give true vintage emulations, I think the SOS review is very confusing. Yes, Gordon Reid indeed mentions the synths's 'own character', but the biggest part of the review explains how the S1 does all those vintage synths. So far, I haven't heard a single mp3 that that confirms the SOS claim.
Anyway, still very high in my pron list. I'd love a S1, plus a couple of those sexy modules please.
Thanks for the demos!
Simply a modern-soundin' analogue classic 
