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Nov.30
2008

What Makes This An Instrument?

The "Pro Gear" bit of the last post got me pondering how one would define "pro" given the diaspora that instrumentation has undergone in the last decade or so. Use to be, you knew something was "pro" if (a) it was made in America, or (b) you couldn't buy it at Payless. I was gonna say Sears instead of Payless, since most everyone knows what Sears is, and only West Coasters of a decidedly older school will recognize Payless, but the name is descriptor enough, and many Sears instruments of days gone by are now certainly professional-quality instruments. (Danelectro and Silvertone come immediately to mind.) So who's to say the current Sears instrument line, all Chinese knockoff shit, won't be collector's items at home in any studio in 30 years?

Anyhow, I'm thinking of the MachineDrum and MonoMachine specifically, since I own that very pair. While it is true that both instruments have a unique sound to them, neither are very... uh... good? The MachineDrum in particular is almost too quirky to use in a professional context, in all seriousness. The timing is, of course, tragic, as anyone that isn't a blind Elektron Fanboi knows. The sounds don't sit comfortably in any mix to speak of, it is fairly limited in its sonic abilities, and the convertors are utter garbage, resulting in me unleashing an absolute barrage of gates every time I record the damn thing. Compared to a normal drum machine that I would apply the moniker "pro" to (the MPC series comes to mind, with certain exceptions) the MachineDrum is pretty much made of fail.

But...

Where the MachineDrum can hang with the MPC series, and completely surpass it in some respects, is depth and playability. It just screams "tweak me!" and is, in fact, eminently tweak-able. As a result, it is an inspirational instrument, and inspiration trumps some noisy D-to-A any day of the week. As soon as you think you have the damn thing figured out, someone comes along and points out that you don't know shit about fuck about it, and that continual stream of surprises is what makes the investment worthwhile.

There are not many instruments that can pull that off on a continual basis. The last "workstation" class keyboard I owned was a Korg Trinity. It got utterly destroyed due to heavy touring, but was an integral part of my set-up for quite some time. In all candor, I received it as part of an endorsement deal with Korg; I didn't actually pay cashy money for it, so I can't say I bought it just because I wanted it.

Was it "pro?" Certainly. The Trinity was a standby of many keyboard rigs in its day. Was it inspirational? Absolutely not. Did I regret its destruction? Not in the least.

I'll tell you what. If I'm looking to make a cover band for weddings, and a dude shows up with a Trinity, I'm like "you're my guy." But if I'm looking to make a band that is unique, and has some hope of making a tiny contribution to the cultural footprint of the human race, I'd be much happier if that same dude showed up with a heavily bent Speak and a MonoMachine. 'Nuff said.

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The only Payless I know of is a major chain of shoe stores, which would make everything a pro instrument...

posted December 1, 2008 by Crashproof

I just know that my bass, my amp, and my cab are all made in the U.S.A. and I am thankful for that. Not a jingoist. Quality is quality. But damn, a lot of stuff has gone to shit. Chris points this out on a regular basis. Thank You.

posted December 1, 2008 by longneck

Payless Shoes is, as far as I know, all that remains of the original Payless chain, but it is (was?) the same company. Payless was the sort of store you'd find in the 70s and 80s that was the precursor to Wal-Mart and Target. Same sort of offerings, much smaller footprint.

-CR

posted December 1, 2008 by Chris Randall

The idea of "pro" has really gotten blurry. In electronic music someone with vision and creativity could probably make a good album with a dot matrix printer, a tub of battery acid, and an answering machine..... There has been so much experimenting that ideals and perceptions have changed a ton. However, It is almost unassailable that some boutique gear is considered professional. I think it could be the split between quality in some form or sensation in combination with intent.

"However, being the most technically skilled guitar player in the world means about as much in terms of actually making good music as would being the most technically skilled topiary gardener." - Dr. Thorpe,Your band sucks, Something awful.

posted December 1, 2008 by ForkyForkerson

Damn. Does remembering Payless date me that much? I didn't even notice it was gone until I went back to Eugene oen day a few years ago and it wasn't there anymore, but it could have been gone a few years before that for all I know.
With real instrument instruments, I think it's pretty easy to know if it's pro or not. It's all a matter of construction and tolerances.
With electronic instruments and weird acoustic instruments it's a whole different ballgame, and I, for one, completely agree with you about the relative merits of a workstation and circuit bent toys. I could be missing something, but I can't think of any worthwhile music made with a fucking Korg Triton. I actually can't see the appeal of workstations at all. I mean, if making music to other people's specifications was my job, I would want a Kurzweil, but it's not my job, and I like it that way.

posted December 1, 2008 by space_monkey

Pro Gear is defined by how you use it.

Case in point: the ARP Pro Soloist. The Pro Soloist is a weird little piece of history, mainly designed to sit on top of your grandmother's organ so that she can put the banjo solos in the favourite songs of her childhood overtop of melodic chords played on her piece-of-crap Lowrey. It isn't, uh, really very 'pro'. In fact, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan had one at one point during the recording of Countdown to Ecstacy; he drop-kicked it down a flight of stairs and stomped up and down on it at the end of the recording session, and then set it on fire. That's a pretty good description of how non-pro it is.

Notable users include Tony Banks, Herbie Hancock, and Bernie Worrell. Bernie apparently still swears by his; fire up any 70's P-Funk album and you can hear the damn thing piddling away in the background once you know what to listen for. I had one, and I can tell you that it's not a piece of Pro Gear. The build quality is crap, it has one oscillator, and it generally feels like cardboard. Fagen's hands-on approach to circuit bending may well be justified.

I sold mine and used the resulting funds (as well as funds from some other sales) to buy an ARP Odyssey Mk I. Arguably, the Odyssey is more of a piece of Pro Gear, except for the fact that I'm playing it. In my hands, it reverts to amateur status. So there you go, really.

(Those of you who want a replacement/alternative to the Pro Soloist: consider the SH-2000, which I also have and kind of prefer. The SH has balls like a half-crazed howler monkey, and I really have to fix mine.)

posted December 1, 2008 by Nicholas

Pro is truely in the person playing the instrument, not the instrument.

I admit ..I scour youtube to find find gear pron vids WITH good tunage. Most vids ppl have real "PRO" gear and sound like cacophonious ass. Saddens me when i see a Buchla vid where the user is just making it sounds like ass, better music can be made with a white noise sample and some vst efx (FMOF).

If ya aint checked Kamoni's vids do it. Realtime drumming controlling md, mm, and doepfer modular...it aint your average youtube modular vid.

posted December 1, 2008 by inteliko

It seems that "pro" is one of the more subjective terms with musicians. Starting with the fact that 99.99% of musicians aren't actually professional musicians and going downhill from there. I guess pro implies something a professional would use. The MPC is great, were it not a staple for about 100% of hip hop producers who have absolutely no idea what the fuck they're doing. So, there's that. And it completely discourages ghost notes, those silly pads.

I think "pro" is something that works - consistently, and brings as few problems to the table as possible. My Eden bass amp is pro. Nothing ever goes wrong with it and sound guys are always happy I'm using it. It doesn't have a weird buzz or some fucked up low level output.

The person playing the instrument, that matters, but not exclusively. If some mega talented dude shows up with a Mackie submixer, an ART effects unit, and an EPS16+ .. well, you see where I'm going with that.

posted December 1, 2008 by Wade Alin

I think what CR said in an earlier post, something like the reason he uses pro gear is because he doesn't need to compensate too much for its sonic faults, says a lot.

I guess the other aspect that matters is how well it lets inspiration flow.

Something that doesn't block your work with bad sound and bad workflow?

I think the PRO category is in a lot of ways dead. . . Ableton Live, is that pro? Yet it is eminently capable as a platform for making music of the highest quality, within constraints.

posted December 1, 2008 by dualphin

My '58 Hammond M3 was created definitively as a "non-pro" instrument. But it is the most inspiring piece of equipment I own, and I own a few nice things. It spent the last few months in storage but I finally got it moved into its new studio home this week. The joy of moving a 300 pound instrument up a flight of stairs is something everything should experience..... But I digress, getting it warmed up, connected to a nice amp with my spring verb in the effects loops, cranked it up all the way and I was in heaven.

You're right, "pro" is for wedding bands.

posted December 1, 2008 by dm

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