even today , some to the point of being their own cliche . But have you ever tried to alter a program on a vintage DX7 , or to trace back the modulation on a preset from an analog Juno- 60 ? Compared to the modern experience it feels virtually impossible .
Those old units often featured some sort of floppy disk drive system for dumping additional presets , or the ability to receive presets over an older form of data flow called SysEx . Tired yet ? You had to really work to expand your preset library back then .
Today , most of us are absolutely drowning in presets , patches , samples , and even free plugins . My favorite synth plugin of all-time , Omnisphere , features over four thousand patches . But sometimes swimming in options can bring on its own form of paralysis or even procrastination .
We can be thankful for all the presets we get to enjoy these days , while still giving ourselves permission to make quick decisions , to prioritize practice over prep after a certain point , and to not take ourselves too seriously .
When I ’ m stuck , or perhaps just wasting too much time having fun noodling across thirty or forty different Arp preset options , I find it helpful to create a constraint for myself . This could be as simple as saying ‘ I only have five more minutes to dial-in this patch ’ or a creative constraint like ‘ I ’ m only going to choose from the Arp presets that start with the letter ‘ M ’ for this song and tweak them from there .
The point is to help yourself pull back a bit from the expanse that lays before you and give you something more specific and purposeful to focus on . Not unlike the old days , when those folks had to see just how far they could push outside the realm of those two banks of 32 factory presets each .
THANKFUL FOR OPPORTUNITY
What we get to do , the technology we get to use , and the people we get to play music with are a blessing . Sometimes it ’ s easy to miss . Sometimes someone else in the band didn ’ t practice at home like you did . Sometimes the darn software won ’ t cooperate . But it ’ s all a blessing , if we zoom out even a decade . I ’ m glad you ’ re here , and thankful for the ways you aim to serve your church . Keep at it .
David Pfaltzgraff Founder and Lead Sound Designer at SundaySounds . com , a site that resources worship keys players and guitarists around the world . David currently resides in Des Moines , IA with his wife and two boys . He enjoys volunteering in his church ’ s worship ministry , old synthesizers , and a good super-hero movie .
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