Do you even chord?
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I don’t disagree with your point. I actually find most Electron stuff pretty straightforward even when there are button combos (Func. plus x). I keep my A4 down in the living room or in a bag with me to the cabin because for noodling around, it beats everything I have and has so much to do in one box. With the OT, it is the WAY you do things that bothers me–having to remember a bunch of different settings to do something as simple as capture a sample and then slice it up the way you want. Once you figure this out, and you’ve done it a few times, it makes perfect sense. Step away for a month or two, though, and then try to remember all the settings and steps–is just… as “fiddly” as it gets.
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I totally get you, I have it with other gear for sure (Deluge, MPC, Force, MC-101/707) I just don’t have it so much with OT because familiarity (12 years) I guess part of the answer is to use these pieces more often to build the muscle memory, but also for gear companies to make more efficient user interfaces. Lately I think I prefer menus over button combos, might be a bit slower, but also easier to remember.
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I agree with you in every respect.
Part of the UI is also how you store and then retrieve various kinds of information you’ve saved. It gets really tricky when the UI requires you to save different parts of your presets or patterns in different locations. I still remember how strange it was when I would save a “project“ on my A4 and then come back to it and it would sound totally different, because, of course, I had forgot to save the “kit“ which I know do automatically before turning the machine off.
Then comes along something like the Hydrasynth which has so many sound design options that you may never learn them all, yet the UI is such that wherever you go on it, it all seems to make sense and not get in the way.
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It’s basically having one device that does it all with some shift combos and menu diving vs. multiple devices with simple and direct interfaces but a bunch of cables with noise, sync, patch management, and project saving/recall complications.
I personally don’t mind menus and key combos, if it’s well executed. Digi boxes are cool. In defense of Roland, I also really like the way MC-707 works, it’s very logically laid out on the screen and well thought out for the most part, especially considering how deep the machine is, yet still very hands-on for performance.
But I do prefer simple instruments with dedicated hands-on interface for sounds that I heavily tweak live, like some leads or arps, usually played by a mono.
i don’t care whether an instrumnent is fiddly or not, i only care about good MIDI implementation.
because automation rocks.
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