Analog and Ditigal Differences

What do you see as the difference between analog and digital creations of dark ambient music?

DMP: Their feel, emotional color, and individual quality of sound. That is the difference. It is up to the artist to define for themselves their own personal likes/dislikes, rules of engagement and emotional connections to these mediums.

But, with that said, these differences are becoming less and less well defined, as technology progresses. A “real” keyboard, that is to say existing in the 3rd dimension, can be mechanical (piano), analog (Moog), solid state, and/or digital and still be called “analog”. They are not a “virtual” (purely digital) instrument. These “virtual” instruments are sounding more and more “analog with plugs designed to make them sound analog and astute sound programming. On the other hand recorded “analog” instruments can sound more digital by using plugins that bring digital qualities to there sound. These hybrid sounds are an amalgamation of analog and digital, so I use both in the creation of dark ambient music.

As new digital technology is developed, there will come a time, when the only difference between analog and digital will be; Is it real or virtual?

An example of this in the studio occurred when I had to choose between using my “real” Yamaha DX7 or Artuia’s virtual DX7. There performances were nearly identical, therefore, the choice was not made because of sound or feel, but, which was faster to program. Artuia’s DX7 was used.