Patch memory - now indispensable?

[JereFuzz]

My favorite hardware synth is the boardweevil. Patch Memory is the death of creativity.

Learning too.

I read "synth gods" and a theme by seasoned synth users is that using presets is sacrilege, but there are some really nice presets

[JereFuzz]

If I needed a series of specific, instantly recallable sounds for a live show or something I would need presets. But I have a lot more fun without them for some reason.

Me too - hence my interest in modular

[JereFuzz]

Probably because it feels more engaging and fun when you happen upon a sound versus "SYNTH, LOAD PATCH 5 AND DRONE PLEASE."

Too lazy to quote D.o.S.'s post, but patch = creativity death yada yada yada.

You appreciate what you earn - presets are like hitting play , but sometimes u want/need to hit play

[D.o.S.]

What is "synth gods?"

My favorite hardware synth is the boardweevil. Patch Memory is the death of creativity.

If u have patch memory you don't have to use it

this is the argument I hear when it comes to clean blend, too. BUT DEATH TO CLEAN BLEND.

[popvulture]

Yea but that also annoys people, a la the biggest complaint I've heard about the Geiger Counter. "I've moved this knob a tiny bit and now I've lost every sound and I can't get it back!"

Same thing happened to me the first time I played my Particle. Dialed in this clangy, crazily wonderful sound. Even took a picture of the knob settings and have never been able to get it exactly back there. Maybe my memory is just playing tricks on me, but I still think it's the best sound I've found on that damn lovely pedal

[Dark Barn]

I have some gear that can save presets, but the EEPROM can only written to 10,000 times and I don't want to wear it out. Save the EEPROMs!

More to the point with some modular gear so much of a patch setting is conditional on other parts of the patch. A saved setting might not be useful once you start pulling cables out, so, yeah on some gear I don't bother saving presets even if they are really cool presets.

[01010111]

I like really patch memory with synths, but what I feel is currently lacking is a synth with presets and a knob-per-function interface that also indicates the knob position of the saved patch. I have no idea how much something like that'd increase the cost, though.... I would've paid a couple hundred or so extra for that on the minilogue

And like everyone else has said, no presets is funner. I also feel like I really make a mental map of a synth's capabilities and parameters when I don't have presets. I can think of a sound and instantly know how to make it on a synth with no presets, but for some reason it takes me longer on ones that do....

[rfurtkamp]

I like having both control and presets.

Been abusing the hell out of the combo on my System 1, both with the ability to tweak the presets and go back and forth between radically different sounds with one button.

While I'd *like* to have a visual indicator of what patch settings are, it's not a deal-killer on it simply because I can tweak X to get more or less of X on the panel on demand.

It was a bigger deal my first couple weeks of having the thing and not having a good grasp of "what sound changes where?"

Now that I'm a competent operator, I don't need the lights.

And some of my favorite "patch" settings are now "switch to patch, ramp up these parameters as you do" - so it's still a play the thing part of the equation.

[moogboy]

Patch memory is tight but my /////thing///// these days is focusing on having a really good knowledge of the synth I'm playing so whatever thing I want to hear I can make quickly. It helps to have a synth that facilitates quick changes (Minimoog, Make Noise 0-Coast come to mind as having unbelievably wide ranges of sounds instantly available) but it's more fun to just know how to go back to that thing you liked before.

[rfurtkamp]

I like being able to hit one button and do something that is physically impossible (twist four knobs and a dozen sliders to land on X) in a tenth of a second though as well!