I enjoyed that quote as well. My studio is a place were I can enjoy the dials, lights, meters, switchs as if I were on a flight to the moon. So a place of fantasy but also a place of creativity and imagination.
When I played music with the band, the studio served as a place to practice and work on the performance songs, but still all of the above.
It’s very complicated…
Thanks for bumping the thread @edengrey (who wrote a PhD on modular!). I feel I should give a bit of an update about the research. First of all – although teaching has been eating most of my time, I’ve had a chance to talk to a number of you and have been gathering and transcribing interviews since then. Second, I’ve gotten into Eurorack DIY here in the UK which has really changed my perspective on the materiality of things, especially after learning to solder at the Beepboop Electronics Workshop in Bristol and then attending a several weeks long workshop in London taught by Ewa Justka (Optotronics). And third, I had a chance to present the project to colleagues at my university who gave useful feedback.
I still want to focus on the materiality of Eurorack, but I’ve decided to narrow it down to a smaller geography than my initial global scope. Specifically, I want to look at Eurorack in the European context. I know that sounds like a bad pun – but I think there’s a lot to be gained by narrowing it down like that. Most of the academic literature on modular is very US-focused, especially the book Analog Days by Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco which popularised the West Coast vs East Coast perspective on synthesis. Moreover, there’s some issues particular to the European geography that I think are interesting to explore (the local cultural histories behind and today’s legacies in Eurorack of say, Polivoks, Wasp or Benjolin). And there’s the practical fact that I am personally living in Europe so it’s simply easier to work on it here, although I certainly have learned a lot and hope to continue learning from those of you located elsewhere.
I should have a chance to go to Superbooth in Berlin in May this year and hope to speak to as many manufacturers and synthesists there as possible – if you’d like to meet and chat do drop me a line!