I’m sure Kid Koala feels very connected to his turntables and mixer. I consider him a real musician. For me, it’s all about practicing, being precise in your movements while feeling the whole thing.
For my part, I feel very connected to my Vermona PERfourMER, my Moog Sirin, my KORG miniKORG 700 FS and when I play a Keyboard.
Eurorack, Lyra-8, AH filter knobs, Prophet, time and feedback knobs on delay pedals. Omnisphere with a decent midi keyboard/controller. 2 turntables with a mixer and some fx. Yamaha CP. The list goes on.
I admit I’m taking a broad swing at this whole topic out of frustration, although I would like to hear Kid Koala play the shit out of an unpowered gramophone. But look, the OP was drawing a distinction at least partly between electric and electronic instruments.
I would have to wonder why this topic frustrates you. Your opinions on what a musician may or may not be is total irrelevant to anyone other than you. Just like my opinion on what one may or may not be is irrelevant to anyone but myself.
Being frustrated because someone thinks differently than you is a recipe for… frustration. If some record flipping, disk jockeying, cut-and-scratch road warrior thinks he’s a musician and every acoustic guitar strumming, lyric humming, toe tapping dude is a lame wannabe - he is correct.
If that guitar playing hippie thinks that wannabe crate digging, phonograph spinning, dance clubbing punk is a talentless hack - he is correct.
They are both correct because they are both just opinions. My opinion of a musician not being legitimate if they can only do it without the presence of electricity is that I don’t agree. I certainly won’t be frustrated because you disagree.
And, another opinion of mine - #knobtwiddlers and #lfotweakers are nerds.
I’m going to respond from the point of view of things that I think feel great to play (but probably shouldn’t).
I love the capacitive keyboard on the Toraiz AS1, and I love the weird squishy keyboard buttons on the QY700. They’re always fun to play and feel expressive even though they are fixed velocity.
I’d amend the title to pleasures, plural. Coming from decades of guitar and piano, I love the sheer variety of ways to play and enjoy electronic instruments.
Consider, playing mono or poly keys with expressive controls, designing percussion sounds, planning a generative modular patch, finger-drumming sample chops, programming a sequencer, performing evolving lead sounds with knobs. These are all really different activities, and I bet very few people love doing every one of these things, but electronic instruments make room for this variety.
I think it’s cool, and it’s been transformational for me.
I want to clear up, once and for all, what it means to be a real musician. Every year I play Eb clarinet in an Oktoberfest band. The band leader, a true Bavarian, told me that, to be able to drink a large quantity of beer and still be able to perform…that is the sign of a real musician. I passed the test.
I think I understand.
I used to play a lot of guitar when I was a bit younger. Nothing serious but incredible fun, just jamming with my friends and brother. I kept up with it through moving away, getting married and starting a family, but I stagnated. I felt that I had plateaued and wasn’t really feeling the magic I used to. I was likely mostly missing playing with people important to me.
Once I started using synths and felt the potential with sound design I was hooked. I’m a #knobtwiddler I guess. I LOVE getting lost making sounds. One little nudge can sometimes take me to new sonic places I’ve never heard and it seems that’ll never get old. It’s reinvigorated my drive to make noise.
I don’t have any real aspirations to become some great musician. I’m just happy making sounds that open me up to some zen. Sometimes I get lucky and they become a song.
Guitar and modular synths are the most fun to me with hardware synths next in line.
Drum kit. Total body, physical. You inspire people to dance. Real connection.
With my electronic kit sometimes it’s a sound but mostly when a jam starts to breathe, do I feel I’m connecting to something. I like to sing, or chant; that’s about the time I feel connected.
I have to actually be doing something though, singing, playing my bass or even just dancing. If I’m not physically part of the music I’m physically not connected.
If you can’t make music when a string snaps on your acoustic guitar…
Guitar is easiest to get lost in for me, but I also lose myself in the Moog Matriarch, and (surprisingly) the OP-Z. I think a lot of it is down to the lack of a context shift via menu or screen.
Wish I could say I ever felt connected with an electronic music device. Model samples come close maybe. But bass guitar is where it’s at.