[Daniel Summer]

Hi Jimmy.

I just spent about four months restoring some Rutt/Etra synths, so I have a pretty good sense of what they do and what they look like. I have seen a number of attempts now to recreate some of the effects possible on these machines, and would have to say none are terribly effective in my view at providing a similar result.

You can see some of the work on a blog at the following URL, along with some stills of new work done by Bill Etra on the machine for an IMAX film presently in production called “Molecularium”.

https://createdigitalmotion.com/2008/01/23/pictures-classic-ruttetra-visual-synthesizers-restored-to-full-functionality/#comment-75959

In practice the machine was meant to do motion graphic work which can now be much more effectively done with say After Effects, and probably Final Cut as well, but artists like Woody Vasulka, Gary Hill and Vibeke Sorenson used the machine in ways which I’m afraid can really only be done with analog synthesis.

Bill Etra disagrees, and says it is just a matter of time until a digital simulation will do the same thing, and he is actually working with software authors to try to make a meaningful recreation of the Z-axis modulation effects which were probably best demonstrated by Woody Vasulka. If you would like to learn more about this, you can email Bill, his email is his first name at his last name, plus dot-com at the end. Include the word “FERRET” in the subject line or his spam filter will reject the email.