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steve1977yesterday at 2:10 PM1 replyview on HN

Look Mum No Computer is interesting.

On one hand, he's a bad example, because - at least as far as I know - he builds most of the stuff himself. So he's not showing off expensive synths he bought, which makes this kind of a category error.

On the other hand, he's a great example, because in terms of his musical output, he's a quite bland epigone of artists like Howard Jones or Thomas Dolby of the 80s. And in the playlist you linked of Wendy Carlos.

Now the thing is, I love Howard Jones, Thomas Dolby and Wendy Carlos. But they exist already. I don't need a copy. That's exactly the point I was trying to make.

I don't need yet another YouTuber recreating Axel F. on his freshly bought Jupiter-8. I want new Axel Fs!


Replies

bayindirhyesterday at 2:36 PM

He's a great DIYer and explorer of sounds, so that part is true.

However, he's not a sole YouTuber who imitates 80s music to put out videos. The videos are a mere side product.

He builds stuff, experiments and sets up museums[0], or even restores old cars[1]. When I first stumbled upon him, he was restoring old musical instruments in a warehouse and that place was a makeshift museum of sorts.

I believe he doesn't care if his musical output or taste doesn't meet someone's expectations, he's just being himself, and I like him being just that. Maybe he is not breaking new musical grounds, but he's thinking very outside the box while being a tonal copy of somebody else, and this is certainly something.

He would probably buy one of these, or clone it himself, just because he wants to, and this makes him the target audience of this squarely.

[0]: https://www.lookmumnocomputer.com/projects#/this-museum-is-n...

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/@lookmumnoengine