I keep seeing these VHS related packs crop up on the Z, and felt the need to rant.

"We took classic synths and drum machines and ran them through a Hi-Fi VCR so you too can add some of that legendary VHS magic to your own productions!" <--- parody, not an actual blurb

WHY!?!?!?!

This is a trend now because of Migos or synthwave/outrun or something? This can only be the result of mindless trend hopping and/or bandwagoning.

Just because one or two of someone's favorite artists happened to use some otherwise unwanted piece of equipment and/or worthless production technique does not mean that "Element-X" magically turns everything into gold. Running all your drum beats through an Akai S900 will not make you successful like Pete Rock, nor will an Ensoniq EPS16/ASR10 make you as raw as the Rza, nor will slapback echo make you sing like Elvis.

This VHS thing is arbitrary. Sure, a nice coat of wax on a Porche 911 might make it look a tad nicer, but using Turtle Wax on your Ford Tempo isn't going to give you a sports car, and adding a stained-glass window to your corrugated-tin shack isn't going to turn it into a cathedral.

The extreme urge to copycat every nuance of everything successful is ridiculous.

Digression: Also, adding the descriptor "legendary" on everything is the height of hyperbole. "Make sure to buy my Casio RZ-1 for its legendary oldskool swing! You just can't get that same groove in-the-box!" While cool, nothing about an RZ-1 or some other piece of mostly forgotten vintage gear is "legendary." Whether you're selling sample packs or gear on eBay/Reverb, please stop. Just stop.

 

Last edited: Jan 31, 2018

I think it's closer related to attempting to achieve, 'authentic presence' in the sterility of a completely digital domain. Most (all?) involved with this movement did not come up on tapes/other and it's easy to romanticize

 

You're probably dead-on, but the hilarious thing is that all these sample packs / Kontakt libraries / VSTs are all still locked in-the-box. If there's some search for organic authentic presence then surely a $4.00 VCR from Goodwill would give you all that and more. I mean, unless they're very select models which are particularly high-end and supreme build-quality from the '80s then most VCRs can't even be given away for free.

If (for God knows what reason) one is actually lusting over the "VHS sound" then get a couple quarters from out between the sofa cushions and buy a god damn VCR, or hell, look on Freecycle or CL or something. But... I get it... "as long as the 808s are covered, we're good." I swear I could take 808 samples and run them through anything that passes audio and someone would want the sample pack. "808 samples from VHS playback into an electric megaphone, sent through a tin-can telephone, and recorded through the mic in of a personal dictation micro-cassette recorder! Epic!"