Are you moving from hardware to software, the other way around, or both?

[Rubin Farr]

I'm rapidly seeing my expensive setup being replaced by soft synths, sequencers, and samplers. A lot of them in iOS. Yes purists this is a betrayal but time marches on. I do like the minimalist DIY movement making crazy hardware & add-ons. What's your position on the subject; the future, the past, or mix it up in a time machine & make your own method?

[th555]

I have some outboard synths, drum boxes etc, and plan on getting more, but I couldn't live without software.

[Berk]

I moved from software to hardware at first. I loved that. But then I moved appartments etc. and was too lazy to reconnect everything, so right now I'm using software. I made some good tunes with software, though I kinda want to move back to hardware again, but too busy and lazy right now for that.

[Guest]

Noware.

I don't have a permanent setup for my hardware, so it's a slight pain to setup, play, and put it all away again. So I still play around with software on my PC and iPad once in a while.

[Nil]

I'm slowly going hybrid, but aiming for the most minimalist set-up though.

Just got an Analog 4 (so happy ! best b-day present ever ;)), and also have an Akai S1100 waiting to be used and abused.

 

I use Numerology a lot, and combined with the Launchpad it feels like hardware : super nice combo to program beats.

 

I'm lusting over Intellijel Atlantis (might be tons of fun with the A4 and Num) and a drum-machine (Miami ? Rythm ?)... but there's no rush there.

 

So first I have tunes to finish, and after that it'll be A4/S1100/Numerology/Diva/Bazille. Can't wait :)

[b born droid]

Completely software. But I want to move to hardware. People have children. I want hardware. A room of hardware. Spend all my money on that.

[kinski]

i moved from 100% software to 70% hardware last few months. i found that fm, vco and dco just sound better than any emulation and twiddling with knobs changes your approach a lot. plus you need like 3 synths (for me - ms20, poly800 and dx7) and some skill and you can do pretty much anything. but i still use ableton to sequence, sample and edit because it's just easier than using dedicated hardware. i also prefer virtual reverbs and compressors. only hardware effect i use is tape echo, because i'm yet to find a tape echo emulation that let's you do virtual tape pulling for weird effects.

 

i guess it's the best of both worlds.

 

(also - there is literally 0 hardware drum machines i like)

[Guest]

Just got an Analog 4 (so happy ! best b-day present ever ;))

 

My friend has an A4 and I covet it so much. He also got a Roland R8 with the 808 and 909 cards for stupid cheap.

[BaggerMcGuirk]

I'm, um...oscillating. I started with all free software, moved to Ableton, then got some synths, then an MPC and mixer....and now I'm back to Ableton and hardware together. It works OK, but mixing in the box requires of latency gymnastics.

[Rubin Farr]

Does anyone know if the Nord community did a modular patch for Win 7? Since my XP machine died on me, haven't been able to use PC control on either of my Modulars.

[Guest]

totally hybrid

 

i use the hardware for making sequences and sounds, and the computer to write software for the hardware.

[klore]

i'm both and i tend to have less hardware then i should with years

because of the price, the dust and the the place.

plus i really can get into the sound i want to reach (pretty close) with a software

 

but i'll always have a synth somewhere in my music, i can't help it

 

i think 100% hardware is crazy nowadays, at least for the arrangement and final tweaks, the computer is so much confortable to finalize any tracks,

 

the occasioned pain of doing it analo only is unnecessary

[zkom]

Most of my sounds are from my modular system or found sounds recorded with Zoom H2 but some parts of the effects chain is almost always VSTs. Currently I'm moving a bit towards the SW after buying Reaktor 5. I used to be full SW years ago and I tried to switch to full HW but it was getting too costly and cumbersome.

 

Lots of times I do something first with VSTs or samples and then redo it with analog gear to make it sound more crunchy.

[Silent Member]

Started on trackers, bought a lot of hardware, went 100% soft, but now I'm semi hard. Feels much better.

[purlieu]

In terms of electronics, I've always been software based, although I tend to throw in a fair bit of live instrumentation. I'm hoping to move to hardware soon, though, as I'm finding myself more and more enjoying the idea of just turning something on and jamming around with it in a way I can't with my computer. Also, my laptop's a piece of shit.

[chim]

I used to have a lot more hardware but it didn't do much for my creativity.. also the sync on old drum machines sucks. I've been getting much more comfortable in software territory lately, though I'm looking into getting more midi controllers and stuff for DJing. it's fun to record instruments and stuff and helps to run software audio through an analog mixer at least once

 

for me it's all about ease of use and portability, if you have half a brain you can make it sound however you want anyway

[xox]

100% soft now. not just that but i'm becoming more radical; going deeper underground with supercollider.

ppl say that they are more creative with hw. not me. i can make a track in something like f.reason in a matter of seconds. also, i like the sound of digital synths more than analog ones and i like the convenience of a software so i couldn't be happier with my mbp.

the only hw that i could like are the elektron machines and mostly digital ones. maaaybe i'll buy them. or maybe just the machinedrum as my fav of them all. but i doubt i will.

i'd like to have some hw eqs and compressors but those are very expensive and very unnecessary considering how good soft processors have become. i see no real needs for them in my world, atm. right now i'd buy them only if i'm a millionaire for that extra few % of sound quality but i'd wish that those few % of sound quality are my main concerns i have with my music. if that day comes i'll buy some of them.

what i really need are better speakers and i'm saving for them.

[Hautlle]

I've slowly moved into more HW over my music "career" (lol). Started all SW and stayed for years, then I acquired a DSI Tetra a few years back. Now I'm planning a Eurorack build but will continue to record/edit/sequence and manipulate via software too.

[Audioblysk]

I have slowly been transitioning to mostly OTB production. I am not one to want to dick around with VST's and hate the sound of 95% of what I've tried and how long it takes to get the sound I want.

 

I have just built my first rackmount effects rack with an old roland digital reverb, behringer delay rack, ART pro VLA 2, ART pro channel 2 (two of them) and my audio interface

 

Got my Matrix6r fixed, used in conjunction with my EMX-1, Korg SV-1 for rhodes/piano stuff, MPC1000 for drums and slicing, and the new DSI Pro 2 I am ordering for my birthday in 10 days. I've got the bug... I also have a half dozen guitars, percussion schtuff and other physical instruments I use on every track pretty much.

 

I am a guitarist and a drummer first so the feeling of working with physical instruments and manipulating patches/samples is much more rewarding for me. I use mostly physical instruments recorded via audio in and absolutely hated processing outboard instruments in software, it just sounds like shit. After picking up a semi-decent compressor, mixer and channel strip, my music has improved drastically in sound quality and dynamics. Jon Hopkins said something to the effect of 'it's not that I don't like VST's, it's that I don't have the talent or patience to make things sound as good as hardware does out of the gate' - I agree with that sentiment, music is incredibly spontanious for me and software loses my interest if I'm working fast and frustrates me

[crx091081gb]

Honey I've got soft synths I haven't used yet.

 

Started hardware, went software because I couldn't afford the hardware I wanted, saved went back to hardware. Just got komplete 9 upgraded in summer of sound sale, still haven't dug into it. Bought a machinedrum, have been digging into it a lot, something about having it there physically in front of you...

[Nil]

 

Just got an Analog 4 (so happy ! best b-day present ever ;))

My friend has an A4 and I covet it so much. He also got a Roland R8 with the 808 and 909 cards for stupid cheap.

 

 

I received it this morning. I must say that today, I forgot to do everything I was supposed to do and spent hours jamming instead. I'm stunned by both the sound itself (not a strong tone but it sounds really good) and how intuitive it actually is to patch. Of course I have tons of things to learn on that one, but it's surprisingly easy to operate, despite all the menus.

Having Numerology sending MIDI sequences to the A4 and going for full acid/noise mayhem was quite enjoyable hehe

[Chris Toffer]

Bought a ms20 mini and an audio interface (focusrite 2i4) and jammed on that for about 2 months. I mainly used the ms20 mini for its DSP feature but the synth itself isn't bad either. However i wouldn't recommend it as a first synth mainly because you can't store the patches, and the semi-modular patchbay is actually kind of annoying as well, i'd rather have things pre-routed.

 

Recently the focusrite 2i4 broke because it's a piece of shit and the company has shit customer service so i'm prob just going to bin it and sell the ms20 mini as i can no longer record it.

 

I've taken a new approach recently to music production by using only samples, as audio clips, and just rearranging them, slicing them and pitch shift/time stretching them and making loops and shit. It's quite a fun approach, and is easy to get interesting results quite quickly.

 

So basically i moved ITB->hardware (only 1 synth)->back to ITB.

 

When i was using the ms20 mini i had temptations to buy other hardware, e.g. more synths, maybe an MPC, outboard effects etc. (I was heading the gearslut route). But since the audio interface broke i've gone off hardware almost completely. I'm glad i no longer have these temptations... it would have resulted in an excess amount of gear that doesn't get used and less paper in the bank. Sure, i would have enjoyed using the gear but honestly the ms20 mini didn't really satisfy me as i would have liked. Playing around with samples looping is much more fun, and i can DSP in the box anyway (although DSP with the ms20 mini was far better/fun).

 

If i were to get hardware now it would be only for MIDI devices. I'm keen on a MIDI mixer type thing, like the UC33e or maybe APC40. Something knobby and fadery. Pads could be handy as well, maybe Ableton Push or Maschine. This is all i'd need for my current approach to music

[Ninjatron]

I been digital since I started making, not even owning a MIDI controller, for the past 13? years. Just recently bought an Elektron Machinedrum UW and it's a whole new world. Not nearly as deep and versatile (not yet) but it's just really damn fun

[Entorwellian]

I went from hardware, to software, to hardware, to software, to hybrid. Hardware is too much "stuff" and physical space and I'm ridiculously clumsy at physically manipulating hardware precisely (i.e. hitting drumpads on time). I've whittled down my hardware to an SP-303 sampler with a midi controller with a couple of effect units and a compressor/limitor. If those Korg Volca keys had a 1/4th inch jack I'd probably replace my big analogs with one of those.

[poblequadrat]

hardware is cool and so is software, for example the korg legacy vsts are the best

i'm not into daws to be honest but i'm very fond of renoise

 

i'm mostly hardware