hardware is so passé

I love hardware vs software threads, so much gets accomplished in them.

Its like a headphones thread. Or a DAW thread.

On the topic of DSI Mopho and Tetr4 control, I'm sure there are some Reaktor Ensembles in the User Library for easier graphical editing. Not having either synth means I can't confirm if they're any good or not. An option for some people perhaps...

The mopho/tetra are the jam. They provide a fantastic sound and lots of options to sculpt said sound. The thing it boils down to is taste. Don't get one trying to sound like a vintage VCO analog. It's not going to please you if you are anal about it.

That said there's lots of ways to make it sound more vintage (ie: slop, minor de-tuning, feedback, filter mod with noise)

But it's a clean crisp analog that bites through the mix in the way the nord leads do, but it provides the low end and sound characteristics of an actual analog device. The envelopes are very tight and some people complain that's a problem. Not to me. Hell the sh101 has an uber tight envelope and that's one of the greatest things about that synth.

all in all i recompensed the mopho keyboard. The best thing about owning analog is the interface that consists of many knobs. You will not get that with the mopho desktop or the tetra. Unless your really like software editing then by all means.

got the g1 not long ago.. it is everything i've ever wanted in a synth, i think (mainly, modulation inputs). the way it's set up with 'values' via midi instead of 'voltage' is genius. mighty fun time running an mc303 through it

what's not to like about a daw? sure it may not smell like aged circuits and leaking batteries but the price is quite right.

my main motto in music making is less is more so i won't diss on people making wicked tunes with a tiny hardware setup, but getting something expensive just so you can be satisfied with your output is stupid.. that goes for digital stuff too

  On 5/11/2011 at 9:39 AM, hahathhat said:

with hardware you can be all like huuRRRAAJKDN,snfsl,f WHAM WHAM WHAM and it comes out as music. the computer just opens a start menu or empties the recycle bin or some shit. not satisfying at all

You obviously aren't using the right VSTs

  On 5/5/2011 at 8:39 PM, a missing sense said:

your music will lack soul and drag everything you do in life down into a miserable gloom of depression and defeat.

This is the most retarded thing i've read in a while

"getting something expensive just so you can be satisfied with your output is stupid."

why else would you get expensive equipment? to make it sound worse? are you saying this because you can't afford anything worthwhile?

  On 6/30/2011 at 7:20 PM, mafted said:

"getting something expensive just so you can be satisfied with your output is stupid."

 

why else would you get expensive equipment? to make it sound worse? are you saying this because you can't afford anything worthwhile?

"Worthwhile"? What's so worthwhile about gear? Why should you get expensive equipment in the first place? What I'm implying is that it's stupid to be dissatisfied with your output isn't because you haven't got the most badass synth in existance, rather it's much more likely that you're just uncreative with your tools and haven't really got your production skills down. I tried the hardware route, roland drums, a mackie mixer, synths with expensive monitors and a/d on top, shit and none of it made my music any better. + it was clunky AS HELL - Pretty much only the microphone was worth it.

Meanwhile, I'm producing on a shitty laptop with cheapass headphones and my music has never sounded better, simply because I learnt to actually listen rather than throw money in every direction - and the journey to learn how to use the tools at my disposal to my benefit has been far more worthwhile than false promises of redundant gear. If you've got a fetish for plastic, "cool stuff" etc, or the fact that you just happen to like using hardware, I don't have a problem with that, but don't confuse gear with creativity - Some people (especially on here) use certain hardware to enhance their creativity, and that's great, but it's not the gear but the brain behind it that does it.

A ton of artists with fancy gear sound like shit, granted that a ton of artists with shitty gear sound shitty as well, but it isn't the gear that made our heroes who they are.

Sure, there are some inventive and interesting tools out there, but most of it is just shiny shit exploiting musician's weaknesses ("I'm not good enough for my own standards so I must be missing something"). Here, listen to this, YOU can sound like this with our latest hunk o'junk! Then you hear something by an expert keyboard player or whatever, and the sound is mastered by an expensive engineer. Here, listen to what these platinum selling motherfuckers have to say about our products. And you're supposed to go my god, it sounds so much fatter and better than what I'm doing, I need this. And it's so expensive so it must be good. But fine, be my guest, go buy all kinds of shit and forget everything about what it means to be an artist.

The ear is also very subjective so most of it's placebo anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYTlN6wjcvQ

  On 6/30/2011 at 8:12 PM, chimera slot mom said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYTlN6wjcvQ

elusive4 needs to watch this as soon as possible

lol

like Clavia didn't play a huge part in autechre's sound? it definitely did. they totally changed their set up because of how flexible their synths are. you can't get kind of power from a cheap synth.. it just won't happen.

did anyone confuse gear with creativity? of course it's how you use it, but i'm not going to be an expensive-gear hater because i don't have any (though, i do).

  On 6/30/2011 at 8:12 PM, chimera slot mom said:

Meanwhile, I'm producing on a shitty laptop with cheapass headphones and my music has never sounded better, simply because I learnt to actually listen rather than throw money in every direction - and the journey to learn how to use the tools at my disposal to my benefit has been far more worthwhile than false promises of redundant gear. If you've got a fetish for plastic, "cool stuff" etc, or the fact that you just happen to like using hardware, I don't have a problem with that, but don't confuse gear with creativity - Some people (especially on here) use certain hardware to enhance their creativity, and that's great, but it's not the gear but the brain behind it that does it.

this is an incredibly narrow-minded, egocentric viewpoint. you write like it's impossible the opposite could be true -- that someone could find the computer fiddly and annoying while feeling liberated by some hardware boxes. people have different brains. if you watch olympic gymnasts, they do dazzlingly complex, fast shit. to me, watching an olympic gymnast is little different than watching a virtuoso on a guitar. a sharp, trained human mind at ease with its chosen form of self-expression, throwing some shapes. but would you expect the guitarist to take his guitar-brain and hop on a balance beam, even after a month of physical training? there are different types of intelligence! dancers think best in motion, stockbrokers think best under manic pressure, and some musicians think better with fingers on knobs and buttons than a mouse. maybe you're a little annoyed you bought all that hardware and it didn't pan out.... maybe you just can't imagine anyone on a different path, simply because it wasn't your path. or maybe you just bought some complicated shit the internet told you to without really thinking about it, and (surprise) you felt clueless with it.

i'm tempted to ramble about my own hard/soft preferences, but it's besides the point, so i'll stfu for now.

unfortunately money is a real factor in art. the more connections and power you have the more possibilities in your creations. it can become like an epic battle for you to acheiving your vision!!!!

anyway

  On 6/30/2011 at 7:05 PM, chimera slot mom said:

  On 5/5/2011 at 8:39 PM, a missing sense said:

your music will lack soul and drag everything you do in life down into a miserable gloom of depression and defeat.

This is the most retarded thing i've read in a while

yeah, it was meant that way

  On 6/30/2011 at 10:14 PM, vamos scorcho said:

unfortunately money is a real factor in art. the more connections and power you have the more possibilities in your creations. it can become like an epic battle for you to acheiving your vision!!!!

  On 6/30/2011 at 10:00 PM, hahathhat said:

  On 6/30/2011 at 8:12 PM, chimera slot mom said:

Meanwhile, I'm producing on a shitty laptop with cheapass headphones and my music has never sounded better, simply because I learnt to actually listen rather than throw money in every direction - and the journey to learn how to use the tools at my disposal to my benefit has been far more worthwhile than false promises of redundant gear. If you've got a fetish for plastic, "cool stuff" etc, or the fact that you just happen to like using hardware, I don't have a problem with that, but don't confuse gear with creativity - Some people (especially on here) use certain hardware to enhance their creativity, and that's great, but it's not the gear but the brain behind it that does it.

 

this is an incredibly narrow-minded, egocentric viewpoint. you write like it's impossible the opposite could be true -- that someone could find the computer fiddly and annoying while feeling liberated by some hardware boxes. people have different brains. if you watch olympic gymnasts, they do dazzlingly complex, fast shit. to me, watching an olympic gymnast is little different than watching a virtuoso on a guitar. a sharp, trained human mind at ease with its chosen form of self-expression, throwing some shapes. but would you expect the guitarist to take his guitar-brain and hop on a balance beam, even after a month of physical training? there are different types of intelligence! dancers think best in motion, stockbrokers think best under manic pressure, and some musicians think better with fingers on knobs and buttons than a mouse. maybe you're a little annoyed you bought all that hardware and it didn't pan out.... maybe you just can't imagine anyone on a different path, simply because it wasn't your path. or maybe you just bought some complicated shit the internet told you to without really thinking about it, and (surprise) you felt clueless with it.

 

i'm tempted to ramble about my own hard/soft preferences, but it's besides the point, so i'll stfu for now.

Fair enough, but I still think ears > gear

those aren't even the same thing

  On 6/30/2011 at 11:33 PM, hahathhat said:

those aren't even the same thing

It's about point of view. So many people get way hung up about what their gear can do rather than what they can.