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

I've been mostly software for years because I grew up without any significant money and had to crack it all. Lately, I've been moving more towards hardware to get out of a stagnant stretch.

At this point, the tactile response just gives me ideas as to how to manipulate the soft synths. I'd like to get into making actual modular units.

  On 8/9/2014 at 9:54 PM, Entorwellian said:

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.

 

Whats stopping you?

 

i've been experimenting with different hardware for a few years after being DAW-only for almost a decade, and lately I'm starting to return to my old mouse+hotkey ways... all the gear i've tried seems to have the effect of slowing me down or boxing me in somehow; i prefer the micro-edit-friendly software world and the ease of stacking, re-arranging and manipulating instruments and effects in seconds. i tend to arrange tracks in MIDI when i can, and hardware occasionally begs me to mix down to audio too early in the process, limiting the way i can play with the sounds and sequences after the fact. just doesn't really jive with my work flow i guess.

I would like to have on of those old sampler Korg electribe's for on the go, hands on mangling. But a touchpad device running Sunvox will probably be cheaper and more compatible with my tracker kind of workflow.

i use all sorts but am currently rocking a hardware setup sequenced with numerology

On a budget but with high expectations, & need a break from staring at screens.

Currently recording stuff through various pedals and dj effects on to Korg D888,

and then playing 8 lines out through same pedals and effects as 'live set'.

very random each time, massive cachopony to weave and tame and bridle.

©©©Raster-Noton does Orb Live '93©©©

... & all only because it looks cooler live !!

I made music purely digitally for a long time. I gradually started recording guitar based music, but kept it to its own project, mostly. Only in the last couple of years have I been experimenting with hardware synths, samplers, etc., and it's become a lot more intense since recording in a synthpunk/psychedelic duo where we make music using anything we can possibly get our hands on, e.g. old analog synths, iphone apps, toy percussion, wind organs, beer bottles, etc.

It's leaked into my solo music too; a few months ago I wanted to write an insane prog masterpiece in Renoise, but now I just want to cobble together a bunch of hardware/software jams and play guitar/sing on them.

I was all software for a long time, went a bit nuts a few years ago and bought more than I could afford and ended up selling most of it. But I learned a lot about why I would want to use hardware--I like the immediacy and find the tactile experience inspiring. I also like doing live jams and improv type tracks which is much harder to do with software. Now I am back to generating 75% of my sounds with hardware and doing a lot of out of the box work.

 

We live in the greatest era of music making devices ever. I want to take advantage of it all! I run a hybrid setup. A lot of my gear gets sequenced by Maschine. I do want to get some kind of powerful hardware sequencer someday so I can do some all OTB stuff. Right now I can't quite do that, with my setup...but who cares really? Hardware elitists can [insert foul verb-object phrase]. I can't imagine trying to finish tracks all out of the box. Usually arrange and record in Maschine and bounce out the multi track to mix in my DAW.

Yeah, hybrid setups are great. I usually record my volca dry and then apply effects afterwards. Possibly even running it out again and through hardware effects.

The ultimate really is mix of both so you can multitrack and edit after but its expensive.

Ive gone 100% hardware which is the best for what ive been doing. couldnt be happier, saving for a modular which is exiting too.

 

Really cant think of anything worse then having to go back to software, it just doesn't sound how i want to, would rather use my behringer delay then some ableton mod delay crap anyday

  On 8/10/2014 at 5:15 PM, hautlle said:

 

  On 8/9/2014 at 9:54 PM, Entorwellian said:

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.

 

Whats stopping you?

 

 

 

Welp you convinced me. I'm the proud owner of a Korg Volca Keys. Don't regret the purchase. Thanks Haut

  On 8/12/2014 at 3:02 PM, sun drugs said:

The ultimate really is mix of both so you can multitrack and edit after but its expensive.

Ive gone 100% hardware which is the best for what ive been doing. couldnt be happier, saving for a modular which is exiting too.

 

Really cant think of anything worse then having to go back to software, it just doesn't sound how i want to, would rather use my behringer delay then some ableton mod delay crap anyday

Eh, I'd rather have tempo sync delay most of the time. That said, the reverb on my Behringer Virtualizer Pro is the best I've ever heard.

  On 8/12/2014 at 5:08 AM, modey said:

Yeah, hybrid setups are great. I usually record my volca dry and then apply effects afterwards. Possibly even running it out again and through hardware effects.

 

Yes. With a hybrid setup if you don't even need a room full of synths, really. I mean theoretically just a monosynth would probably get you all the sounds you would ever need. That really isn't as much fun though!

  On 8/13/2014 at 3:47 AM, Entorwellian said:

 

  On 8/10/2014 at 5:15 PM, hautlle said:

 

  On 8/9/2014 at 9:54 PM, Entorwellian said:

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.

 

Whats stopping you?

 

 

 

Welp you convinced me. I'm the proud owner of a Korg Volca Keys. Don't regret the purchase. Thanks Haut

 

 

 

Awesome, post up some results in YLC

  On 8/13/2014 at 4:02 PM, Paega said:

 

  On 8/12/2014 at 5:08 AM, modey said:

Yeah, hybrid setups are great. I usually record my volca dry and then apply effects afterwards. Possibly even running it out again and through hardware effects.

 

Yes. With a hybrid setup if you don't even need a room full of synths, really. I mean theoretically just a monosynth would probably get you all the sounds you would ever need. That really isn't as much fun though!

 

Definitely on boat with the hybrid set up too.

The two main problems that I found was that It took a long to find out what works and what doesn't with a hybrid set up through a lot of trial and error, so it took a long time to set up and get going. Also, you can never really be hands-free of having to tweak the hardware bits (the midi controls and sysex functions can only get you so far. Even the volca doesn't alloy you to play with the filter peak variable :( ). However, once you get everything going you got tons of versatility and different methods of working at your disposal that doesn't require a lot of wires everywhere. One huge plus is that it takes the load off the CPU by a nice chunk if you are a musician who has lots of shit going on at once.

 

If you have a decent system though I will advocate for software: The computer is a very versatile instrument that just happens to also come with a calculator, a paint program, and a browser to find porn. How many synthesizers can do that?

Edited August 19, 2014 by Entorwellian

  On 8/19/2014 at 6:26 PM, Entorwellian said:

The computer is a very versatile instrument that just happens to also come with a calculator, a paint program, and an a browser to find porn.

 

 

wat

 

link?

you're already there!

  On 8/8/2014 at 6:42 PM, Rubin Farr said:

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.

 

There's a 64 bit driver on Clavia's website, works fine with my G2. Only hiccup is if my machine goes into into power saver mode the USB connection tends to get messed up, so sometimes I have to power cycle the keyboard to get it to show up in the software. Haven't heard of any major problems with this over at electro-music.com.

 

Or do you have a G1? don't know what the deal is with those but I don't know of any community driver...might be worth your while just buying an old XP laptop. You should be able to grab an old Dell or something for peanuts as many firms are dumping them now that Microsoft has ended support for XP.

I just ordered some fm synth boxes from the 80s and i am really excited about it. also want to give money to some software developers too.

  On 9/5/2014 at 12:50 AM, skibby said:

I just ordered some fm synth boxes from the 80s and i am really excited about it. also want to give money to some software developers too.

oh nice! I've been considering getting into FM synthesis for a while now. Not sure where to start though!

I almost exclusively record audio on my computer. Having multiple inputs and being able to polish the mix a bit on the computer make things easier I guess.

 

Once in a while I make a track in ableton when I'm on a train or visiting my parents. But when I do I almost always work with samples of hardware gear or field recordings, so the sound isn't really that different. Sequencing stuff inside the computer is really boring though.

  On 9/5/2014 at 1:02 AM, modey said:

oh nice! I've been considering getting into FM synthesis for a while now. Not sure where to start though!

 

If you have Ableton, try Operator.

 

Or check out the VSTs FM7 and FM8.

If you want cheap hardware, try the TX81z.

  On 9/5/2014 at 10:17 AM, psn said:

 

  On 9/5/2014 at 1:02 AM, modey said:

oh nice! I've been considering getting into FM synthesis for a while now. Not sure where to start though!

 

If you have Ableton, try Operator.

 

Or check out the VSTs FM7 and FM8.

If you want cheap hardware, try the TX81z.

 

 

The TX81Z is great. It's a little lo-fi but in a warm way. It's got lots of tricks up its sleeve and doesn't really sound like anything else.

 

But if you want squeaky clean FM, software is the way to go. FM7/8 are great too, esp. for the easier and more powerful envelopes and routing.

Hybrid setup, all the way. Lots of Analog 4, lots of Reaktor, some Volcas, all edited in Studio One.

  On 9/8/2014 at 6:32 PM, French said:

Hybrid setup, all the way. Lots of Analog 4, lots of Reaktor, some Volcas, all edited in Studio One.

 

not to derail too hard, but how are you finding studio one? Haven't really heard anything about it.