I´ve seen some younger "musicians" getting caught up in all those fancy little synthfluencer advertisements and when starting out buying all the unnecessary crap they just did not need and could not get to work within their context of making music, they all got frustrated... Some just bought one of those little synths and thought "Now I can do music the way I want" only to run into so many limitations that quite frankly made it impossible for them to get any results. Others also got into the home studio bs with nice studio monitors and even a higher-end audio interface only to find out that their untreated room made everything sound like crap, with neighbors moaning about their frequent noise. Why is it that a beginner gets drawn to all those little machines that are IMO an unnecessary luxury item to start out with?... Why did they have so many problems? - Because they did not have the basics they needed. You need to have a rough idea about what you want to achieve and then budget out how you can afford that... DAW, audio interface, MIDI controller, and some soft synths (free) would be a good start along with some quality headphones. Later add some hardware synths along the way to fuel some of the inspiration and add some analog voices and you should be golden IMHO.
Thanks for the deep dive Ian. I think it's a good beginner's guide, sure, but certainly anyone will find very helpful insights in your video. Well done! I'm a fan of the hands on control but really respect the fact that software can be so elaborate and deep with very little effort. I've found a balance that works for me of a few software synths and a few more hardware synths. I have started trying to keep things a little simpler so I don't get distracted from making music! Thanks again for all the insights!
Thank you, Matt. It's all about finding a balance and discovering what works for you. Sounds like you've got that right 👍 I'm afraid I had to give up simplicity a while back...😄
Thank you for this in-depth comparison of the different approaches to creating (electronic) music, Ian. I guess in the end one could conclude that a combination of hardware and software synths will provide you the best of both worlds, but the ideal balance between the two will be strongly influenced by personal taste and work preference.
when i want to tweak knobs i use my moog subphatty and for the rest i got software synths with a keyboard controller so i can enjoy both world without spending too much , there is even a lot of free vst who are great and if you want to go modular vcv rack have more than 2500 modules to play with , i got my first synth in 1979 and now every day i discovered a new synth , time are changing for best
I keep thinking of a an exchange I had in March 2011 with a producer who advised me to forget all about hardware synthesizers and stick with software models. I think his attitude was that software could do it all, you could correct any errors you made in playback, you could upgrade the software anytime, and your soundest wouldn’t ever run dry. His advice was for me to get a Yamaha MMT-8 or MO8 as my master MIDI controller (I ultimately chose the S90XS that summer). Of all things, getting that synthesizer and this exchange with this producer ultimately had an opposite effect. After 2014, I more or less decided I didn’t want to use sequencers, arpeggiators or loopers anymore (my DAW is only used to capture what I can record using microphones and line in). In your opinion, have I permitted that to be too big of a damning influence on my resistance to softsynths, Ian! Somehow, it doesn’t feel as though the two can be separated, the software and the sequencer.
Hey Eric - That's a great story and very interesting. There's no doubt that software is more versatile and cheaper but, as I tried to ecxplain in the video, that's not the whole story. Many musicians, including yourself, find hardware more inspiring and I'd say the last thing you want to do is to force yourself down the software path if it doesn't gel with you. There are enough varieties of hardware out there to cover the full range of synthesis so you shouldn't be stuck for sounds - finances and space permitting. However, there are also some super soft synths and you might find one or two you really like. Check out the ones in your DAW and the free ones. But if they don't do it for you, they aren't going to be fun and are more likely to hamper your music production than help it. You might like to try some software effects and run your hardware throught them 😊
Thank you as always, @@IanWaugh. I admit that there have been a few instances when I was curious about the emulations of the 2600, Juno and CS-80 models. I always imagined I would never get my hands on the real McCoy.
@@Shred_The_Weapon You are most welcome. There are a few 2600 clones. The cheapest is by Behringer (I have one) and there is loads of info about it on YT. There are Juno emulation in some Roland keyboard. As for the CS-80... I'm waiting for Behringer's version, the DS-80. Bu the Arturia and Cherry Audio emulations are good.
I am a hardware freak with an Atari computer but when my track is ready I transfer it to Ableton via a Focusrite and I sing into Ableton and add effects on my track. A golden unity! Cheers from Belgium! In which country do you live?
Hey Jason - An Atari! That's vintage 😊 It's interesting to discover how musicians put their music together. I'm in the UK in the NE of England. I've only been to Belgium once, many years ago, Lovely but very expensive. I think a bowl of soup in a pub cost about £15 😱
@@turquoisecapricorn I guess. We have London prices in the UK and lower prices everywhere else. Usually. I'm probably going back 20 years. We were, of course, in the soup capital of Belgium - Bruge 😊
Is that a Roland System 8 behind you if so how do you find it. I have a System 8 and love it, got it over the Jupiter XM for its knob per function layout . I have many software synths too but just love the System 8 and Subsequent 37 for hands on Control. Found your channel a few months ago and really enjoy your videos.
Thank you, Chris, that's very kind and much appreciated 👍 Yes, a System 8. I also got it for its one-knob-per function. Not explored it as much as I should have done but do have a play and a good twiddle every so often. Tempted by the Sub but, as you may (or may not) recall from some vids, I have an eye condition and can't read menus and stuff so it's a good excuse for not getting one - or just about any other synth on the market 😄 And I have a Grandmother... 😊
Great guide, many thanks, but just wanted to point out something you may relate to. A lot of us started out slowly collecting our hardware way before we had computers. Computers weren't really all that appealing at about the turn of the millennium when I started with an Electribe ER-1. I was still going into the library for a few hours every week to get online by the time I had a sampler, synth, drum machine (etc). I think I got broadband around 2010 and it was fairly life changing I guess but I still wasn't even thinking above cheap laptops to surf and stream on. It's no excuse and if I was just starting out these days I wouldn't think twice about first buying an audio interface and a daw but back then it wasn't really even that much of a viable choice for the relative technophobes. It's silly really as the amount of menu diving I've just given up on with hardware is far worse than finally getting to grips with a DAW (hopefully). I'm 44 next week and I'm only now about to plunge into the DAW just really for recording, mixing and mastering the midi chained hardware but yeah, it's easy to kinda regret the very non-linear way technology has crept up on the generations that bridged the gap between hardware and software domination but it just is what it is I guess. Just my 2 cents. Cheers.
Hi - yes, totally relate to that 😊 I started recording to multitrack tape. When sequencers came to computers (before they could record audio) I recorded to DAT 😱 I still do most stuff in the box but it's good to fiddle with the hardware 👍
That’s a bold statement to make… 1000 times more flexible is where your way wrong. Flexibility and quick workflow is what vsts won’t really get you…. You must sit in the room and tinker all day.. some of us are professionals. Some vsts are nice. But they just don’t beat the workflow and flexibility of top of the line hard synths. 20+ years of experience using vsts. Own all the top vsts you can get UVI Falcon, every Native Instruments product, Arturia, all Spectronics etc…. None of this beats my mpc and hardware synth gear combo…. Workflow wise, flexibility wise…. None of it. They are nice tho
The immediacy of the iPad great, it warms up a lot faster than any synth. It’s kept my interest in creating sounds and attempts at music lol. But the one knob per control is so fun, sweeping two controls on iPad is troublesome. For total newbs like me and have an iPad I think they should start with that and a midi controller. Midi controllers have plenty of controls to map and then get sweeping the cut off on cheap moog apps. My favourite synth including the few bits of hardware I have is Mynth on iPad, it makes all sounds under the sun from Juno to Krell. Four LFOs mappable to everything including each other, and you can draw in the oscillator and LFO waves. Exciting for the next incoming bit of hardware though, can’t wait to put samples on the Microfreak 🙂.
Hey Chris - That's a great idea 👍 There are many great - and cheap! - music apps for the iPad. I think you can also use it with a computer as a control surface so that could be interesting, too. At the end of the day, you just gotta use what suits and inspires you. Defo think the Freak will blow you away 😄
@@IanWaugh I’ve been doing experiments using my very old pro2 as a control surface via bluetooth to my new iPad. Think I got myself in a bit deep, this stuffs a rabbit hole that I should have left alone till I know a lot more lol. Perhaps that is the biggest benefit of hardware, you turn it on and it is what it is. No adding software effects and modulation etc, no daw or interfaces. Turn on, plug phones in and play.
@@IanWaugh talking which, can you put a cover over the microcosm please. I can always see it there, makes me envious 😂😁. Makes me watch tutorials and get lust for what I can’t afford. Ipad does have tons of amazing plugins though that can do things very close.
@@TheSemtexCow 😄 Yeah, it was a tough call to pull the trigger on that but the reviews and comments were compelling. Still a bit over-priced, though 😱 I'm sure some clever programmer could do something very similar in software. Take a look at this: ruclips.net/user/shorts4ciU63kG8Nc
After a long time of "pure" hardware I've tried to go into "software". The software-based synth I've used was ReBirth (from Propellerhead). It sounded very nice but I've disliked to use a computer keyboard and a mouse to play. Years later I've used GarageBand and it was great fun. But again I'm sitting before the display. Now "pure" hardware (except Presonus One for recording) and it´s great (of course the cost difference is remarkable 🙄).
For me Ian software first for the price and versatility. Then hardware if you are making progress and getting satisfaction from the experience. But some people never get out of the DAW and that's fine. Also some people completely abandon the computer and that's fine also. I buy hardware for the Analogue. And I don't think a computer can replicate that. Even the U-He Diva. But you are correct that the difference is very difficult to tell. It's just my plasibo.🤣🤣
Physically and metaphysically speaking, whether there's a fundamental distinction between digital and analog is up for debate. People who think the world is basically discontinuous on quantum grounds are free to believe that reality is basically digital, and that everything seemingly analog decomposes into bytes and bits anyway at the finest scales. But they're wrong! ;)
I´ve seen some younger "musicians" getting caught up in all those fancy little synthfluencer advertisements and when starting out buying all the unnecessary crap they just did not need and could not get to work within their context of making music, they all got frustrated... Some just bought one of those little synths and thought "Now I can do music the way I want" only to run into so many limitations that quite frankly made it impossible for them to get any results. Others also got into the home studio bs with nice studio monitors and even a higher-end audio interface only to find out that their untreated room made everything sound like crap, with neighbors moaning about their frequent noise. Why is it that a beginner gets drawn to all those little machines that are IMO an unnecessary luxury item to start out with?... Why did they have so many problems? - Because they did not have the basics they needed. You need to have a rough idea about what you want to achieve and then budget out how you can afford that... DAW, audio interface, MIDI controller, and some soft synths (free) would be a good start along with some quality headphones. Later add some hardware synths along the way to fuel some of the inspiration and add some analog voices and you should be golden IMHO.
Excellent advice 👍 Like any new pursuit you need to do your homework. And be imune to adverts 😊
Thanks for the deep dive Ian. I think it's a good beginner's guide, sure, but certainly anyone will find very helpful insights in your video. Well done!
I'm a fan of the hands on control but really respect the fact that software can be so elaborate and deep with very little effort. I've found a balance that works for me of a few software synths and a few more hardware synths. I have started trying to keep things a little simpler so I don't get distracted from making music! Thanks again for all the insights!
Thank you, Matt. It's all about finding a balance and discovering what works for you. Sounds like you've got that right 👍 I'm afraid I had to give up simplicity a while back...😄
Excellent and thorough treatment of the subject
R
Thank you Bill 👍
@@IanWaugh Thank you. Just finishing the last few moments of the video now. I look forward to seeing more of your videos. 😁
@@billr.2210 Thank you - there are dozens of 'em 😄 Hope you find some of interest
Thank you for this in-depth comparison of the different approaches to creating (electronic) music, Ian.
I guess in the end one could conclude that a combination of hardware and software synths will provide you the best of both worlds, but the ideal balance between the two will be strongly influenced by personal taste and work preference.
That's it exactly 👍
when i want to tweak knobs i use my moog subphatty and for the rest i got software synths with a keyboard controller so i can enjoy both world without spending too much , there is even a lot of free vst who are great and if you want to go modular vcv rack have more than 2500 modules to play with , i got my first synth in 1979 and now every day i discovered a new synth , time are changing for best
Hi - Yes, I think you have the best of both worlds. Nowadays, we synthesists are poilt for choice 😊
I keep thinking of a an exchange I had in March 2011 with a producer who advised me to forget all about hardware synthesizers and stick with software models. I think his attitude was that software could do it all, you could correct any errors you made in playback, you could upgrade the software anytime, and your soundest wouldn’t ever run dry. His advice was for me to get a Yamaha MMT-8 or MO8 as my master MIDI controller (I ultimately chose the S90XS that summer). Of all things, getting that synthesizer and this exchange with this producer ultimately had an opposite effect. After 2014, I more or less decided I didn’t want to use sequencers, arpeggiators or loopers anymore (my DAW is only used to capture what I can record using microphones and line in). In your opinion, have I permitted that to be too big of a damning influence on my resistance to softsynths, Ian! Somehow, it doesn’t feel as though the two can be separated, the software and the sequencer.
Hey Eric - That's a great story and very interesting. There's no doubt that software is more versatile and cheaper but, as I tried to ecxplain in the video, that's not the whole story. Many musicians, including yourself, find hardware more inspiring and I'd say the last thing you want to do is to force yourself down the software path if it doesn't gel with you. There are enough varieties of hardware out there to cover the full range of synthesis so you shouldn't be stuck for sounds - finances and space permitting. However, there are also some super soft synths and you might find one or two you really like. Check out the ones in your DAW and the free ones. But if they don't do it for you, they aren't going to be fun and are more likely to hamper your music production than help it. You might like to try some software effects and run your hardware throught them 😊
Thank you as always, @@IanWaugh. I admit that there have been a few instances when I was curious about the emulations of the 2600, Juno and CS-80 models. I always imagined I would never get my hands on the real McCoy.
@@Shred_The_Weapon You are most welcome. There are a few 2600 clones. The cheapest is by Behringer (I have one) and there is loads of info about it on YT. There are Juno emulation in some Roland keyboard. As for the CS-80... I'm waiting for Behringer's version, the DS-80. Bu the Arturia and Cherry Audio emulations are good.
I am a hardware freak with an Atari computer but when my track is ready I transfer it to Ableton via a Focusrite and I sing into Ableton and add effects on my track. A golden unity! Cheers from Belgium! In which country do you live?
Hey Jason - An Atari! That's vintage 😊 It's interesting to discover how musicians put their music together 😎
I'm in the UK in the NE of England 😊
Hey Jason - An Atari! That's vintage 😊 It's interesting to discover how musicians put their music together.
I'm in the UK in the NE of England.
I've only been to Belgium once, many years ago, Lovely but very expensive. I think a bowl of soup in a pub cost about £15 😱
@@IanWaugh It depends in which town you take your soup. But indeed the prices for food are more expensive than our neighbours.
@@turquoisecapricorn I guess. We have London prices in the UK and lower prices everywhere else. Usually.
I'm probably going back 20 years. We were, of course, in the soup capital of Belgium - Bruge 😊
Is that a Roland System 8 behind you if so how do you find it. I have a System 8 and love it, got it over the Jupiter XM for its knob per function layout . I have many software synths too but just love the System 8 and Subsequent 37 for hands on Control. Found your channel a few months ago and really enjoy your videos.
Thank you, Chris, that's very kind and much appreciated 👍 Yes, a System 8. I also got it for its one-knob-per function. Not explored it as much as I should have done but do have a play and a good twiddle every so often. Tempted by the Sub but, as you may (or may not) recall from some vids, I have an eye condition and can't read menus and stuff so it's a good excuse for not getting one - or just about any other synth on the market 😄 And I have a Grandmother... 😊
Great guide, many thanks, but just wanted to point out something you may relate to. A lot of us started out slowly collecting our hardware way before we had computers. Computers weren't really all that appealing at about the turn of the millennium when I started with an Electribe ER-1. I was still going into the library for a few hours every week to get online by the time I had a sampler, synth, drum machine (etc). I think I got broadband around 2010 and it was fairly life changing I guess but I still wasn't even thinking above cheap laptops to surf and stream on. It's no excuse and if I was just starting out these days I wouldn't think twice about first buying an audio interface and a daw but back then it wasn't really even that much of a viable choice for the relative technophobes. It's silly really as the amount of menu diving I've just given up on with hardware is far worse than finally getting to grips with a DAW (hopefully). I'm 44 next week and I'm only now about to plunge into the DAW just really for recording, mixing and mastering the midi chained hardware but yeah, it's easy to kinda regret the very non-linear way technology has crept up on the generations that bridged the gap between hardware and software domination but it just is what it is I guess. Just my 2 cents. Cheers.
Hi - yes, totally relate to that 😊 I started recording to multitrack tape. When sequencers came to computers (before they could record audio) I recorded to DAT 😱
I still do most stuff in the box but it's good to fiddle with the hardware 👍
Software is 1000 times more flexible powerful and affordable. The sound quality is in the hands of the creator.
It certainly is. I have a few hardware synths but recently have been using soft synths far more👍
That’s a bold statement to make… 1000 times more flexible is where your way wrong. Flexibility and quick workflow is what vsts won’t really get you…. You must sit in the room and tinker all day.. some of us are professionals. Some vsts are nice. But they just don’t beat the workflow and flexibility of top of the line hard synths. 20+ years of experience using vsts. Own all the top vsts you can get UVI Falcon, every Native Instruments product, Arturia, all Spectronics etc…. None of this beats my mpc and hardware synth gear combo…. Workflow wise, flexibility wise…. None of it. They are nice tho
The immediacy of the iPad great, it warms up a lot faster than any synth.
It’s kept my interest in creating sounds and attempts at music lol.
But the one knob per control is so fun, sweeping two controls on iPad is troublesome.
For total newbs like me and have an iPad I think they should start with that and a midi controller.
Midi controllers have plenty of controls to map and then get sweeping the cut off on cheap moog apps.
My favourite synth including the few bits of hardware I have is Mynth on iPad, it makes all sounds under the sun from Juno to Krell.
Four LFOs mappable to everything including each other, and you can draw in the oscillator and LFO waves.
Exciting for the next incoming bit of hardware though, can’t wait to put samples on the Microfreak 🙂.
Hey Chris - That's a great idea 👍 There are many great - and cheap! - music apps for the iPad. I think you can also use it with a computer as a control surface so that could be interesting, too. At the end of the day, you just gotta use what suits and inspires you. Defo think the Freak will blow you away 😄
@@IanWaugh I’ve been doing experiments using my very old pro2 as a control surface via bluetooth to my new iPad.
Think I got myself in a bit deep, this stuffs a rabbit hole that I should have left alone till I know a lot more lol.
Perhaps that is the biggest benefit of hardware, you turn it on and it is what it is.
No adding software effects and modulation etc, no daw or interfaces.
Turn on, plug phones in and play.
@@TheSemtexCow Yeah, that's one thing 😄 You learn, though, by doing 😊 You can always add FX pedals to hardware - another rabbit hole 😊
@@IanWaugh talking which, can you put a cover over the microcosm please. I can always see it there, makes me envious 😂😁.
Makes me watch tutorials and get lust for what I can’t afford.
Ipad does have tons of amazing plugins though that can do things very close.
@@TheSemtexCow 😄 Yeah, it was a tough call to pull the trigger on that but the reviews and comments were compelling. Still a bit over-priced, though 😱 I'm sure some clever programmer could do something very similar in software. Take a look at this: ruclips.net/user/shorts4ciU63kG8Nc
Great insight, thanks!
Thanks, Jeffrey, glad you found it useful 👍
After a long time of "pure" hardware I've tried to go into "software". The software-based synth I've used was ReBirth (from Propellerhead). It sounded very nice but I've disliked to use a computer keyboard and a mouse to play.
Years later I've used GarageBand and it was great fun. But again I'm sitting before the display.
Now "pure" hardware (except Presonus One for recording) and it´s great (of course the cost difference is remarkable 🙄).
Hi - Yes, cost is a major factor for most of us. I guess we all gravitate to what works best for us. It's good to have options 😊
@@IanWaugh That's it 👍
I use hardware, I don't think I would have the patience for software, messing around with a mouse n stuff, staring at a screen.🙂
@@DisciplinedCommotion Fair comment 😊
I find hardware looks better in your living room
Just don't sit on it 😊
For me Ian software first for the price and versatility. Then hardware if you are making progress and getting satisfaction from the experience. But some people never get out of the DAW and that's fine. Also some people completely abandon the computer and that's fine also. I buy hardware for the Analogue. And I don't think a computer can replicate that. Even the U-He Diva. But you are correct that the difference is very difficult to tell. It's just my plasibo.🤣🤣
Hi Rod - Yesthat's all good 👍It's horses for courses, diff'rent strokes and all that 😊 Lots of options and possibilities.
Physically and metaphysically speaking, whether there's a fundamental distinction between digital and analog is up for debate. People who think the world is basically discontinuous on quantum grounds are free to believe that reality is basically digital, and that everything seemingly analog decomposes into bytes and bits anyway at the finest scales. But they're wrong! ;)
Getting deep here 😊 It's not a question of what actually IS but what we can hear and differentuate between.
tl;dr: Ian has G.A.S.
If you don't watch you'll never know... 😊