To each their own of course. For me, I love the visceral experience of using, touching, smelling hardware. I appreciate my synths and drum machines, beyond the fact that they are tools to create music--I see them as works as art in and of themselves. We are living through an amazing hardware renaissance now--re-issues of classics, and modern instruments as well. I never cared for the temporary nature of software. Updating my OS typically leaves a lot of my VST's non-functional. Software is on rent. Hardware is owned indefinitely.
hardware presents a limitation ..limitation breeds creativity ...digital presents a rabbit hole, one which you will never find the end of ..time is finite.
I just skimmed over your Spotify playlist: wow, you have an impressive catalogue of work! It’s like an ‘80s retro sound, but with a layer of ‘90s over the top. Very clean, very energetic, tons of melody, lots of interesting leadwork… and I especially enjoy that you explore both Breakbeat and House rythms. Top notch stuff 🤟🔥🤟
Your points resonate with me a lot. The trade off I've found though is that you lose the problems of hardware, but pick up a bunch of new problems in terms of keeping software up to date and compatible. I've ended up tracking finished projects to multitrack audio because I've had so many issues loading old projects after even a year or so due to software updates making things incompatible.
Yeah, I do the same. Before I finish off a project I aways bounce everything down to audio and simply mute the midi channels. Doesn't take long with the freeze and flatten function. That way, it's possible to come back to a project years later, even if the plugins are gone.
For me it's not ego. It's a passion for unique sound and playing experience a quality synth gives. My home is 500 sq feet and I keep all but one of my 19 (I think) synths and drum machines in a locked closet 24/7.
Another option, if someone wants to stick with hardware but is feeling overwhelmed, would be to downsize to a smaller set up and learn that small set up inside and out. Treat it like a guitar or a violin - master your instrument. Put your energy into the discipline of mastering your instrument and avoid the black hole of “improving” your instrument. 😊
I agree. Most people get in buying addiction since everything is widely available, instead of focusing on a small set of gear and being creative to work and overcome its limitations. Buying new hardware to overcome limitations defeats one of the purpose of hardware.
Great to see you lightening up. I've been going through the exact same downsizing, primarily because I found the hardware were just becoming boat anchors and taking up space, often times not having been used for many years. Additionally, I'm finding the soft synths that I have to be FAR more powerful than the hardware synths. I just sold my last large piece of gear (a Qcon controller) this morning, and it felt so good to not have boxes, unused equipment taking up space in my office. I still have a respectable amount of gear, but each and every piece is actively used. Definitely following in your path.
Thanks for the video. Of course we’re strictly talking about here yes? I love working in the box and it makes total sense - but “good” sounds or not there’s nothing like banging on the drums!
The problem with a lot of TH-cam music producer content is that it tries to extrapolate universal truths from personal experience: what works well for you mightn’t work for someone else. But I get where you’re coming from! Cheers
I totally agree. And I'm not saying this will be the best solution for everyone. It's just what works for me. Each of us has to figure out what works best for us. To each his own and all that. 😊
Totally the best decision, after 20 years of the gear addiction i went completely minimal, softsynths, ableton and push 1. Now i actually make music instead of deciding what to use... in the end unless you are making music for musicians most people really don't care how you made it and only care about good music.
I did the same. But selling everything was not the right solution for me. Hardware isn't the problem. Having too much of it is the problem. Selling everything was an over reaction to the burden of having too much stuff. Now I have reaquired essential gear which I love and limit myself to a minimal setup.
This is how I felt for most of my career in music, then a few years ago, I bought an Novation Peak primarily as a controller for Omnisphere since it has the hardware integration. Funny enough, I stopped using Omnisphere because I really enjoyed using the Peak to create my sounds. I’m just now hitting a point where I’m feeling less inspired by the process of working with outboard gear because the workflow can be tedious. After watching this video, I think I’m going to swing back the other way and do most of my writing in the box, though I do still plan on using my Peak to control Omnisphere when I’m in my studio because it controls the parameters so well. Thanks for sharing!
I toyed with the idea of selling everything, but I ended up just breaking everything down and tucking it away for about three months. I didn’t watch any TH-cam gear vids and none of the synth live streams. The difference with me is, my goal is not only to produce music, but just tinkering with the gear-getting all synced and just jamming. So for that reason I would have regretted selling everything. But still I totally see your side of the gear game.
I recently made the same change and got a Push 3 for the hands on aspect. It’s had its ups and downs… many pros for sure but the thing that’s really getting me down is the fan noise on my computer. I guess it’s too old at this point but it was never an issue when I worked out of the box. Also, I guess many of us just love gear. The buttons and lights and knowing how it all works. But yeah, many pains in the ass that come with it. I don’t regret the change but I do miss my gear at times. Definitely miss my Octatrack.
Interesting take. For me, I started before DAWs, so to me hardware is “natural”, and the DAW feels like a lot of work. I probably will never sell certain gear like my 106, w30, Rev2, Jd-XI, but some things will come and go. Modular is beyond my scope thank God,
Same here. I have synths I’ll never get rid off like my Virus Ti-1 or Tastychips GR-1, Digitakt & Tone, and some Moog’s. Then my FX pedals like Microcosm, BigSky, Mood, etc…. It all feels totally natural to me, but the one and only DAW I jive with is Reason. It gives me the feeling of actual gear and is super easy to produce with it. A friend let me borrow a couple road cases of Eurorack gear and I just stared at it all the time and never even made a song with it, so I gave it back to him and realized it’s not for me. The learning curve that is.
I agree I do mixing in the box , I find a good sampler beats a computer every time, and I used live, reason etc, but I personally am not into computer's.
@@suzannealdridge1404 I think if you started during the DAW age, they make sense to people who started out using them. For people like me, who began in my teens back in the 80s, hardware is generally more intuitive. Plus I spend a lot of work time on screen and don’t want to do that in my “fun” time. I do use a ipad Garage band more as a tape recorder or editor. It’s probably about finding what works for each of us and try to avoid universals since there really aren’t any in electronica.
Nice move. I've been thinking about doing the same thing, recently. I love gear, it's fun to play with, it looks nice in the studio... but I always just make music in Ableton.
Definitely understand where you're coming from. I first bought a Minilogue XD, then a Casio SK-1, and then a JUNO-X, an realized recently that just those 3 is already a lot with my guitars haha. Each one (besides the SK1) have their own learning curves and I haven't fully utilized 100% of their capabilities. I have to tell myself this every time I see a Prophet demo or something lol. One has to go if I get a new one.
So refreshing to see this outlook. I have never felt the need to buy outboard as much as a lot of it tempts me. Everything I make is in the box and I do feel like I'm missing out on anything at all.
This is great for everyone here trying to make as many tracks as possible, and it’s their job. It’s why we have 10’s of thousands of new tracks every single day. Personally, I like to play music more than record it and not staring at a screen is actually fun and relaxing, not to mention it’s how a lot of humans used to express feelings. I wonder how many people make a song and actually sit down to play it on a regular basis. I’m not a trained pianist or anything, but with a drum machine, and a keystep plugged into 4 synths I can make a lot of noise that is just for me, not for clicks, posts, or uploads. That being said, GAS as is a bad and pointless thing.
I found a point for it. It kept me interested in playing music! I bought enough stuff to keep my fingers on the instruments and luckily developed some skill in the process. Now, gear matters much less, and I know how to use it and what it is for. It was a fun ride!
I feel this. I was making music since I was a kid and I got some epic analogue HW. I quickly realized that when I am composing, I need to be in the "zone" and I can only do that on my computer. So I use software when actually making music, but I use my HW to jam and play around to whet my inspiration. Also I think that if you want to "extract" the magic dust from that old gear, you need the whole path to be analogue. As soon as you introduce an AD converter, the gig is up. AD/DA is like a firewall for the magic of the dancing electrons. I also think that this is affected by what style of musician you are. Some musicians just go on a drug trip while recording everything and then when they are sober the next day, they scavenge their recording for the good bits to put into a track. I have a much stronger need for control over my process. It needs to be reproducible and so software really is the only way.
YES! I’ve been doing the exact same thing this year. I found that I FINISH songs that start in Ableton whereas my “dawless” setup never generates songs, just jams that never go anywhere..
@@Javeton No, it’s what happens when I decide what works well for me after spending a couple years experimenting with different workflows. But hey, thanks for the free psychoanalysis!
I did the same, over 30 years in music production (all electronic) and at one point had a studio full of pretty much every mono and poly you can name. Now I have just 3 synths, one classic and two Behringer (they are actually good at sounding just like the old machines); no more synth tech bills, rare parts when old machines break down, and most of all MORE focus on what I do have. Less is definitely more when it comes to production.
Heres a comment for your algo. Lol If you're broke or just starting, everything has been in the box for a longgg time, its such a blessing. Good speakers, DAW, and room treatment. Good to go.
I have a Juno-6 and a few other bits of hardware, but the sounds I find most interesting are just sticking guitar into VCV Rack. You can make almost any sound you can imagine with software modular.
Let me begin my saying that I'm primarily a guitarist who enjoys creating and listening to my own music which is more about expression. After learning about eurorack and its evolving, dynamic nature with vasts configuration options, I saw the potential to create a backing band of sorts with my guitar. Its like having my own mini orchestra with a built in peddle fx board and complimenting analog and digital synth progressions. Before Eurorack, my first experience recording was with an IScarlett Solo interface and GarageBand followed by Ableton. It became clear that using a DAW was not my preferred method of recording as it took countless hours just to sample libraries and then tweak with what seemed like an endless list of plugins and VST options for each project. In short, it killed my creative mojo. Since using a 104HP modular skiff, an Arturia keystep and a Zoom recorder, I have now recorded hours of playlists every year and have enjoyed making them all. Its just feels like a more natural, organic process to pick up an instrument and play, mix and record than to building tracks and then splicing them into a project file. Now, I'm not creating for public consumption or use as mentioned and I do understand why a DAW is still a crucial step for professional recording artists but I must say its been wayyy more inspiring and productive for me. I have transposed a few recordings for Valhaller shimmers and other end of chain FXand compression but only in a few instances. Eurorack offers most of what I need. The Morpgagene Looper and Beads Granular processing modules provide great sound layering and an almost endless source of new soundscapes and modulations I would never have even thought of. So, I hope to enjoy many more opportunities explore this particular DAWless workflow.
this is really cool you can do it this way, i automatically feel better using hardware ive tried many times to vibe with in the box but it never cut it for me. I now only use it for effects plugins which i realised is a huge plus when it comes to the closeness of hardwear effects units (and i have also been thru alot to understand for myself what i actually prefer) plus the money saving is huge. Actually this makes me view it as half way where you are since i do swear by in the box effects :)
Glad I never started buying loads of hardware, I did start down that route but realised pretty quicky you don't actually need much to make music. I now use a DAW, Spectrasonics Omnisphere and Elektron Analogue Rytm Mk2....that's its and the possibilities are still endless.
I'm still fascinated with blinking hardware and complicated looking cables. It has a awesome look to it that makes me want to own it. But I'll also stick to software because it's far too expensive and bulky. And music making is just one of my many hobbies.
I've had a couple of friends go through exactly the same journey (to working pretty much only ITB). From my own experiences, and seeing those of others, my opinion is that a large majority of the people who claim that they could never give up their hardware are deceiving themselves. I was exactly the same way with books and e-readers: I stoutly refused the notion of giving up the touch, the smell, and the physical interaction of turning paper pages for an electronic device for years. That is, until someone bought me a Kindle. The same applies to vinyl enthusiasts and film camera users. You can digtially replicate the "vinyl sound" (hint: it's just saturation) (disclaimer: a very, very small set of vinyl records are mastered differently than their CD counterpart, but this is the exception rather than the rule), and you can digitally manufacture any film effects. Objectively, with a modern computer you can get anything you had with analogue in the digital space. Any reasoning to stay with the old is therefore not logical, but emotional. I suspect that many can't admit to themselves that they simply don't want to learn or acclimatise themselves to something new. Many are also emotionally party to a sunk-cost fallacy (if you already have $10,000 vinyl record collection and a $10,000 turntable + stylus setup, going digital effectively makes it all worth $0 _to you_, even though you can sell the equipment on). I'm more than happy with all the extra space I have from going digital everywhere - no more turntables, vinyls, books, retro-consoles, synths, etc. cluttering up my living room - but as is with clothing brands, I think a lot of people need this "clutter" around to impress their "identity" upon the world (...not that I would ever tell them so brutally, otherwise I wouldn't have any friends left!). Now... about the number of colleagues who seem to have accidently angled their webcams directly towards the shelves full of books that they'll never read a second time...
I’ve made that mistake of selling all your kit before and thinking that going into the box is better and simpler and more productive. Nothing beats Flying a real physical synthesiser
I love a great bass guitar with flat wound strings. I would choose it over midi all the time. I use an old Park head with a 4x10 cab. I use a sm57 halfway between the centre and the edge of one of the drivers, l also use a Behringer C-1 in phase at the back of the cab (opened back cab when recording) i get a real good bit of punch doing it this way. So if I had to choose, my bass is at the top of the keeper list.
part of the fun is performing with the live equipment, which takes up such a small amount of time compared to the majority of the work that is done with daws for chopping, arranging, mixing etc. thats just modern workflow
It's amazing as a professional of decades to see this transformation to computer based replacements of all of this hardware. For Ex., I recently purchase the Rhodes Music Mark 8 Pro plug in made by Rhodes Music. I loaded it up and it sounded just like Rhodes Music new $10,000 electric piano. In fact the only improvement in the actual physical instrument is the effects section when ABing. Where the hardware is nice is in the physical control aspect especially if you are a trained keyboardist, or classical pianist. We expect playable keyboard to execute parts. For example, we need an 88 note weighted controller for playing piano sample. I like the Kawai VPC-1 triple strike keyboard. (Nord uses it in their keyboards I believe and Kawaii sells them). For synth action I like the Nord Wave 2 waterfall keyboard for it fast action for synth part playing and for its waterfall keyboard for organ parts.
I can't afford a hardware device that sounds as good as Diva I also don't have the space to store it and recording such a device to audio is a lot more restrictive than being able to tweak it on the fly. I'd rather have the money for other things, the simplicity that VSTs bring, and my finished tracks out on the internet.
For me learning Ableton, playing with the push and a midi keyboard, working with samples and plugin is a perfect way to compose and play live, with a compact setup. I kept some hardware, just wich sounds better to me, and can stay on my desk in an ergonomic way. So i can play dawless and jam, or creating sets in Ableton, or going live with a few things.
Your video just popped up on my feed and with that title... I decided to give it a watch and I'm definitely glad I did. Very cool hearing from your perspective. We use FL Studio and feel similar to you! 😎🐀
Well done, it's tough and the withdraw symptoms can be deadly. Just take each day at a time and you will get through it. Ive been clean for 4 years, I just occasionally dabble with a triangle I have under the stars. Just to keep a little rhythm in my life. But I feel like a great weight off my shoulders, and I can finally afford to feed my kids more than bread and milk.
Great video. And this speaks to the acquisition of any type of gear: plugins, pedals, synths etc. the acquiring of which has far more to do with a dopamine hit and much less to do with making music. I bet we've all got stuff we've bought that we haven't even scratched the surface of, I know I have. Far better to make use of what we have before getting something new. Back in the day all I had was a Roland D20, an acoustic guitar and a portastudio, and I was way way more productive then than I've ever been since with all the choices I now have at my disposal. Instead of pulling the trigger on new gear, we need to sit down and think, imagine trawling through the manual of that new piece of gear, scratching our head, maybe hitting a brick wall and having to go on forums etc. to get it to do something we hoped it would do, and instead, get the manual out on that piece of gear we already have and see what we can make that do! Thanks for your insights and good luck with your streamlining!
Personally I working with hardware only. My brain is the MPC One. Personally, I get along best with hardware. The most important thing to me is the hands on workflow. For me, a DAW has very little to do with making music. too many mouse clicks. Mixing and mastering everything happens in the MPC One. I worked with Ableton, but since i have the MPC one, The MPC was the reason why I wanted to move away from Ableton completely. But my thoughts about making music have always been completely hardware-based
@@Rialas the MPC is really, really powerful, I think. Yes, you have right, its an thing of workflow. My whole setup is connected to the MPC for recording and sequencing
I’ve briefly taken that journey from mouse clicks to touch screen menus. The MPC is a DAW by all definitions, with controller and interface attached. Which can be a great convenience. Not hating use whatever works for you
@@Reggi_Sample The MPC is an instrument. Yes its an DAWless DAW. Working with the Triggerpads is that what I am call making music. The MPC is just perfect for that. Also as an Inspirationmachine. Which you can make an entire Track in the MPC. Mixing and mastering included. Its so amazing
@@thecreepysilence4290The dictionary definition of a DAW is anything that can create an record music. The MPC like the Push3 is a computer and DAW in a box with controller and interface attached. It just is. If you already have a good interface and controller/s then it could literally be a step backwards. The software runs better when plugged in because the little computer inside the mpc isn’t very powerful but it still is a DAW. There is some snake oil in the marketing: Of course you are stand-alone if your already a computer 😂 plugins and menu diving all the same. My Mac and iPad are stand-alone too by Akais logic 😂
My problem with working solely on a computer is that it doesn't sound as good live through a sound system. I've used the same sequencer on both and it just doesn't sound as rich. But having both options is a big gift.
If you have a good controller, and have external preamps and a multi out interface to STILL get that analog color if you want, then I really don’t know the point of hardware synths in 2023. Great video.
Space and travel got me going down the “in the box” path, with ableton and M4L, and now I’m going further than imagined by making everything from scratch…and the new apple silicon chips are so crazy I have unprecedented flexibility on a laptop…so being able to work whenever/wherever I’m inspired…same setup…kind of game over 😂
Same here. Five years ago. Sold all of my analog gear and switched to software and external midi-controllers. Desk and laptop computers are light years faster than they were 20 years ago.
I have been performing live techno hardware only since 2001. Just last month I stumbled upon a video of Ableton that seemed to finally "reach" me and make me actually consider using Ableton. Now I watch this video and I begin to consider many things. Thanks.
Great video, love the honest feedback - really useful. I was about to start accumulating more hardware but I've decided to stick with mostly with plugins for now, although I need to stop accumulating those also !
Buy, don't sell, you'll just end up buying a lot of it back in a few years. Just advice from someone that has been doing synths for a few decades longer than you, lol.
The same goes for me. Have bought lots if 80s gear back. I missed the true taktile feeling and response when I adjusted a parameter with a slider or a knob. The same goes for being aware about its limitations😎
@@jangayenI am younger than you guys but have come to the same conclusion. I wanted to get into hardware but also realized it was much more of a process than just making music in the box. It did help me learn synthesis but saving patches and backing them up and everything else hardware is lot more steps to do regular stuff you can do in the box easily and quickly. So I sold my gear and went back to in the box. But ended up buying back some of the hardware stuff later on 😂
Everyone is different. And technology is not the same as it was 30 years ago. You know that. A lot of this is nostalgia. I feel it too but anytime I rebuy an old synth it is never as good as what I remembered. Plugins have come a long way, and I can’t believe I’m saying that.
In the 80's, when a lot of this stuff was NEW, I remember my garage band's keyboardist was only in BECAUSE she had the 106 which rich daddy indulged his darling princess with, she couldn't find middle C on it to save her immortal soul. As I sit with my guitar synth charging, I would sell all but the 106; use it as a controller and keep the classic. A lot of what I see today is superfluousness, hype, and planned obsolescence. I'd keep the classic.😊
Similar experience for me - moving into the box felt liberating and made me way more productive. The only problem I've encountered is that it just doesn't look as cool when you are trying to record a video performance of your track (not that I did many of them either way, but still). Watching hardware with blinking lights is way more engaging for a viewer than watching a laptop or a screen capture with a DAW timeline.
I'll never stop recording music with my UA LA-610 pre-amp and my tascam 8 track cassette recorder.. I just can't get the rich sound l like with protools, soft synths and plugins. I just added a SSL Fusion, WA-12 tone beast, and a Joe Meek Twin Q...
The real trap is thinking you need to do this or that before you actually create. Thinking you need to sell all your shit before you can be more creative is part of that. After you sell all your gear, there will be something else - even if you are inspirited for a bit. You're focused because you just put energy into making a change. This is known as Resistance, and it comes in many forms. After a while, you'll buy a synth again, and the cycle will continue. I wanted to give you a hug after watching your video, because you seem like an artist trapped in this cycle. The real answer to enjoy every part of the creative process. Getting and learning a new machine can bring the same level of joy to an artist as releasing new material and getting great feedback from your fans. If you feel you need to be more prolific to be happy, then do it. If you want to write more music, do it. Having hardware doesn't have to impede that, only if you let it. Videos like these are a symptom of the Spotify driven fallacy that every musician needs to make 1000 tracks a month or risk being irrelevant. We panic at a subconscious level and sell all our shit. Screw that noise. Give me a Juno 106 and a dope drum machine any day of the week.
I’ve done the same thing. I’ve been a musician and sound engineer all my life. I play multiple instruments. So I had LOTS of gear. But it’s all gone. Everything is in the box now. I only have a few guitars, 2 bass guitars, a few other stringed instruments. A few midi keyboard controllers and a midi drum controller. All my amps, effects and even compressors and such are all in the box. I must say it makes life a lot easier and it takes up way less space and draws a lot less electricity. Also I can take everything with me wherever I go. I can work on at the beach if I want. It couldn’t do that with all the heavy gear before.
Interesting. This is a feeling I've been having at the back of my mind. I haven't acted on it yet. For many years I had only the box and then started going back to hardware as well. Now gathering hardware, but I'm aware that buying new hardware can become more of a focus than actually creating. As you also mention, you have to avoid doing the same with plugins. I will limit the hardware I buy from this point. If you're constantly adding new hardware or software then you become master of none. This has also been discussed in terms of music creation as well. I believe Jean Michel Jarre made the point that his early music was made with a limited number of tracks and having that restriction ultimately helped his music. Less can be more.
Man I definitely appreciate this video. I have a ton of gear. I’ve sold a 8K dollar Eurorack system only to buy another 10U system that I have now. While this video doesnt necessarily prompti me to sell my hardware it did give me a good reminder that I need to focus on making music not acquiring that next new “thing”. Like you said it’s not just hardware, it can be plugins and software. Great video I’m happy you’re moving in a positive direction.
Glad to be of inspiration. As I've mentioned, I've been down the modular rabbit hole myself, so I know what you're talking about. But don't go selling your stuff because some guy on TH-cam told you to. 😉 I'm not saying my way is the only way. It's just what works for me.
When my kids came along I sold all my hardware and was left pretty much with a laptop and push2. ITB is definitely better for producing final tracks. What I do miss though is the little fun-boxes like the OP-1 that you can just pick up and groove/jam on, have fun without being too analytical. i find that once you're in front of a computer it's a bit less of a jam and more analytical, too precise. The trick though on a computer is to do less tweaking and fine-tuning as you go and just jam and worry about perfecting sounds/eq-ing etc later.
I sold off everything except my Push and Minifreak this past year. Best decision I ever made. In some paradoxical way I feel more creatively liberated now.
yeah, agreed. I've been through the same thought process this year. I hadn't appreciated how much mental overhead there was with acquiring, integrating, maintaining and properly learning every piece of gear as well as making it all work well together. I'm getting far better results from learning a much smaller set of kit and it being centred around a macbook. People say they don't want to be stuck behind a computer, but for me, it was the opposite. Previously I was stuck only able to make music in 1 specific room. Now with the macbook it's totally portable and like you say, it fits in around family life and has very low friction to being creative 👍
Don’t have to wait for gear to get in tune is an important argument. Using softsynths in a DAW gets the result much closer to the inspiration. And no broken filters and troubleshooting is very beneficial for creative work!
Can totally understand your story, looks clean & ace! Was wondering if you still got the Cirklon but I saw it in the vid. How about the Cwejman? Gone forever?
No, still have the Cwejman. Just put it to the side for a while. It's among those things I'm a little reluctant to sell until a bit more time has passed. ;-)
Nice video, I need that kind of content, little bit of a GAS here also ;) I realise I fiddle with lot's of toys but I become less productive, it feeds my geeky needs more than serve my music. By the way just checked your Spotify and the song Zipped gives me a Undeworld vibe (the british band, not the movie lol), which is for me a considerable compliment, I loved their work for 25 years now and I don't get bored of it over the years. Good job :)
I really prefer just using software and not having to hook up a bunch of wires, but even the best soft synths still haven't totally replicated the highest and lowest frequencies that analog gear can reach. I keep some analog stuff around just for deep bass and chirpy high stuff.
Very true discussion. I own a lot of gear and sometimes I feel overwhelmed by toi much outboard gear. I try just to focus on one piece and not trying to replace my Ableton Mixing out of the Box…
I think there's a compromise. Nothing really beats grabbing real tangible knobs and faders. It's easy to reamp into guitar pedals and live tweak controls to a rhythm for instance. But, yeah, I agree, less gear is more manageable and even more creative. Having said that I have far too many guitars!
Good for you, it takes a while to get strong to realize that you have GAS . For over 30 years I did the same thing, and then one day I realized everything I do is so much easier with just a keyboard controller ,daw and vst’s. No more hassle of noise in the line, and then trying to also learn all the different operating systems of all the different devices, which takes away from making actual music. But there will be those gas heads who are still suffering from the addiction.
Push 3 Standalone and Ableton Suite cured my GAS. I still have external synths, some im selling but others Iove to keep as an alternative to plugins, but seeing a new groovebox or a limited synth just doesnt get me anymore as Push 3 has everything you need. Max for live is incredible with so many devices that I just cant justify a hardware purchase unless its completely unique in its offering. Cheers
Allot of gear out there but finding the tools you enjoy and feel good using is always important inside the box or physically end result how your art makes you feel is really what matters ❤ cheers to you ✊🏽
I've been making music for about 20 years, in various genres and styles, mainly pop songs. What I see time after time, most young producers are trying to cheat what can't be cheated - buying expensive gear, when the main focus should be learning music composition and audio engineering. All that hardware stuff is too much distraction, and it is very hard to prepare hardware setup for effective work when you need to write a lot of different music. At the moment I have only Reason DAW with no additional rack extensions whatsoever, and TDR NOVA dynamic eq. For vocal recordings, I use Shure SM58 (with some custom-made windscreens to help control heights. That's it. While my colleagues spent thousands of euros buying the most expensive stuff - mics, synths, etc. and records almost nothing worthwhile in years, I'm just cooking songs one after another. Nowadays even in the software realm, there is so much distracting marketing bullshit... It's just sad to look at. If someone wants to have fun, buy one gear and stick with it, play and have fun. But if you want to be productive - choose the most stable DAW that has most of the stuff (instruments and effects) already in it.
I agree! As a guitar player I had many Boogies,Fender and all. I kept my favorite one and now just work with an Apollo and a few IRs..Work with Reason which I can integrate perfectly with Logic.All sounds great! Got rid of a lot of stuff . I just buy pedals when good ones come out.I have the new Boss IR 2 that I really recommend because of the effects loop to get the tones of your pedalboard if you are a guitarist.Have a good life!
Music hardware and music software are two different things that you use for different reasons with different objectives, you can't really compare them. The only music hardware gear you can fairly compare to DAWs are standalone workstations, like Akai's MPCs. Music hardware are instruments, you "play music" with them. Music software are workstations, you "produce music" with them. I like both :)
There's plenty of things in between a DAW and an MPC type workstation to waste money on, plenty of people use MPC then export to ableton for compression and other processing chains which alone is enough to spend thousands replicating in HW. Sound sourcing is the other side with analog synths and expensive turntables and lofi samplers and all the modern pedals/keyboards/etc Reducing this to dawless vs DAW is oversimplifying
Great video Marius. I could definitely get rid of some gear. I’m mainly using my laptop now (Renoise) but still use some old gear for inspiration and because I like playing with toys :-P
Thanks buddy! And yeah, no point in doing something you'll regret down the line. For me, it was time to get off the ride. ;-) Good to hear from you btw! It's been a while!
Totally. I've more or less done the same. I've actually locked myself out of it on my phone. Can still check it on my computer, but find that I never really bother to do it.
Well done! I applaud ppl for finding things that need changing and acting on it! That said, for me, I am not selling my hardware. I do have a lot, but I have place to keep it, I do use most of it and I do periodically pick things from my pile to sell. For me I simply find a lot more inspiration with hardware than in the box. I am not trying to sound retro or look cool, lol... but I just connect mentally better with it. Anyway... definitely don't encourage hoarding of gear. Several years back I made a rule that when I buy something I need to make 10 songs with it. Gives me a chance to learn the gear, get some value from it and decide if it is a keeper. I am not perfect or preaching... but it works for me most of the time... prob cause I am someone who likes rules, lol. Good luck!
I think good gear makes a lot of difference. But it only makes a difference if you are actually good enough with the instrument to extract its maximum potential. I could have a stradivarius here in my studio to record some string parts and it will still sound like crap because I haven't invested 20+ years on making a violin sound good. I feel the same way with synths. If you have invested 20 years in making monosynth sawtooth LP filter with high resonance sounds I think you will be able to exploit the difference in a softsynth and for instance an MS20. Or if you have used a phaser effect on a thousand projects you will probably know it so well that you could get a lot out of a thousand dollar Moog pedal. But if it is just something you slap on certain instruments with a simple preset then I don't think it will matter if you use a free plugin or some thousand dollar outboard gear, in fact using outboard gear will be more of a hassle than you can get out of it at that point.
Did the same in 2018. Do I miss the vintage hardwear synthesizers? Only the tweakability, and maybe some of the sonic quality of a real analog synthesizer, but hey the vintage stuff spent more time at the tech than producing music. Now i just would buy and own 2-3 different polys and maybe 2-3 mono synths and no vintage gear
You literally need hardware to run the software or interact with it. Hardware IS a necessity... 😉 Now, putting pedantry aside, you certainly don't need a room full of instruments if you've got a good studio computer!
Great video. Just starting out with music production and I’m already identifying with what you are saying here. I don’t have much space and also don’t want to spent a lot of potential creative time, on being my own tech support. Right now, learning the craft seems more important. I also think as a person, you will find what works for you and evolve. Maybe using more kit, or going in mostly in the box. No right or wrong, but right for you. Make good music that you like, be original 😊
I had a phase like this and found that I really regretted selling gear for the following reasons: HW gear has a sound that is still not replicable in the box & I find sitting in front of a screen all day uninspiring. I have now found a hybrid workflow where the core elements are Hardware that s been recorded to be ready to go in the box and I use outboard gear for the "special" bits. Hooks, leads, FX sounds etc... Hope you don't regret your sale and many good points made...
Thanks mate. Glad you liked it. And yeah: there's usually not just one way of working. This is simply what I've found to be a good solution for me personally. Gave it a good, long thought before I moved on it, so honestly doubt I'll end up regretting it. 😊
I am at the same point as you are. I went full circle from making music just on computer (even without midi keyboard), then buying hardware and doing DAWless live performances, and now going back to computer just because its more efficient way to finish music. I will never sell my Novation Circuit tho, its still part of my live rig and I learned it so well, so I can jam on it on the fly quickly during live.
I never started modular but I always had about a dozen synthesizers. The only plugins I used were audio effects. But mainly because most new synths that came out in the last two years were either grossly overpriced or were not interesting to me, I stopped buying hardware and started using VSTi whenever I wanted something different. Nowadays I’d say that 50-60% of the tracks in any project I do are from VSTi. I came to the conclusion that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I’m still using my hardware synths because I like the workflow but I could do something equivalent using only plugins. The sound quality of plugins is so good that even professional mixing and mastering engineers are dumping their expensive hardware and are working 100% in the box.
I regret the hell out of selling my Fantom 06 keyboard for a measly 700 dollars. I wish I would have never done that, because I also got rid of my 264 songs, instrumentals and cinematic music I had saved on it. It was a very stupid decision on my part, and I should not have done it.
Strange...I spent years making music in the box and now I make it all without a computer, only use hardware and my music is amazing now!
Wow !
Great video !
I’m freaking out !
Because I can’t stop buying gear.
I needed to hear this !
Thank you
To each their own of course. For me, I love the visceral experience of using, touching, smelling hardware. I appreciate my synths and drum machines, beyond the fact that they are tools to create music--I see them as works as art in and of themselves. We are living through an amazing hardware renaissance now--re-issues of classics, and modern instruments as well.
I never cared for the temporary nature of software. Updating my OS typically leaves a lot of my VST's non-functional. Software is on rent. Hardware is owned indefinitely.
hardware presents a limitation ..limitation breeds creativity ...digital presents a rabbit hole, one which you will never find the end of ..time is finite.
@@bepitan Amen. 👍👍👍
@bepitan true that
This is the therapy lesson every home studio guy with a decent passive income needs to hear
I just skimmed over your Spotify playlist: wow, you have an impressive catalogue of work! It’s like an ‘80s retro sound, but with a layer of ‘90s over the top. Very clean, very energetic, tons of melody, lots of interesting leadwork… and I especially enjoy that you explore both Breakbeat and House rythms.
Top notch stuff 🤟🔥🤟
Wow, thank you!
Your points resonate with me a lot. The trade off I've found though is that you lose the problems of hardware, but pick up a bunch of new problems in terms of keeping software up to date and compatible. I've ended up tracking finished projects to multitrack audio because I've had so many issues loading old projects after even a year or so due to software updates making things incompatible.
Yeah, I do the same. Before I finish off a project I aways bounce everything down to audio and simply mute the midi channels. Doesn't take long with the freeze and flatten function. That way, it's possible to come back to a project years later, even if the plugins are gone.
Solution for that problem is NOT to update. I have a dedicated audio PC which is not connected to internet. Software keeps working as always.....
@@gradjelamers8770 as long as you don't get new software of course
Our ego gets attached to things so much that we don't even notice how much of a relief we could feel when just by letting go.
For me it's not ego. It's a passion for unique sound and playing experience a quality synth gives. My home is 500 sq feet and I keep all but one of my 19 (I think) synths and drum machines in a locked closet 24/7.
Another option, if someone wants to stick with hardware but is feeling overwhelmed, would be to downsize to a smaller set up and learn that small set up inside and out. Treat it like a guitar or a violin - master your instrument. Put your energy into the discipline of mastering your instrument and avoid the black hole of “improving” your instrument. 😊
I agree. Most people get in buying addiction since everything is widely available, instead of focusing on a small set of gear and being creative to work and overcome its limitations. Buying new hardware to overcome limitations defeats one of the purpose of hardware.
@@dualsphere 100% agree.
Great to see you lightening up. I've been going through the exact same downsizing, primarily because I found the hardware were just becoming boat anchors and taking up space, often times not having been used for many years. Additionally, I'm finding the soft synths that I have to be FAR more powerful than the hardware synths. I just sold my last large piece of gear (a Qcon controller) this morning, and it felt so good to not have boxes, unused equipment taking up space in my office. I still have a respectable amount of gear, but each and every piece is actively used. Definitely following in your path.
Thanks for the video. Of course we’re strictly talking about here yes? I love working in the box and it makes total sense - but “good” sounds or not there’s nothing like banging on the drums!
The problem with a lot of TH-cam music producer content is that it tries to extrapolate universal truths from personal experience: what works well for you mightn’t work for someone else. But I get where you’re coming from! Cheers
I totally agree. And I'm not saying this will be the best solution for everyone. It's just what works for me. Each of us has to figure out what works best for us. To each his own and all that. 😊
Great topic, great video pal 👊🏼
Much appreciated, coming from you sir! God jul!
Totally the best decision, after 20 years of the gear addiction i went completely minimal, softsynths, ableton and push 1. Now i actually make music instead of deciding what to use... in the end unless you are making music for musicians most people really don't care how you made it and only care about good music.
Vst music sucks
Where's your released music?
@@pavelmolchanov7156so most music? Lol ignorant comment
@@GuyGamer1 your music made on vsts suck
@@pavelmolchanov7156show us your music
I did the same. But selling everything was not the right solution for me. Hardware isn't the problem. Having too much of it is the problem. Selling everything was an over reaction to the burden of having too much stuff. Now I have reaquired essential gear which I love and limit myself to a minimal setup.
This is how I felt for most of my career in music, then a few years ago, I bought an Novation Peak primarily as a controller for Omnisphere since it has the hardware integration. Funny enough, I stopped using Omnisphere because I really enjoyed using the Peak to create my sounds. I’m just now hitting a point where I’m feeling less inspired by the process of working with outboard gear because the workflow can be tedious. After watching this video, I think I’m going to swing back the other way and do most of my writing in the box, though I do still plan on using my Peak to control Omnisphere when I’m in my studio because it controls the parameters so well. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you kept a few favorites.
I toyed with the idea of selling everything, but I ended up just breaking everything down and tucking it away for about three months. I didn’t watch any TH-cam gear vids and none of the synth live streams. The difference with me is, my goal is not only to produce music, but just tinkering with the gear-getting all synced and just jamming. So for that reason I would have regretted selling everything. But still I totally see your side of the gear game.
Yeah, no reason doing this unless it feels right. For me, it was time.
I recently made the same change and got a Push 3 for the hands on aspect. It’s had its ups and downs… many pros for sure but the thing that’s really getting me down is the fan noise on my computer. I guess it’s too old at this point but it was never an issue when I worked out of the box. Also, I guess many of us just love gear. The buttons and lights and knowing how it all works. But yeah, many pains in the ass that come with it. I don’t regret the change but I do miss my gear at times. Definitely miss my Octatrack.
Interesting take. For me, I started before DAWs, so to me hardware is “natural”, and the DAW feels like a lot of work. I probably will never sell certain gear like my 106, w30, Rev2, Jd-XI, but some things will come and go. Modular is beyond my scope thank God,
Same here. I have synths I’ll never get rid off like my Virus Ti-1 or Tastychips GR-1, Digitakt & Tone, and some Moog’s. Then my FX pedals like Microcosm, BigSky, Mood, etc…. It all feels totally natural to me, but the one and only DAW I jive with is Reason. It gives me the feeling of actual gear and is super easy to produce with it. A friend let me borrow a couple road cases of Eurorack gear and I just stared at it all the time and never even made a song with it, so I gave it back to him and realized it’s not for me. The learning curve that is.
I agree I do mixing in the box , I find a good sampler beats a computer every time, and I used live, reason etc, but I personally am not into computer's.
@@suzannealdridge1404 I think if you started during the DAW age, they make sense to people who started out using them. For people like me, who began in my teens back in the 80s, hardware is generally more intuitive. Plus I spend a lot of work time on screen and don’t want to do that in my “fun” time. I do use a ipad Garage band more as a tape recorder or editor. It’s probably about finding what works for each of us and try to avoid universals since there really aren’t any in electronica.
@@marial8235- Yup. I still love my synths and really not into computers so it’s totally an individual thing.
Nice move. I've been thinking about doing the same thing, recently. I love gear, it's fun to play with, it looks nice in the studio... but I always just make music in Ableton.
Thank you for sharing! At the moment I’m working through myself and figuring out what I want and what I want to let go.
Definitely understand where you're coming from. I first bought a Minilogue XD, then a Casio SK-1, and then a JUNO-X, an realized recently that just those 3 is already a lot with my guitars haha. Each one (besides the SK1) have their own learning curves and I haven't fully utilized 100% of their capabilities. I have to tell myself this every time I see a Prophet demo or something lol. One has to go if I get a new one.
So refreshing to see this outlook. I have never felt the need to buy outboard as much as a lot of it tempts me. Everything I make is in the box and I do feel like I'm missing out on anything at all.
This is great for everyone here trying to make as many tracks as possible, and it’s their job. It’s why we have 10’s of thousands of new tracks every single day. Personally, I like to play music more than record it and not staring at a screen is actually fun and relaxing, not to mention it’s how a lot of humans used to express feelings. I wonder how many people make a song and actually sit down to play it on a regular basis. I’m not a trained pianist or anything, but with a drum machine, and a keystep plugged into 4 synths I can make a lot of noise that is just for me, not for clicks, posts, or uploads.
That being said, GAS as is a bad and pointless thing.
Totally agree
I found a point for it. It kept me interested in playing music! I bought enough stuff to keep my fingers on the instruments and luckily developed some skill in the process. Now, gear matters much less, and I know how to use it and what it is for. It was a fun ride!
Exactly and let's not even talk about those cold mouse-pen-pad strained fingers 🙂
I feel this. I was making music since I was a kid and I got some epic analogue HW. I quickly realized that when I am composing, I need to be in the "zone" and I can only do that on my computer. So I use software when actually making music, but I use my HW to jam and play around to whet my inspiration. Also I think that if you want to "extract" the magic dust from that old gear, you need the whole path to be analogue. As soon as you introduce an AD converter, the gig is up. AD/DA is like a firewall for the magic of the dancing electrons. I also think that this is affected by what style of musician you are. Some musicians just go on a drug trip while recording everything and then when they are sober the next day, they scavenge their recording for the good bits to put into a track. I have a much stronger need for control over my process. It needs to be reproducible and so software really is the only way.
YES! I’ve been doing the exact same thing this year. I found that I FINISH songs that start in Ableton whereas my “dawless” setup never generates songs, just jams that never go anywhere..
Good to hear! 😊
@@Javeton No, it’s what happens when I decide what works well for me after spending a couple years experimenting with different workflows. But hey, thanks for the free psychoanalysis!
I did the same, over 30 years in music production (all electronic) and at one point had a studio full of pretty much every mono and poly you can name. Now I have just 3 synths, one classic and two Behringer (they are actually good at sounding just like the old machines); no more synth tech bills, rare parts when old machines break down, and most of all MORE focus on what I do have. Less is definitely more when it comes to production.
Totally. I have a tiny studio, and could hardly move in there the way it was.
Heres a comment for your algo. Lol If you're broke or just starting, everything has been in the box for a longgg time, its such a blessing. Good speakers, DAW, and room treatment. Good to go.
Yeah the audio resolution is such that the emulations sound as good as the "real" synth but without the impact on the environment.
I have a Juno-6 and a few other bits of hardware, but the sounds I find most interesting are just sticking guitar into VCV Rack. You can make almost any sound you can imagine with software modular.
Let me begin my saying that I'm primarily a guitarist who enjoys creating and listening to my own music which is more about expression. After learning about eurorack and its evolving, dynamic nature with vasts configuration options, I saw the potential to create a backing band of sorts with my guitar. Its like having my own mini orchestra with a built in peddle fx board and complimenting analog and digital synth progressions.
Before Eurorack, my first experience recording was with an IScarlett Solo interface and GarageBand followed by Ableton. It became clear that using a DAW was not my preferred method of recording as it took countless hours just to sample libraries and then tweak with what seemed like an endless list of plugins and VST options for each project. In short, it killed my creative mojo.
Since using a 104HP modular skiff, an Arturia keystep and a Zoom recorder, I have now recorded hours of playlists every year and have enjoyed making them all. Its just feels like a more natural, organic process to pick up an instrument and play, mix and record than to building tracks and then splicing them into a project file. Now, I'm not creating for public consumption or use as mentioned and I do understand why a DAW is still a crucial step for professional recording artists but I must say its been wayyy more inspiring and productive for me. I have transposed a few recordings for Valhaller shimmers and other end of chain FXand compression but only in a few instances. Eurorack offers most of what I need. The Morpgagene Looper and Beads Granular processing modules provide great sound layering and an almost endless source of new soundscapes and modulations I would never have even thought of. So, I hope to enjoy many more opportunities explore this particular DAWless workflow.
I totally agree with you. Stop watching youtube, turn off the computer and start making music on some box. My box is MPC Live 2 with plugins.
this is really cool you can do it this way, i automatically feel better using hardware ive tried many times to vibe with in the box but it never cut it for me. I now only use it for effects plugins which i realised is a huge plus when it comes to the closeness of hardwear effects units (and i have also been thru alot to understand for myself what i actually prefer) plus the money saving is huge. Actually this makes me view it as half way where you are since i do swear by in the box effects :)
Glad I never started buying loads of hardware, I did start down that route but realised pretty quicky you don't actually need much to make music. I now use a DAW, Spectrasonics Omnisphere and Elektron Analogue Rytm Mk2....that's its and the possibilities are still endless.
I'm still fascinated with blinking hardware and complicated looking cables. It has a awesome look to it that makes me want to own it. But I'll also stick to software because it's far too expensive and bulky. And music making is just one of my many hobbies.
@@gagaxueguzheng Yeah same I've got tons of hobbies haha
Plugins good for the home guy, hardware for the studio. It’s more inspiring to have physical gear and a good marketing tool
I've had a couple of friends go through exactly the same journey (to working pretty much only ITB). From my own experiences, and seeing those of others, my opinion is that a large majority of the people who claim that they could never give up their hardware are deceiving themselves.
I was exactly the same way with books and e-readers: I stoutly refused the notion of giving up the touch, the smell, and the physical interaction of turning paper pages for an electronic device for years. That is, until someone bought me a Kindle.
The same applies to vinyl enthusiasts and film camera users. You can digtially replicate the "vinyl sound" (hint: it's just saturation) (disclaimer: a very, very small set of vinyl records are mastered differently than their CD counterpart, but this is the exception rather than the rule), and you can digitally manufacture any film effects. Objectively, with a modern computer you can get anything you had with analogue in the digital space. Any reasoning to stay with the old is therefore not logical, but emotional.
I suspect that many can't admit to themselves that they simply don't want to learn or acclimatise themselves to something new. Many are also emotionally party to a sunk-cost fallacy (if you already have $10,000 vinyl record collection and a $10,000 turntable + stylus setup, going digital effectively makes it all worth $0 _to you_, even though you can sell the equipment on).
I'm more than happy with all the extra space I have from going digital everywhere - no more turntables, vinyls, books, retro-consoles, synths, etc. cluttering up my living room - but as is with clothing brands, I think a lot of people need this "clutter" around to impress their "identity" upon the world (...not that I would ever tell them so brutally, otherwise I wouldn't have any friends left!). Now... about the number of colleagues who seem to have accidently angled their webcams directly towards the shelves full of books that they'll never read a second time...
Sounds like we're of similar mindsets mate. It probably comes at no surprise that I'm currently in the process of getting rid of all my vinyl too. ;-)
I’ve made that mistake of selling all your kit before and thinking that going into the box is better and simpler and more productive. Nothing beats Flying a real physical synthesiser
90% agree… the learning process does force one to rethink the creative process, which introduces a lot of creativity in itself
I did the same move and I don't regret it for a second
I feel you, man! I'm also selling all my music hardware now!
Except for my double bass 🎻 I call her Bella. She’s a keeper-the love of my life 🥰
I love a great bass guitar with flat wound strings. I would choose it over midi all the time. I use an old Park head with a 4x10 cab. I use a sm57 halfway between the centre and the edge of one of the drivers, l also use a Behringer C-1 in phase at the back of the cab (opened back cab when recording) i get a real good bit of punch doing it this way.
So if I had to choose, my bass is at the top of the keeper list.
part of the fun is performing with the live equipment, which takes up such a small amount of time compared to the majority of the work that is done with daws for chopping, arranging, mixing etc. thats just modern workflow
I came to a similar realization after starting down the modular rabbit hole.
Get that, although I do keep at least one pice of hardware and a guitar amp or pedal that I always use. For now is the Nord lead 2X and Sansamp GT2
It's amazing as a professional of decades to see this transformation to computer based replacements of all of this hardware. For Ex., I recently purchase the Rhodes Music Mark 8 Pro plug in made by Rhodes Music. I loaded it up and it sounded just like Rhodes Music new $10,000 electric piano. In fact the only improvement in the actual physical instrument is the effects section when ABing. Where the hardware is nice is in the physical control aspect especially if you are a trained keyboardist, or classical pianist. We expect playable keyboard to execute parts. For example, we need an 88 note weighted controller for playing piano sample. I like the Kawai VPC-1 triple strike keyboard. (Nord uses it in their keyboards I believe and Kawaii sells them). For synth action I like the Nord Wave 2 waterfall keyboard for it fast action for synth part playing and for its waterfall keyboard for organ parts.
I only keep things that can’t be emulated in the box. Moogerfoogers, tx802, Dfam etc etc
I can't afford a hardware device that sounds as good as Diva I also don't have the space to store it and recording such a device to audio is a lot more restrictive than being able to tweak it on the fly. I'd rather have the money for other things, the simplicity that VSTs bring, and my finished tracks out on the internet.
Diva is one of my favorite things. The other u-he stuff is great too.
For me learning Ableton, playing with the push and a midi keyboard, working with samples and plugin is a perfect way to compose and play live, with a compact setup. I kept some hardware, just wich sounds better to me, and can stay on my desk in an ergonomic way. So i can play dawless and jam, or creating sets in Ableton, or going live with a few things.
Your video just popped up on my feed and with that title... I decided to give it a watch and I'm definitely glad I did. Very cool hearing from your perspective. We use FL Studio and feel similar to you! 😎🐀
Glad to hear it! 😊
Well done, it's tough and the withdraw symptoms can be deadly. Just take each day at a time and you will get through it. Ive been clean for 4 years, I just occasionally dabble with a triangle I have under the stars. Just to keep a little rhythm in my life. But I feel like a great weight off my shoulders, and I can finally afford to feed my kids more than bread and milk.
Great video. And this speaks to the acquisition of any type of gear: plugins, pedals, synths etc. the acquiring of which has far more to do with a dopamine hit and much less to do with making music.
I bet we've all got stuff we've bought that we haven't even scratched the surface of, I know I have. Far better to make use of what we have before getting something new.
Back in the day all I had was a Roland D20, an acoustic guitar and a portastudio, and I was way way more productive then than I've ever been since with all the choices I now have at my disposal.
Instead of pulling the trigger on new gear, we need to sit down and think, imagine trawling through the manual of that new piece of gear, scratching our head, maybe hitting a brick wall and having to go on forums etc. to get it to do something we hoped it would do, and instead, get the manual out on that piece of gear we already have and see what we can make that do!
Thanks for your insights and good luck with your streamlining!
thanks for this video ! i needed to hear this!
I've been doing music for 15 ish years and don't own a single piece of hardwarre, totally in the box since day one. ☺️
why?
@@SPAZZOID100 Not worth it.
Personally I working with hardware only. My brain is the MPC One. Personally, I get along best with hardware. The most important thing to me is the hands on workflow. For me, a DAW has very little to do with making music. too many mouse clicks. Mixing and mastering everything happens in the MPC One. I worked with Ableton, but since i have the MPC one, The MPC was the reason why I wanted to move away from Ableton completely. But my thoughts about making music have always been completely hardware-based
Really disliked the MPC workflow. DAW all the way. Whatever works for you.
@@Rialas the MPC is really, really powerful, I think. Yes, you have right, its an thing of workflow. My whole setup is connected to the MPC for recording and sequencing
I’ve briefly taken that journey from mouse clicks to touch screen menus. The MPC is a DAW by all definitions, with controller and interface attached. Which can be a great convenience. Not hating use whatever works for you
@@Reggi_Sample The MPC is an instrument. Yes its an DAWless DAW. Working with the Triggerpads is that what I am call making music. The MPC is just perfect for that. Also as an Inspirationmachine. Which you can make an entire Track in the MPC. Mixing and mastering included. Its so amazing
@@thecreepysilence4290The dictionary definition of a DAW is anything that can create an record music. The MPC like the Push3 is a computer and DAW in a box with controller and interface attached. It just is.
If you already have a good interface and controller/s then it could literally be a step backwards. The software runs better when plugged in because the little computer inside the mpc isn’t very powerful but it still is a DAW.
There is some snake oil in the marketing:
Of course you are stand-alone if your already a computer 😂 plugins and menu diving all the same. My Mac and iPad are stand-alone too by Akais logic 😂
My problem with working solely on a computer is that it doesn't sound as good live through a sound system. I've used the same sequencer on both and it just doesn't sound as rich. But having both options is a big gift.
If you have a good controller, and have external preamps and a multi out interface to STILL get that analog color if you want, then I really don’t know the point of hardware synths in 2023. Great video.
Space and travel got me going down the “in the box” path, with ableton and M4L, and now I’m going further than imagined by making everything from scratch…and the new apple silicon chips are so crazy I have unprecedented flexibility on a laptop…so being able to work whenever/wherever I’m inspired…same setup…kind of game over 😂
Same here.
Five years ago. Sold all of my analog gear and switched to software and external midi-controllers.
Desk and laptop computers are light years faster than they were 20 years ago.
I have been performing live techno hardware only since 2001. Just last month I stumbled upon a video of Ableton that seemed to finally "reach" me and make me actually consider using Ableton. Now I watch this video and I begin to consider many things. Thanks.
Great video, love the honest feedback - really useful. I was about to start accumulating more hardware but I've decided to stick with mostly with plugins for now, although I need to stop accumulating those also !
Yeah, it's easy to just find something else to spend on if you're not a bit conscious about it. Glad you liked it btw!
Buy, don't sell, you'll just end up buying a lot of it back in a few years. Just advice from someone that has been doing synths for a few decades longer than you, lol.
Or don’t buy and don’t sell, I’ve ended up buying all my gear back and more…
Maybe it’s just me.
The same goes for me. Have bought lots if 80s gear back. I missed the true taktile feeling and response when I adjusted a parameter with a slider or a knob. The same goes for being aware about its limitations😎
@@jangayenI am younger than you guys but have come to the same conclusion. I wanted to get into hardware but also realized it was much more of a process than just making music in the box. It did help me learn synthesis but saving patches and backing them up and everything else hardware is lot more steps to do regular stuff you can do in the box easily and quickly. So I sold my gear and went back to in the box. But ended up buying back some of the hardware stuff later on 😂
Buy it, turn it into a sample based instrument, and then sell it. Then sell your digital version online.
Everyone is different. And technology is not the same as it was 30 years ago. You know that. A lot of this is nostalgia. I feel it too but anytime I rebuy an old synth it is never as good as what I remembered. Plugins have come a long way, and I can’t believe I’m saying that.
In the 80's, when a lot of this stuff was NEW, I remember my garage band's keyboardist was only in BECAUSE she had the 106 which rich daddy indulged his darling princess with, she couldn't find middle C on it to save her immortal soul. As I sit with my guitar synth charging, I would sell all but the 106; use it as a controller and keep the classic. A lot of what I see today is superfluousness, hype, and planned obsolescence. I'd keep the classic.😊
Similar experience for me - moving into the box felt liberating and made me way more productive. The only problem I've encountered is that it just doesn't look as cool when you are trying to record a video performance of your track (not that I did many of them either way, but still). Watching hardware with blinking lights is way more engaging for a viewer than watching a laptop or a screen capture with a DAW timeline.
I'll never stop recording music with my UA LA-610 pre-amp and my tascam 8 track cassette recorder..
I just can't get the rich sound l like with protools, soft synths and plugins. I just added a SSL Fusion, WA-12 tone beast, and a Joe Meek Twin Q...
We’ll be able to make music with our thoughts soon.
The real trap is thinking you need to do this or that before you actually create. Thinking you need to sell all your shit before you can be more creative is part of that. After you sell all your gear, there will be something else - even if you are inspirited for a bit. You're focused because you just put energy into making a change. This is known as Resistance, and it comes in many forms. After a while, you'll buy a synth again, and the cycle will continue.
I wanted to give you a hug after watching your video, because you seem like an artist trapped in this cycle. The real answer to enjoy every part of the creative process. Getting and learning a new machine can bring the same level of joy to an artist as releasing new material and getting great feedback from your fans. If you feel you need to be more prolific to be happy, then do it. If you want to write more music, do it. Having hardware doesn't have to impede that, only if you let it.
Videos like these are a symptom of the Spotify driven fallacy that every musician needs to make 1000 tracks a month or risk being irrelevant. We panic at a subconscious level and sell all our shit. Screw that noise. Give me a Juno 106 and a dope drum machine any day of the week.
Someone who REDUCES GEAR... INSTANT SUB !!!. Congratulations. THIS IS THE WAY !!!
I’ve done the same thing. I’ve been a musician and sound engineer all my life. I play multiple instruments. So I had LOTS of gear. But it’s all gone. Everything is in the box now. I only have a few guitars, 2 bass guitars, a few other stringed instruments. A few midi keyboard controllers and a midi drum controller. All my amps, effects and even compressors and such are all in the box. I must say it makes life a lot easier and it takes up way less space and draws a lot less electricity. Also I can take everything with me wherever I go. I can work on at the beach if I want. It couldn’t do that with all the heavy gear before.
Interesting. This is a feeling I've been having at the back of my mind. I haven't acted on it yet. For many years I had only the box and then started going back to hardware as well. Now gathering hardware, but I'm aware that buying new hardware can become more of a focus than actually creating. As you also mention, you have to avoid doing the same with plugins. I will limit the hardware I buy from this point. If you're constantly adding new hardware or software then you become master of none. This has also been discussed in terms of music creation as well. I believe Jean Michel Jarre made the point that his early music was made with a limited number of tracks and having that restriction ultimately helped his music. Less can be more.
Man I definitely appreciate this video. I have a ton of gear. I’ve sold a 8K dollar Eurorack system only to buy another 10U system that I have now. While this video doesnt necessarily prompti me to sell my hardware it did give me a good reminder that I need to focus on making music not acquiring that next new “thing”. Like you said it’s not just hardware, it can be plugins and software. Great video I’m happy you’re moving in a positive direction.
Glad to be of inspiration. As I've mentioned, I've been down the modular rabbit hole myself, so I know what you're talking about. But don't go selling your stuff because some guy on TH-cam told you to. 😉 I'm not saying my way is the only way. It's just what works for me.
@@mariuscircus totally understand and respect it.
When my kids came along I sold all my hardware and was left pretty much with a laptop and push2. ITB is definitely better for producing final tracks. What I do miss though is the little fun-boxes like the OP-1 that you can just pick up and groove/jam on, have fun without being too analytical. i find that once you're in front of a computer it's a bit less of a jam and more analytical, too precise. The trick though on a computer is to do less tweaking and fine-tuning as you go and just jam and worry about perfecting sounds/eq-ing etc later.
I sold off everything except my Push and Minifreak this past year. Best decision I ever made. In some paradoxical way I feel more creatively liberated now.
yeah, agreed. I've been through the same thought process this year. I hadn't appreciated how much mental overhead there was with acquiring, integrating, maintaining and properly learning every piece of gear as well as making it all work well together. I'm getting far better results from learning a much smaller set of kit and it being centred around a macbook. People say they don't want to be stuck behind a computer, but for me, it was the opposite. Previously I was stuck only able to make music in 1 specific room. Now with the macbook it's totally portable and like you say, it fits in around family life and has very low friction to being creative 👍
Sounds like we're in the same boat! 😊
Don’t have to wait for gear to get in tune is an important argument. Using softsynths in a DAW gets the result much closer to the inspiration. And no broken filters and troubleshooting is very beneficial for creative work!
I’m happy to see you kept the microcosm. It is such an inspiring and unique piece of gear that can’t be emulated 1:1
Can totally understand your story, looks clean & ace! Was wondering if you still got the Cirklon but I saw it in the vid. How about the Cwejman? Gone forever?
No, still have the Cwejman. Just put it to the side for a while. It's among those things I'm a little reluctant to sell until a bit more time has passed. ;-)
Nice video, I need that kind of content, little bit of a GAS here also ;) I realise I fiddle with lot's of toys but I become less productive, it feeds my geeky needs more than serve my music. By the way just checked your Spotify and the song Zipped gives me a Undeworld vibe (the british band, not the movie lol), which is for me a considerable compliment, I loved their work for 25 years now and I don't get bored of it over the years. Good job :)
Thanks! Happy to hear you're enjoying the music! 😊
I really prefer just using software and not having to hook up a bunch of wires, but even the best soft synths still haven't totally replicated the highest and lowest frequencies that analog gear can reach. I keep some analog stuff around just for deep bass and chirpy high stuff.
Very true discussion. I own a lot of gear and sometimes I feel overwhelmed by toi much outboard gear. I try just to focus on one piece and not trying to replace my Ableton Mixing out of the Box…
I think there's a compromise. Nothing really beats grabbing real tangible knobs and faders. It's easy to reamp into guitar pedals and live tweak controls to a rhythm for instance. But, yeah, I agree, less gear is more manageable and even more creative. Having said that I have far too many guitars!
Good for you, it takes a while to get strong to realize that you have GAS . For over 30 years I did the same thing, and then one day I realized everything I do is so much easier with just a keyboard controller ,daw and vst’s. No more hassle of noise in the line, and then trying to also learn all the different operating systems of all the different devices, which takes away from making actual music. But there will be those gas heads who are still suffering from the addiction.
Push 3 Standalone and Ableton Suite cured my GAS. I still have external synths, some im selling but others Iove to keep as an alternative to plugins, but seeing a new groovebox or a limited synth just doesnt get me anymore as Push 3 has everything you need. Max for live is incredible with so many devices that I just cant justify a hardware purchase unless its completely unique in its offering. Cheers
Allot of gear out there but finding the tools you enjoy and feel good using is always important inside the box or physically end result how your art makes you feel is really what matters ❤ cheers to you ✊🏽
What you mean by "now I'm in the box", and can you tell more specific what did you sell and why you think you were not in the box?
I've been making music for about 20 years, in various genres and styles, mainly pop songs. What I see time after time, most young producers are trying to cheat what can't be cheated - buying expensive gear, when the main focus should be learning music composition and audio engineering. All that hardware stuff is too much distraction, and it is very hard to prepare hardware setup for effective work when you need to write a lot of different music. At the moment I have only Reason DAW with no additional rack extensions whatsoever, and TDR NOVA dynamic eq. For vocal recordings, I use Shure SM58 (with some custom-made windscreens to help control heights. That's it. While my colleagues spent thousands of euros buying the most expensive stuff - mics, synths, etc. and records almost nothing worthwhile in years, I'm just cooking songs one after another. Nowadays even in the software realm, there is so much distracting marketing bullshit... It's just sad to look at.
If someone wants to have fun, buy one gear and stick with it, play and have fun. But if you want to be productive - choose the most stable DAW that has most of the stuff (instruments and effects) already in it.
Yeah, there's no magic bullet that will make you good at this stuff.
3:13 Nice...what brand are those midi cc black knobs they look so kool to automate.
Hey! It's Midi Fighter Twister.
I agree! As a guitar player I had many Boogies,Fender and all. I kept my favorite one and now just work with an Apollo and a few IRs..Work with Reason which I can integrate perfectly with Logic.All sounds great! Got rid of a lot of stuff . I just buy pedals when good ones come out.I have the new Boss IR 2 that I really recommend because of the effects loop to get the tones of your pedalboard if you are a guitarist.Have a good life!
Yeh, i agree as a Guitarist,
Music hardware and music software are two different things that you use for different reasons with different objectives, you can't really compare them.
The only music hardware gear you can fairly compare to DAWs are standalone workstations, like Akai's MPCs.
Music hardware are instruments, you "play music" with them. Music software are workstations, you "produce music" with them.
I like both :)
Yeah I mean, the key is to find something that inspires you. 😊
There's plenty of things in between a DAW and an MPC type workstation to waste money on, plenty of people use MPC then export to ableton for compression and other processing chains which alone is enough to spend thousands replicating in HW. Sound sourcing is the other side with analog synths and expensive turntables and lofi samplers and all the modern pedals/keyboards/etc
Reducing this to dawless vs DAW is oversimplifying
Great video Marius. I could definitely get rid of some gear. I’m mainly using my laptop now (Renoise) but still use some old gear for inspiration and because I like playing with toys :-P
Thanks buddy! And yeah, no point in doing something you'll regret down the line. For me, it was time to get off the ride. ;-) Good to hear from you btw! It's been a while!
Yeah I kinda ditched Instagram and social media for the most part - another thing that wastes a lot of our time in my opinion
Totally. I've more or less done the same. I've actually locked myself out of it on my phone. Can still check it on my computer, but find that I never really bother to do it.
Well done! I applaud ppl for finding things that need changing and acting on it! That said, for me, I am not selling my hardware. I do have a lot, but I have place to keep it, I do use most of it and I do periodically pick things from my pile to sell. For me I simply find a lot more inspiration with hardware than in the box. I am not trying to sound retro or look cool, lol... but I just connect mentally better with it. Anyway... definitely don't encourage hoarding of gear. Several years back I made a rule that when I buy something I need to make 10 songs with it. Gives me a chance to learn the gear, get some value from it and decide if it is a keeper. I am not perfect or preaching... but it works for me most of the time... prob cause I am someone who likes rules, lol. Good luck!
tfw record synths sounds into koala sampler using audio interface for drum beats to use later
I think good gear makes a lot of difference. But it only makes a difference if you are actually good enough with the instrument to extract its maximum potential. I could have a stradivarius here in my studio to record some string parts and it will still sound like crap because I haven't invested 20+ years on making a violin sound good. I feel the same way with synths. If you have invested 20 years in making monosynth sawtooth LP filter with high resonance sounds I think you will be able to exploit the difference in a softsynth and for instance an MS20. Or if you have used a phaser effect on a thousand projects you will probably know it so well that you could get a lot out of a thousand dollar Moog pedal. But if it is just something you slap on certain instruments with a simple preset then I don't think it will matter if you use a free plugin or some thousand dollar outboard gear, in fact using outboard gear will be more of a hassle than you can get out of it at that point.
July 2024: Why I put my computer away and started making music with a Juno106 and a four track.
Did the same in 2018. Do I miss the vintage hardwear synthesizers? Only the tweakability, and maybe some of the sonic quality of a real analog synthesizer, but hey the vintage stuff spent more time at the tech than producing music. Now i just would buy and own 2-3 different polys and maybe 2-3 mono synths and no vintage gear
Sorry mate. I wish you a soon recovery.
Hardware is a luxury, not a necessity.
True!
You literally need hardware to run the software or interact with it. Hardware IS a necessity... 😉
Now, putting pedantry aside, you certainly don't need a room full of instruments if you've got a good studio computer!
@screamingstrings76 Err of course you need an audio interface and monitors and a midi controller. Did you not grasp the context here?
@@QWLMusicits called a joke ffs lmao
@@screamingstrings76 hilarious
Great video. Just starting out with music production and I’m already identifying with what you are saying here. I don’t have much space and also don’t want to spent a lot of potential creative time, on being my own tech support. Right now, learning the craft seems more important. I also think as a person, you will find what works for you and evolve. Maybe using more kit, or going in mostly in the box. No right or wrong, but right for you. Make good music that you like, be original 😊
Nice one! Good luck with it. People like you are exactly who I'm trying to help with this channel. 😊
I had a phase like this and found that I really regretted selling gear for the following reasons: HW gear has a sound that is still not replicable in the box & I find sitting in front of a screen all day uninspiring. I have now found a hybrid workflow where the core elements are Hardware that s been recorded to be ready to go in the box and I use outboard gear for the "special" bits. Hooks, leads, FX sounds etc... Hope you don't regret your sale and many good points made...
Thanks mate. Glad you liked it. And yeah: there's usually not just one way of working. This is simply what I've found to be a good solution for me personally. Gave it a good, long thought before I moved on it, so honestly doubt I'll end up regretting it. 😊
I am at the same point as you are. I went full circle from making music just on computer (even without midi keyboard), then buying hardware and doing DAWless live performances, and now going back to computer just because its more efficient way to finish music.
I will never sell my Novation Circuit tho, its still part of my live rig and I learned it so well, so I can jam on it on the fly quickly during live.
I never started modular but I always had about a dozen synthesizers. The only plugins I used were audio effects. But mainly because most new synths that came out in the last two years were either grossly overpriced or were not interesting to me, I stopped buying hardware and started using VSTi whenever I wanted something different. Nowadays I’d say that 50-60% of the tracks in any project I do are from VSTi. I came to the conclusion that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I’m still using my hardware synths because I like the workflow but I could do something equivalent using only plugins. The sound quality of plugins is so good that even professional mixing and mastering engineers are dumping their expensive hardware and are working 100% in the box.
I regret the hell out of selling my Fantom 06 keyboard for a measly 700 dollars. I wish I would have never done that, because I also got rid of my 264 songs, instrumentals and cinematic music I had saved on it. It was a very stupid decision on my part, and I should not have done it.