#123

I know I could do a lot of what I do with a computer and DAW, but for me it all comes down to workflow. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with my own unwillingness to take the time to really get comfortable with computers and software, but I really just prefer making music with a case full of modules and hardware synths and effects.

Full disclosure, I have nothing against computers and know a lot of people who make incredible music with them, but sometimes the limitations imposed by hardware are really helpful in my creative process. Plus I really like the physical, tactile nature of physically patching modules and turning knobs.

I’m sure they are out there but I don’t really know that many people that would turn their noses up at people using software, or people who think hardware is the only proper way to do things. I totally see your point but it’s an experience that’s totally unique to the individual.

#124

It’s a fair point: use whatever gets it out there, ultimately. I’m always struck by the DIY approach of doing whatever you can with whatever you have (which is where I’m sure many of us started). I wasn’t allowed to mess with reel to reel recorder my parents had when I was a kid (which I don’t blame them for!) so my first experiments were using a midi hifi system. When I came to making music the only thing I had to hand was a PC (my parents worked in computer software so they’d always been around) so I made things on that.

My current setup is largely focused on iOS apps, but that’s basically saying that I replaced my computer with… a (different type of) computer.

The computer king is dead, long live the computer king.

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#125

Consider this clip talking about composing the original Terminator sound track: https://youtu.be/nnpYowxlwsU?t=106

Maybe the truth is somewhere between what you’re arguing against, and what you’re arguing for, that different styles stem from different processes. If you want to produce highly polished pop-style EDM then sure a DAW is probably a solid bet. If you want to produce flowing hour-long ambient sessions, then less so.

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#126

When I realised that much of my process featured and focused upon tape emulation I tried using (wait for it) tapes again. Sometimes the most obvious solution to an issue takes (me) the longest time to get to…

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#127

You do you. If you find you’re more ‘productive’ (assuming productivity is your goal) or happier or creative with a computer, or a combination of limited amounts of hardware and a computer, great. If other folks prefer to use a greater amount of hardware, great. Or, all hardware and recording to a Portastudio and never having AD/DA conversion at all, great.

Everyone is even welcome to try and convince others that they’re doing it wrong! Whether that’s trying to convince people that they should use more hardware, or trying to convince them that they’re ignoring their actual creative problems by playing with hardware, and that they would be better people if they used computers instead.

Everyone is free to ignore this kind of advice, also. Freedom! It’s great.

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#128

I wish I could make good music on a computer. I think musicians who are good with music theory, keyboard playing, composing do best with computers. I personally find no inspiration in computers. Much of my fav music is made on computers though. I wish I could just flip on the computer and compose a great track from scratch with a midi keyboard. Most of my music comes from experimenting and discovery which is much easier and more satisfying interacting with a machine with knobs that is designed from the ground up for playing music.

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#129

I mainly use my DAW for recording and mixing.

Have a bit of a hate/love relationship with sequencing in Ableton, but I have enough hardware sequencers too so it’s the best of both worlds.

In the end it all comes down to mixing if your goal is to release.

#130

That said GAS and gear coveting is a real problem and something I personally struggle with.

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#131

FWIW - I use both hardware and software, and for me long “ambient” and experimental work is 100x easier on a computer. It’s when tons of control over dozens of parameters, quickly and in real time, especially in an improv context, come into play that hardware begins to easier.

Since I come from a classical and jazz background I still, even for the most experimental work, am drawn to playing “instruments”, whether their sound is generated via digital or analog processes. That means physical control that feels organic, and that means hardware - whether in the form of midi/osc controllers, or eurorack modules, or a continuum, an arc, whatever.
It does really come down to the individual. But I do get frustrated when reading the ideological anti-computer-for-music stuff. If I had to choose between my modular synth and, say, Zebra, the modular would be gone without a second thought. Fortunately I don’t have to choose (at least at present).

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#132

I don’t know if this is relevant to you, but making a rule whereby I only watch YouTube videos of gear I own has worked quite well at times.

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#133

It’s a tremendous waste of creative energy, and IMO is almost always getting in the way of something much more interesting and difficult that you could be doing.

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#134

Yes, this is a shorter version of my post thanks.

#135

To stay brief:

  • I’ve been making electronic music for decades. Whether it was a pawn shop Micromoog and a guitar amp, or programming the SID on a Commodore 64, or budget 80s synths and a Tascam Portastudio, or eBay finds and SoundFonts and Acid…

  • … but I didn’t really get serious until I picked up FL Studio – that was a game-changer.

  • … but I didn’t find my sound, and really refine what I was doing, until the last couple of years when I got into Eurorack.

I find both hardware and software both limiting and freeing in their own ways. I also find they complement each other nicely.

Sometimes I still make music 100% with software – but my technique and creative approach are very much informed by my experience with Eurorack. Modular probably taught me as much about synthesis as years of fiddling with pawn shop/eBay hardware and VST plugins

Most typically though, 90-100% of my synth voices are hardware, 80-100% of the effects are software, and the recording/mixing/post production is all software.

I don’t find that GAS gets in the way of my creativity – I am satisfied with the amount of time I spend actually making music as well as its quality. A lot of my GAS-feeding happens at work while waiting for a build process and I’d be doing other web surfing anyway :grin: However, I do see the downside of GAS in what Erich Fromm calls an orientation toward having, rather than being.

When I’m interested in a piece of gear, I allow myself to get excited about it and then ask myself how I could recreate that with what I already have, through applying technique. And I find that can actually lead to creative inspiration.

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#136

Fetishizing the gear, over appreciating the actual output, is common to most hobbies. Whether it’s electronic music, photography, hiking/camping/rock climbing, painting, etc., it’s easy to spend hours reading about people’s setups and arguing over what is better or worse than what. I think it’s because making things is creative work, whereas discussing gear etc is mostly social bonding. The former arguably requires a little bit more effort and focus than the latter.

In the end, make stuff with what works for you. You can make beautiful music with a crappy guitar or a $10k of studio equipment; you can take beautiful pictures with a home made pinhole camera or a $5k fancy digital camera body with $20k or glass to go with it.

Find people who make things that resonate with you, no matter how they make it - and then maybe ask them about how they made it. But making the equipment the priority, rather than the work itself, feels like perhaps missing the point a little bit.

But then again, people should do what makes them happy. If buying/selling modules all the time and planning your eurorack is more fun for you than actually making music with it, who cares.

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#137

Let’s summarize this topic: I have a problem with so many shiny new boxes so you should buy a shiny new box.

Nice. :smile:

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#138

I recognized this with-in my self and have since minimized the amount of time I spend watching videos, reading reviews, and reading discussions about the latest and greatest forums. I spend a couple years in a constant cycle of gear flipping, which was spurred by a combination of serious depression and genuine curiosity about synths and sound design. I got to experiment with different approaches and ultimately found I enjoy working with modular the most. Eurorack can be difficult if you a tendency towards GAS, but at this point I’m trying to be extremely deliberate with gear purchases and avoiding shiny new module fever.

In response to the OP - if I was serious about writing and releasing coherent compositions/albums, I would just use a DAW and controller. Not that electronic music made with other methods can’t coherent, but I find it difficult, and the computer is great for pure experimentation. Ultimately don’t enjoy it using a computer that much (for music and, increasingly, in general) and find it less relaxing than patching - I already get enough screen time as it is.

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#139

Computers are great. Bought my first one at the age of nine in 1984. I have a few of them now.

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#140

i agree with you! but i also blew a ton of money on hardware… whoops.

#141

Yeah none of that was what I meant. At all.:man_shrugging:

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#142

I really don’t care WHAT anybody uses - I just want folks to hear at least ONE voice tell them that pursuing a hardware-only studio is unlikely to fix their problems. There’s a LOT of monotheism of thought around music forums that suggests that not using a computer is the only way to make “real” music, or that it’ll be more satisfying. There’s nothing wrong with that idea - just something wrong with these communities never putting forth ANY ideas or thoughts to the contrary.

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