Is anyone else so much more productive using plugins instead of hardware?

[The Architecture]

i do write better with software, but i spend more time making the sound good instead of, well making music. Outside of automation, i got my current hardware rig pretty intergrated into my main setup, so its easier to actually use hardware than software, if thats even possible.

[wwjd]

not I. I've lost 2 years messing with software, even have a nice controller board with sliders and knobs, but, FOR ME, it fails to inspire me musically. my best inspiration comes from a toy keyboard that is portable.

I understand how DAWs are fast and limitless, but I need limits to keep things reeled in and make sure they get to completion. But that's just me and everyone should work they best way they like to.

[timbreman]

I started off with all hardware and eventually migrated to all software (aside from my virus ti but I only use the plugin anyway)

Maybe I just prefer doing things on the computer but I find it so much easier to avoid the hassle of syncing things and messing with midi cables.
Besides....unless the hardware is analog in some way it's just software in a box anyway. So many of those hw vs. sw discussions are really just a moot point.

[sammytaters]

Hardware is the way to go if your writing a song spontaneously. Computer for editing. Software takes too long for the initial setup. With the computer I have too many parameters that don't sound good, missing presets in logic (i dont know why), and sometimes missing samples. For some reason ableton doesn't trigger a note instantly when I write it, so I find that program useless. They've made software impossible without hardware controllers anyway, so I might as well go full hardware and get some sounds. I'm going to get a Fantom G, Juno, or MV8800 soon. A lot of times, if I find a sound I like in the computer, I will recreate it in a hardware synth engine, or just sample it. Then its always available even if my computer crashes etc....and I dont have to worry about lag. I guess the worst thing that can happen is you break your hardware...but its an acceptable risk. Today's midi controllers aren't cheap enough. I'm like, I might as well get some sounds or a hardware sequencer too if I am going to spend any money. You can make amazing music with a sampler alone, and you can hook it up to the TV etc, and just plug in a mic. If you go full software you can do some amazing edits, but its something you have to think about beforehand.

[UpNSmoke]

Mouse clicking = arthritis

Knob twiddling = sonic bliss

[hoffy]

Originally Posted by timbreman

I started off with all hardware and eventually migrated to all software (aside from my virus ti but I only use the plugin anyway)

Maybe I just prefer doing things on the computer but I find it so much easier to avoid the hassle of syncing things and messing with midi cables.
Besides....unless the hardware is analog in some way it's just software in a box anyway. So many of those hw vs. sw discussions are really just a moot point.

I find it much easier composing with plug-ins.

I tend to flip through presets until I find something that suits the mood or composition and work with that, and then towards the end, I like to send the MIDI out of my computer and record something.

That's usually the plan anyway... sometimes though I just end up happy with what I've got and leave it at that.

[OCDaveWilcox]

I do not want to hear this as I hope to get a lot of use out of the P08 thats in the mail!!

[Rude Talk]

Have it the other way around, software works counter intuitive for me. Using hardware and not staring at a screen works so so much better. I listen more to the things I make and due to the hands on approach, having dedicated knobs for everything makes me put more soul into it.
I'm so happy I tookthe step from all software to hardware. I just wish I did not spend so much money on plugins. They are hard to sell :(

[ofajen]

Nope. Not my gig. Don't like DAWs for tracking at all. Don't really like running instruments on a computer screen either. Not a simple appliance... it's a computer. Kills the muse. Can't stand latency either. But hey, I'm as obsolete as my gear.

Besides, I need to keep my track count low and productions simple and straightforward. The last thing I need is something that can obscure those times when I suck. I need to spend my time playing, teaching the kids, practicing and improving my primitive and obscure musical ideas.

Also, there is a trust factor... analog stuff I basically understand. Somebody's computer code... I have no idea what they're really doing in there.

Finally, there's just so much stuff I don't ever think about... upgrades, ever more plug-ins, more of someone else's sounds or patches, converters, etc., etc., etc.

I can completely fail to have great musical ideas of my own just as well without all that stuff.

Cheers,

Otto

[rockmanrock]

Originally Posted by PeteJames

I'm not sure why that is - maybe because I prefer working with midi - as I build up a track any tweaks can easily be made.

You know what the answer is, especially here on Gearslutz? Buy more hardware synths!

I admire people who can do the 'multitrack one synth' approach but give me a pile of blinking, humming, twiddleable live synths running off MIDI or CV/Gate any day.

[arkon]

I recently spent some time getting a base "setup" going for all my hardware .

to explain its an empty ableton project with all midi gear setup , basic routing , audio tracks etc . that combined with a thought out hardware setup , patching , mixer bussing etc .

I find with this I can bash out a hardware track just as quickly as software . the mix between them both is pretty seemless also

[Odey]

Originally Posted by PeteJames

I enjoy my hardware for tweaking around live and general hands on messing around but I don't think I'm at all productive with it. I actually find most of my productivity comes from using plugins. I've noticed in the productions I tend to finish I leave hardware out of them. I do tend to get a lot done when lying in bed or messing around in the front room watching tv and with a set of headphones. I guess I can find or create what I want with only my laptop as the workhorse and just tend to use my synths as a fun luxury. I'm not sure why that is - maybe because I prefer working with midi - as I build up a track any tweaks can easily be made.

I guess plugins just integrate seamlessly into my DAW, allow multiple instances of the same piece of gear with instant recall and automation. Perhaps it would be fine if I had loads of hardware so I didn't need to keep writing to audio and moving on to the next sound, but I don't. I do love the sound of some hardware I just don't seem to really use it as much. It's just so quick and easy to get ideas down, adjust and fine tune them in a midi environment.

Anyone else experience this?

For writing songs.. no way.

Committing audio to a session is good for your confidence and good for you skills as a musician. Since getting rid of midi all together in my productions I have become a much much better musician. And as a result my tracks sound better.

But everyone has there own workflow.. and it depends what type of music you are writing.

[ignatius]

it's hard to say.. i'm pretty productive when using audiomulch but the thing w/that is that most of the samples i use in audiomulch come form hardware jam sessions that have been chopped up and processed then get the full mangling in audiomulch.

but i can be pretty productive on the elektrons if i'm in the mood to use them. making a whole track on one box is pretty satisfying and can come together pretty quickly if i don't lose myself in making endless amounts of patterns.

so, i guess for me it's all based on mood and what i feel like using.. if i'm not being productive then i use something else or just make sounds or something...

i find, for me, that not being productive is just lacking focus more than what gear/software i am or am not using.


[shrug]

[Yoozer]

If you've not configured your computer correctly (and as a result get latency or missing samples) - you're to blame; not the computer. Not setting it up correctly is like blaming a patchbay for being a bloody mess when you didn't bother to label the cables or put thought in how it's hooked up.

Originally Posted by ofajen

Also, there is a trust factor... analog stuff I basically understand. Somebody's computer code... I have no idea what they're really doing in there.

So you don't use any DSP-based effects either?

Even then, shouldn't your ears be the judge?

[AJ Reynolds]

i think hardware slows me down slightly because i don't have enough inputs on my interface and i have to unplug things all the time.

[ignatius]

i think the definition of "productive" may be a little different for everyone.

i don't really equate it with speed but rather the final result of the time spent in the studio.

if i write a track really quickly but i'm not happy with it then i consider that to be less productive than if i spend a longer amount of time on something but am happy w/the end result.

just my imo though.

[kilon]

Originally Posted by PeteJames

I enjoy my hardware for tweaking around live and general hands on messing around but I don't think I'm at all productive with it. I actually find most of my productivity comes from using plugins. I've noticed in the productions I tend to finish I leave hardware out of them. I do tend to get a lot done when lying in bed or messing around in the front room watching tv and with a set of headphones. I guess I can find or create what I want with only my laptop as the workhorse and just tend to use my synths as a fun luxury. I'm not sure why that is - maybe because I prefer working with midi - as I build up a track any tweaks can easily be made.

I guess plugins just integrate seamlessly into my DAW, allow multiple instances of the same piece of gear with instant recall and automation. Perhaps it would be fine if I had loads of hardware so I didn't need to keep writing to audio and moving on to the next sound, but I don't. I do love the sound of some hardware I just don't seem to really use it as much. It's just so quick and easy to get ideas down, adjust and fine tune them in a midi environment.

Anyone else experience this?

A huge "IT DEPENDS" applies here.

For better or worse I am in front of a computer screen all my day, because of my work, that means that my eyes get tired . That means that I cannot use software plugins for this alone.

However , when it comes to pseudoaccoustic sounds I see that my Camel Audio Alchemy excels in that area, when it comes to presets my Motif es is very hard to beat, and when it comes to creating sounds from scratch my Andromeda is alot of fun and very easy to use (even though it has a mind of its own sometimes).

Software wise, I never truly clicked with soft synths, except z3ta+ when I was using Windows and now with Camel Audio Alchemy in MACOS tiger.

Still even with Alchemy I still prefer using hardware , I find the experience more enoyable and inspiring. Midi mapping a soft synth to a midi controller can be a pain and you are never free from the mouse, and I hate mouse when I am creating music.

Nowdays I avoid software as much as I can, except Alchemy which I find loads of fun , If the usb on my motif was fast enough I would have been doing all my sequence audio editing midi editing on my motif.

Its a pure emotional thing. I used to be a big software freak, but the more I evolve the more minimal my workflow becomes.

So I will have to say always with a "depends" that generally I am using and will be using to a big extend hardware synths, for a very long time.

[PeteJames]

I started all software and have tried to build up bits of hardware as I go. I think most of it may be to do with the recall problem. On my FRXS I have no presets and do like this because the knobs always reflect the sound - perfect instant tweaking. However, this is a pain in the arse as I can recall patches without a massive effort (so for instance I can't go back and tweak a part or add more notes etc.)

On synths with presets I don't like it because the knob values never reflect the saved preset so your left twiddling pretty much blind until you hit the value or it just jumps. I they had LED rings to show you the setting on hardware synths or motorized knobs that would be cool but the latter would be especially expensive. With vsts, you can see everything in a patch so easily and get a feel for what's going on in a patch instantly and of course I don't have to organise banks and presets, they just save in my DAW.

I really need analogue that has patches even though I find them less tweakable - If I can make a patch, click save, and them get on with my next sound, always being able to go back to my other sounds in the sound in an instant if I want to add or tweak it that is invaluable. I really love my XS and will possibly never sell (my first synth and all that) but need patch recall so maybe a simple synth with patches like the Juno 60 or OB-X might speed things up.

[kilon]

Originally Posted by PeteJames

On synths with presets I don't like it because the knob values never reflect the saved preset so your left twiddling pretty much blind until you hit the value or it just jumps.

I never found this an issue, if I try to tweak then that means that I dont care about the preset value, so I never had a need to go back to the preset value. But even if I did, I dont think that would be an issue. The jump does not annoy me either.


Certainly that is not a reason for my to switch to software. For me the only reason to switch to software is that it offers something substantially better, something I cannot do with my existing hardware.

When it comes with additive and sampling, I always felth more comfortable with software. But for everything I still prefer hardware.

[PeteJames]

I prefer hardware to play with but just get much more do with software. Each to their own I guess.

[Vectorman]

On synths with presets I don't like it because the knob values never reflect the saved preset so your left twiddling pretty much blind until you hit the value or it just jumps.

Yeah, I do know what you mean. That's one thing I like about the Little Phatty - the LED rings showing me the current parameter value.

I'm ambivalent. On the one hand, I do find myself thinking sometimes that I wish softsynths had already gotten to the point that they sounded so jaw-droppingly amazing that even the biggest analog purists would have to concede that there was no longer any overall sonic advantage to going hardware (leaving aside workflow). It's very convenient having everything laid out on a big screen in front of me with total recall. If I'm already using a given hardware synth and want to get another sound from it into the mix, I have to render the first one to audio, even if I'm not done with that sound yet, so there's a lot of rendering and going back and forth.

On the other side of it, I probably tend to be more decisive when working with the hardware synths - it's like, "Okay, I'm committing this to an audio track and this is going to be the sound for that part and that's that." I've also been sort of rediscovering the pleasure of having a little collection of physical instruments that each have their own sonic signatures that I can touch and tweak and for which I can actually feel something that resembles a kind of affection. Should I admit that I sometimes actually give my hardware synths a kiss on their endbells before I shut them off at night? (Oh, come on, don't look at me like that - I KNOW some of you guys have done the same thing even if you'd never 'fess up.)

[BeK$]

Ive had my hands on a old school buchla, arp2600, real LFO's, ring modulators etc etc used to work with tape etc, moog triggers, the lot. If you are having trouble writing with soft synths then you either do not know how to manipulate the software or you do not have a template setup for you to work freely. Dive into soft synths etc like you would an old piece of awesome gear that makes you sweat lust. Its the same thing, same principle etc etc etc blah blah blah...

[wwjd]

It SHOULD be the same thing, but it isn't. My easiest example would be what you are looking at. With soft synths, I am looking at a computer screen and/or a controller keyboard. That's it. I see COMPUTER. At my hardware keyboard I can look at everything BUT a computer... I find that much more inspiration when creating new music. My keys are placed in front of a huge window where I can see nature, people, animals, sunlight, the night sky, life. VERY inspirational. At a DAW (even if it was in the same place) I would still be staring at a computer. Again, this is just me. And there is nothing wrong with writing in the daw.

At the end of the day I feel like *I* wrote a song and not my computer. Much daw based music of today reminds me of a system like all this music was the result of a spreadsheet somewhere. Actually, they probably are now that everything is calculated for marketing

[Jetty]

Originally Posted by PeteJames

Anyone else experience this?

To the contrary but, congrats on finding a good work flow.

[PeteJames]

Originally Posted by Jetty

To the contrary but, congrats on finding a good work flow.

Fair enough I'll post my track here when I finish it.

[spaceman]

Originally Posted by wwjd

My keys are placed in front of a huge window where I can see nature, people, animals, sunlight, the night sky, life. VERY inspirational.

Please post a picture of the view so we can verify this.

[Arcadia]

I think it's important to have a mixture of both. Software is certainly faster but when you just want to be creative and "play" then hardware can't be beat. And when it comes to programming my own sounds, I'm much more likely to do this on a HW piece than a plug-in. With so many softsynths and presets available, sometimes it's more work just finding a sound than it would be to switch on an old Roland and make it yourself!

[ofajen]

Originally Posted by Yoozer

If you've not configured your computer correctly (and as a result get latency or missing samples) - you're to blame; not the computer. Not setting it up correctly is like blaming a patchbay for being a bloody mess when you didn't bother to label the cables or put thought in how it's hooked up.

So you don't use any DSP-based effects either?

Even then, shouldn't your ears be the judge?

The only computer I have is rather old and slow, but I configured it for best performance and it was still annoying. Operable, but annoying for someone used to total latency measured in single digit microseconds, the same for input audio and playback for recorded tracks.

Also bear in mind that I have no interest in dealing with a computer while tracking. I like to use a simpler appliance.

No, I don't use any DSP-based effects, other than an old MXR digital delay, and sometimes I just use tape echo. I'm able to get the sounds I want, so it's not an issue, and not worth spending more money and completely changing my whole setup.

Cheers,

Otto

[BeK$]

Originally Posted by Arcadia

I think it's important to have a mixture of both. Software is certainly faster but when you just want to be creative and "play" then hardware can't be beat. And when it comes to programming my own sounds, I'm much more likely to do this on a HW piece than a plug-in. With so many softsynths and presets available, sometimes it's more work just finding a sound than it would be to switch on an old Roland and make it yourself!

Yea, turning knobs is more fun... I've got some wicked stuff I did with a buchla, LFO, and a lexi pcm 81. If anyone is interested I guess I can post a clip. I have lots of stuff on tape I need to bring into protools as my backups on cd went bye bye. Its great getting something to growl and bark at you.

I also prefer being in a dark dark room with no windows and only lights from gear. But I dont have that anymore.

Its easy to get sucked into presets on absynth nowadays. But the potential is there. Its also a lot more cost effective to learn all the software stuff.