Well, the question was asked, so the answer to what the OP is happier with isn’t known. Some people hate working with hardware. Some hate working with software. Some love both.cryophonik wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 5:02 amThat’s all fine, but my point is still that software is not the only way and it’s not even the best way to learn to drive or make noise or whatever. It’s *a* way of doing things. Yes, it’s often the cheapest way, but we don’t all make our decisions based solely on lowest cost and there’s nothing wrong with encouraging a beginner to learn how to make music on a dedicated hardware synth if that’s what he/she wants to do. If he/ she wants to learn on software, I’m all for that, too, if it gets them making music. My issue is simply that I get sick of the argument that beginners should always start with software simply because it’s cheap and easy. Nothing great was ever accomplished because it was cheap and easy.zerocrossing wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 2:32 am Right, but look at it like this. What do they do with high school students when they teach them to drive? Software. They put them in a simulator to get used to the controls, where they are, what they do. You don’t put them in the big expensive hardware right away. In this case, it’s not quite as abstract because the software is actually synthesis, where the driving sim isn’t actual driving.
Anyway, I’m like you, I have no preference for hardware or software instruments. Both play a big part in how I make music. But, if you have a computer already, it’s easy to buy an inexpensive MIDI controller and get to work. You could make an entire epic album with Surge and Tyrell and keep your money in the bank until you get a handle on things. Then go shopping.
Looks at it this way. It doesn’t matter. If the OP puts Reaper on their PC and loads up Tyrell and hates it, there’s always a hardware synth for them to try. If they buy a hardware synth, they’re almost guaranteed to be wanting to record and/or sequence it on a computer anyway. But, maybe they don’t hate Tyrell, and they get interested in Surge... and then maybe Dune. They find the ITB workflow agrees with them. It’s not like no one’s going to stop them from trying hardware synths at some point, but if they start that way, there’s a built in hassle of buying something and maybe returning it, or if you buy it used you have to resell it, maybe you lose some money, etc.
