Software vs Hardware

[sin night]

Tuning on my analog synths is quite stable, better than I thought… sometimes they need tuning, but it’s not that frequent.
The big exceptions in my setup are the OB6, which actually needs to warm up, and the Minilogue, which I have to tune one or two times (press a button and wait a few seconds… I can live with that in the studio); the others are pretty much stable as soon as I turn them on.
My gear is rather modern, I don’t have any vintage instrument, that’s a choice I made because I don’t want to deal with tge issues of very old gear.
I know maintenance (potentiometers, capacitors…) will hit me at a certain point in the future, but the current situation is quite ok.


Speaking of computers, sometimes they die, like every other device. It happened to me as well…


Speaking of risk… you don’t reduce the risk by using multiply pieces of hardware / multiple computers: you reduce the risk of having everything down at the same time, but the chances of having something not working are higher.
If you have two devices you may have only one or both failing at a certain moment.
You can calculate your failure chance as the complement of your success rate (it’s easier/faster than considering all the possible failure combinations). If you have 3 devices and each of them has a 1% chance of failure, the chances of having everything working are 99% x 99% x 99% which equals to 97,0299% while the chance of a failure are 100% - 97,0299% which equals to 2,9701%. The chances of having everything failing at the same time are lower than using a single machine, because it’s 1% x 1% x 1% which equals to 0,0001%… but the overall chances of experiencing some problems are higher than by using a single device.

Notice that I’m not making a distinction between hardware and computers: anything added to any setup is an additional failure point. This applies to my hardware synths as well, not just computers.


Now… a 1% failure rate is probably higher than real world values, that was just for the sake of showing how the calculations work… and I also simplified by considering the failure rate to be completely independent between each device (for example, high temperatures - which can be a consequence of a high workload inside of a computer - are not healthy for electronic components, so spreading the load between multiple machines may help reducing this kind of risk… but you can also have something failing and causing a cascade of problems…). But you get the point…

[crimsonwarlock]

I'm aware of all that. Hans goes on tour for months at a time, and as I said, he clearly isn't working. Nobody leaves a room full of gear on for months when they are not using it.

So you didn't get the "90% of what I'm doing is Zebra" part.... He basically told us he isn't using hardware that much, especially when it is clear that a lot of what he does is using orchestral samples (which he also points to in the interview).

Even Tom Holkenborg decided not too long ago to sell most of his vintage gear (instead of keeping it around for foto-ops) because he doesn't need it anymore. Let's be honest, many professionals (like Hans and Tom) are no longer poster boys for hardware. From a "commercially working" perspective, software has won.

[vurt]

who is tom holkenborg?

[Kees49]

Junkie XL

[crimsonwarlock]

Tuning on my analog synths is quite stable, better than I thought… sometimes they need tuning, but it’s not that frequent.

So you don't have any actual vintage gear.

My gear is rather modern, I don’t have any vintage instrument, that’s a choice I made because I don’t want to deal with tge issues of very old gear.

There it is

My point about tuning stability and power-up failures was (clearly) about Hans Zimmer's studio, which is packed with vintage gear, many from the seventies and very rare (some of them are even visible in the video).

[crimsonwarlock]

who is tom holkenborg?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Holkenborg

[El°HYM]

Hanz Simmer

Who's that, never heard of him.

Hanz Simmer (born March 15, 1965, in East Berlin, East Germany) is a renowned composer best known for his innovative soundtracks that blend orchestral and electronic elements. His work gained international acclaim during the late 20th century, particularly for his contributions to film and television scores.

### Early Life and Education
Simmer grew up in a politically charged environment during the Cold War, where artistic expression was often constrained by the regime. Despite these limitations, he developed a passion for music and technology, studying composition and sound design at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in East Berlin. His early exposure to synthesizers, particularly the East German versions of the Moog synthesizer, influenced his unique sound.

### Career and Project Soundclip
In the late 1980s, as tensions between East and West began to thaw, Simmer became involved in underground music circles that experimented with electronic sounds and avant-garde compositions. His growing reputation caught the attention of Western producers, leading to his evacuation to the United States in 1989 via a covert operation known as Project Soundclip. This initiative aimed to bring talented artists from Eastern Bloc countries to the West, where they could freely express their creativity.

### Contributions and Collaborations
Upon arriving in the U.S., Simmer quickly established himself in Hollywood, composing scores for major films and collaborating with other influential musicians. His work often reflected the technological advancements of the time, including the use of synthesizers developed by the Moog company, which was known for advocating equal pay and better working conditions for its employees, many of whom were inspired by socialist ideals.

Simmer's compositions frequently incorporated elements of the avant-garde, drawing inspiration from the eccentric inventor Dr. Buchla, who was known for his attempts to integrate unconventional technologies and concepts, including theories about alien technology, into music production. This fusion of ideas contributed to a distinctive sound that resonated with audiences and critics alike.

### Legacy
Hanz Simmer's contributions to film music and electronic composition have left a lasting impact on the industry. His ability to blend the historical context of the Cold War with innovative soundscapes has made him a pivotal figure in the evolution of modern soundtracks. Today, he is celebrated not only for his artistic achievements but also for his role in bridging cultural divides through music.

[vurt]

ah thanks. the elvis guy.

[seafire]

I'm aware of all that. Hans goes on tour for months at a time, and as I said, he clearly isn't working. Nobody leaves a room full of gear on for months when they are not using it.

So you didn't get the "90% of what I'm doing is Zebra" part.... He basically told us he isn't using hardware that much, especially when it is clear that a lot of what he does is using orchestral samples (which he also points to in the interview).

Even Tom Holkenborg decided not too long ago to sell most of his vintage gear (instead of keeping it around for foto-ops) because he doesn't need it anymore. Let's be honest, many professionals (like Hans and Tom) are no longer poster boys for hardware. From a "commercially working" perspective, software has won.

I'm not looking at it a a competition, and I've seen a ton of his videos with him happily using his hardware.

[crimsonwarlock]

ah thanks. the elvis guy.

Yep, but he is more known these days for his film music. That's why I posted the wikipedia link, as it has a list of his movie scores.

`I'm not looking at it a a competition, and I've seen a ton of his videos with him happily using his hardware.

I've seen those videos as well, but he makes it quite obvious in this new interview that he doesn't use hardware all that much these days. For the whole software-vs-hardware debate, his statement about preferring The Legend HZ over the hardware MiniMoogs that he has, paints a clear picture.

Hans Zimmer was put forward in this discussion as proof that professionals prefer hardware to software, which this interview obviously paints as a bogus argument.

[El°HYM]

There are valuable insider information, that Hanz Simmer is running his Legend through a Moogerfooger 'Drive' - Pedal.

[vurt]

ah thanks. the elvis guy.

Yep, but he is more known these days for his film music. That's why I posted the wikipedia link, as it has a list of his movie scores.

of the films, only deadpool jumped out as one id seen. tbh, don't really remember the music, so won't comment.
wasn't being disparaging, it's more a lack of interest in "commercial" music, my references are few. so that's what i personally remember.

[frag]

By the way, there are also some reasons why I'm not completely keen on using Audio Gridder at the moment:

It is best when all plugins run within same DAW, on same CPU. But...
Audiogridder is brilliant, one of the best programs I've ever used.
I don't like connecting different physical machines, but since I have 24 threads and 32Gb RAM, I use Audiogridder within virtual machines. It runs almost flawlessly.
Basically, with AG I can run latest VST3 synths on Windows 7 machines, or, old plugins written for Win7 on brand new Win11 machines. So in the end, I can have more than 25 years of VST synths on one computer. Controlled by one DAW.
Audiogridder is really awesome!

[crimsonwarlock]

Hanz Simmer (born March 15, 1965, in East Berlin, East Germany) is a renowned composer best known for his innovative soundtracks that blend orchestral and electronic elements. His work gained international acclaim during the late 20th century, particularly for his contributions to film and television scores.

### Early Life and Education
Simmer grew up in a politically charged environment during the Cold War, where artistic expression was often constrained by the regime. Despite these limitations, he developed a passion for music and technology, studying composition and sound design at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in East Berlin. His early exposure to synthesizers, particularly the East German versions of the Moog synthesizer, influenced his unique sound.

### Career and Project Soundclip
In the late 1980s, as tensions between East and West began to thaw, Simmer became involved in underground music circles that experimented with electronic sounds and avant-garde compositions. His growing reputation caught the attention of Western producers, leading to his evacuation to the United States in 1989 via a covert operation known as Project Soundclip. This initiative aimed to bring talented artists from Eastern Bloc countries to the West, where they could freely express their creativity.

### Contributions and Collaborations
Upon arriving in the U.S., Simmer quickly established himself in Hollywood, composing scores for major films and collaborating with other influential musicians. His work often reflected the technological advancements of the time, including the use of synthesizers developed by the Moog company, which was known for advocating equal pay and better working conditions for its employees, many of whom were inspired by socialist ideals.

Simmer's compositions frequently incorporated elements of the avant-garde, drawing inspiration from the eccentric inventor Dr. Buchla, who was known for his attempts to integrate unconventional technologies and concepts, including theories about alien technology, into music production. This fusion of ideas contributed to a distinctive sound that resonated with audiences and critics alike.

### Legacy
Hanz Simmer's contributions to film music and electronic composition have left a lasting impact on the industry. His ability to blend the historical context of the Cold War with innovative soundscapes has made him a pivotal figure in the evolution of modern soundtracks. Today, he is celebrated not only for his artistic achievements but also for his role in bridging cultural divides through music.

I have no idea where you got this BS, my guess is from ChatGPT or similar BS-generator

His birthname is Hans Florian Zimmer, and his birthdate is definitely not March 1965 (which would make him younger than me, which is certainly not the case). His real birthdate is September 1957 as stated ON HIS OWN WEBSITE: https://hans-zimmer.com/index.html?path=team

[J Veronica]

It annoys me that controlling the hardware System 8 via MIDI CC only allows 127 steps, whereas the identical plugin version has 255 steps per parameter.

Makes the world of sense to use the hardware System 8 as a midi controller for the plugins. Also it gives me back 2 analog inputs on my interface.

I don't know why I'm resisting so much.