Software vs Hardware

[IvyBirds]

An incredible amount of successful music has been produced by using just whatever instruments were available at the time of production.

People miss this fact. So many Platinum selling records were recorded just using the pianos/organs/Synths that just happened to be at the studio the record label or management booked to record the record

Exactly! And why do the record labels and managers still book studio time for artist in real studios or with producers who have real studios? Why don't they just send the artist to the guy with the laptop who has all the plugins?

For the same reasons they don't send the artist to the guy with a room full hardware synths

But that's a hilarious take and tells me you are not a professional musician and have no clue how professional musicians actually operate in 2025

Professional musicians are hired for a session, they show up and play. They play whatever the studio happens to have or what they happen to bring with them. I show up with a laptop loaded with a massive variety of sound sources and timbres that enhances what the studio may or may not have

Studio owners and are not really professional musicians, being payed to play. Many of them are musicians but they sell their studio time as studio time not as a session player. Now if you want to talk about studio owners awesome

They are being hired for a collection of gear including consoles, microphones, preamps, outboard, pianos, guitar amps, many studios also advertise the collection of plugins they have for Protools, just as much as any hardware Synths they might have.

The fact you are unaware of that fact and continue to double down on that fact, just shows how out of touch you are. They will book way more time with a huge SSL console and great outboard than they will by having a Jupiter 8 or CS80. Again if you were an actual professional musician you would understand that

Now maybe you own a small studio are dealing in the amateur market with people working on Vanity projects to record their wife singing or whatever maybe you are booking time to play as part of your "studio" package if so awesome

I can't travel efficiently with 8 hardware synths, and I have no need to. I can hop in my car and drive to a studio local to me with my laptop. I can hop on a plane or train and go to a studio with my laptop. I am not doing that with a collection of hardware synths

[IvyBirds]

Just in case anybody is keeping score...

Number of new arguments made in this pointless thread: 0

Number of people who have finally seen the light and realized that their choice has been wrong all along: 0

Number of people who have convinced others that their limited viewpoint applies to everyone else: 0

Number of f###s I give about what other people use to make music: 0

Dont forget the people who jump in to a thread they could have ignored to talk about how pointless it is, when they could have skipped it

[Old Norse]

Also don't forget the people who'll start a new, identical thread once this one dies out. And the years roll on and on

[SoftSynthLover99]

Seems pointless to pretend the instruments an artist uses don't matter in the end.

That was not what I said. It depends on what you recognize as "in the end". If you mean the moment the artist decides he/she is happy with the outcome, then it might matter. But if it means the moment someone else is listening to the result, then no it doesn't. So it basically comes down to what you are aiming for.

While I'm sure it's entirely possible to hate creating music and hate instruments and hate the music you create and yet still have a successful song, I'd think that the artist being satisfied with the outcome would tend to have a positive effect on the listener

Whether the instrument is physical or virtual matters less than how the artist feels using it.

This 100%. I have never met an artist producer or writer who had a negative reaction to a piece of gear in the studio. More often than not the reaction is more like oh sh*t you've got that mic or that synth or that compressor?! Lol then we nerd out for a bit and almost always end up making something cool. Not everyone is a gear nerd but it's always awesome when you run across one (or you convert someone who really hasn't went down that rabbit hole yet).

[SoftSynthLover99]

An incredible amount of successful music has been produced by using just whatever instruments were available at the time of production.

People miss this fact. So many Platinum selling records were recorded just using the pianos/organs/Synths that just happened to be at the studio the record label or management booked to record the record

Exactly! And why do the record labels and managers still book studio time for artist in real studios or with producers who have real studios? Why don't they just send the artist to the guy with the laptop who has all the plugins?

For the same reasons they don't send the artist to the guy with a room full hardware synths

Jack Antonoff would disagree https://www.musicradar.com/news/jack-an ... s-oberheim

But I guess he's not a professional either and Taylor Swift should just come to you with your laptop and VSTs? LOL how inconsiderate of Jack Antonoff to use an Oberheim OB-8 on Taylor Swifts album! He better wake up and start using VSTs only or he's gonna lose clients to guys like you!!

[swilow11]

That moment when you realise your super awesome hardware synth is basically just a VST in a box with a dedicated midi controller.

[SoftSynthLover99]

That moment when you realise your super awesome hardware synth is basically just a VST in a box with a dedicated midi controller.

Or that moment when you finally realize, all those VSTs you have are not quite like hardware synths after all

[swilow11]

Yes, hardware and software are indeed different things

[D-Fusion]

That moment when you realise your super awesome hardware synth is basically just a VST in a box with a dedicated midi controller.

Or that moment when you finally realize, all those VSTs you have are not quite like hardware synths after all

Or the moment you realize how much HW you can replace with SW that will give you extra space for a more unique HW synths while you think about why you payed so much for those hw synths when they could easilly be replaced for 10% of the price or lower.

[swilow11]

These realisations are true rites of passage. I've moved beyond denial into a kind of flippant resignation. My hardware is awesome but because expensive, brain thinks = the best!

[swilow11]

Oops, I forgot to say how limitations breed creativity. Please just assume that's what I said

My favourite synth atm is my Argon8. Let's just say this thing could reverse global warming. It could be the cure for the world's obesity problem, it's that thin. I get a whole 8 modulation slots to use! And yet, having it all there in front me, simplicity, coldness, and thinness aside, I can easily while away hours making pads and sounds to sample out. With a softsynth, I'm fed up with clicking things in half an hour maximum. There is something deeply engaging about a fully self contained musical instrument that one cannot attain through a softsynth. I think the less barriers in between my brain and my creativity, the more I enjoy the process, even if I can make "betterer" patches using Serum or Cardinal.

My concluding though is that hardware is good and so is software. Very profound.

[SoftSynthLover99]

That moment when you realise your super awesome hardware synth is basically just a VST in a box with a dedicated midi controller.

Or that moment when you finally realize, all those VSTs you have are not quite like hardware synths after all

Or the moment you realize how much HW you can replace with SW that will give you extra space for a more unique HW synths while you think about why you payed so much for those hw synths when they could easilly be replaced for 10% of the price or lower.

Imagine you drive a Ferrari, and a guy pulls up next to you driving a Honda Civic and says "hey man you know your car is overpriced and I can drive these roads the same as you in my Honda Civic!!"

No matter what you tell that guy about your Ferrari, he only knows what it's like to drive a Honda Civic. And everyone who drives supercars are idiots and phonies wasting money in his eyes. So likewise when someone says "hey you can replace all those expensive hardware synths with cheap software synths and get the same results!" I just think about the Honda Civic guy smh.

Note to self: stop wasting time on the internet

Happy music making everyone!

[pekbro]

I have prob $30k in HW synths, my plugin cost over the years is over $50k likely.

[frag]

Jack Antonoff would disagree https://www.musicradar.com/news/jack-an ... s-oberheim

This is very good advice from J.A.:
“What I love about older, analogue instruments is that you truly can't duplicate the sound. Every time you turn it on, it’s on. The electricity, the f**king weather, all these things are changing the feeling of it. So it's nice to know when you're in the studio that you're creating something that can only happen right there. Because at the end of the day, I don't want to be able to duplicate things, I want to catch moments. I think vintage gear is very helpful for that.”
Music is like a snapshot of our perception of reality, it exists in a moment. It's different every time. Acoustic and vintage analog instruments are more suitable for this kind of work.
Of course you can write, edit and re-do track for a month, or even a year, but in the end it's going to be soulless...

Interesting, one of my tracks which I really liked long ago, I did mess with it for a couple of weeks, but the best version is actually a unique export because I lost the project file. I lost it because when I did the best version, I wasn't thinking about total recall, and how I will be able to edit something tomorrow or next week - I was completely into it at the moment. So that is the principle to get interesting sound, you have to be in that moment and know yourself.

And that requires 100% dedication and practice - it is NOT for a hobbyist!

[D-Fusion]

That moment when you realise your super awesome hardware synth is basically just a VST in a box with a dedicated midi controller.

Or that moment when you finally realize, all those VSTs you have are not quite like hardware synths after all

Or the moment you realize how much HW you can replace with SW that will give you extra space for a more unique HW synths while you think about why you payed so much for those hw synths when they could easilly be replaced for 10% of the price or lower.

Imagine you drive a Ferrari, and a guy pulls up next to you driving a Honda Civic and says "hey man you know your car is overpriced and I can drive these roads the same as you in my Honda Civic!!"

No matter what you tell that guy about your Ferrari, he only knows what it's like to drive a Honda Civic. And everyone who drives supercars are idiots and phonies wasting money in his eyes. So likewise when someone says "hey you can replace all those expensive hardware synths with cheap software synths and get the same results!" I just think about the Honda Civic guy smh.

Note to self: stop wasting time on the internet

Happy music making everyone!

Sorry but you lost me there
Are you trying to tell me that owning the most expensive HW's is all about the coolness factor

Btw. a 2005 Toyota Yaris driver here and yes It still manage to get me from A to B so it is just as usefull as another Car