Software vs Hardware

[Uncle E]

Yes, good point. The chance of this being a real issue is low, especially if it’s just a dummy system being used for processing.

[BONES]

When do you really go back to an old recording and can’t live without some gone gear?

Almost never. We still haven't really found anything that can sound as good as Orion's Wasp for basslines but we have different instruments that can do one thing or another well enough to cover. But there are definitely some old songs that we wouldn't even try to play again, because that amazing Wasp sound is so central to them. Rich insists that DUNE should be able to do it exactly but I've not been able to make it happen. Beyond that one thing, though, when we ressurrect old songs, it's usually to make them sound better with better instruments than we had when we originally recorded them.

Even a violin could break and if you get a new one it will sound different, but still would be a violin…
Same applies to synths…

That's a really good analogy. In my hardware days, I had to use whatever I could because there was no way I could afford to keep every old synth I ever owned, nor did I want to. Going from an Ensoniq ESQ to a Korg M1 was a real challenge but you just had to get it done and, over time, I got all the older songs sounding at least a s good as they had, often better.

I would never want to rely on a single computer for anything, I will always want a redundant back up system. And if I am going to have a redundant backup system anyway it just makes sense to use them

You admit the chance of failure is "exceedingly low", yet you still aren't willing to risk it? I back-up on an irregular basis, whenever there is something worth backing up. That said, we've been working on this new album for six months or so and I haven't thought to back it up yet. It'll be fine until it's finished, though, it always is. The last time I backed up was when we finished the last album in 2023, although I'd have files on my old computer, which is still lying around here somewhere.

It's really only stuff outside the box that tends to let you down. Even my back-up is ITB, in the form of a microSD card. TBH, I worry more about someone stealing the computer, or the boat sinking and taking everything I own with it, and I don't worry about those things at all. (None of it is insured.) I don't know how you could get through the day if you worried about every little thing like that.

[IvyBirds]

I would never want to rely on a single computer for anything, I will always want a redundant back up system. And if I am going to have a redundant backup system anyway it just makes sense to use them

You admit the chance of failure is "exceedingly low", yet you still aren't willing to risk it?

Even if the risk of something is exceedingly low it's not zero. The risk of a house fire is also exceedingly low, but I have smoke detectors and fire insurance just in case

However I get the fact that logic and reason waved bye bye to you long ago, but then again you also think a child riding in a bus could have avoided having a car hit his school bus if he was situationally aware or something while the bus was driving down the highway

In any case I don't run multiple computers for the sole purpose of having redundancy in case of failure

I run multiple computers so I can use more cores, more RAM, and more Hard Drive Capacity than I have installed in any singular computer I own at less cost. I currently have over 40 cores and over 200GB of RAM available for Audio and Video projects. Not sure why you can't see the benefits of that but you do you

The fact I have a redundancy built in is an added benefit. I got my first computer in 1982, ever since then when I upgraded to a new one I kept the old one in case the new one ever went down due to either a hardware or software issue. That practice came in handy a few times. Currently it has the advantage of not only having backups but also for being able to increase the overall power of my system

I consider that a win win

[Tj Shredder]

I got my first computer in 1982, ever since then when I upgraded to a new one I kept the old one in case the new one ever went down due to either a hardware or software issue.

You still got an Atari? My Apple ][ is long gone, but I have Phosphor 2 a synth modeled after a card from that time. But that is more nostalgia than anything else. It took quite a while until Fullbucket recreated a Poly 800, my first synth. I didn‘t really miss it, but its nice to have it back.
My arsenal of old modeled synths is huge, but I don‘t really use it. It rather helps to get rid of the hardware and keep the memory in a tiny space on my drive or archive.
Some software is harder to replace than hardware. I hear Bones whining about the loss of Orion. Some prefer to use the editor for a hardware synth for programming it instead of the tiny 1000 pages display of the hardware (simple old subtractive synths are easier on the hardware no doubt, but often have zero ways to store a preset).
A Friend of mine keeps an old computer to still be able to use Freehand. A lot of software can only survive in a virtual machine…

All this collecting of old gear, be it hardware or software is human, even if it doesn‘t make sense if you only value time and money. There is more than efficiency in life to make someone happy…
Whatever will inspire you is worth to keep…

[Uncle E]

I still have an Atari STacy with Cubase 2 on it.

[Funky40]

jfyi, vs. the ....... discussion that took place vs. HZ:

Hans Zimmer: 90% of what i do is donne on one SW-synth......U-He Zebra.

start it from 3:32

[miloszz]

So I need to drop $20k on hardware so that I don’t sound like Zimmer…

[seafire]

So I need to drop $20k on hardware so that I don’t sound like Zimmer…

Not really. Just avoid ethnic percussion and synth brass.

[crimsonwarlock]

Hans Zimmer: 90% of what i do is donne on one SW-synth......U-He Zebra.

I was about to post that, but you beat me to it.

It is also rather telling that all the hardware, that you can see there, is switched off.

[seafire]

It is also rather telling that all the hardware, that you can see there, is switched off.

It tells you he isn't working, and is doing an interview. Why would it all be switched on?

[crimsonwarlock]

It tells you he isn't working, and is doing an interview. Why would it all be switched on?

Look up some videos from Tom Holkenborg, where he explains why you don't want to switch old gear on and off each day (as anyone with a modicum of electronics knowledge knows). Besides the risk of stuff breaking from power surges, old hardware goes out of tune when not at operation temperature. You really think Hans has the time to wait an hour or more after starting stuff up, before it gets to stable tuning.

Look at any interview with Andrew Scheps, when he talks about why he ditched all his hardware, where he points out that one of his biggest issues was the power bill because all that stuff needed to be turned on 24/7 to prevent things from breaking.

Besides all that, Hans gave quite a bit of hardware gear to Tom because "he didn't use that stuff anymore" and thought Tom could use it (as Tom actually did use mostly hardware when they were working together).

[El°HYM]

So I need to drop $20k on hardware so that I don’t sound like Zimmer…

Again, what makes you believe that Hanz Simmer doesnt run his favorite software synth through his $40K hardware, maybe something like a preamp, or eq, or some kind of top notch compressor, or even the input of an analog synth? Lots of possibilities here and might also be the reason your DiY - OST doesnt even sound close to a true Hanz Simmer piece of Work.

[crimsonwarlock]

Hanz Simmer

Who's that, never heard of him.

[Gam456]

jfyi, vs. the ....... discussion that took place vs. HZ:

Hans Zimmer: 90% of what i do is donne on one SW-synth......U-He Zebra.

start it from 3:32

Sure only software with commercial partnership

[seafire]

It tells you he isn't working, and is doing an interview. Why would it all be switched on?

Look up some videos from Tom Holkenborg, where he explains why you don't want to switch old gear on and off each day (as anyone with a modicum of electronics knowledge knows). Besides the risk of stuff breaking from power surges, old hardware goes out of tune when not at operation temperature. You really think Hans has the time to wait an hour or more after starting stuff up, before it gets to stable tuning.

Look at any interview with Andrew Scheps, when he talks about why he ditched all his hardware, where he points out that one of his biggest issues was the power bill because all that stuff needed to be turned on 24/7 to prevent things from breaking.

Besides all that, Hans gave quite a bit of hardware gear to Tom because "he didn't use that stuff anymore" and thought Tom could use it (as Tom actually did use mostly hardware when they were working together).

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.