(Background: I'm 99% hardware and use software only to mix the pieces I've created when I want to post them online [rare] and I mostly use Elektron hardware.)
When I sit down to make music [noodle], I'm really liberated by the ability to physically interact with machines. It's very tactile, I hear immediate results (and mistakes), and I am able to start with one sound and as the sequencer rolls I am able to morph everything (beat, the sounds, etc) into anything I want, going in whatever direction my mind chooses in the moment. I might hear something I like, for example when I dial in the filter in combination with a step parameter change of an oscillator type, and then that just drives me further into the rabbit hole of possibilities and where to go next. I know I am not alone in spending literally hours sitting in one spot, bobbing my head to the beat, and performing for myself, focused on where I am in the moment and not caring what time it is or what responsibilities I have in the real world. It's distraction free creative bliss, tethered only to a power outlet.
I can't wrap my head around how that situation could be reproduced in a computer. I'm sure it can, and I'm sure a lot of you know how to do it ... but for me the benefits of interacting with a box designed to do one thing [and do it well] while finding the ebb and flow and the give and take between me and hardware is just the absolute sweet-spot of making music. I will say hardware is quite limited and often times frustrating, which only further forces me into finding creative solutions to what I am trying to do.
As I'm only really experienced in hardware and can't speak about software, my question for you all who work only in a computer: are you able to experience what I'm describing? Thoughts you'd like to share about your own "creative bliss" and what that is like?
Has anyone gone from mostly hardware into mostly software? What were your experiences? Anyone gone from software only into hardware, and if so what was that transition like?
I find the idea that we, as music makers, are able to live in these worlds of hardware and software (or some combination of both!) pretty fascinating and unique.
So let me know your thoughts!
Submitted August 30, 2017 at 05:50PM by crushthered https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/6x24j9/benefits_of_hardware/?utm_source=ifttt
Javier Rodriguez
Wednesday, August 30, 2017