OPINION: Do You Need a Hardware Synth?

Like a lot of musicians, I have this romantic vision of hardware music gear, especially analog synths and drum machines. Anytime I'm tweaking knobs and pushing sliders, I reconnect with the idea of playing music, as opposed to producing it.

I've been making electronic music of different genres for over a decade now. I started doing it on a cracked copy of Garageband installed on my then state-of-the-art Mac G4. I soon moved to a torrented copy of Logic 8, to later switch to Ableton Live, which I purchased with cold, hard cash. Pretty baller.

Having no training as a musician, the computer became the first instrument I learned to “play”. I would click in a couple of MIDI notes with my mouse, throw in a couple of effects, maybe record some vocals through a mic I bought at some off-brand dollar store. That was it.

I didn't have fancy synths back then because I couldn't afford them. And anyway, I didn't know the difference between a real good synth and stock plugins.

Also, to be honest, the synths that were available back then, they... Well, they sucked!

I cut my teeth on friends’ hardware synths, like the Novation X-Station and the era-defining MicroKorg. It was better than logging a laptop on stage, with all the instability that could bring, but it was still a far cry from the out-of-price vintage synths that my friends and I heard on our favorite classic records.

I got a free copy of Arturia's Mini V not too long after that.

That plugin sounded as great as the Minimoogs I heard on cult records, and that's how I learned how a real synth works. In terms of user experience, it isn't as sexy to have to map my controller's knobs to the desired parameters, but I preferred the Mini V and the Prophet V to the modernized (and still very cool) Moog Sub Phatty and Prophet 08.

Today's market is a whole other ball game, though. Now you can get an affordable clone of some of your dream gear for next to nothing, or you can create your own beast with synth modules. For instance, last month I bought a Behringer TD-3, and hearing those creamy, perfectly replicated 303 oscillators at my fingertips almost had me tearing up.

And on the other side, modern plugins are completely insane. From experimental freeware to industry titans like Serum and Omnisphere, plugins have surpassed what could possibly ever be achieved with synthesizers as we know them today.

So what should you do? Should you invest in some gear and build your dream studio, or should you invest in a couple of VSTs, throw your laptop in a backpack, and take your dream studio with you wherever you go?

Can you still justify the purchase of hardware gear today?

Here's my opinion: You can't justify the purchase of hardware gear. But, you should buy some anyway.

I have some conditions, though:

First, you have to need it if you're going to buy it. Don’t buy something just because you got a hot stimulus check burning a hole in your pocket. Really research the synth you want to buy, test it at your local store, or watch YouTube tutorials.

Also, you should buy something that can do what your plugins in your DAW can't. Maybe you get a cheap machine like a Pocket Operator, something that adds a little bit of chaos to your process. Maybe you get a clone like the Model-D to have the experience of going DAW-less and really feeling what all those crazy buttons can do.

It's worth buying a few pieces of essential hardware if you're really ready to get to know it inside out. In my opinion, the simpler the instrument, the better. If I want to tweak parameters for hours, I'd rather do it with a mouse. When I fire up a synth, I want the bare minimum, and the least menus possible.

Also, you might think you need a really cool piece of synth when, actually, what you need is a dope MIDI controller. As an Ableton user, I've been really happy with MIDI hardware like the Push and the Novation Launchkey. I would make an even stronger case for my Maschine Mikro if you count that as a controller.

There's a special feeling you get when your DAW of choice is materialized under your hands.

Those are the 2 cents of a guy who spends his days making beats. It might vary for different producers, who knows…

Hope you guys get the tools you need, but I really hope you don't wait to get your dream studio before you produce all the great music that's in you.

Photo by Avi Naim.