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This is mostly true for the sound of the instruments – the emulations are very good these days – the folks writing them often sit with the original instrument a
by wheels 4y ago
This is mostly true for the sound of the instruments – the emulations are very good these days – the folks writing them often sit with the original instrument and an oscilloscope and adjust the software until the outputs are the same.
But there are two things primarily that you get with physical instruments:
- A bunch of limitations. You're more likely to dive into deeply understanding your instrument if it can only do a well-defined set of things. This is counterintuitive, but absolutely true. If you're using VSTs, you should similarly force yourself to use only a small set of them, and to swap them out very rarely.
- A tactile interface. Generic MIDI controllers just don't do as well. There is a gap in playability between the two.
That said, I usually explore on a physical synth and often end up using a soft-synth in finished tracks. A physical synth is a lot more fun to jam on than a MIDI controller. It may be possible to build a physical controllers or modular controllers that captures more of that feeling (and a lot of high-end physical synths these days are just ARM systems running real-time Linux), but the run-of-the-mill MIDI controllers are not that.
(Reference: have worked for two companies that produce VSTs, including the biggest of them)
- NikolaNovak 4y agoExactly this. Physical synths are more fun to play with, explore, learn. You can feel you fully understand them (I challenge anybody to say they fully understand every feature of every module of native instruments and arturia v collection, which together cost as much as a single mid range hardware synth :-). They are great for hobby and creativity, playing around and having fun, and in some ways for performance. They are tactile and immediate and physical. (Note that I am empathically not claiming "superior sound" in that list ;) Daws are practical for actually making and producing music. In reality though they can complement each other nicely. You can sketch on hardware and even integrate it into a daw. ---- My personal thought on superiority of sound is same as records and film - if you feel a particular specific past sound (or image) is the pinnacle of possibilities, soft synths will indeed asymptotically recreate it and may or may not ever recapture whatever "feel" it is that makes that specific sound superior to you. I came into this late and without preconception so all sounds are equally valid with no absolute framework and all synths CAN produce interesting cool useful and usable awesome sounds - I'd rather marvel at creativity and variety than endlessly try to recapture something previous (which even my favourite companies are sometimes stuck doing - how many ways can roland and others re re re re re create the Jupiter 8 sound?? Same for Moog etc) My 100 Croatian lipa and no more :-)
- taylodl 4y agoYou say the run-of-the-mill MIDI controllers are not that - are there any MIDI controllers that try to do that? Is there any interest in that?
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y agoThe problem is that the controller has to be built for the instrument. Doing it "right" in a generic way is close to impossible.
- taylodl 4y agoThat's good insight. Makes sense then why you so often see musicians playing dedicated hardware.
- scoopdewoop 4y agohttps://sound-force.nl/ https://sound-force.nl/ make software-specific midi controllers. They provide knob-per-function control of cool software synths. Interestingly the softsynths they target are clones of classic synths. It gives people the classic interfaces, but with a lot more flexibility with tracking and automation. They seem cool.
- filoeleven 4y agoVR synths have just recently started to come out. A VR interface to VCV Rack would convince me to buy a VR rig. The link below is to Synthspace, a VR modular kit, and that’s got me on the fence already. You still miss out on knobs/buttons/switches etc., but you can make use of the spatial memory that each synth/module’s design promotes, and that’s pretty big. I can envision a VR controller extension with a physical knob for adjustments that would improve the experience, but it’s probably too niche a product to be built anytime soon. https://www.soundonsound.com/news/synthspace-virtual-modular-synth-unveiled https://www.soundonsound.com/news/synthspace-virtual-modular...