These days, a lot of us start out using only software for music production. This makes sense – it's a very cheap way to get into music production, since there are a lot of good affordable (or even freeware) tools around. It means that if we find that music production isn't our thing, we haven't lost too much money.
At some point in our journey, a lot of us start wondering about hardware devices (synthesizers, samplers, effects units) and what they can offer us. Are they capable of things our software can't do? Are they the missing link between us and the coveted “pro sound” (whatever that is)? Well, maybe they can do particular things which aren't available to us in software currently (these “particular things” aren't better or worse, just things not currently available as a plugin). Maybe they will bring our productions forward, once we get to know the piece of equipment and how to work it into our production process.
There are a few things to keep in mind, for those of us who have an itch to add hardware to our setup – if we've been entirely software based until now, we need to realize it's not like adding another plugin to our setup. The following points are in no particular order of importance.
Hardware takes up space. This is pretty obvious, but it needs to be taken into consideration. How much room will the unit take up? Will it sit on the desk, or will it require a rack to mount it into? Will the unit be easily accessible from your production vantage point?
Hardware uses cables. Which take up more space. They also need to be the right cables, plugged into the right inputs and outputs. A lot of units will require both audio and MIDI connections.
Hardware requires an audio interface to plug into. If we're using only software, potentially we could get by using only our computer's onboard sound (though the quality may leave a bit to be desired). With hardware, and it's aforementioned cables, we'll very likely need an interface which can send audio out to the unit and bring audio in from the unit. We could very well require MIDI connections to get signals into and out of the unit. The interfaces we get may require a firewire connection, which could be an additional expense.
The more hardware we get, the more issues we create. It's only feasible to daisy chain a few MIDI devices together (the MIDI signal gets passed through the chain until it finds the device with the MIDI channel it is referring to). If we want to use a device at the end of the chain, we need to power up every other device. So we may require a MIDI interface with multiple inputs and outputs, or a device which splits a MIDI signal into multiple signals. On the audio side, we may need an audio interface with multiple inputs and outputs – maybe eight or even sixteen. Cables can get messy, it may be much easier to get an audio patch bay which sits near our audio interface, with all the audio cables running into the back of it. This way we can quickly patch in the units we require from the patch bay. At some point it may even be appealing to look at custom built furniture to accommodate the equipment in such a way that it's all easily accessible and the cables are hidden away.
Hardware is a little more difficult to interface with from our sequencer, though not too much. We need to set the incoming and outgoing audio and MIDI channels so that everything comes through properly. MIDI automation is slightly more unwieldy than plugin automation – it's much easier when we see “filter cutoff” rather than “MIDI CC40” (which the manual has told us controls the filter cutoff for this particular synthesizer).
Hardware settings generally don't get saved with our project files. Which means we load up the project, turn on the hardware, then find the preset or manually input the settings we used (which we've written down in the relevant track's notes). It is possible to automate program change information (but I must admit, I haven't worked this out myself, it seems fiddly and doesn't seem to work properly with every device).
Particularly frightening is when our hardware starts dying, or stops working completely. A lot of times, it turns out to be a faulty cable, or a cable plugged into the wrong connection. Sometimes it's more critical, meaning a potentially lengthy stay with the repair person (if we can find someone who knows how to fix it). If software exhibits problems, a restart usually helps, or a software update. When hardware exhibits problems, it could soon be lost forever!
For those of us who are prepared to deal with all these issues, hardware can be a wonderful addition to our studio setup. There are high quality units around, built by companies with decades of experience in creating products for musicians. Each unit has it's own sonic character, and certain characters aren't currently available as plugins. We all choose our tools and our preferred way of working, whether it's entirely software based, a mix of software and hardware, or an entirely hardware based setup running into an analog mixing desk. All of these have been used countless times to create fantastic sounding music.
I hope this post has been handy for some of you. Keep making great music!
Fabian
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