10 things to think about BEFORE buying a NEW SYNTH

STARTER SYNTHS I RECOMMEND FOR A SMALL SETUP

To control/sequence your other gear: Circuit Tracks

For PADS & Lead: Minilogue XD

For BASS & Lead: Monologue

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CONTENT
00:00 Intro
00:27 #1 Immediacy is King
01:13 #2 Don't buy too many BIG synths
02:07 #3 Size of your setup doesn't matter...
02:46 #4 Dawless jamming is the way
03:54 #5 Grooveboxes... Buy one, Learn it, Prosper
04:27 #6 Buy things that work together
04:56 #7 Don't think hardware will fix your lack of motivation
05:53 #8 What is your GOAL?!
07:11 #9 Synths are TOOLS
07:25 #10 Don't blame the synth...

PRESETS & SAMPLES

SOCIAL MEDIA

COMMUNITY

SYNTH MERCH

GEAR I USE (affiliate)

BUSINESS INQUIRY

#SynthSetupAdvice #SynthBuyersAdvice #Bobeats

[kalmarnagyandras]

It's completely all right to just make music for your own pleasure. It doesn't need to be a song, you don't need to show it to anyone. If you love it, just jam for yourself.

[modeswitching]

Every synth channel right now: Stop buying more synths!

Also every synth channel: Hey guys, Smoosh Audio just sent me the new Blinkengrid, a small box with knobs that is pretty much identical to every other small box you own. I’ve spent a total of 20 minutes playing with it so far, but let me tell you why I think the Blinkengrid could be one of the most exciting synth and/or samplers of the year, in this in-depth 45 minute video where we will review unique features such as the filter, the effects, the lfo, and the grid of blinky lights.

Me, surrounded by synths: Oooooh the Blinkengrid

(love you Bo 🥰)

[OswaldoVonSchnoobenstein]

I use a Montage. Hydrasynth and a Deepmind 12 on all my albums. This is my set up, and I'm extremely happy with it. I really don't need anything else.

[GabeMillerMusic]

Damn you beat me to the topic of the importance of setups being immediate and compact! Having a low amount of friction when it comes to getting into the music making/noodling process or keeping that process going makes a huge difference.

[gnarlysoundscapes]

Lately I've been planning a redesign of my setup, with the focus on easily accessible storage. I love to collect synths, but I only ever play one or two at a time. Having them all set up at once means none of them are particularly convenient to play by themselves. What would be best for me is a nice set of shelves to keep all my synths on, where I can quickly grab whichever one I'm in the mood for, plug it in, have a jam, then pop it back on the shelf without any hassle involved. Keep the drum machine, effects pedals, and AC adapters set up all the time ready to go, and the synths on the shelves for easy swapping.
Also want to raise my synth table so I can play while standing instead of sitting. My back doesn't approve of sitting for long periods, and I always feel the need to get up and move when I've got a good jam going.

[digitalduch]

I agree with most points, except "don't buy hardware synths to get things done." When I started making music 2 decades ago, I've had just 3 Hardware Synths, an analog mixer an Atari and a DAT. This was the most productive phase in my live! Later on I switched to completely producing in-the-box, and things started to get worse. First of all, a hardware-only set-up forces you to finish things, as much things like analog fader-settings etc. can't be saved. In the computer you can save it and it recalls exactly like you left it, which often leads to hundreds of unfinished drafts, as there's no need to finish them. The second thing is the cost-trap. Virtual synths are damn-cheap, compared to their hardware-counterparts. And there's also freeware. So you might end up with 50-60 freeware-synths and 10 bought one, but you never really dive into them, as the threshold to buy stuff is much, much, much lower. So I would recomment to start with Behringer-stuff, to learn synthesis and production and when you reach the phase were you exactly know what you want and need, buy the expansive stuff. Then you'll think carefully what you buy, and because it was expansive, you'll definitely use it.

[corradospada]

I built my own small but satisfying setup: bass station 2, hydrasynth explorer, behringer neutron and mpc live 2...I love them!!! I replaced the softsynths with these four a while ago and I really enjoy them

[hdsubstance]

So many truths here at many levels and really good advice for beginners. My case, I'm 51, I grew up in a world of hardware, I've seen ataris running MIDI, Macs running primitive audio, expensive samplers with 1 minute memory ... until now with everything possible inside a computer. When I was a teen I dreamed about mini moogs, arps, modulars ...In the mid 80's I started collecting vintage stuff when people basically threw it to the dump. I've saw the overpricing of those now mithological creatures and have experienced they failures across time... ending selling most of that gear for irreal prices. Now I'm enjoying clones of my dreams of the 80's and I'm happy collecting again synths I always wanted to have like a Model D or a 2600, and I'm using them a lot. Every piece of my actual setup has a reason for being there. But at the end a DAW is all you need to create as you said. Sorry for the long post.

[sinewaymusic]

Just sold my Hydrasynth Explorer. It's been sitting on a shelf for a whole year and it was time to do something about it. I feel great! Getting closer and closer to my ideal setup. 😊 100% agree with immediacy, that's what's made the Syntakt my favorite synth/groovebox so far.

[kordianronnberg]

Great advice! Regarding the last question: I am a bedroom producer. I once bought a Roland TR 6s. And because I didn't have time to get used to the rather complicated menu, I kept it on the shelf for over a year without touching it. When it finally came time to record a TR 909 in a DAW, instead of searching for cables and struggling with switching audio interfaces, I quickly downloaded samples from the internet and made an instrument in Kontact. Yes, I think it was faster. ;) If I were to make this purchase today, I would probably buy some simpler replica of the TR 909 and TR 808 with a convenient, inspiring interface, and a lack of versatile options. Because that's all I really needed. So thinking that hardware with more options is better is very deceptive, because today it mainly fulfills a romantic and performative function. I think that dealing with an instrument should be so enjoyable that you can subconsciously master it through great fun, and then using it in production can turn out to be second nature. If you are not interested in this romantic or performative aspect, then as you say, hardware is useless. The only exceptions may be instruments that have such great software integration with a DAW that you can use them as a separate device and as a perfect midi controller. I am thinking for example of what Arturia did with MiniFreak and its vst plugin. I'm very interested in this synth, looking for something that will combine tactile inspiration with functionality in a home studio. Thanks for the great video and advice!

[Retrorator]

My biggest synth regret was when I sold almost all of my synths & keyboards for a Yamaha MODX8. I thought I had too many keyboards at the time, and I wanted just 1 keyboard that’d do everything I’d want. The MODX is a nice synth, but it wasn’t as convenient as I thought with so much menu diving.

[architectofechoes]

Great advice. I have a small set up, 3 synths:- a Deepmind 12, a Juno DS and a Blofeld module, no DAW just record straight to a Zoom R16 16 channel digital multitracker. Learning to use & navigate around a DAW would, for me, take far too long & I'd probably just give up.

[AdamWroboMKE]

In the mid-90s I was all set to buy my first piece of real gear, an MPC3000. A week before buying, someone told me that a producer I liked a lot used an ASR-10.... so I ordered that instead. It was terrible for me & I sold it for a loss after I'd saved up my money for over a year.

By the time I'd saved up enough money again the 3000 was out of production & I had to wait for the 2000 to come out.

Lesson learned: Don't buy something just cuz someone you think is cool uses one.

[alairlibreinsfreie]

this is encouraging to me... for christmas i went all in and got my first real world synth... the tiniest one, a stylophone gen x 1... and even so its functionalities are rather limited, i am still surprised what the turning of a knob in relation to the position of the others does to the sound. so much fun, just exploring the melancholic sounds the little thing can produce... and it prooved good for me as a total noob that there are only some basic functions, that forced me to concentrate on realy understanding what each does and not get completely lost in too many new things to choose from...

[Joldrath]

I think I want to buy the Minibrute s2. Is that a good choice? Haha😅

Great video BoBeats. One cup of coffee coming right up❤

[devinbelangermusic]

Great video Bo! The advice is spot on. I find for hardware that the golden rule of 'character and workflow over features' like you said has yet to let me down. I've been selling and buying a lot of my set up on this advice.

[mkst]

It truly is a golden age for synth enthusiasts. Soooo much to choose from, both new advanced ships to fantastic reproductions of classic gear. I am so inspired and can't wait to add to my modest collection but I'm glad I can't afford to get loads of gear at once. Forces me to get deep with the units I have.
I've found that if I get "stuck" with a synth I go and watch YT demos and tutorials and I always learn about hidden features and new things to try.
Right now I'm digging my Deepmind 12, Vector (paired with the excellent NDLR), Poly and Mono Evolvers, and, my most recent purchase, the Moog Subharmonicon.
Thinking of going modular next. It looks like such a rabbit hole, but one that can be done in small steps so the commitment isn't too serious.

[hazmatforhumanity]

i started down the hardware synth rabbit hole about 2 years ago after using mostly DAW'S for close to 20 years. I record 20 minute jam sessions via multitrack on my Zoom Livetrack L8 and export them, via SD card to edit later in ableton. It nice to separate the two processes rather than record directly into a DAW as I want as little to do with a DAW as possible when I'm jamming. Its kind of like trying to edit a film while still filming it.

[bombjelly]

I have KORG MINILOGUE XD, and BEHRINGER TD-3 . TR8-S drum machine and it’s all I been working with. I do have three midi keyboards too . Arturia mkII 49, novation keylab mini, and KORG Kontrol midi key 32 . All these on my MAC and ableton and I’m all set For electronic music .

[theelectronicrat]

Excellent advice. I bought a new synth last week and sold two that did not really jive with me. My Eurorack is working out great, I'm enjoying doing techno jams on it, yet my daw productions are ambient and new age style. So much fun! Be well, Bo.