Hydrasynth: Is complexity BAD for your music?

I finally managed to get my hands on an ASM Hydrasynth for a video and after looking at all the features and functions I decided to explore whether any of the complexity was beneficial to music making when after all, some of the most enduring and popular synthesizers of all time have been very simple.

Let's find out....

0:00 Intro Jam
0:42 Premise
1:29 Demo 1: Scario
3:14 Demo 2: Gleam
5:15 Demo 3: Glade Punner
7:08 Demo 4: Innie-Outie
8:40 Demo 5: Hey Mate
10:42 Opinion and Summary
12:09 Outro Jam

This video is sponsored by Source Distribution

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[synthesizernews]

Complex synths with a good sound and accessible user-interface are always more than worth their money and real "keepers" to me. You can grow with them over decades. I experienced this with my Ensoniq ESQ-1. As a young noob i was merely able do do convincing but simple "bread and butter"-sounds with it and 30 years later i am still exploring its sonic boundaries. So the Hydrasynth seems to me another milestone in this "complex" synth heritage starting with legends like the Korg PS 3200, Oberheim Matrix 12.... Thank you for your very excellent videos btw. :-)

[aptudo]

I found your unique approach to "reviewing" the Hydrasynth really enlightening and entertaining. It's also humbling, because my normal stance is that _limitations_ inspire creativity. Impressive work by ASM, making flexibility as intuitive as they have. And I find your patches (and jams) *incredibly* musical. Very nice job.

[entropybentwhistle]

“Absolutely…not.” Nicely teased there. I have always thought that demos of synths done in the context of fully-fledged musical tracks are the most useful for me as a note-by-note compositional melodic musician. I can hear how they sit in the mix and the extent of their playability as an instrument and not just as a bleep-bloop sequencer toy. Luckily in this instance I already had my own Hydrasynth and knew my own personal answer to the question posed and agreed with your final assessment. But are you now feeling buyer’s remorse, as I am, at having the original when the larger keyboard Deluxe model has been released, similar to how Peak owners must have felt at the announcement of the Summit?

[althejazzman]

So the moral of this is: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. But if you want to, it's possible.

[AKDanMusicMan]

Hello from the future! (18 months after your post). I loved this video. I just received the ASM Hydrasynth Deluxe for my birthday and have been watching all sorts of videos on it so I can better understand how deep this synth actually goes. Very nicely done.

[grandprz]

You’re one of the first to display it this

[natevizzi]

Dude … you are one of the only YouTube synth players that can actually play lol … your jams are always so excellent !!

[rarsn]

This is one of the coolest demonstrations of what is possible with the Hydrasynth that I've seen. You've managed to combine complexity with musicality in a very impressive way. Your demonstrations remind me a bit of Jexus in a way, but with a heavy lean more towards the typically ever-listenable Alex Ball musicality.

Speaking of which, Jexus praises the Hydrasynth a lot while noting that it's a synth that requires you to think about the sound you want to craft. It's clear that even with the complex routings you've got a decent idea of what you're doing and how it's going to sound, and more importantly, how to use it in a mix. As impressive as some of the Jexus patches are, you go a full step further by incorporating everything together, and that's very noteworthy.

In fact, it's what sets you beyond pretty much every other synth player on Youtube. It's fun to listen to a demo and hear what's possible when a talented person comes up with interesting patches, but it's another experience entirely to hear a full composition using them. (Shoutout to Keen on Keys for doing similar.)

Great video!

[eddydeegan]

I think you nailed several of the specific features of the Hydrasynth there well Alex. It's an immensely capable instrument capable of both analogue-like warmth, wavetable-like metallic harshness and most in between. For me the mutants, the poly AT, that cracking little arpeggiator, large modulation matrix and the number of parameters/configurability associated with LFOs, envelopes and most everything else is an endless source of inspiration. As you did, I also found it to gel well with my other gear in a mix, especially the analogue synths. I've persuaded two people to get one and underwritten the purchase with a promise to buy it from them for what they paid for it if they didn't like it. Both were some months ago and neither took me up on that offer, preferring to keep it for themselves :-)

[JimAlfredson]

You're on a roll lately. Great video. I really enjoy the Hydrasynth. I haven't spent enough time with mine yet but every time I turn it on, I find it inspiring.

[kinnectar]

Loving this demo, very inspiring. And especially thank you for the reminder that it has an audio in through the Mod Ins, I have been lacking some effects and I just realized the Hydrasynth can provide them for me nicely!

[schance]

This is the first new synth in a long time that grabbed my attention. That 'random' button sold me! Like MIDIQuest for about any synth - that 'randomize' feature allows you to turn your old synths into new ones. Love the interface, especially the way they sort of took the Ensoniq ESQ-1 design for the visual layout of the buttons/signal path. Great vid as always!

[LeonTodd]

Thanks for another thoughtful and fun video Alex. Lots of inspiration from watching you play those sounds - I'd love to see a "deep dive" on how you programmed some of those patches in the future.

Also, 11:05 is about how deep I've dived into my Hydrasynth so far :p

[DrSynth]

Alex, well done ( would expect no less!) As already mentioned, sound design is one of the pieces that goes into the multi-dimensional contrict that results in 'music'. Context is what ultimately matters, i.e. how is one assembling the pieces of their puzzle. Often times (over) complexity doesn't serve the result; you need to recognize that and know/learn when it's time to stop or go further. The key take away for those watching this -- it's all in the Hydrasynth there if you need/want it, but it doesn't have to be used it it doesn't suit the context. I've been involved & around a lot of synths over the years, and there's a number of industry veterans that came together in making the Hydrasynth IMHO one of the most significant synths in the last decade or more. They nailed the sweet spot of power, versatility, UI, controllability and bang for the buck.

[tommymandel]

I think you did a fine job of achieving your goal, Alex. For me, the clear winner was you - your creativity, playful sense of irony, and deep understanding of the Hydrasynth's possibilities were entertaining and edifying. When I played an earlier one in a NYC music store I was impressed by the interface, some of the waves' pure sounds through the internal effects and filter, and their use of the color orange. With my pedestrian taste in synths, and a Jupiter 80, an old V-Synth, a DeepMind and 2 fine DS poly's here, there's not a real 'hole' in my rig which this synth would plug, so it's cool to experience one being pushed, vicariously, in your deft hands.

[SuperChaoticus]

Bought it on release and I’m still amazed by its intuitive design layout and endless possibilities. Easily my favorite synth.

[novakjovanovic]

That second jam... "do you even Prodigy?" I love it! Great video

[adambrowne]

Honestly I love this thing. I think Alex could get a good tune out of damn near anything but it sounds incredible on its own and sits really well in a mix too. Georgous stuff

[TheBiggerNoise]

One of the best parts of the Hydra is the UI. Moving between sections is extremely well thought out.

I also love that you can use it as a basic 3 oscillator into a filter synth without cracking the manual. So you don't have to use all of the complexity and capabilities. Then as you dive a bit deeper, you can explore a particular mutant (for example).

Synthtaur did a nice little interview with Glenn back in October where he said they have few years of development on Hydrasynth line already in the works. But I'm only getting more tempted to jump in with the Deluxe right now. I'm glad you and others have videos deep diving on different things on this synth. Very nice work on this video exploring some interesting ideas and questions. Something else that really fascinated me was the FM sounds it can make. Sonicstate has a nice video on that and one of the patches blends wavescanning with FM and just comes out as this big, beautiful, emotive, and unashamedly digital pad. I have to wonder how layering sounds like that with slight differences between the engines could turn out.