[Note: and the amount of tutorial videos on YouTube is huge.]
It's not just iOS.
Zynthian and Monome provide an AMAZING ecosystem for audio exploration. If you haven't checked that out as well, here's the links:
That said - I could easily just get another iPad, throw away the room full of synths, wire up my iPads and the Zynthian and Monome systems, and be quite satisfied.
What complications do you run into outside of garage band, or you imagine you would run into?
I have at various points in my life used Garage Band, Logic, or various Linux software.
1. Mac Core Audio (Works out of box)
2. Windows ASIO (ASIO4ALL or just plugin a Scarlett/MOTU audio interface)
3. Linux Pipewire
And it doesn't hurt that when need more power/features you can upgrade to its big brother Logic Pro X which offers a very similar interface.
Alchemy in GarageBand has many presets with adjustable filter envelopes (sometimes multiple) and volume envelopes, so it can work as a subtractive synth stand-in. However since it's based on Alchemy Player you don't seem to get the full patch creation power of Alchemy in Logic Pro.
GarageBand's "synth" (named) presets that I've tried appear to be subtractive, and sound great, but seem to limit user controls to filter cutoff and a single envelope for both volume and filter (possibly with configurable envelope amount). Some presets have slightly different controls though (for example an FM amount.)
Fortunately there are lots of great AUs, including free ones, for traditional virtual analog subtractive synthesis (and FM, and everything else.)
The iPad is a great choice for music - you get the variety of hardware synths with none of the annoying setup (power, midi, audio routing), at a cheaper price, but it still feels more immersive than sitting at a desktop PC and a daw.
There are things you can do to make computers more suitable for this stuff but it gets expensive fast and less convenient quickly. Toughbooks are tempting, but expensive, rackmount computer can be managed for not much and keeps the computer safe in its rack but now you more and bigger stuff to haul. Taking a disposable approach with rpi or the like is tempting but not exactly ideal. Computers/tablets are great and have their uses but are not a replacement for hardware yet.
The big problem for me with all things touch screen is that they get confused by water on the screen, which is an issue when it is hot and you are sweating or on a stage with bright lights cooking you. Not an issue if you just want to tap out beats but a serious headache if you want to adjust parameters. Connectors on tablets are also an issue, USB is not a very secure connection and the wireless options are not great. Give me a tablet with a plastic screen, 1/4" ins/outs, can run PureData and will not get confused by water on the screen and I will probably give up my hardware.
On the other hand, my Blofeld had wonky unresponsive knobs after just a couple of months, not that they were very good at the first place, who thought having knobs with no tactile feeling of grip was good idea?!
Personally the biggest win for actual hardware is that it's just more fun to play and use. I've tried various music apps for mobile/tablets and while it's fun for some minutes, that's pretty much it. But then I feel the same with DAWs, it's just not as fun as playing with an hardware drum machine + synth + sampler all hooked together.
No joke? I was sure it was a hardware issue, but guess I should give that a look, still have my Blofeld around here somewhere, thanks for sharing the "news" :)
> love the detentless encoders
I have no issues with them being detentless, makes a lot of sense. What I do have issues with, is using the smoothest material they could find for the knobs instead of something you can "grip", sometimes it just slipped between my fingers when trying to turn them, unless I make my fingers slightly humid first.
I get why you dislike the knobs, but they don't bother me. Many dislike them and I have seen various fixes like shrink tubing, tape and rubber bands as well as just replacing them. I just learned to pinch the knob a little tighter. Skipping their traditional coating on the knobs was probably one of the corners they cut to get the price down while keeping the same quality overall.
It's also not entirely uncommon for an App Store synth to offer both an iOS and a native Mac version so always check the store description to see if its universal. The ability to seamlessly bring your tracks over to a more full-fledged DAW on your Mac is really nice.
Example: Minimoog Model D Synthesizer
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/minimoog-model-d-synthesizer/i...
Do iDevices not support hardware (USB) MIDI?
And something like VCVRack is heaven to learn, experiment and understand what one can do with synthesis, step by step.
Now that I understand most of it, I am really considering buying a ARP 2600 replica.
So yes, the switch from software to hardware comes with time. But, at least for me, the first step is cheap apps on my already-owned tablet.
Small comments/interrogations regarding hardware vs software in this post:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45235398
May be you have some opinion regarding these.
I mean, it's terrific to have an affordable replica, especially for discovery, I'm not debating the price-point advantage (for both acquisition and maintenance), but this is not an on-par replacement.
In an analog (less so in digital, but still somehow) synth, the controls are the instrument itself: they are in a specific place, react in a specific way, and physically part of the device that outputs the sound, and they stay there: you cannot move one without the other. The instrument has its own character. It's still more abstract than a classical instrument like the violin or the piano where the physical action alone is done and felt in real time, of course. It's significantly more incarnated than software + generic (in a good way) controllers.
The good side of this is that after having software replicas or original synthetisers, there's room to build new exciting embodiments/physical instruments.
Experiences vary but sliding a slider on a screen is worth the benefits.
Conversely, the likelihood of making it big just by making some good damn music was never lower than it is now. Makes for a fine hobby though.
Is that statement backed by any facts? Otherwise it sounds like a soundbite that sounds good, but I'm not sure how true it is. Maybe what "making it big" has changed more compared to how many people make their living making music, which for me would be enough to be considered "making it big".
[but when you simply ignore the marketing , and are a bit picky in your choices, the current offer is 10000% more qualitative than it has ever been. And BIG THINGS happen behind the curtain of mass marketing]
I believe so: in an aging softsynth community I still mingle with occasionally, everybody who is still actively involved with music seems to have either moved on to genAI, or to soft-on-Rpi for better integration with real instruments (including synths of all kinds).
The beauty of a hobby is that you do it for yourself, not for others.
So even in a (terrible) world where 100% of commercial music was AI-composed, someone's hobby of writing music by hand would likely remain unaffected.
Pretty well, I believe. The joy of playing is largely the act itself, becoming one with your instrument and stepping into a world outside of time. Composition is an adjacent pastime.
Disappeared from where? In terms of units moved I'm guessing there's an order of magnitude more sold today than in the 90's or 80's.
https://www.arturia.com/products/hardware-synths/astrolab/as...
This is without even referencing the huge cross-pollination and massive influx of development in the Modular Synthesis scene spurred on by things like vcv rack and its EuroRack ports.
In short, it has never been a better time in history to be a hardware synth enthusiast, and it's mainly down to soft-synths popularising the unique sonic qualities of historic hardware synths.