I’m a dad, so I have no time and all my gear is old. I want to start making music again, but I think I need to more or less start over in terms of gear and software.
I’d like to hear a bit just about what you all are using to make music.
Are we all using Macs and commercial software like Logic or Abelton? Anyone bravely trying to work things with Linux? Anyone kicking it old school and recording to tape? Anyone using light weight set ups like iPads or tiny Zoom recorders?
I use Linux with Reaper, mostly with PianoTeq, Surge XT and Vital natively. I also have the commercial Windows plugins Phase Plant, Plasmonic and Kontakt. I don’t use Kontakt much due to its user interface, but I guess it has its place. DecentSampler is also worth a look.
I bought Renoise Redux at some point, but it turns out that I prefer coding patterns to using tracker interfaces. Tidal Cycles is pretty cool, and there are similar. Of course I’m coding my own too. ;-)
If you are go down the same rabbit hole, take a look at: ChucK, SuperCollider, SonicPI, CSound, PureData, Faust, Overtone, BespokeSynth, Miti, and lots more!
For midi controllers, I’ve got a midi keyboard, launchpad, and some MPE devices.
All that said: I rarely produce music as it’s just a geeky hobby for me, but I have a lot of fun. ;-)
