No VSTs... real-time hardware synths+vintage synth tour!

[@mixdownonline]

Great video, love the song at the end! Nice synth collection you have there...I'm a bit jealous I have to say LOL! Thanks for the mention 🙂

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks Chris! ;) Glad to shout out your great channel!

[@IanOS-UK]

One of my favourite 80s drum machines! The Korg DDD-1 was great for its time. The pads lasted better than those on my other favourite - The Alesis HR-16. I used that thing so much that the pads died one by one. Loved the flexibility for their time though - Tuneable drum sounds etc… The Gated Snare, tuned down… Awesome for recreating the 80s Neil Peart feel! 🥁😎

[@qlyde]

The importance of Hardware for me is it’s inspiration factor. Walking into my studio with some speakers and a laptop got really sterile and boring after 2 years and I stumbled across some old cheap synths like the Alpha Juno & CZ-1 so I jumped on them and immediately I was excited everyday to go play. You can get into hardware for cheap too, I paid $400 CAD for my Alpha Juno and it’s a real Analog Juno with midi! Plus any synth you buy will always have resale value if you don’t love hardware, so try it out!

[@rwbennet]

DTronics makes a programmer unit (DT-200 V3) for the JX-3P. It’s about $250 at Thomann Music. It’s just a replica of the original PG-200 but the original is hard to find and as expensive as the JX-3P itself half the time. You may or may not be aware of it, just thought I’d drop this here in case anyone else was looking for one.

[@GodsRockstarMusic]

Hey Jeff love your channel & vids...Here's my synth story... Back in the early 90's before heading to Berklee I purchased an MPC 60 II with money saved up from my summer jobs. I had it up through the time I was going through my divorce in 2009-10 so I stashed it at a friends recording studio along with some Event 20/20 BAS monitors, a syquest EZ 135 drive & a iomega zip drive (along with a box of 3.5 floppy disks as well as EZ 135 & zip disks). A year later after I was settled & back from off a 5 month tour I went to get my gear. Let's say that I wish I had stashed it at my parents place cause it disappeared. Another purchase I made the same year of the MPC was a Roland MKS-7 that I bought for $50 at a garage sale, I still own it & have used it on many tracks (definitely looking to get the chips serviced this year). Next I got the Wavestation as a late graduation gift in 1990, I already owned an M1 at that time and this was my first multi keyboard setup. I took the MPC, M1, Wavestation & MKS-7 with me to Berklee & sometime that spring after my first semester at Berklee I sold the M1 to another musician and purchased an Ensoniq KS-32 which I would need for those winter months when I didn't want to head out to the piano lab/practice rooms. Years later I sold the KS-32 and after graduation I moved back to Miami with the other gear. About a year later I purchased the JV-1080 along with the Vintage Synth card. I still own the Wavestation, MKS-7, JV1080 along with a DX100, CZ101, EMU Proformance 1, Triton Extreme, SV1-73 (red), & Novation Peak. Something about owning hardware synths that you don't get out of your system from the first time you messed around and programmed on them. I might sell the Triton Extreme since I own Korg's VST version so I can make room for maybe a D-50 and/or JX8P. BTW - Stereoping CE-1 Midi Controller for Roland JX-3P Rare Vintage Synth

[@StreetsOfVancouverChannel]

SynthwaveGibbons... very interesting vid... I've been curious about your gear for a couple of years now!

[@liberatetutemeexinferis5902]

That's a great collection of toys you have there. 👍

[@KaitavSapreMusic]

Love the song demo, sounded very evocative. Excellent video as usual and it was fun and inspiring both. Thanks, Jef! :)

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks as always Kaitav!

[@carbonvibes]

Great content as always. A very lush and vibrant synth vibe. 👍🏻

[@artisticboundaries]

I built most of my 2nd project studio from great eBay finds and a Musician's Friend and Guitar Center card. That was the late 90's, but the gear then was outstanding. Unfortunately, I lost it all due to theft. I converted everything to VSTs and DAW's to prevent that from happening again plus I couldn't find a lot of what I lost. Now I want my gear back!!! Love your studio man!!! FUN FACT - When I was a kid I spent most of my Saturday afternoons in the music store drooling over the synthesizers... EVERYONE auditioned the synths with the "Jump" intro chords or the "Glamorous Life" (Sheila E.) riff and the "Planet Rock" beat on the drum machines... #deuces

[@awpMusic1]

You can definitely set up Polybrute as an external instrument in Cubase Pro 11 and you will have audio inserts. In STUDIO>AUDIO CONNECTIONS>EXTERNAL INSTRUMENTS connect Polybrute to an input on your audio interface. It will then show up in the drop down as an external instrument. Polybrute should be connected to Polybrute MIDI and the Polybrute Connect track connected to Polybrute VST. You can then record midi to the Polybrute track and when you're happy render in place to audio (alt+num*). The way you have it set up seems to be working but it's not the way Arturia tell you to set it up. HTH.

[@itsyourturncom]

My friends and I killed a lot of time with that Casio SK-1 in 1986. That demo song is burned into my brain.

[@Realliedoe]

Good Stuff Big Jef! Always dope content

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks Realliedoe!

[@munirjemaa7752]

Great stuff, it's easy with all the VSTs to forget about these devices, but THANKS for this refreshing video!!

[@jefgibbons]

Yes! There’s something about the hands-on control!

[@lowlowseesee]

hilarious outro yo thank you for this

[@micespe8522]

So much knowledge from you as always! I'm an avid Maschine guy as well, but must say this video is an excellent way to think outside of the box as a producer. Thanks for posting and love what you do! :)

[@jefgibbons]

Appreciate it! Probably won’t do it that often but it was fun…

[@lowlowseesee]

the blacking out of the 0 on the shirt and the reverb machine not working and spawning this vid is the kind of mad human shit that many of us can relate too lol.

[@christoroppolo8742]

The only issue I’m having with my huge rig of synths is only with the hydra synth 2.0 with external sync. It’s rushing even with the ERM master clock taming it .when it goes longer than eight bars it falls behind or ahead in some cases with the external message clearly indicating it is locked to the midi or even with the usb midi locked to external clock.but the thing is amazing otherwise. It’s LFO style sequencer’s the elephant in the room so I don’t sequence with it at all when I design for it or take it out at all. Of course no one mentioned that the virtual LFOS and the arpeggiator doesn’t track the keys for smooth operation or performance with it at all in the wrong circumstances. 👽✌️

[@Sydhavsportalen]

Always great content from you. 🙂

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks for the support Kjartan!

[@AVCOME]

Hello Jeff, first thank you for your very interesting video. Quick question; Pro3 or Sub37 ? I already have Polybrute I’d appreciate have your advice, you’re my favorite on you tube

[@EricRabb]

DDD1 wow! I still have mine also, even a Roland R8 mk2. But where are your 1200’s man?

[@DoctorJRx]

Nice stuff Jef !! did you acoustically treat your room ?

[@alainpatry]

I still have my Alesis Midi verb... Practically new.. Rarely ever used it. It's in the box and never bothered to sell. My large 80s drumset though, I might sell that someday as I'm pretty happily converted to edrums now.

[@jefgibbons]

I got a cheap edrum set, but I just don't like how much room it takes up. Time for a bigger studio!

[@nico5]

The Casio demo slays! Just one question: When you channel your disappointment with a gear purchase gone bad, do you use a mono, stereo or surround channel? ;-)

[@jefgibbons]

Wellllll.... if I buy Logic I can do it in Spatial Audio!!

[@4theSun]

Although this synth collection is outstanding, the most impessive thing to me was the size of the screen monitor!

[@jefgibbons]

Thanks! It’s just a cheap Costco tv! There’s a link to my video on it in the description…

[@EricRabb]

On your reverb power supply make sure you have the correct polarity (center pin) and correct current format (ac or dc)

[@jefgibbons]

I will definitely check into this, thanks Eric!

[@Pauluz_The_Web_Gnome]

It sounds like a synth!

[@ramojones9694]

Korg has the best synth and I had the DX keyboard. It's making a small comback

[@subtracktion]

Great synth collection! I've been collecting hardware for almost 20 years now. It DOES become a problem if you let yourself get too carried away. :D My roots are in sample based hip hop so I've always been mostly partial to lo-fi samplers, particularly Ensoniq stuff. I've got an Akai S20, MPC 2000XL, MPC 2500, Ensoniq EPS keyboard and rack version, EPS 16+ rack, ASR 10 rack, DP/4 effects, E-mu Emax rack, Casio SK-1, RZ-1, Yamaha VSS-30, Zoom Sampletrak, and a Novation Bass Station rack. I think that's everything. The prices on a lot of this gear have increased quite a bit in the past few years. I got most of it when prices were still fairly reasonable. I've always wanted an SP-1200 but the prices are just insane now. I got the Emax for a similar sound for way less money but I really love the workflow on the SP. Back in the day you could get one in pretty good condition for around $1200 or so but I thought that was too much at the time. If only I could see the future! I should've jumped on it when I had the chance.

[@jefgibbons]

Well all of that gear you have will just appreciate in value, which is a nice place to be in!

[@LookatLaoStudio]

I owned the SK1 in 1986 and I have no idea what became of it. ♫ Memories…

[@RayyMusik]

I guess one of the most expensive pieces of gear in your studio is that huuuge screen. What is it? Still don‘t understand the current DX7 hype. Sure, back then it was revolutionary, but nowadays a MODX - is probably cheaper, - more reliable, - easier to program, - much more powerful.

[@swancakes]

It’s the vintage vibes :)

[@chrisstaubyn]

I see those reverbs all the time in my area. What called you to buy one? I'm curious. What about them piqued your interest?

[@jefgibbons]

Nothing really… I just get caught up in the auctions sometimes! )And wanted a hardware reverb)

[@chrisstaubyn]

@@jefgibbons gotcha.

[@zofo264]

I have an old ESQ1 - not sure if that will work with Cubase. Do you know?

[@jefgibbons]

For sure! I see those every now and then…

[@brianhintze6440]

Tomy robot. Weltron TV. Hardware synths. = new subscriber...noice. Years ago, I got a Korg DSS-1, Ensoniq ESQ, and other items for really cheap prices. Sold them through the years, and regret it all. Lesson: Keep your hardware synths....sigh.

[@jefgibbons]

Good tips! I've been tempted to sell a few every now and then...

[@mareikemacinnes7764]

Analog waveforms cannot be fully mapped digitally, as digital waveforms are only able to be outlined angularly. This means that part of the original analogue waveform is always missing. No matter how well written an algorithm, digital synthesizers will never be able to sound like a real analogue device. That is an undeniable fact. Greetings from Germany

[@martinmueller4673]

What is the size of this tv / display? 65inch?

[@jefgibbons]

Yup! There's a link to a vid in the description

[@Pauluz_The_Web_Gnome]

It needs more Adidas!

[@jefgibbons]

Noted!!

[@bangmateo7481]

You skipped the minilogue

[@Zeisslermusic]

🇩🇰 i am Home today corona but nice to see your video

[@jefgibbons]

Been through it twice… mild both times, hopefully the same for you!

[@michelleparsons9881]

That's nice and all, but what if you can't afford to buy one or the repair bills

[@TheLotusMachine]

Get outta town, i didn't know you did anything creative!

[@jefgibbons]

Every now and then…