Hey Robin, loved the review and you got some crazy sounds out of it. Thanks for the mention, yes my software route will definitely not be for everybody, but good to have some options I guess. And I just added polychain capability to it so there are some extra benefits like that
Hey Tim, thanks! It's always good to get alternative takes on these things. The editor is looking great and working it inside VCV Rack is very interesting. I'll write it up for Gearnews once it's out.
It is good that you mentioned the message in the box at the beginning of the video for us potential byers to know. I have seen many reviews. Most people seem to enjoy this thing a lot but in most of the cases do not mention the message which I feel is kind of important. Nice review as always!
Missed this a while back. I LOVE your intro. I love the focus on women and you not being cynical about that, but instead taking it sincerely. I agree! I also love how you are trying to understand the Dreadbox perspective with the design itself and how you elaborated there. Great stuff!!! Huge fan of Dreadbox.
I don't know how dreadbox does it for a small company. Considering they are a small company they have pretty reasonable prices, the Eurorack modules that they have for sale are feature packed and pretty inexpensive.
They’re not into fleecing punters for ‘niche’ products. Very good business model imho, making a great name for themselves. Nymphes is definitely on my short list.
thank you Robin, I believe this was the best review of this synthesizer, the way you described everything was very clear and very logical, thank you 😊🙏✌
I am amazed when I saw some one making a compact analog poly synth, I only wish if it can as handy as a JP08, direct access most of the parameter on surface. It turn out more like a vst but full analog in a box, but the Dreadbox Nymphes is still on my radar. Maybe some days twisted electrons will fill the gap.
As a woman in my early 40s and wanting to get back into music that selling point may be a catch for me. Only joking. 😂 But it is lovely to see people expressing their views even if it used for marketing. Serious question now do you think not being able to see the patches for a beginner like me will be too annoying? I have a feeling it will annoy me a lot if I want to repeat the same patches. Thanks for the nice extended review.
I think it's not uncommon to have a hardware interface that doesn't represent the patch. As soon as you have presets in a machine then any analogue knobs will not be in the right places when you move to a new one. Unless you have one knob per parameter, which gets expensive, then it's always going to have a certain amount of mystery. It just takes a bit of learning and there's no reason why this synth couldn't be brilliant for a beginner who's prepared to you their brain a little bit :D
@@MoltenMusicTech I just realised that Dreadbox are Greek. ( I am that new into synths!!) Hah. An other reason to support them, they are from my hometown but been a Londoner for 18 years now!
@@MoltenMusicTech and thanks for that detailed answer, yes I'm not ready to splash out so much money for a Prophet or something similar. As you mentioned I love how raw it sounds.
I've found with the reverb if you can hear it then like you say it sticks out and possibly doesn't sound too good, but if you tuck it behind the sound though it seems to add a bit of subtle organic character and can help thicken out a sound. I still run through a stereo reverb but was surprised by how the built in reverb can help when I'm creating patches.
This is a good review, one of the best ones I've seen on this. This is the most inspirational synth I've bought in a long time, partly because it's so basic and tweakable. Vaguely related question - what is that midi controller thing you're using? Looks ace.
@A_ L_ L_ I've actually been doing the same as Robin and just using the in built UI (I actually haven't found it that confusing, especially if you change the slider function to 'catch') and I've got shedloads of midi controllers (well, four different ones) but that modular one looked really neat.
Delightful little polysynth. I've got immediate Juno 6 vibes. Very nice and direct. About the ADSR... I think it would've been helpful, if they'd added the VCA envelope sliders on top of the VCF ADSR sliders. That would've make the whole thing massively more interactive and more "What you see is what you get". Other than that, very nice device. Thank you for the well done review.
Hi and thanks for the video, you're really great at this and kind and peaceful. Can you please explain to a total synth novice how the output of this thing can be mono, or is it a stereo out? Pardon my ignorance here, I'm looking to buy my first synth, and I'm mostly a drummer and a composer, not a real keyboard player. So I also look for something that produces midi information, so that I can put my chords together :) Thanks for every info you could provide me.
You're welcome. The Nymphes has a mono output, that's true. Do you a question about that? Many synths and other instruments have mono outputs. To produce MIDI you're probably looking for a MIDI controller keyboard? There are plenty of those. Pick one that suits your space and playing needs. I hope that helps!
@@MoltenMusicTech thanks for the reply. I already have a midi keyboard, and wanted to use it in the daw with some real anaog sounds, I'm so sick of VSTs.. so the main two questions were 1 how's the midi part going to reflect in the daw(for rhythm and chord editing in post) 2 about the mono output: in terms of mixing I usually spread the synths quite a lot, and having to do it again in the box was something I didn't want to do. But I guess it's all compromises here and there, given also the price point.
I'm not completely sure I undestand what you're asking but let me have a stab. You've got a MIDI keyboard, you use a DAW and you've used VST Instruments right? To use the Nymphes (or any external synth) in place of a VST Instrument you just set the MIDI output on your MIDI track to go to the Nymphes. If you connect via USB then the Nymphes will have its own MIDI port in your DAW. If you connect via a MIDI interface then just select that interface as the MIDI output. The other difference from a VST is that the sound is coming out of the Nymphes, not your computer. So you'll need either a mixer or you can plug it into your audio interface so it comes into your DAW as an audio input. Being mono is brilliant because you can pan it around and place it in the stereo field rather than having everything wash around you in stereo. Far easier to mix with.
Thanks for the review! Can I ask, what was your process for connecting this so the midi keyboard and the midi slide/knob controller were hooked up at the same time? Many thanks
Thanks for your reply - so your controller keyboard is hooked to the synth and the slider controller is to the computer directly and then CC mapped? Cheers
@@MoltenMusicTech well said. that's why I tend a bit more to the love side ;) and the colors are so nice as well. a loved tool is used more often than the rather rational choice. I have the NTS-1 which is really great. And that little boy can even be used as effect pedal for other gear, which the xd can't do, which annoys me a little bit. But sound wise huge fun. so, will see. while overthinking that choice I probably go for the megaFM to knock the ball in a completely different park, hehe … ;)
45 minutes and 50 seconds to 46 minutes 46 seconds [Roughly]: Ridiculously gorgeous! Could you tell me please, what midi controller is that you are using ?
@@MoltenMusicTech Thank you kindly for the speedy reply. They Arturia keys, noted. I was actually referring to the black midi controller that you used to assign to reverb and etc.
Awesome Robin to offering to have women make a review of this.... (Come on ladies! We know you are out there playing synths!) This is a great review - I love the sound of it. That is a little frustrating about not seeing everything because of the shift, but it is a reasonable compromise to keep the price down and also make it nice and compact. Love that juiciness you got around 27:05....
Why are you so fussed about a 6 voice analog synth not having effects at $599? Most synths don't come with built-in effects. They've made a remarkable product especially given the chip shortage from Covid!
599.00 fuck that noise , Jesus I could get a deep Mind 6 for that with a full keyboard , a beringher neutron is 299.00 ,about 150.00 on the second hand market , I thought this would be about 130.00
It's an analog polysynth handmade by a boutique company that'll fit in your handbag. If you want a mass produced synth with a full keyboard then obviously this isn't for you but i think you've got Nymphes confused with some kind of digital synth on a chip. I make these comparisons in the video. Not sure what the Neutron has to do with it? You'd need 6 of those to do the same polyphony so i think you're a bit off the mark here.
The main reason why you won’t see many women doing straight up reviews is that this community is very male dominated and we women on YT are very very cautious when we are in a space like this! Our comments sections become a mess much quicker than those of you guys, because there is a whole lot of prejudice that women don’t get tech, don’t know what they’re doing, etc and often we aren’t taken seriously by default. Case in point: I’m a photographer by profession and had my pictures in shows on 3 different continents. Guess how many random dudes on the street have stopped to explain my own camera to me? Only wrong answers possible. To be honest, I can’t really say, because it happens so often 🤦♀️ The “Can’t use tech unassisted” stereotype is really not the greatest starting point for making tech / tech adjacent content! So, if I make tech content at all it is usually so beyond “average audience” skill that I don’t have to worry about getting challenged by random dudes. And there is also the whole tediousness of keeping all the info straight for reviews, demoing in a coherent manner while being painfully aware that I might have a bunch of anti-woke misogynists nitpicking even the tiniest mistake 😬 Frankly it’s very stressful, so I simply don’t enjoy making such videos. There are so many types of videos I could make that won’t expose me to those kinds of attitudes as much, so why make stuff I don’t enjoy making? Frankly, even thinking of the stress of putting myself on the spot with a simple synth review gives me anxiety right now, which tells you a lot. Nope, I don’t think I can, not even for a synth I really really want, like this one 😅 And by the way, as a guy in a male dominated niche, you probably don’t even know about the whole mess of parasocial relationships on here? It seems particularly crazy with music dudes in my experience. After I made my quite popular guitar modding video I had to close my DMs on instagram because I got a whole bunch of really creepy stalker stuff coming in for a while. I know that synth YT isn’t quite like that, because keys players and synth nerds never quite project as much machismo as the average guitarist, but I have to say that music YT definitely freaked me out a little! Don’t get me wrong, I got a lot of nice and encouraging comments too, but it felt like the creepy : nice ratio was way off 🙄 I primarily make photography videos on here which is also super male dominated, but I practically never get creepy stalker stuff from that community! One reason why I keep making that sort of stuff! I have been thinking of doing some synth DIY videos for a while, but then I don’t really know what to expect? CZcams as a woman can be such a balancing act.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments Lilly. It's a conundrum without a doubt. I wish there were more women synth youtubers so it dilutes the male overload but the reaction of that niche is the very thing that prevents it. No one should have to put themselves through that. I don't know how to improve things. My intention behind the offer was an honest one, and I was a bit worried that it might come across as patronising but I was just frustrated by all the male reviewers and how none of them mentioned Dimitra's feminist intentions behind the synth. I felt that maybe there were women out there who just needed an opportunity or some access or encouragement... or something, i don't know. Encouragingly I have had a response which I hope to follow up. I do know a tiny something of the difficulty women face on here, although only third hand. I mean the worst I get is comments on my shirts or getting anti-woke abuse (it can get nasty and personal) and I can tell you that that stuff hurts, but that's nothing compared to the crap I see thrown about on women's channels. It's nuts and I wish it wasn't so. I try to be aware of my privilege but I hope that my work is as accessible as possible and I'll do my best to help in whatever sense I can. Meanwhile, you're getting great viewing numbers on those DIY videos so you're definitely doing something right! The amount of little "corrective" or confirmational digs you get in comments is fascinating - the mode of speech is very different compared to the comments I get - it's almost like even the nice ones are patting you on the head. Anyway - make videos and sod those guys :D
@@MoltenMusicTech Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply too, Robin, and here I almost forgot to thank you for mentioning the intentions behind the synth! I love that you mentioned that! Don't look at it too harshly that other reviewers didn't mention it, that might just be self-protection after previous bad experiences. I know a lot of people on YT police their usage of the f****** word (including myself) because it attracts alt right bots and that can get very tedious. Poking the hornets nest in different ways can cause a flood of bots to target your channel. One of the photography channels I watch made the curious mistake to announce his Patreon in the week after Patreon banned loads of alt right accounts. He had a bot storm on his whole channel although he had literally nothing to do with any of that. All he did was announce his Patreon because he couldn't work in his day job anymore after serious illness. Messed up. The f word can attract similar unwanted attention. I'm sorry to hear that your comments also get to you! Never really suspected it because I often read through your comments section after watching one of your videos and I'm surprised to see that you leave comments up that I would ban straight away. Some of the CZcamsrs I know are very "all engagement brings me more £, so the joke's on the haters". One guy I know runs a fishing channel and gets nasty comments on his weight on every single video. He doesn't care, it's amazing how zen he is about it! Frankly I don't know how you do it either, I can get really focused on the negative so I would look back at precisely those comments and they'd keep coming up at the top of my "not responded" stack. Only sane way for me to deal with it is to "Ban user from channel" and that's that. I screenshot the worst ones in case they ever become .... uh ... how should I put it ... relevant to the police? You know the kind of comments I mean perhaps. Scary stalker stuff. I never look at them though, because that really messes with me. And leaving them up also encourages more of the same kind of comments. The only comments I don't delete right away are the really creepy ones though. I tend to wait at least a week before deleting those, because people who leave comments like that simply scare me. I just don't reply to them and once I can safely assume that they have forgotten about me, I delete those. I'm sure we all have strategies like that? And yes, indeed those two guitar related DIY videos did really well! I was a bit surprised! In part it's because guitar youtube is so much bigger than synth YT and you are in an even smaller niche with the modular stuff! There is also a total lack of anything but endless solos on guitar channels. I'm sure they found it refreshing to hear some ambient and see a woman do some DIY! And, I'm really glad you picked up on exactly what I meant! I get such weird comments on those videos! There is a distinct "Wow, I didn't know a poodle could shuffle cards like that!" vibe to them 😅 Some of the "positive" comments made me feel worse than the nasty ones, like I'm some sort of sideshow oddity, because I know which part of the soldering iron gets hot! Like wow, a woman who DIYs, it's the amazing bearded lady all over again! Which reminds me, the comments I deleted on that particular video were the ones saying that obviously I must be trans, it's the only way to explain my tech knowledge 🙄 That one was such a twisted mix, I almost took it as a compliment! I wish I was even half as glamorous as all the trans women I know! ✨ By the way, since we're talking anyway, I've found your videos immensely helpful and they are always keeping me company when I'm soldering up a new module! I just put on old build livestreams and I'm not ashamed to say that I often end up talking to my computer screen that you're going to regret putting that big part in first or that the Control board is the one with the controls on it etc. And then I laugh at myself because obviously you can't hear me and you've realised all that years ago anyway 😂 Of course I check your builds when I'm stuck on mine, it's such a great resource to have and very much like having a mate around while soldering. Obviously I don't always leave comments because I have the videos on autoplay while handling a hot soldering iron 😅 Hah, and sorry for the novel, this stuff really gets to me which is why I sometimes take breaks from making videos ... helps to talk about it with someone who gets it!
I sort of had a policy of leaving bad comments up so that other people could witness the ridiculousness of it all.... except then they grind at you and as you say almost give permission for similar comments. I also don't want to censor debate just because I don't agree with it. However, I've recently got into deleting nasty comments and not feeling bad about it and found that incredibly healthy :D Ha, thanks for the compliment, I'm glad my fiddling with electronics is helpful. This current Erica Synths VCO is a real challenge and i'm genuinely struggling to understand some basic functions. Does it make for good telly? Who knows! :D
@@MoltenMusicTech Personally I think we are incredibly generous with our time already considering the pittance that is YT adsense, My channel definitely doesn't pay me enough to put up with abuse on top of all the effort! Never feel bad about sending awful people off into the digital void, your mental health is way more important! As for censoring debate, I see it like this: It's my channel, my rules. Everyone can have their own channel and promote their own views on their own channel, but in my comments section I rule. I don't have to offer up my platform for other people to promote their views, especially if I don't agree with them. They can go and express their views freely on their own channels, nothing is stopping them! I'm not censoring them, I'm just doing the equivalent of telling some lads in the pub to take their disagreement outside. Anything else would basically be like allowing random people to come into my house to use my balcony to shout at other people. Having angry discussions in other people's comments sections is just rude. Not having it! Obviously with some stuff I really couldn't care less though, they can discuss whether cheap knockoff guitars are worth the price forever in my comments section. I do step in when it gets abusive though! And you struggling with the Erica Synth VCO definitely makes for good telly! I'd leave a Michael-Jackson-eating-popcorn meme if I could 😆 Definitely relatable, this modular stuff makes me feel real slow sometimes 😂 Even more so because I'm someone who actually reads manuals 🤣
Smash the patriarchy! Im so tired of this lecture. Oh the virtue signaling makes you such a better person without actually being a better person. Nice shirt by the way.
Hey Robin, loved the review and you got some crazy sounds out of it. Thanks for the mention, yes my software route will definitely not be for everybody, but good to have some options I guess. And I just added polychain capability to it so there are some extra benefits like that
Hey Tim, thanks! It's always good to get alternative takes on these things. The editor is looking great and working it inside VCV Rack is very interesting. I'll write it up for Gearnews once it's out.
It is good that you mentioned the message in the box at the beginning of the video for us potential byers to know. I have seen many reviews. Most people seem to enjoy this thing a lot but in most of the cases do not mention the message which I feel is kind of important.
Nice review as always!
Thanks, that's what I thought too
Really like your reviews. Always entertaining. The synth sounds fabulous
Missed this a while back. I LOVE your intro. I love the focus on women and you not being cynical about that, but instead taking it sincerely. I agree! I also love how you are trying to understand the Dreadbox perspective with the design itself and how you elaborated there. Great stuff!!! Huge fan of Dreadbox.
I don't know how dreadbox does it for a small company. Considering they are a small company they have pretty reasonable prices, the Eurorack modules that they have for sale are feature packed and pretty inexpensive.
They’re not into fleecing punters for ‘niche’ products. Very good business model imho, making a great name for themselves.
Nymphes is definitely on my short list.
Would be cool to see someone like Sarah Belle Reid take a look at it, with her more experimental arrangements angle!
great sentiment mate.. thanks for all you do for the community
Cheers for that :D
You have such a beautiful way Robin. This is another classic review - thank you 👊🏼❤️
Fabulous, as always! Thanks so much for this, Robin - a wonderfully honest and frank review - warts and all.
It is the antityphon. Tim Shoebridge has made a software editor for this in Voltage Modular, solving the shift dilemma.
I just got the Typhon and I’m planning to get Nymphes too 💁♂️😃
thank you Robin, I believe this was the best review of this synthesizer, the way you described everything was very clear and very logical, thank you 😊🙏✌
great demo/shirt/beard
wins all round
I am amazed when I saw some one making a compact analog poly synth, I only wish if it can as handy as a JP08, direct access most of the parameter on surface.
It turn out more like a vst but full analog in a box, but the Dreadbox Nymphes is still on my radar. Maybe some days twisted electrons will fill the gap.
I like so much your passion about gear .... that s great !!!
As a woman in my early 40s and wanting to get back into music that selling point may be a catch for me. Only joking. 😂 But it is lovely to see people expressing their views even if it used for marketing.
Serious question now do you think not being able to see the patches for a beginner like me will be too annoying? I have a feeling it will annoy me a lot if I want to repeat the same patches.
Thanks for the nice extended review.
I think it's not uncommon to have a hardware interface that doesn't represent the patch. As soon as you have presets in a machine then any analogue knobs will not be in the right places when you move to a new one. Unless you have one knob per parameter, which gets expensive, then it's always going to have a certain amount of mystery. It just takes a bit of learning and there's no reason why this synth couldn't be brilliant for a beginner who's prepared to you their brain a little bit :D
@@MoltenMusicTech I just realised that Dreadbox are Greek. ( I am that new into synths!!) Hah. An other reason to support them, they are from my hometown but been a Londoner for 18 years now!
@@MoltenMusicTech and thanks for that detailed answer, yes I'm not ready to splash out so much money for a Prophet or something similar. As you mentioned I love how raw it sounds.
I've found with the reverb if you can hear it then like you say it sticks out and possibly doesn't sound too good, but if you tuck it behind the sound though it seems to add a bit of subtle organic character and can help thicken out a sound. I still run through a stereo reverb but was surprised by how the built in reverb can help when I'm creating patches.
Hmmm, good tip
Hey I’d love to try and review this synth. Thanks for your great review. Best
thanks for the review! cool shirt btw
This is a good review, one of the best ones I've seen on this. This is the most inspirational synth I've bought in a long time, partly because it's so basic and tweakable.
Vaguely related question - what is that midi controller thing you're using? Looks ace.
Midilar NO midilar-controller.webnode.sk/
@@MoltenMusicTech thanks!
@A_ L_ L_ I've actually been doing the same as Robin and just using the in built UI (I actually haven't found it that confusing, especially if you change the slider function to 'catch') and I've got shedloads of midi controllers (well, four different ones) but that modular one looked really neat.
Delightful little polysynth. I've got immediate Juno 6 vibes. Very nice and direct. About the ADSR... I think it would've been helpful, if they'd added the VCA envelope sliders on top of the VCF ADSR sliders. That would've make the whole thing massively more interactive and more "What you see is what you get". Other than that, very nice device.
Thank you for the well done review.
Now with MPE support, if you layer two of them you’d be approaching CS-80/Deckard’s Dream territory, right?
Hi and thanks for the video, you're really great at this and kind and peaceful. Can you please explain to a total synth novice how the output of this thing can be mono, or is it a stereo out?
Pardon my ignorance here, I'm looking to buy my first synth, and I'm mostly a drummer and a composer, not a real keyboard player. So I also look for something that produces midi information, so that I can put my chords together :)
Thanks for every info you could provide me.
You're welcome. The Nymphes has a mono output, that's true. Do you a question about that? Many synths and other instruments have mono outputs. To produce MIDI you're probably looking for a MIDI controller keyboard? There are plenty of those. Pick one that suits your space and playing needs. I hope that helps!
@@MoltenMusicTech thanks for the reply. I already have a midi keyboard, and wanted to use it in the daw with some real anaog sounds, I'm so sick of VSTs.. so the main two questions were 1 how's the midi part going to reflect in the daw(for rhythm and chord editing in post) 2 about the mono output: in terms of mixing I usually spread the synths quite a lot, and having to do it again in the box was something I didn't want to do. But I guess it's all compromises here and there, given also the price point.
I'm not completely sure I undestand what you're asking but let me have a stab. You've got a MIDI keyboard, you use a DAW and you've used VST Instruments right? To use the Nymphes (or any external synth) in place of a VST Instrument you just set the MIDI output on your MIDI track to go to the Nymphes. If you connect via USB then the Nymphes will have its own MIDI port in your DAW. If you connect via a MIDI interface then just select that interface as the MIDI output.
The other difference from a VST is that the sound is coming out of the Nymphes, not your computer. So you'll need either a mixer or you can plug it into your audio interface so it comes into your DAW as an audio input. Being mono is brilliant because you can pan it around and place it in the stereo field rather than having everything wash around you in stereo. Far easier to mix with.
thanks a lot for this amazing video
Unbelievable that this is analogue. Sounds like so much more.
Thanks for the review! Can I ask, what was your process for connecting this so the midi keyboard and the midi slide/knob controller were hooked up at the same time? Many thanks
Computer via USB
Thanks for your reply - so your controller keyboard is hooked to the synth and the slider controller is to the computer directly and then CC mapped? Cheers
Yes, that's it
Thanks!
I am so torn between getting the nymphes or the minilogue xd module. head says xd heart says nymphes … ;)
Ooo, very different choices. I think you'd probably get more done with the Minilogue, but you'd fall more in love with the Nymphes.
@@MoltenMusicTech well said. that's why I tend a bit more to the love side ;) and the colors are so nice as well. a loved tool is used more often than the rather rational choice. I have the NTS-1 which is really great. And that little boy can even be used as effect pedal for other gear, which the xd can't do, which annoys me a little bit. But sound wise huge fun. so, will see. while overthinking that choice I probably go for the megaFM to knock the ball in a completely different park, hehe … ;)
45 minutes and 50 seconds to 46 minutes 46 seconds [Roughly]: Ridiculously gorgeous! Could you tell me please, what midi controller is that you are using ?
Thanks, it's an Arturia Keystep 37
@@MoltenMusicTech
Thank you kindly for the speedy reply. They Arturia keys, noted. I was actually referring to the black midi controller that you used to assign to reverb and etc.
Oh, it’s from Midilar
@@MoltenMusicTech VERY slick looking! Any recall about the cost on that one? Thanks and great work!
Interesting desktop synth.
I'd love to hear what #BadSnacks would do with it.
Based Robin is based 💙
This or a slim phatty?
Awesome Robin to offering to have women make a review of this.... (Come on ladies! We know you are out there playing synths!)
This is a great review - I love the sound of it. That is a little frustrating about not seeing everything because of the shift, but it is a reasonable compromise to keep the price down and also make it nice and compact. Love that juiciness you got around 27:05....
go the arp on a poly module
Why are you so fussed about a 6 voice analog synth not having effects at $599? Most synths don't come with built-in effects. They've made a remarkable product especially given the chip shortage from Covid!
I think I describe exactly why I’m not fussed. And I can’t name a modern polysynth that doesn’t.
599.00 fuck that noise , Jesus I could get a deep Mind 6 for that with a full keyboard , a beringher neutron is 299.00 ,about 150.00 on the second hand market , I thought this would be about 130.00
It's an analog polysynth handmade by a boutique company that'll fit in your handbag. If you want a mass produced synth with a full keyboard then obviously this isn't for you but i think you've got Nymphes confused with some kind of digital synth on a chip. I make these comparisons in the video. Not sure what the Neutron has to do with it? You'd need 6 of those to do the same polyphony so i think you're a bit off the mark here.
The main reason why you won’t see many women doing straight up reviews is that this community is very male dominated and we women on YT are very very cautious when we are in a space like this! Our comments sections become a mess much quicker than those of you guys, because there is a whole lot of prejudice that women don’t get tech, don’t know what they’re doing, etc and often we aren’t taken seriously by default. Case in point: I’m a photographer by profession and had my pictures in shows on 3 different continents. Guess how many random dudes on the street have stopped to explain my own camera to me? Only wrong answers possible. To be honest, I can’t really say, because it happens so often 🤦♀️ The “Can’t use tech unassisted” stereotype is really not the greatest starting point for making tech / tech adjacent content! So, if I make tech content at all it is usually so beyond “average audience” skill that I don’t have to worry about getting challenged by random dudes.
And there is also the whole tediousness of keeping all the info straight for reviews, demoing in a coherent manner while being painfully aware that I might have a bunch of anti-woke misogynists nitpicking even the tiniest mistake 😬 Frankly it’s very stressful, so I simply don’t enjoy making such videos. There are so many types of videos I could make that won’t expose me to those kinds of attitudes as much, so why make stuff I don’t enjoy making? Frankly, even thinking of the stress of putting myself on the spot with a simple synth review gives me anxiety right now, which tells you a lot. Nope, I don’t think I can, not even for a synth I really really want, like this one 😅
And by the way, as a guy in a male dominated niche, you probably don’t even know about the whole mess of parasocial relationships on here? It seems particularly crazy with music dudes in my experience. After I made my quite popular guitar modding video I had to close my DMs on instagram because I got a whole bunch of really creepy stalker stuff coming in for a while. I know that synth YT isn’t quite like that, because keys players and synth nerds never quite project as much machismo as the average guitarist, but I have to say that music YT definitely freaked me out a little! Don’t get me wrong, I got a lot of nice and encouraging comments too, but it felt like the creepy : nice ratio was way off 🙄 I primarily make photography videos on here which is also super male dominated, but I practically never get creepy stalker stuff from that community! One reason why I keep making that sort of stuff! I have been thinking of doing some synth DIY videos for a while, but then I don’t really know what to expect? CZcams as a woman can be such a balancing act.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments Lilly. It's a conundrum without a doubt. I wish there were more women synth youtubers so it dilutes the male overload but the reaction of that niche is the very thing that prevents it. No one should have to put themselves through that. I don't know how to improve things. My intention behind the offer was an honest one, and I was a bit worried that it might come across as patronising but I was just frustrated by all the male reviewers and how none of them mentioned Dimitra's feminist intentions behind the synth. I felt that maybe there were women out there who just needed an opportunity or some access or encouragement... or something, i don't know. Encouragingly I have had a response which I hope to follow up.
I do know a tiny something of the difficulty women face on here, although only third hand. I mean the worst I get is comments on my shirts or getting anti-woke abuse (it can get nasty and personal) and I can tell you that that stuff hurts, but that's nothing compared to the crap I see thrown about on women's channels. It's nuts and I wish it wasn't so. I try to be aware of my privilege but I hope that my work is as accessible as possible and I'll do my best to help in whatever sense I can.
Meanwhile, you're getting great viewing numbers on those DIY videos so you're definitely doing something right! The amount of little "corrective" or confirmational digs you get in comments is fascinating - the mode of speech is very different compared to the comments I get - it's almost like even the nice ones are patting you on the head. Anyway - make videos and sod those guys :D
@@MoltenMusicTech Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply too, Robin, and here I almost forgot to thank you for mentioning the intentions behind the synth! I love that you mentioned that! Don't look at it too harshly that other reviewers didn't mention it, that might just be self-protection after previous bad experiences. I know a lot of people on YT police their usage of the f****** word (including myself) because it attracts alt right bots and that can get very tedious. Poking the hornets nest in different ways can cause a flood of bots to target your channel. One of the photography channels I watch made the curious mistake to announce his Patreon in the week after Patreon banned loads of alt right accounts. He had a bot storm on his whole channel although he had literally nothing to do with any of that. All he did was announce his Patreon because he couldn't work in his day job anymore after serious illness. Messed up. The f word can attract similar unwanted attention.
I'm sorry to hear that your comments also get to you! Never really suspected it because I often read through your comments section after watching one of your videos and I'm surprised to see that you leave comments up that I would ban straight away. Some of the CZcamsrs I know are very "all engagement brings me more £, so the joke's on the haters". One guy I know runs a fishing channel and gets nasty comments on his weight on every single video. He doesn't care, it's amazing how zen he is about it! Frankly I don't know how you do it either, I can get really focused on the negative so I would look back at precisely those comments and they'd keep coming up at the top of my "not responded" stack. Only sane way for me to deal with it is to "Ban user from channel" and that's that. I screenshot the worst ones in case they ever become .... uh ... how should I put it ... relevant to the police? You know the kind of comments I mean perhaps. Scary stalker stuff. I never look at them though, because that really messes with me. And leaving them up also encourages more of the same kind of comments. The only comments I don't delete right away are the really creepy ones though. I tend to wait at least a week before deleting those, because people who leave comments like that simply scare me. I just don't reply to them and once I can safely assume that they have forgotten about me, I delete those. I'm sure we all have strategies like that?
And yes, indeed those two guitar related DIY videos did really well! I was a bit surprised! In part it's because guitar youtube is so much bigger than synth YT and you are in an even smaller niche with the modular stuff! There is also a total lack of anything but endless solos on guitar channels. I'm sure they found it refreshing to hear some ambient and see a woman do some DIY! And, I'm really glad you picked up on exactly what I meant! I get such weird comments on those videos! There is a distinct "Wow, I didn't know a poodle could shuffle cards like that!" vibe to them 😅 Some of the "positive" comments made me feel worse than the nasty ones, like I'm some sort of sideshow oddity, because I know which part of the soldering iron gets hot! Like wow, a woman who DIYs, it's the amazing bearded lady all over again! Which reminds me, the comments I deleted on that particular video were the ones saying that obviously I must be trans, it's the only way to explain my tech knowledge 🙄 That one was such a twisted mix, I almost took it as a compliment! I wish I was even half as glamorous as all the trans women I know! ✨
By the way, since we're talking anyway, I've found your videos immensely helpful and they are always keeping me company when I'm soldering up a new module! I just put on old build livestreams and I'm not ashamed to say that I often end up talking to my computer screen that you're going to regret putting that big part in first or that the Control board is the one with the controls on it etc. And then I laugh at myself because obviously you can't hear me and you've realised all that years ago anyway 😂 Of course I check your builds when I'm stuck on mine, it's such a great resource to have and very much like having a mate around while soldering. Obviously I don't always leave comments because I have the videos on autoplay while handling a hot soldering iron 😅
Hah, and sorry for the novel, this stuff really gets to me which is why I sometimes take breaks from making videos ... helps to talk about it with someone who gets it!
I sort of had a policy of leaving bad comments up so that other people could witness the ridiculousness of it all.... except then they grind at you and as you say almost give permission for similar comments. I also don't want to censor debate just because I don't agree with it. However, I've recently got into deleting nasty comments and not feeling bad about it and found that incredibly healthy :D
Ha, thanks for the compliment, I'm glad my fiddling with electronics is helpful. This current Erica Synths VCO is a real challenge and i'm genuinely struggling to understand some basic functions. Does it make for good telly? Who knows! :D
@@MoltenMusicTech Personally I think we are incredibly generous with our time already considering the pittance that is YT adsense, My channel definitely doesn't pay me enough to put up with abuse on top of all the effort! Never feel bad about sending awful people off into the digital void, your mental health is way more important! As for censoring debate, I see it like this: It's my channel, my rules. Everyone can have their own channel and promote their own views on their own channel, but in my comments section I rule. I don't have to offer up my platform for other people to promote their views, especially if I don't agree with them. They can go and express their views freely on their own channels, nothing is stopping them! I'm not censoring them, I'm just doing the equivalent of telling some lads in the pub to take their disagreement outside. Anything else would basically be like allowing random people to come into my house to use my balcony to shout at other people. Having angry discussions in other people's comments sections is just rude. Not having it! Obviously with some stuff I really couldn't care less though, they can discuss whether cheap knockoff guitars are worth the price forever in my comments section. I do step in when it gets abusive though!
And you struggling with the Erica Synth VCO definitely makes for good telly! I'd leave a Michael-Jackson-eating-popcorn meme if I could 😆 Definitely relatable, this modular stuff makes me feel real slow sometimes 😂 Even more so because I'm someone who actually reads manuals 🤣
Smash the patriarchy! Im so tired of this lecture. Oh the virtue signaling makes you such a better person without actually being a better person. Nice shirt by the way.
I’d recommend reaching out to Jade Wii or Avrilcadabra on CZcams in regards to getting a different perspective on this synth.
Yeah cool - i've had some enquiries so i hope to be sending it out soon