Creativity needs to be DRM-free
While I much prefer to play guitar and bass in my music, I do love me some soft synths. They afford you a ton of options on the cheap. Sure, they aren't as "warm" or whatever, but there's ways to work around that.
Sadly though, software can be a pain in the ass. This gets exacerbated when you're in the middle of the creative process. Yelling at some login prompt can definitely ruin the vibe, especially when you're not trying to put together something angsty.
This dilemma can arise from any piece of software you use in the studio, but this particular rant is directed at Roland Cloud.
I've been using Roland Cloud for years. I'm committed to annual billing, and I even have access to a ton of "forever" instruments thanks to their loyalty program.
That said, it never fails that I'm sitting down with the muse in my head, and I get slapped with distorted audio due to an authentication error. The worst part is that the damned prompt never takes my password.
I'll save my work and close my DAW. I'll try again, and fail. I'll do it again, and log into their software manager. Often, there's some update waiting for me. Unsure if it's the blocker, but I do that. Sometimes none of that fixes anything, and I have to check Reddit.
During this exchange, the creativity fizzles and fades.
Sometimes I'll be smart and tap something out with a less DRM-laden synth, just to get things out of my head.
This doesn't necessarily work when you're sitting down with a very specific task at hand, like mixing. Sure, I should probably be bouncing stems and mixing from there. Guess what, I don't usually work like that. "Fuck it, ship it", remember?
So yeah, I know there are solutions here, like buying the physical hardware, and ditching the software when possible. It's plausible, but not ideal, so instead I'm just going to vent here on my blog before getting back to the music.