Find out what your synths are really capable of in Novation’s Hack Series

Synths are, first and foremost, instruments that are designed for making music both in the studio and on stage. However, they’re also electronic playgrounds that are there to be explored, even if you’re not putting a track together or performing to a crowd.

Novation is celebrating the more experimental and esoteric side of the synth world in its new Hack Series of videos. This celebrates the idea that you can have fun with your synths even if you don’t have an end goal; just set out on a voyage of discovery and see where it takes you.

This is about as far away from ‘picking a preset and playing’ as you can get. The Hack Series is for synth fans who want to explore the deeper workings of their instruments - particularly Novation’s Peak and Circuit Mono Station - and learn sound design techniques that will enable them to create strange noises, otherworldly effects and disturbing soundscapes.

Sessions like these can be a great release when you’re struggling to get a track going, or just don’t want the pressure that comes with sitting down in front of an empty DAW page and forcing yourself to come up with a song. What’s more, by stepping away from your usual workflow and simply tinkering with your synths, you may find that a spark of inspiration does come.

Of course, there’s also a chance that you’ll end up with nothing more than a dissonant squawk, but if you’ve enjoyed yourself, who cares?

If you want to get under the hood of your synths and find out how they can be used both in isolation and with each other, head on over to the Novation YouTube channel and watch the series so far.