You have to build every single sound from the ground up. It'sfour mono synths, so no more than 4 sounds can play at once. To create a song that has all of the complexities of what you'dnhear in a typical song you have to get really creative in your sound synthesis and structure. You have to exploit the limitations of this crappy little micro processor that ultimately was never meant to be used that way.
When I lived in Duluth we used to host these weekly events called “Experimental Tuesdays.” I performed for it quite often. My friend Alan (Sparhawk, of the local band Low) came up to me one night while I was setting up. He told me I had too much gear. I laughed and said that's impossible. And he gave me the some of the most important words of wisdom. “Simplify, the more you have the more there is to go wrong.” I took that to heart. Specially after that performance, one of my circuit bent Speak&Reads literally smoked on stage. Thanks Alan, lesson learned! :)
I have learned A LOT from using such a limited piece of hardware (Game Boy) and apply this similar mind sent to the way I produce music now. Setting
limitations for myself and really try to focus on a simple setup and really force myself to push that system/instrument to it's maximum potential. Exploit it's weaknesses and use them to my advantage. So when I built these dedicated systems of say... The Harvestman Polivoks Iron Curtain system, or my Verbos Electronics System. I like the idea of sitting down in front of this relatively smaller/simple system and using just that. Maybe a few extra external FX, but just try to see what I can do with it. I view these systems as a dedicated
instrument. One that I have to learn and master. By learning the system, each modules potential, what they can and cannot do, it forces me to get really
creative with sound design. This keeps the creative part of my brain well
exercised. Instead of focusing on the non-important battle of... “What this system lacks is X & Y modules” also known as Euro-crack. Consumption. (worst words to ever come out of a manufacturers mouth right!? It's not about what you don't have, but rather how you use what you do have. Right?
Interface is everything when it comes to a synthesizer or drum machine for me. I have different experiences with different synthesizers based on two things.. how they sound and how they're laid out physically.
Every time I sit down on an Arp 2600, two things happen, I hear all the classic sounds I've heard on records/films since the 70's. But the interface also gets me inspired to create. I tell people this all the time... When I sit down to test a TTSH (Arp2600 clone) for a customer, I tend to spend a couple hours just
jamming on it every time because it's just so much fun to play.