Stefan Paul Goetsch, the German experimental composer, artist and YouTube creator known professionally as Hainbach, has built a distinctive career out of turning unusual machines into music. He is best known for composing with lab equipment, scientific devices and other unlikely sound sources — an approach he has compared to the “Dark Souls of synthesis.” Even with production methods that amount to creative “hard mode,” often involving telephone line testers and equipment recovered from nuclear research sites, Hainbach remains remarkably productive. In 2025 alone, he released six albums, along with several singles and EPs. His latest project, Gentle Hum, pairs him with Ah! Kosmos, the Turkish composer Başak Günak, for a somber and textural record filled with unusual percussion, analog synth drones, treated vocals and the bubbling character of test equipment.
For many artists, an award-winning composing career and a steady stream of collaborations would be more than enough. Hainbach, however, has also cultivated a sizable following on YouTube, where he breaks down experimental techniques, showcases obscure vintage hardware and digs into contemporary curiosities such as the Bastl Kalimba. He has also worked with software makers including AudioThing to translate elements of his esoteric studio practice into plug-ins for modern DAWs. That includes tools such as the widely admired Wires plug-in.
With so many creative threads running at once, we asked Hainbach which work stands out to him most — and what essential piece of gear helps anchor his formidable studio setup.
What piece of gear could you not do without?
A Nagra reel-to-reel tape machine. I rely on them for live performances, studio work, music production and sound design. They are engineering marvels — top-tier technology in their era — and they still sound extraordinary many decades later.
What is the first app you add to a new phone or computer?
Gauss Field Recorder. It’s an app I developed with Bram Bos to address a problem I kept running into: I would capture lots of field recordings on my phone, assuming I would eventually use them, but they mostly became a massive archive of unnamed, unorganized voice memos. With Gauss, I can turn a recording into music right away, then save and share the session.
How many browser tabs are open for you at the moment?
Since it’s morning, only my two Gmail accounts and this questionnaire. Later in the day, that might turn into 20-plus, especially if I do research.
Which social media platform do you use the most (if any)?
It is pretty evenly split, as I post to all. But mostly it’s work, I am not there for recreation.
What is your happy place online?
My Patreon. I love the community and the security it brought me. I could not have embarked on my oddball musical journey without it.
What is your favorite gadget you’ve ever owned?
Definitely the Swiss Army Knife. Both as a kid and as a dad now, it has come in so useful. Even on stage, I use it to fix my Swiss Nagras, as they work perfectly together. I have forgotten that I had them on me on flights, though, so I had to mail them to me from airports across the world. That is why I sadly don’t carry them on me anymore, for fear of losing them.
Which was the most disappointing?
Anything that tried to replace the Swiss Army Knife. Like those stupid credit card-sized tools.
What game do you have the fondest memories of?
Playing Breath of the Wild for my kids during the pandemic. They were riveted, and we suffered and felt joy throughout the game. When it was finished, they burst into tears, and I had to promise that we would replay it. Which we did, this time getting the full ending. After that, my oldest played it, and she did 100 percent shrine completion on master mode. In the end, she was doing stuff like changing weapons in between strikes to damage max, which was wild to me.
Which tech trend do you wish would go away?
AI music and sound generators. Slop machines for technocrats that never felt the joy of getting good at something.
What creation are you most proud of?
My series of Destruction Loops. An installation music piece that destroys itself over time, which I used to exorcise online hate comments, regrets of viewers and listeners, and far-right speech.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Stand still. My wife was watching one of my early live shows as Hainbach, and I still had all the movements in me that I learned from playing years upon years in rock and electronic bands. Those movements did not correlate with my music at all, it was just a habit. Now I curate every movement, there is not one unconscious thing I do on stage.
What is your current obsession?
Passive Bandpass Filters. I am just about to drive to East Germany to get a set that used to belong to Deutsche Reichsbahn, the GDR train service. These filters often sound wonderful, and I have quite the collection now. I just turned one of them into a plug-in with Irish company AudioThing.
What do you do when you need to focus?
Not much, just a bit of time. I can zone in fast, something I taught myself during the little time I had when I was doing my mandatory government service, and still felt the absolute need to create music in the short breaks I got.
What do you do when you’re feeling stuck?
I go for a walk to reset. Back in the studio, I challenge my assumptions on what it is I am working on. Oftentimes, the culprit is the part that I build a track around, nurturing it by giving it all these supporting structures. But then everything is playing together, and it’s just not happening, not evoking a feeling, world, or story. Maybe that part has served its usefulness, and it can retire to the background, or just disappear. It was maybe just the muse, not the thing itself.
If killing darlings was a crime, I would serve multiple life sentences.
When was the last time you went somewhere without your phone?
The spa area in a hotel in Karlsbad over the Easter Holiday.
What’s the last piece of physical media you bought?
Daniela Mars Heartweaving on vinyl on Bandcamp, from the artist herself. Astonishingly minimal and beautiful music.
What do you think is worth splurging on?
A decent bed, with a good mattress and pillow. Important for long-term health, especially as a touring musician.
What would the tagline for your biopic be?
In Germany, we like to add totally over-the-top taglines to the title, even to American movies. Top Gun – Sie Fürchten Weder Tod Noch Teufel (“They Fear Neither Death nor the Devil”). So maybe: Hainbach – Cold War Confidential. I use Soviet army wire recorders and American nuclear and military research equipment to make music, so there is some truth to that at least.
What’s the last GIF or meme you used?
I don’t think I ever used a meme, though I have seen memes of myself. And now it’s eight tabs by the way, and you should totally buy my new album with Ah! Kosmos that is playing in one of them.
