Battling GAS or legit hit a dead-end?

The Lounge General Discussion
#61

I think with making tunes it’s just about reducing the expectation on yourself. Back when I would do “electro bangers” far from my current alias there was a challenge with structure, having the epic break, etc… but I think the evolution to more “free/less structural/vibe-based” music like vaporware and lo-fi beats is a nice relief. No pressure really to have a complete song per se… just a good vibe. So no reason you can’t do an EDM “beat tape” — would be great!

Ableton had it right with the clip launcher I feel, really de-coupled music from the linear beginning and end that you saw in DAWs previously which I feel like were more for audio engineers than creators. So I guess my advice would be… just find a vibe, no pressure! Make one loop your are happy with, that’s a great success! Then search for more small music moments. :sparkling_heart:

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#62

Make sounds, hit record, repeat.
Keep things simple and listen to your feelings more than your mind.

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#63

I don’t really think either of those are comparable to Ableton as far as flexibility and depth of features goes. Besides, Ableton has Plus? Best of both worlds, as you don’t need a dedicated hardware box but can get a physical interface.

Seriously, I think you’re underestimating how fucking hard it is to make a slick, usable hardware UI for a complex machine. I mean look at the OT, it’s a glorious mess and it’s nowhere near as deep as a DAW.

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#64

Dude chill…

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#65

Do I sound agitated, lol?

#66

Well, for sure the first draft wouldn’t hit the mark. It would go through iterations to iron out the details. I’m just saying it’s not impossible nor prohibitively costly, necessarily.

The thing it would in theory give up is any kind of gimmick, like real analog or an insane amount of FX or timestretch.

Well, my pet variation has sliders in addition to the param knobs, because I like sliders. :slight_smile:

AND a QPER knob.

The pads used in place of buttons would be stolen from an Akai factory, somehow…

#67

Ah, dude I’m talking about a standalone Ableton in that post. A new flagship box with the features you mentioned would be just what Elektron is (was?) good at, but they decided to split the features into 3 boxes. Might be a smart move in the end, who knows.

#68

Oh, getting late here… actually really late… eeeghh

I think I hallucinated a mention…

#69

Proper sleep is more important than any gear.

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#70

I gotta go trade my GAS for some … ZZZAS

Great discussion so far

#71
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#72

For me, 2 boxes minimum needed to make anything. I’m knee deep in trance and evolving melodic territory, even when attempting techno. Big pads, leads, basslines, just adds up quickly, so i usually have 2+ grooveboxes synced up and create on both simultaneously. I’ve never really been in a performance situation though, i have severe stage fright, and my other akilles heel is completing tracks :joy:

But i can also get far with a mono analog and a DT, i just always end up craving to add something polyphonic and multitimbral

Edit: Have to say i’m hearing awesome things made with just one box, mindblowing music that “shouldn’t be possible”, especially on a 4 voice 4 track analog, but yeah, it’s me who has to change, it IS possible for me too to make cool music on just one box, i just have to learn to get into it and embrace the limitations, see the possibilities

#73

Harking back to that original post, this pops up regularly here so first things first - you’re not alone in going through these sort of vibes and, having lived it myself a few times, it can be mighty demoralising and frustrating. Over the past decade or so I have spend a crazy amount chasing the dream that this box is the magic piece of the puzzle. Thankfully the second hand market has usually bailed me out and I’m probably just quids in overall!

I don’t have a solution, we’re all different, but for me it really did help when I got rid of everything but my ITB stuff. I dropped music for a few months. Went off and did other stuff (and Elden Ring…) and now I’m back and feeling better. Picked up an AK on teh cheap and thought I’d jump on the Syntakt band wagon and ride that for a bit. Will see how it pans out but really, at the end of the day, what’s the worst that could. Happen?

As much as I like spending time here, I do think the forum is part of my problem. And other sites too that are constantly bombarding you with the next big shiny. These things either take your time away from practicing/honing your skills or, at the very least, take your mind and focus away which does dull creativity. I’ve pretty much cut off all my music site reading bar Elektronauts and that’s helped. Def need to get rid of EBay as it’s a nasty habit searching for gear that I don’t need but get tempted by just cause it’s cheap!

Any how, good luck with sussing it out. Fingers crossed you find the magic again in the boxes you already have as they’re great machines and capable of so much.

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#74

As I see it, the problems you have are all in your mind. Don’t look for solutions outside of that for the moment.

You seem to be overthinking things and seeking perfection without having the patience to ride out the frustration. If that makes sense. Slow down. If your mind is racing, find ways to slow it. There are many ways to do that - exercise is one way, meditation another. Find what works for you.

It takes time to learn a skill, but you will get there. How fast you do get there depends on how kind you are to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up over anything but be affirmative and supportive to yourself. Improvement and creativity requires a positive, inspired mind. That’s what you have to work on. IMO.

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#75

Wow, this topic has triggered a lot of contributions in no time!

I just wanted to share two quick observations:

(1) I just watched an exchange with Jean-Michel Jarre on the Erica Synths website (see below). One of the key points I noted: With a new piece of gear you need to spend at least 6 months only with it to explore ways to express yourself. In his view, the core of making music is expressing oneself; the meaning of music comes from the musician, not from the instrument.

(2) I did not really understand your problem with editing sounds on the A4. When you load a sound from the +Drive and save it within a kit, it becomes disconnected from its original +Drive sound, can be edited in any way you like, and be saved with its kit and/or individually.

The video I mentioned above (Edit: watch from 9:45 - “instead of having fear of missing something, try to just breathe… what is unique is yourself, not the machine”):

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#76

I really like this reflection. It gets to the core of why you’re into music in the first place. Are you hoping to “break” as an artist? Or are you just enjoying yourself and treating the journey itself as the adventure, without a clear goal in mind? Sometimes it can be hard to answer this truthfully, because what you feel isn’t always the same thing as what you think. Music can be many different thing to many different people. Most of us were taught from how we consumed music in our youth that music needs to be some sort of finished product with clear start and end points and a certain structure. I guess at least since the 1700s, music was composed this way. But the reality is that music can be anything really: a drum solo break as part of a live performance intermission, a spontaneous a cappella with a crowd, whistling something while you’re emptying the dishwasher, a loop of electronic music that evolves over time in a groovebox - it’s all music in the end.

To me, while I do love the sense of fulfillment and completion after finishing a complete song down to the mixing phase - and I love doing that on the MPC in particular, because it allows me to do it outside of the DAW for the longest time possible - to be perfectly honest, the parts that I enjoy the most about music are those in-the-moment jams when I don’t have a particular goal in mind. I definitely had the most fun doing that on my Elektron boxes, they’re basically made for exactly that purpose I feel. Sure, you can attempt to finish songs on Elektron boxes too, but that will either involve some serious live jamming skills, or they will force you to embrace a hybrid workflow. But in my opinion, where Elektron really shines is in that creative, in-the-moment phase where you just feel great making music.

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#77

You’ve placed way too much emphasis on where you want to be.

It’s the journey. You have to enjoy the journey and take the pressure off yourself.

I’m not sure if you are trying to recreate every element live and that’s an issue for you…

Perhaps within a set - you can have a number of tracks that are stem based in ableton or OT - where you’ve just enjoyed creating the music without thinking too much of it in a live context… and then a few where it’s more live performance slotted in between.

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#78

This is so true. 100%

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#79

Pretty much no one will make it as a musician. This means you and me and most if not everyone on this thread, possibly this board. Excluding whoever has possibly made it already (not many I suspect). If this truth depresses you and makes you lose motivation, maybe rethink if you really want to risk trying to be a professional musician. Cos you know, most people fail, some less and some more miserably.

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#80

What about the Akai Force?