Doing the most with the least

The Lounge General Discussion
#62

Some of the most influential music that is either directly electronic or featured an electronic device at the core of the composition (hip hop classics) were done with very minimal gear. I think it is because distribution of talent received upon birth is not correlated with distribution of wealth, and the most creative individuals find a way to work with what they have.

When you have the resources to use a lot, remember you only have one brain and body for managing all the functionality. You can only master 1-2 things in life. Elaine Radigue on the ARP 2500/Tape is the example that sticks out a lot for me - an interesting instrument for sure, but she completely turned the idea of musical structure and composition on its head. Her newer orchestral works are interesting in that you can hear her artistic voice and vision despite the change in sound source.

Madlib moving from the sp-303 to an Ipad and making hits nonetheless tells the same story imo. This interview is a great look at artistic confidence and not needing much to tell stories.

A lot of people in here have an abundance of resources in the grand scheme of things. If you can afford and elektron box or similar you are doing alright IMO. And even if you have a laptop or smartphone, there are a glut of music making apps for free or nearly free that extend far beyond what has been available through history. We are spoiled for choice even with little material resources beyond what is typical in more developed countries, and expanding into hardware sound machines multiplies the options drastically. “First world problems”, for sure, but the human brain is not good at picking between similar alternatives.

So the decision to limit your tools will be artificially imposed, and that comes with the natural question of whether YOU have the abilities to make a single/small set of tool(s)/device(s), make art that expresses a unique aspect of the human experience.

I’ve struggled/thought about this a lot, but I think any human could realistically share something unique given enough time reaching technical proficiency of an instrument. I find the most common point in which I move on is at the point in which I understand the instrument. Then it’s clear that I didn’t purchase the instrument because I needed it to make art, but because I wanted to try it and learn it, making art the by-product, nothing more than content.

So for me at least, the next path is to find my voice in what I have, with extreme limitations. A lot of discourse here and on lines has helped a lot. And listening to music that focuses on some simple core ideas and world-building. But I think this is the same problem plaguing most artists in any domain, given the ultra capitalized, content-driven landscape. It’s really hard to find your own voice with so many others yelling at you that you need this or that to do this or that, but clearly worth it if you can block the noise.

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#63

Oh, definitely. But it’s also part of the fun imo. P-locking drum sounds to individual steps can stretch what can be done for rhythms on a single track. And having voices stolen (you can set which ones absolutely must never be stolen) creates a cohesive whole with plenty of happy accidents and track interaction. Only one way to find out if it’s for you, tho :slight_smile:

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#64

Ha ha, yes, there’s no way around the DN, I know eventually I’ll end up getting one.

First I’m going to give a try to the new box by Twisted Electrons. Blast Beats. Theoretically it ticks all the boxes. The big advantage over the DN are the knob-per-function aspect and the individual outs. From the demos it sounds quite glitchy, and I’m afraid it might lack variety in sound - like the M:C. But glitch is what I’m into anyway. Let’s see.

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#65

My favourite post on Elektronauts, in a long long time.

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#66

Apart from working on limited amounts of gear… i also need simple gear to be productive and creative . Simple monosynths , no submenus , no screens , limited options … etc. so i know exactly what to expect when i turn this or that button .

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#67

I love seeing minimal setups, and I salute those of you so focused on writing music that way. Elektron gear is certainly the way to go for that, due to the flexibility and lifetime worth of depth to explore.

my best approach at minimal is always using the same sequencer and changing up the set of machines I’m using on a given track. it’s usually just whatever I’ve been playing with lately, as that means they’re setup with a certain sound/tone that goes well together (most of my gear lacks patch memory). then I just ignore the rest.

I do wonder whether those so focused on minimal setups now went through the period where a setup was just a laptop and a sound card. and maybe because I did, that’s why I enjoy having a plethora of gear now… :thinking:

this is mostly my jam too (though it’s great to have some deep gear to get lost in). it does tend to dictate a larger set up though; more machines, but they’re each for a relatively specific set of tasks.

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#68

True!

Same here.

Take the Deluge, for example: It looks like a fantastic box, but I don’t know, I feel I would get lost in its many tiers. Not that I’m scared of complex boxes, but I tend to get distracted when there are too many possibilities - I had that a lot with the MnM.

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#69

Part of the problem is a lot of people are trying to build a complete studio system where everything is connected and ready to be used all the time. It’s nice to have a lot of gear, but only have what you need set up for the project you’re working on.

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#70

kind of seems like it can’t be both… having only what you need set up for what you’re working on, and also have everything connected and ready to go. unless you re-configure and re-setup everything every time you switch projects. but once you get enough gear, that’s an awful proposition, and just makes you not want to work on anything. :rofl:

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#71

IDK, I have more gear than fits my desk and I just pick and choose which synths or pedals or w/e I want to use when I start making music. Then I have that setup ready for as long as I get tired of it and make a new one. I don’t get option paralysis because I only have 2-3 sound sources set up at the same time.

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#72

I’m talking like once you have more gear than fits in an entire room. then you don’t want to reconfigure everything very often. even if you just grab 2-3 machines to use for a track, you still have to set up audio, midi, cv/gate, effects routing, and audio levels just to get everything going together. and then chase down why a synth’s out of tune with the cv/gate you’re sending it, why a synth isn’t responding to the midi data you’re sending it, why a drum machine is playing the wrong drums when you hit notes, etc…

I just leave everything I can set up and ready to go. then ignore what I don’t feel like using right now. but… whatever works for you! as long as it doesn’t keep you from being productive.

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#73

If you have that much gear, you should be pro enough not to get option paralysis.

But yeah, I wouldn’t get option paralysis even if I had all of my gear always set up.

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#74

At the moment I’m only using a Novation Circuit Rhythm.

Since the pandemic I’ve had to work from home. My ‘studio’ (desk in bedroom) is now my workspace. So I don’t have the patience to have lots of gear and have to hook it all up/dismantle it everytime I want a jam.

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#75

I’m really impressed by the comments on this thread. Feels like a real transfer of wisdom and experience.

When I can, I’m going to go through and listen to every peice of music linked here.

At the moment I am learning. Not just music, but how to create the sounds and grooves of the music I’ve enjoyed since I was a teenager.

I’ve bought a bunch of stuff. Some has stayed, some has left quickly. But each time I learn a bit more and get another perspective.

The route to “just the right amount” seems to be as personal as the route to “being comfortable in your own skin”.

For some that’s about zen-like focus on perfecting a single instrument. For others, it’s about being able to bring together disparate concepts to form something new.

It’s nice to see the journeys you’ve all taken as none of them are wrong.

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#76

You’ve got so many machines, Richard!

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#77

less about being “pro” and just knowing your gear well enough that you know why you have it, when you’ll want to use it, and when it’s OK to avoid it.

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#78

I’d think thats a big part of being pro.

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#79

Yes ! Thing of beauty

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#80

Now my setup is only DT + Bass, and when I like a song enough to polish it I use Ableton for arraging and mixing.

I’ve tried many times to add synths to my setup: MF, Minitaur, M:C, ZOIA, but I always ended up tired of forcing me to use it when pretty similar sounds can be made with the DT. For me it’s more inspiring to mangle a sample rather than learn a synth from the ground up just to get one sound. If I really want to experiment I ended up using softsynths, but even there I only use 1 or 2.

With guitar/bass pedals happened the same. I had a huge pedalboard but ended up using just 3 or 4 cause with them I found the sound that I like.

What I learn is that the most important is to know what you want to create and just find the tools that you need for that. Maybe is because I prefer to play the bass instead of designing/finding synth sounds.

I still love to experiment, but for that I prefer to start with softsynths that are way cheaper and if I really like a type of sound I’d buy a hardware synth to deep dive into it.

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#81

yeah, anything more than two things my brain overthinks and overloads. prefer simplistic restrictions.

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