Done with GAS, but now overwhelmed with all the gear I acquired

Elektron Gear
#45

I really like the title of this thread (GAS is done…). I wonder how many of us went through a pandemic phase of picking up more gear in a shorter period of time than we normally would during the first year of the pandemic? I know I did that. I have at times regretted it, but now feel like its okay, since I am back to one or two purchases per year and I like what I have, even though, like the OP, I also feel a bit overwhelmed when thinking about how much I don’t know or have forgotten about certain hardware.

One thing that I do, and it seems like a lot of us do, is to pull one machine out of the studio (or case closet), bring it down to the living room (or in my case up to my cabin) and sink into it. It’s really fun and rewarding. I feel a little bit like I have an “encyclopedia” of musical instruments to choose from, and each one is its own volume. I was at a used book store a few years ago and they had a pristine (basically new) copy of the Encyclopedia Brittanica’s “Great Books” set, which I snapped up and continue to enjoy here and there, sort of randomly. I like having it right there, whenever I want, even if I never come close to reading the whole thing.

I do understand that the OP wants to “make music” and that is the goal for him, which is cool. I am just saying that those who suggest he sell a bunch or most of it, might be suggesting something unnecessary and regrettable.

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#46

You don’t need anything else than the MPC to make the music you want. If you enjoy that a lot, I’d start there. On it, you can go from spontaneous jams to fully finished songs, all in one single, battery powered box. All the other devices are just different workflows, different synth sounds and other forms of icing on the cake for when you’re actually experienced enough with your MPC to understand where you feel limited. You’re not there yet so keep exploring with the MPC, it’s incredibly deep and versatile.

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#48

This is an easy trap to fall in to. The featureset, the fact that it’s a limited colourway - none of those things matter if you’re not actually sitting down and learning how to use the fucking thing. You’re telling us that you’re overwhelmed by the amount of gear that you have and that it’s getting in the way of you making music, but you immediately make excuses when someone suggests that a particular unit might be a little excessive.

This forum is full of compulsive gear hoarders who will validate any decision you make to maintain or even grow a studio setup that is so bloated that it’s detrimental to your ability to create. I can guarantee that none of the artists you listen to started out with that much gear and there are probably quite a few who still don’t have that much. Ask yourself, do you want to be someone who makes music or are you happy just being someone who owns a lot of expensive shit?

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#49

Thanks for the mention :+1:

This problem is one that passes the revenue a lot from students I teach. The answer really is to shelve everything but one instrument and dedicate half a year to it. Then add one piece of gear to it and use those two for another half a year. Then see where you are at and if there’s really something you’re missing while using those two instruments together. Then make sure you can’t work around that and if not, add one more thing. Etc.

It’s a waste of time to overwhelm your brain with this many options. It will simply slow down the learning experience or you might even lose the will to continue at all.

It’s a bit like wanting to learn to play music and then buy a piano, guitar, flute, double bass, and a violin. That doesn’t really work :wink:

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#50

You have too much gear! I can see how hanging around this forum and youtube lead you to get this many things, but it’s absolutely unnecessary and even cripling too have this many things.

I’ve been producing music for 20 years now, in some periods professionally, and I know quite some people who make music professionally. None of them have even a fraction of the gear you have set up in their studio. Bobeats’ studio is not what a professional studio looks like, and not something to admire IMO.

Not saying you should sell immediately, but at least put most stuff away. I’d go about like this if I were you:

  1. Put everything away except for 1 of the keyboard synths (I’d say the minilogue, but take the one you like best), and learn to use your daw well enough to produce music. Most professional producers use northing but a daw and a controller keyboard. Use the minilogue as both a midi controller and sound source to record. Try to learn the basics of subtractive synthesis at the same time by watching tutorials and trying this out on the mini. Take a couple of months with nothing but this setup at least.
  2. Add 1 of the ‘main brain’ machines to this setup. This would be either the mpc, digitakt, op-1 or octatrack. I’d suggest either the mpc or digitakt because they are most fully featured and work well with daw/keyboard, but you should decide for yourself. Learn to use it with the minilogue and the daw. This setup alone gives you everything you need to make professional music, have fun and more, and will take you years to master.
  3. Sell everything else!

You’d have a more complicated setup than most people out there, and can fully focus on learning it instead of being crippled by too many options.

Good luck!

20 Likes
#51

A perspective from my own experience, for what it’s worth…

You’re overwhelmed, but that’s okay, in fact it’s a good sign, even though it’s uncomfortable.

Notice what it was that led to you feeling overwhelmed.

I’m guessing it was some form of mental strategising.

Which led to lots of gear, which has led to you looking for another strategy to manage the new situation.

Having a few bits of gear isn’t inherently bad.
Having lots of gear isn’t inherently bad.
But strategising makes it so.

If grasping for a solution is worth anything, it’s to lead you to where you are now.
Realising that whatever you grasp at, you won’t find the solution you’re looking for, because it doesn’t exist.

Let it all fall apart, feel the overwhelm, listen to what it’s telling you, then see what comes out of that, even if it’s “I don’t know”…let all the strategies fall apart and dissolve…including this one!
Proceed from there :slight_smile:

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#52

Just learn the octatrack. :v:

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#53

That would be a good approach, in my opinion. My GASsiest period didn’t probably have anything to do with the pandemic but from 2019 when I started with synths to 2021 I bought about 50 pieces of gear - lots of trading, buying 2nd hand almost exclusively. (Haven’t bought anything since November 2021.) Mostly synths and drum machines but also fx and, god forbid, eurorack. Currently I own about ten synths and five fx units and I have every intention of keeping it at that number max. Currently I’m also sticking to setups of two devices at a time, while the other stuff is boxed up.

The way I think about is that as long as you didn’t rake in debt in order to get all that gear, you have the rest of your life to learn that gear. Also, it’s just gear and mostly stuff that’s still in production so no need to feel FOMO even if you decide to sell some of it and keep just 2-5 of the pieces you’re enjoying the most right now.

Like @DaveMech said, six months dedicated to one piece sounds about right. I’ve done that with one of the pieces I own, and that being an Elektron has helped me get fairly comfortable with all the Elektrons I have. There will be overlap in things learned for other gear as well (e.g. the way subtractive synthesis works), so you’ll soon realize you’re not starting from scratch with every piece you’re setting out to learn.

Anyway, like I said, what helped me in a similar situation was 1) stop buying gear, 2) realize I’m in no hurry to learn that gear and 3) commit to learning them one by one starting with the one that calls your name the loudest. Oh yeah, 4) have fun doing it!

3 Likes
#54

Boxing all but one is great. I did this and it worked. I would start with either Elektron or MPC, since they are to complex to combine as a beginner.

Which one do you feel the most excited about?

If Elektron, the Digitakt would be a great choice. Make a full beat or two on just that! I’ve heard so many people praise how intuitive and fun it is.

After that, move on to whatever inspires you at that time, but I’d stay with one box at a time for a while :slight_smile:

1 Like
#55

Those and the OP-Z are the first ones I’d sell. :sunglasses:

#56

…way too much…lot’s of overlap…

make ur three elektron boxes ONE instrument alltogether and leave all the rest aside for quite a while…

have the op 1 always with u…

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#57

100% this.
Similar story for me (only 30 years at it :eyes:), and I’ve never walked into a studio that looks like Bo’s either (who I quite like btw, not to beat on Bo).

I won’t name names/name drop, but a friend of mine has long been into the millions of sales/streams, collab’d with a lot of big names, remixed at the same level… and I have more synth/sample/drum gear in my living room than he has in front of him in his studio, it shakes me every time I see it. Honestly, makes me feel a bit embarrassed.

His aim always seems to be to get his music accessible in his live/DJ setup as soon as possible, and I admire that mindset tbh.

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#58

Pick one to take on your first journey and let yourself go

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#59

Done with GAS? That’s the biggest achievement of the whole journey.
It’s like you won the lottery and have 2 choises; wondering and stressing what to do with all that money or start spending and enjoying.

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#60

Sell the lot and buy a guitar. :slight_smile:

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#61

Yes, start enjoying what you have. Pick one or two, any two that interests you the most at the moment. Start using them.

If you one day get the urge to feel what made a SH-101 so great, guess what, it’s easy for you to do. Grab it from a shelve or cupboard and go for it.

You can either stress about the money you’ve spent without actually using all that gear, or you can realise what a great, fun position you are in.

Who cares what professionals do with less. You are you. This is your situation now. Stop stressing and run with it.

Unless you got yourself into financial difficulties. Then sell some stuff.

Edit: not you @tubefund obviously, but OP.

Edit: I didn’t mean to throw shade on people mentioning what little gear professionals might use. It’s useful to know that. Just don’t feel obliged to feel guilty that you have a lot. Stop stressing and enjoy it.

3 Likes
#62

I’ve very much settled into two separate setups - one is driven by a DAW and basically has the bigger poly-synths and the Pro-2 hooked up to it. The other is Squid driving A4, DT and eurorack. Whilst I can record the output of this second setup into the DAW it’s essentially standalone.

Keeping the setups separate and with very different workflows has definitely helped with any feelings of being overwhelmed. Both setups have one central “brain” - DAW or Squid (I don’t use the DT for sequencing anything external) and that helps with focus. Crucially the DAW setup is primarily sitting down and the Squid/Elektron setup is all standing up. I find that really helps with separation between the two setups.

For a long while I was just A4 and a small eurorack setup… and I found that really productive. It’s great to just pick a a couple of bits of hardware and see how far you can run with them.

2 Likes
#63

I would say like many.
Pick the DT and DN and minilogue and play with that. It should cover everything.

And let the mpc live out so when you want to play in a different genre or only with one device you have something to play with.
Portable, battery and speaker.

Put all the other stuff in a closet easily reachable but not visible, and forget them for at least 6 month. And in 6 month see what you want to do.

You don’t need anything more as you said than those. Gas is done. Don’t put yourself bad in selling them. Those other device won’t be bad in 10 years.
Keeping them not visible will allow you from time to time to take one and sample it.
And focus on enjoying the music you do. If it’s not your day job to do music just have fun !

1 Like
#64

Hook up the Roland stuff (TR-8s, JU-06A, SH-01, TB-03) and write and record some tracks just with that setup.

#65

Honestly, I think that GAS for me was a form of escapism/stress release during a particularly challenging period (being a new parent in the pandemic, while working full time and going to school at night). During the little free time I had, I was usually too mentally drained to do anything but watch YouTube gear reviews, read forums, shop, etc. And having something new coming in the mail was always exciting and gave me something to look forward to. But of course the underlying problem was just not having any time/energy to sit down with the stuff I was acquiring.

Then add in chip shortages/rising prices and it starts to feel like a race against time to buy that next piece before the price goes up by $100 overnight. Saw it happen a few times.

Now my hope is I will be able to figure out which of the hardware I have gets me going creatively, and sell the pieces that aren’t working out. My mentality really isn’t that I want to be a collector/hoarder of expensive stuff, but stress led me down this path to acquire things more quickly than I could figure out what was realistically needed.

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