Energy usage and environmental impact of the hobby

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Hey all. Happy Diwali!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my environmental impact and I already try to reduce my impact in small ways e.g. careful with lighting, household heating, water usage etc. I only drive when it’s strictly necessary. I’m not an angel and I could definitely do better.

I’ve started wondering about the music hobby and what impact that has. I sit on a computer all day for work (software developer) and then I often sit and fiddle with music stuff or read forums etc like we all do. The after-work stuff has to be chewing up a fair bit of energy and I wonder if I ought to actively try to reduce my energy usage. Or is that, in fact, the thin end of the wedge and not worth worrying about?!

In terms of the specifics - I’m generally using Maschine MK3 at the moment so I’m running the computer (a 2021 Mac mini M1) and the Maschine controller itself. I sometimes have the monitor on, sometimes off. I have only partially succeeded in my original aim of getting away from the computer, and I think that’s partly driving my thought process as well.

So if, for example, I just stopped doing the software “thing” and got something like a Polyend Play then I assume I’d be using a lot less power? I’d also be get away from this bloody desk where I seem to spend half my life. Do any of you think about the energy consumption? Many of you have rooms full of synths and other gear and it must be chewing up a lot of power!

I guess it comes down to how strongly you feel about reducing your own footprint and helping to preserve valuable resources. It might such a tiny drop compared to the rest of my life that it doesn’t warrant any stress, but I’d definitely welcome your thoughts. I’m also thinking about getting solar panels for the house so I can be more self-sufficient, just as an aside. I’d also welcome any thoughts from those of you that have them (I’m i n the UK if that helps)

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#2

Reduce, reuse, recycle:

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#3

Screenshot 2022-10-24 at 9.58.02 AM

replace “ps4” with digitakt :smiley:

All joking aside, I think there are so many other areas of my life that contribute so much more to my carbon footprint (most notably air travel) that I try not to sweat the small stuff. I also live at a latitude that requires a lot of energy to keep my home heated, my food has to travel a long way to get here, etc. Before I go hucking synths out to save the planet, I should probably just relocate to a slightly warmer climate, stop flying, and stop eating meat.

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#4

Get an Octatrack. No Overbridge, so no computer needed. A blessing to your environment :robot:

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#5

I was curious about the energy consumption of a digital synth I had years back. I worked out that it was using around 18 watts, if I remember rightly. Bout the same as a modern lightbulb, which is not a lot.
So you could sit in the dark n play your box without guilt or get an acoustic guitar n sit in the dark and feel like you’re an eco warrior! The second case scenario would also cure any GAS.

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#6

I have a pretty big studio setup running a fast PC and two TV s as monitors. I can’t remember exactly buy having everything on was about 350 Watts. When we make coffee in the morning our espresso machine uses about 7x that…. Trying to compensate my carbon impact by not flying much anymore, buying local food in season, taking bus and train and such things. Since I am working from home I am sure it s gotten a lot better… used to fly often for work in pre covid days…

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#7

you probably know that your computer uses far more power than about 10 synth, my last pc before i’ve moved to mac had 750w psu and i was loading the shiznit of them running vm’s and whatnot.

personally from music perspective i think that power should be the least of your concerns, it’s the energy invested in production of physical materials that are non recyclable are the problem, like plastic wrapping and stuff you throw away or endless cables, imo production and the waste of these things are far less eco friendly than having several synth running on even 100w.

imo best thing for the environment is having option to get second hand gear that you can fix if needed, lots of smaller synth like the volcas afaik are barely fixable and that’s just waste (heard from several artists interviews), so i think if you want to be eco friendly as much as possible the best thing you can do is to be efficient with your gear instead of worrying of power, think twice before you buy something and see if you can get existing unit before ordering a new one if possible.

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#8

I think non-recyclable plastic is worse for the overall carbon footprint. In relation to all the packaging for synths, but I’ve noticed some eurorack companies really limit plastic and modules sit inside small cardboard boxes. Carbon capture by the ocean is more important than your synth running idle all day.

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#9

First few things off the top of my mind:

  1. eat vegan, local if you can. The less processed the food, the better.

  2. buy second-hand as much as you can. Gear, clothes, whatever.

  3. avoid travelling by airplane

  4. buy quality stuff - that lasts long and can be fixed

  5. don’t support assholes with your money or otherwise

  6. avoid cops, they’re not your friends

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#10

Just buy less, and when you do, buy quality things that will last many years.
In the scheme of things music is an environmentally friendly pastime even if you’re using a little electricity. Most people’s recreations are worse.

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#11

Thanks for all the input folks, some good advice here. Probably not worth worrying about the (relatively low) power usage of the very few music toys that I have. I’m so careful in almost every other way, probably not worth worrying about.

I have to admit I’m nervy about buying electronics second hand but the truth is I can probably get things fixed if they break and that helps employ someone and reduce waste.

I know veganism is a big one. I’ve been vegetarian for about 15 years and I think about going vegan often. Veggie was easy to be honest (I was never a steak sort of guy) but vegan is a bit more tricky.

Right now where’s that second hand Octatrack on eBay…

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#12

I subscribe to your manifesto and wish to learn more about your teachings

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#13

Use a stationary bike to power your synths and get a killer bod in the process!

#14

Completely useless. Do something that matters instead maybe?

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#15

The energy saving thing or making music?

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#16

If you want to make an actual impact on society, become politically active. Speak to your local representatives. Make a fuss at city hall. Run for office, or form a political party. Campaign to your community or around the country. Hold workshops, educate yourself and others about your cause.

The personal energy use of a computer or personal electronics is laughably microscopic compared to the all-consuming monolith of modern industry. Trying to support/oppose government legislation would make far more difference.

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#17

Some keywords for your next google search: offloading responsibility individual neoliberalism

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#18

CO2 is plant food. I heartily recommend that you plant and care for things that consume this and turn it into usable energy, and as an added plus we all get oxygen in return. This simple activity does a lot to improve your local environment, assuming you are responsible and make the right sorts of choices. Side effects may include much needed shade, improved biodiversity by attracting numerous species of birds, insects and small mammals and food for yourself and loved ones. Depending on conditions, you may even be able to positively effect rain fall if you’re looking for that.

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#19

What is completely useless?

I don’t entirely agree with all of that, but it’s good to be engaged. In terms of “microscopic” personal consumption etc, I think if we all reduce our footprint then it becomes something significant. The stats about the reduction of CO2 if all the meat-eaters went vegetarian even part-time are quite something. I take your point though, you can influence the bigger players as well.

That’s a lot of search results.

My wife is a very keen gardener so the house and garden are full of plants. I can’t take credit for that though, I just mow the lawn when she asks me!

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#20

using the internet has far more (negative) impact CO2 wise than power your computer and a few synths for a couple of hours.

data centres and specifically cloud services are one of the biggest contributors to climate change.

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