Gas

[kusalamati]

So yesterday I finally discovered what this GAS business that everyone talks about refers to; Gear Acquisition Syndrome, and in doing so, identified something of a trend of said syndrome in my own kit buying history.

In fact, ironically, the same day I looked up the meaning of the acronym, I found myself hypnotised for much of my waking (and possibly sleeping) hours at the prospect of buying an OP-1, cue the gazillion youtube demos and hunting for review threads on here and elsewhere, convincing myself that it’s a good idea, and by the end of the day, hitting ‘BUY’ on Amazon as the pre-purchase dopamine buzz was at its height.

The unit arrives this week, and yes I am very much looking forward to it.
GAS GAS GAS!

It’s a strange beast this GAS, quite similar in my mind to a syndrome I have since shaken off; VAS (Vinyl Acquisition Syndrome) in which the forces of craving manifest as a feeling of lack, which mixes potently with one’s personal passions to arise as that all too familiar “I just need to have that, my creative life will be offered a sense of completion when I get it” and I strangely find myself in a new paradigm in which something will indeed be missing from my creative life if I don’t take the necessary steps to acquire the goodies.

I think that feeling of lack is essentially what drives human beings to constantly act in such a way as to strive for that elusive sense of completion that drives so many of our apparently habitual behaviours.

But I don’t think the energy (in this case GAS) is necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. I wonder how many of us have bought a piece of gear completely devoid of any emotional energy directed towards its acquisition.
I don’t remember the last time I bought an amazing synth purely on the basis of actually needing it objectively, through a rational and intelligent deduction about the next steps required for music making.
Neither do I remember buying something completely foolishly on a whim, without having any sense of why and how it will fit into my set-up (though I have at times been close).

I think that in the same way that we can fall in love, be completely intoxicated with a person (“this is the one”) and still make it work, knowing that the initial buzz will give way to something else, so a bit of GAS gets the energy going and facilitates a purchase. I guess the trick is knowing that our expectations and ideas about what it will be like to finally lay our hands on it and make it part of our creative world, will rarely match the reality once the piece of equipment is ours. Not that it will necessarily be better or worse, just not ever what we expect.

For me, this is a slow learning curve, and I’m starting to appreciate that there are no final holy-grails of equipment, that what I do buy I will have to stick with and come into relationship over time, knowing that when the post-purchase dopamine does recede, there will always be that next piece of gear waiting in the wings to once again tantalise the promise of final creative fulfilment. But perhaps the fulfilment is already here, and it just keeps getting overlooked…

Why did I write this?
Because I learnt what GAS meant and got excited.
I might have rambled a bit.

Best wishes,
Dave

[J_C_Selector]

I just came up with another one,
GASUI : Gear Acquisition Syndrome Under the Influence.
I’m sure we’ve all done it.
I just bought a Moog Theramini. It does look prety cool/spaceagey, and it has CV out. It should come latter today.

[kusalamati]

GASUI!

Sounds dangerous.

Although perhaps it’s more like the gear finds its way to you, rather than you to it, and the GAS, GASUI and suchlike is just a merry show which seems to give you the impression you have a say in the matter.

[Noisebuddy]

at the moment i’m suffering (or perhaps burning) from a MAS = Modular Acquisition Syndrome

since 01/2014 i’m invested a huge amount of time, energy and money in the DIY-modular-thing

it was the logical evolution from the A4 to this

i mean: two outputs (CV) without a use?

[spike_spykstra]

Like some depraved junkie,
Justifying things with comments like “if i take back my empty beer bottles, im 20% there on the next module” and " this is the last piece of kit before christmas".
All self told lies.
Its an addiction alright.
I try to fight it by cycling my learning from one piece to another, bit by bit.

Like any sustance abuse victim, “its not my fault, the gear is just soooo good right now”
Then you get into the real hard stuff, modular addiction seems to be the pinnacle.

I wouldnt have it any other way.

Missus doesnt understand, but she has a million pairs of shoes…

[marcelvidela]

I’m going to copy the OP and make my wife read it so she can understand my syndrome as well.

[Accent]

I mitigate my GAS with iOS apps these days. Of course, that can be worse in some ways; easy to click the “buy” button and rack up the purchases without really considering what you’re spending, but you can get some great apps for little money, and I feel a lot less guilty about it in the cold light of day.

[mezz303]

My 20 year GAS habit is gone.
I sold about $10 grands worth of gear on ebay earlier this year. Within 2 weeks I had spent $12 grand on new stuff with the final purchase being an Analog Rytm.
One of the hottest music products on the market right now is one of the most emotionless purchases I have ever made. It felt like a chore to drive 20mins to the shop and buy it. Bought a demo off the shelf with no box, threw it on the passenger seat and drove home glancing at it once or twice. It was about 3 hours before I even plugged it in!
I’ve had bad GAS for the last 20 years but this latest gear splurge has crushed it.
I still feel a bit negative about buying anything now and the Rytm was a while ago. Im hoping it’s just a bit of overload because frankly as destructive as it can be to our lives, I liked having GAS.
PS the Rytm eventually got the love it deserved:-)

[kusalamati]

I still feel a bit negative about buying anything now and the Rytm was a while ago. Im hoping it’s just a bit of overload because frankly as destructive as it can be to our lives, I liked having GAS.

When I go overboard on sense / material pleasure, I detect a certain numbing out of the circuits, probably due to a kind of flooding effect.
I remember the first time I got a student loan and went out and bought about 10 CDs. It was no where near as enjoyable as buying that 1 CD when my monthly grant came through.

I reckon the GAS can be a really lovely energy if one can learn to surf it skilfully, and even if we do wipeout, there’s a surfing lesson learned in there somewhere.

PS the Rytm eventually got the love it deserved:-)

[Accent]

My 20 year GAS habit is gone.
I sold about $10 grands worth of gear on ebay earlier this year. Within 2 weeks I had spent $12 grand on new stuff with the final purchase being an Analog Rytm.
One of the hottest music products on the market right now is one of the most emotionless purchases I have ever made. It felt like a chore to drive 20mins to the shop and buy it. Bought a demo off the shelf with no box, threw it on the passenger seat and drove home glancing at it once or twice. It was about 3 hours before I even plugged it in!
I’ve had bad GAS for the last 20 years but this latest gear splurge has crushed it.
I still feel a bit negative about buying anything now and the Rytm was a while ago. Im hoping it’s just a bit of overload because frankly as destructive as it can be to our lives, I liked having GAS.
PS the Rytm eventually got the love it deserved:-)

Let’s be honest-it’s just stuff. Stuff will not fulfill you. Our culture rewards consumerism, but consumerism is an empty pursuit designed to benefit capitalism, not human needs. As (electronic) musicians, we can often justify buying things to help us reach an endgoal, but on a creative front it can also create more problems because it doesn’t allow us to push ourselves with what we have, instead we keep learning new gear over trying to make ourselves get the most out of what is at hand. If all I could afford was a Poly 61 and an ER-1, I would make the most of it and probably make a lot more music because I would have no choice but to put my soul into my limited options.
I’ve got three Elektron machines, and I had to save and scrimp and jump on them when I’ve had some financial windfalls. They were worthwhile to me and have made me a better (electronic) musician as a result. Besides my interface and monitors, I’ve spent $150 or less on all the other gear I have, and I really don’t need any more. There are a few things I’d like to own (excluding an A4 or diving into modular, maybe another $1500), but more gear=more time learning gear, throwing money at a problem that may not exist. The 3-4 things I’d like to add to my setup in the near future are more for fun or to augment my existing setup, but if I stopped now I could make 100 albums and not get bored. The iPad is great for when I get GASsy, because I can add in something for usually less than $10, and while I still constantly trawl Craigslist and eBay for deals I still pass up even the most affordable of things because it’s just more stuff. That stuff means more cables, more learning, more adapting your workflow. I hope to buy nothing in 2016.

[J0n35y]

It was those bastards over at Gearslutz who got me into the regular GAS cycle. I had picked up Maschine and crossgraded to Komplete 9. Was making music quite happily but wanted a “bigger” DAW so moved on to Ableton. Next thing I know I’ve spent a few hundred on vst’s and apps and had started picking up cheaper bits of hardware like a Yammy A4000 and Miniak.

At this point I decided to behave myself and to stick with being ITB so flogged all my OTB and picked up Push then noticed someone locally selling an OT for £550. Couldn’t pass on that now. Then a few months later I bought an A4 off here for £650. Another bargain. Next thing I know I’m GASing my bollocks off for a Rytm and couldnt hold back any longer.

My GAS levels are definitely at the lowest they have been for a good while. The Elektron boxes when used together are basically one giant instrument and it’s a lot of fun and challenging learning how to perform and write on them. Meanwhile the ITB set up is fine and dandy and is a blast to use when wanting to write in a more familiar (to me) way.

Anyway, my solution - STAY AWAY FROM GEARSLUTZ!!! At least for a little while anyway. I don’t mind here, at least you get lots of hints and tips but read through posts of other people GASing (pretty much every thread on 'slutz) just doesnt help!

[kusalamati]

As (electronic) musicians, we can often justify buying things to help us reach an endgoal, but on a creative front it can also create more problems because it doesn’t allow us to push ourselves with what we have, instead we keep learning new gear over trying to make ourselves get the most out of what is at hand. If all I could afford was a Poly 61 and an ER-1, I would make the most of it and probably make a lot more music because I would have no choice but to put my soul into my limited options.

I could probably put my soul into an electric thumb piano and a looper peddle, stripped of the options.

With only a RYTM and an A4 (soon to be replaced by an OP-1) you’ll probably wonder what all the fuss is about. But I’m really going to undertake to master both of these machines throughout 2015, both as stand-alones and flirting with one another in synch. I also resolve not to pick up any new equipment for the duration.

[kusalamati]

GASing my bollocks off for a Rytm

he he,

Elektron could use that phrase in their next ad. campaign.

[udenjoe]

I’ve had the same in the DIY realm. I still get GAS though. I always remind myself that I have everything I need (OT, A4, Indigo 2, SP LXR/909&808 clones/626, Shruthi). This won’t stop me from looking through vintage stuff and any interesting DIY projects.

My current DIY GAS is http://www.planktonelectronics.com/the-jellyfish/. Which I’ll probably order this weekend. I haven’t built an effects unit yet.

I also have to be careful because my income is about four times that a few years ago, when I couldn’t afford anything but through credit card.

I suppose I should be planning my own DIY project at this point…

[Automux]

Anyone notice if GAS occurs more with them during the colder months? I’m wondering if it is a built in mammal response to needing to collect and store as much as possible for “survival” lol.

[mezz303]

[quote=“mezz303”]I still feel a bit negative about buying anything now and the Rytm was a while ago. Im hoping it’s just a bit of overload because frankly as destructive as it can be to our lives, I liked having GAS.

When I go overboard on sense / material pleasure, I detect a certain numbing out of the circuits, probably due to a kind of flooding effect.
I remember the first time I got a student loan and went out and bought about 10 CDs. It was no where near as enjoyable as buying that 1 CD when my monthly grant came through.

I reckon the GAS can be a really lovely energy if one can learn to surf it skilfully, and even if we do wipeout, there’s a surfing lesson learned in there somewhere.

PS the Rytm eventually got the love it deserved:-)

[/quote]
Absolutely.
It was a stupid thing to buy all that stuff at once I should have known better. The whole point of the studio sale was to reduce in size down to just the favorites but then I got all that cash and common sense went out the window. I don’t regret the purchases but I should have spaced them out over a year rather than 2 weeks.

[kusalamati]

As they say in the Zen tradition;
‘Fall down seven times get up eight’

[miketheman]

G.A.S so familiar of it when playing guitar, as I am.

I have a somewhat interesting different take on G.A.S though. As I have an sort of fixed goal of WHAT ‘control functions’ I want/need. Not necessarily any specific sound, as many other people are. I´ve always considered myself as someone who are doing (any) sounds, the guitar just happened to become my main instrument in making sounds.

I´m of the opinion that every sound has it place, and as such I shouldn´t disregard any of them.

An example: I bought my NM G2 Engine mainly because I wanted to have an envelope follower to midi conversion of any choosen signal routed into such ‘control function’. The alternatives (i e modular system) were slower (in response), bigger or more clumsy in size and almost as expensive as the G2 Engine AND had only that function but nothing else. While G2 Engine has almost infinite other functions (and sounds) which would be a very welcome bonus. My intentions first weren´t so much for synth sounds.
But it fits in quite well in my perspective of myself towards instruments. Same with Octatrack, but mainly towards audio (where you can control quite much of it via midi).

I bought my midi router (MidiTemp MP88W), because I needed specific MIDI routing and filtering options. I e for such envelope follower control of different parameters in different units. Only far later I´ve started to appreciate that it actually is able to record and playback midi too. Which is quite cool given that I do have the G2 Engine synth and the Octatrack.

Since I´ve bought my Fractal Audio units, I´ve pretty much lost all interest in any other amps/pedals/rack effects. And since the G2 Engine (and partly Octatrack), I´ve instead gained even more interest in the sound side (ie from synths/samplers) which wasn´t a goal first.

And my goal now is to downsize but still keep the ‘control functions’ I´ve always aimed for, ditch everything that isn´t ‘stable’ (ie maintenance of tube amps). And get the whole system more aimed towards being able to reproduce any sound (guitar, synth, sample etc). Instead of being an system for a guitarist.

[avantronica]

Sounds like miketheman has this under control ; - ) but the rest of us may be suffering from the more scientific term for this, A.R.S.E. (always requiring something else)

[miketheman]

Sounds like miketheman has this under control ; - ) but the rest of us may be suffering from the more scientific term for this, A.R.S.E. (always requiring something else)

HAHAHA!

I´m not totally sure of that. I guess complexity in the end can get the worst G.A.S out of you.

A.R.S.E = forum trolls mantra?