Is it possible to be jaded, sick and tired of all the synth-related stuff, like jumping in and out of the rabbit hole of modular synthesis 10 times & counting, GAS-ing all you want but finding mental fatigue taking over more than anything else, or deferring to social media browse/shop for faster gratification rather than focus on making content. Engage in “polite” debates over the Interwebs which is the better value gear and being an arm chair critic about the stuff being put out today, [add freebie]: explain why a company has lost its focus, tell others what constitutes “true” music or reminiscing the “golden era” of great music not to be repeated again in the near generation, etc.
It’s a massive topic of course but if I had to get my defense against similar feelings down to a simple statement, all this that you’re talking about melts away by actually doing the music.
I am, because of that NGNY 2022 thing. Haven’t touched any of my machines since spring. Very liberating, feels good, to be honest – free of all the gas and deep-down-rabbithole discussions. Now I just mostly visit this forum for memes and shitposting and some occasional music discussion.
So yeah, like others have said above: either find some other hobby, or “cleanse” your music hobby of all the impurities.
focus on one synth, one sampler, one daw…and a mic…to catch whatever u find, to realize, to proove, to show urself, U can make anything sound…it’s not the gear, it’s the will, the vision and consistency…anything else is something between an expensive addiction and a hopeless hobby, but never a real creation process, no real fun…which was all the intention to get ur hands on that stuff in first place…
so focus, slim down, reduce to max, remember…make it a mantra…
anf if that’s ur final conclusion, after u tried one more time, then call it a day, get rid of it all and finally stop torturing urself and ur wallet…
it’s never ur gear, only what u actually DO with it…
and all tools can only be that much productive as u know them each…
so, spending money on two new synth within a year, is nothing but hard proof it was only gas meets consumerism…get out of that trap, as fast as u can…
and always keep in mind…only if u close a door, another one can open…
Quit arguing with people over personal preference.
I’m extremely happy with my Syntrx. I begin to get unhappy if I do a “value” analysis by comparing it to my SE-02. Instead, I enjoy both synths as they are and am happy that music isn’t a business for me so I can spend somewhat frivolously at times.
I felt exactly like this this time last year. I wasn’t making any music, mostly just spending money I didn’t have on gear which then just looked pretty and I could pretend that I knew about and used.
I joined in with NoGear NewYear, and it’s helped me massively. Sold a bunch of the especially unjustifiable stuff. Cleared the rest off my desk and then put only a few bits back. GAS is better controlled now, if not completely gone.
I can’t sy my music production has gone up much. Biggest surprise to me was re-discovering Ableton using the free trial. Finished a track in a couple of weeks, with an hour or two here and there spent on it. When I was working in Ableton I didn’t;t get distracted by GAS or technical/knowledge challenges - it’s all there, its all logical, and it let a bit of music come out of me.
We’ll see if I carry on with that. I still want to use hardware, but maybe I should get better at making music before I do. The huge irony is that I only started collecting hardware because ‘Ableton is too complex and has too many options’
I think everyone above has already mentioned the possible solutions. Just wanted to share a bit of experience and support!
There is a documentary about crystal meth infested town. One woman (broke, lost custody of children, months in prison) caught a hundredth time by the police, agreed to answer some q’s on camera.
Why are you doing that?
Because I love it.
Presumably, a love-hate relationship
How about some wider-reaching ‘detox’:
put all the devices into boxes, completely out of sight
abstain from any compulsive behaviours
unsubscribe content
watch your diet, sleeping patterns, internet consumption
use structured time for some purposeful activity
see what happens
Done that a couple of times for a max of maybe half a year, and it was comparable to dropping sugar from food, although with sugar, I never looked back.
I find that learning is the key. Pick something and learn about it for a period of time. If you ignite your mind, you spark your creativity and find yourself exploring again.
Pick something like distortion, an artist you don’t know much about, bird calls, how to synthesize flatulence, whatever interests you. Then carve out some time and feed your mind. Try not to jump around and stick with it for a reasonable amount of time (a week, a month, whatever time period that makes sense to you).
We’re in a time when so much knowledge is accessible, that it’s pretty infinite.
