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Watch Against The Clock. Feel good again.
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oh yes, right now I am stressing if I have overlapping gears…
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I fell into a serious funk around two years ago. I’ve only just gotten out of it recently. The thing for me was circumstances at work. Things were much more stressful during the day and so I would get home and just want (need?) to vegitate in front of the TV, a book, anything except putting my brain back into gear to be productive. Recently a few months away from the office has kicked my music making back into gear. Changing circumstances in this kind of situation helps.
However, you could just be in a spell of writer’s block. In that case you should push through it. Only takes one or two happy accidents for that to go away.
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This is my main issue, having to rest during periods after work due to stress, lack of energy etc.
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strongly relate the influence of relationships affecting my activity and desire…which sometimes leads to the question: what am I getting back from my investment?
That’s the core of my issues as well… as a motion designer in a big design agency, I have to be full throttle creativity wise for at least 10 hours a day, plus every project is an absolute emergency. Comes the evening, I just feel like an empty shell… yet I crave doing music when at home. What a life…
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you know that feeling you get when you scrape a blackboard with your nails, or some when they rub cotton balls in their fingers? well that exact feeling im getting from reading this thread. ew, the thought of having to sell one of my synths, its that feeling 
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know this too well, its even worse if such as yourself you are already in a creative field for work
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Obviously the enjoyment I get from messing around with gear… It’s not a cheap hobby, but look at folks that jump out of planes, or race cars, or scuba dive. Many hobbies are expensive and of questionable value when you reduce it down.
On top of that, when I look back at the music I’ve created over the years, it’s worth the time and money (and in some circumstances, stress, regret) I’ve spent on music production and gear. It’s something deeply personal to me. I don’t especially care if it’s appreciated by others, or even if it’s subjectively any good. Each song is a snapshot of me at that time - not just my progress and improvement, but my growth as a person, my emotional state, my tastes, etc. Of course, this is only possible if you commit to spending the time to fully form an idea and get it recorded.
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agree
Can definitely relate. I strongly agree with @djadonis206. If I can’t get it done with Ableton, it ain’t gonna happen no matter how much hardware I have lying around on my desk. I’ve paired back significantly over the last couple of years. I suffered from guilt at not using all those things as much as I thought I should. I get way more done in software and it’s just easier to open up a song file and pick back up where I left off - or change projects when I get bored or have an idea for a certain song.
I like Push 2 for a bit of “hardware feel”. But I am almost to the point of selling most the remaining synths I have left. If I sell everything I’m sure my brain will eventually tell me I need something more tactile or analog. I might keep something small and cheap to remind myself that, yes, it feels good to tweak a bit of hardware, but I don’t actually need it, and usually replace it in the song with Diva or TAL Sampler anyway. My Behringer Model D or MS20 mini will fit that role. It’s there if I need it, but usually won’t.
I don’t have a lot of energy left over after work either. And fixing up an old house takes most of my spare time. I like to work on songs in Ableton during my lunch hours, zip it up and send it home, and then polish them at home using the Push 2, Launch Control XL, and a couple hardware synths maybe. That’s about as good as I can do these days, but it keeps things flowing, slowly but surely.
The above might sound kind of deflated, but I really don’t feel that way. I think I have actually been more productive these days using less gear and really diving into Ableton + Push and learning more production tricks. I feel more focused on actually making songs and less on learning superfluous gear, reading manuals, and justifying all that spending and excess gear lying around. Works for me.
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I was in a very similar situation, working a full time job (as a games developper/graphic designer), I didn’t have the time to focus on music, and I’ve started accumulating a lot of gear due to watching a lot of gear videos, and not making music at ALL !
Some of the gear did help some parts of my music making process but it was mostly because they were new and it faded quickly, and then I mostly felt guilty of having things I didn’t use.
The advices I could give you would be :
- Find new sources of inspiration. You can do so by watching tutorials and/or listening to music you like and try not to watch gear-specific videos of things you don’t have.
- Ask yourself why you make music, and try finding fun in the process, rather than putting pressure on finishing a song, because “good” music is subjective and will be way harder to do if you don’t enjoy the process.
- Take time to rest, and if you can, try to slow things down at your job, or you’ll end up in a burnout.
As I said, I was in a similar situation and had to take time off work or it would mess up my health. As a result, I have way more time for doing music and less pressure to do so. So GAS has gone, and I’m now in the process of selling a lot of stuff I accumulated over time.
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I like this advice coupled with your maniacally laughing picture.
I just got home from a two week vacation and I’ve been playing the bass at our gigs with a freshness I’ve not felt in years.
So… yeah. Take two weeks off and come back fresh. Great advice!
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I’m currently considering this step back to ableton and push too. Keeping 2 elektrons for live use and OP-Z for mobile fun.
I reached a point where I feel it’s too much again. So time consuming to bring all the patterns from different machines together and finish it in the computer… It’s convenient to have it all in one place.
As fun as each individual box is …
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Buy more gear!
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Pardon my rudeness, but so much of the hardware industry relies on people like you.
Very, very close to where I’m at. Ableton + Push is just incredibly convenient. And having guilt over owning stuff you don’t use, expensive stuff at that, is very real. It’s a horrible place to be in.
I still have an OT, A4 and OPZ. I do like having some OTB disctractions but I’m considerably more productive ITB. If I ever sussed out a way to enjoy sampling with Push then I could see me eventually moving ITB entirely. MBP + soundlfower + Ableton/Push/Omnisphere/Diva/Komplete just seems to work.
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I agree with some others around the job thing really messing with things. I feel it at the mo, coming home to work on things after being in front of a computer all day really bites. i’ll probably ditch this job soon enough to give myself some creative flexibility.
I’d really like a new audio interface, just something simple, get back into guitar recordings. Maybe a UA Arrow.
But with the Ableton thing, man, after all these years, im kindve sick of it. Thats probably saying something more about me and where im at, but i dunno, 15 years or so with the software does get a little dry. Maybe going back to Push would be a good way to go, it really is fantastic.
As always, interested to see what various companies do next. My creativity does need a kickstart, looking forward to whatever come next from Elektron or Ableton - otherwise if Push 3 is on the horizon could also drop some 2 prices
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I felt this way when I had only the ability to record 1 stereo track at a time. Not sure what recording interface you’re using, but being able to multitrack record all my gear at once with my newer Motu Ultralite helped streamline the process. It kind of relates back to the whole, needing to make the most of our time while creating music. Working smarter not harder type thing. This helped re-invigorate my joy of the creative process, while minimizing the work feeling. Can’t speak for the ease of use of Abelton Push, as I’ve never used it.
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