The Gear:Productivity Ratio

homealone · 2023-05-09T15:59:59.900Z

That hits hard.

DJSpaceP · 2023-05-09T21:26:13.329Z

And there it is: the balance between owning and learning new instruments or making and finishing more music with a relatively stable core setup.

Or any combination on that spectrum. Or just jamming on your instruments to be creative and unwind with no intent to “finish” anything.

Any of which are valid, and if one enjoys the journey, that’s what matters.

djst · 2023-05-10T04:28:54.435Z

brisket:

So what to do?
I think: accept that there is a time when gear is inspirational, but that may be behind you. You have been dispossessed of a simple joy – the joy of ignorance is gone. You cannot get it back. You can never again be excited by learning what filter modulation is.

You are not empty-handed, though, because you have gained knowledge. But this is the part where gear can’t help you, because you already know how it works. You need an instinct, a theory, a meditative practise, a demand placed upon you by external forces, a task upon which to exercise the skills you have learnt. But the gear will no longer provide you with creative momentum, whether it’s a roomful of modular or the proverbial laptop with Ableton.

Great writeup and I agree with nearly all of what you say. As I was reading it, I thought to myself that yep, this isn why I no longer need an MPC: I know all those production tricks already. And this is why I don’t need an MC-101: I know how those sounds are made and the difference between a true roland JX chorus and an off-the-shelf chorus is negligible in my tracks.

There’s still one big exception though and that’s the Elektron workflow, in my case the Syntakt. Specifically, ctrl+all. There is just something entirely unique about it. Of course, I understand it from a practical point of view, but the point is that I could never recreate that in the DAW. There is no easy way (at least in Reason) to assign a macro that will manipulate the filter cutoff of the synth oscillator envelopes at once. And it’s impossible to know what those type of real-time manipulations will do to your song sketch until you try it.

Bottom line is, you’re right, after ten years of music making, I have definitely reach a point where I don’t need most of my hardware anymore… except my Syntakt!

chaocrator · 2023-05-10T07:18:44.896Z

brisket:

that there is a time when gear is inspirational, but that may be behind you.

typically new gear is inspirational, just because human brain loves new toys.

LucienFoort · 2023-05-10T15:36:43.352Z

Awesome topic. Infact, so awesome, I’ve devoted a video to it. As we all struggle with GAS, the next best live-saving synth, synthpeer pressure, midlife shenanigans… But there are ways to simplify things. I’ve tried to explain that as best I could and hope it’s helpful. Thanks and perhaps see anyone in Berlin?

homealone · 2023-05-10T15:42:04.606Z

Haha. Nice one.
PS. What’s my cut of the adsense revenue?

shigginpit · 2023-05-10T16:12:25.537Z

I’ve been thinking about this a bit because sometimes I have to mull over things for a while.

What do you think about this having some correlation to the honeymoon effect where you’re in a state of bliss with music, but at some point the honeymoon is over. So literally your brain produces dopamine because it’s pleasurable to create music but the more you get used to it, the more immune you become until you stop associating the feeling with feeling good, then you start to look towards what is causing you to feel less than what you did before?

Perhaps to not reach a point of having exhausted one’s “bliss” towards pure creativity is an indication of mental illness instead of wellness, or an extreme state of zen is required to continue feeling blissful about it - or perhaps there must be something that constantly ups the ante, such as forward momentum that produces a measurable result as a supplement to the brain pleasure center’s dwindling output. Maybe a combination of risk taking and a risk taker personality.

I feel like there might be some link here, because if you look at people who are the best in their jobs, some of them really genuinely hate the work they do and they are not invested in it as a matter of pride or enjoyment, but their lack of pleasure allows them to be consistent because they are not doing it for any reward other than the expectation that it is work…

Maybe I’m thinking too far into this but I feel there has to be something more to the equation than simply “more tools equals less repair”, as humans we’re unfortunately not so simple as that.

I think it’s true that if I had more tools when I was at my most creative point, I would have been even more creative than I was at that time. I can’t see it any other way, and I have less tools now than I did then but I distinctly struggle more, in fact I’m less confident of what I make now than I ever was at my apex.

Bluetomo · 2023-05-10T17:01:30.142Z

I made more music that I recorded for posterity and enjoyed listening to when I had one piece of hardware (Digitakt).

Since then, I piss about a lot, have templates on my OT to amuse briefly, but make no actual music.

But I am a bad person.

shigginpit · 2023-05-10T17:04:20.207Z

Bluetomo:

I am a bad person.

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monquixote · 2023-05-10T17:05:56.171Z

brisket:

I don’t think you can always go back, though. It’s a nostalgia trap…
When you first start exploring digital music/DAW &etc., it is mindblowing. You learn about the insane number of methods we’ve developed for manipulating chunks of audio. You figure out how that sound and that sound are made. You’ve cracked it, you’re in the Enchanted Castle of audio production. It feels fresh and exciting, you learn something new every day, and when you make a track it often has a kind of beginner’s freshness, the spice of ignorance.

I’m still very much in that zone, but I’m a bit worried how long it will last for.

I’m hoping making tracks just for the hell of it will stay fun, but I have a fear I’ll end up where I got to with guitar. Got to a level where it wasn’t worth the insane effort that would be required to get significantly better in term of technique. Invested in gear to the point where I have a vintage Fender, Gibson and a PRS and a Martin and it was pointless to keep playing the GAS game and now I rarely play with any purpose though I am quite accomplished.

thermionic · 2023-05-10T17:16:05.997Z

monquixote:

Got to a level where it wasn’t worth the insane effort that would be required to get significantly better in term of technique

That’s definitely one of the factors I take into account.

Being a solo musician, I have to take into account a lot of aspects that a band would already have from specialization.

I can buy basses, guitars, drum pads… but I will be probably best served moving forward with one non-synth instrument at a time. And since I can’t fit a full kit into my 2nd floor half height bedroom studio, driving my bass experience seems the best option.

In these cases, the GAS is partially after hitting a wall of competency but compounded by not knowing enough locals without paying for session work.

Which, I’m willing to do, but I’ll also have to settle on one path seriously enough to invest the time and $ in the local scene that I’ll never sell enough to recoup on

I work to make art with others, but working to make art for myself takes a single-mindedness and dedication that goes well beyond purchasable elements.

m0ld · 2023-05-10T17:25:18.544Z

shigginpit:

but the more you get used to it, the more immune you become until you stop associating the feeling with feeling good, then you start to look towards what is causing you to feel less than what you did before?

This happens to me to some extent, yeah. It helps me to take breaks - usually after finishing an album or project, but sometimes in the middle of one. I might go weeks without touching any of my gear, and it could be months before I record something again. It sort of helps reset the dopamine feedback loop, and it’s something that I find healthy for myself. It also helps me gather more sources of inspiration (video games and nature being my primary sources).

Sometimes acquiring a new piece of kit can hack that dopamine response and kick it off again, but as noted in other comments that effect is definitely reduced as my knowledge and skill increases.

shigginpit · 2023-05-10T17:28:58.869Z

“hanging delicately in the balance at all times” is the most apropos description of that elusive forward momentum.

homealone · 2023-05-10T17:32:10.034Z

A thought that has come about from reading back through this is that sometimes it IS actually the tools’ fault that they don’t work how you’d like, hence buying more stuff to try and find one closer to the ideal. I mean, though there’s a lot of options, the actual paradigms are quite limited in range. I have gone quite deep into speccing out what I think would be my preferred way of working, but got to the point where it means I have to make that tool myself. Part of the reason I ended up making less and less music was that I began learning exactly how one could do that by means of electrical engineering + programming which is another life’s worth of mastery in itself.

If anyone is wondering: the MPS Zyklus looks close to my ideal. Imagine that but modernised, and with built in audio recording capacity and you’re nearly there.

Even the great Vangelis had this problem, but also had nearly infinite money to throw at the solution. Wonder if he ever found one?

thermionic · 2023-05-10T17:48:33.692Z

homealone:

A thought that has come about from reading back through this is that sometimes it IS actually the tools’ fault that they don’t work how you’d like, hence buying more stuff to try and find one closer to the ideal.

I mean yeah, but at some point the ideal gear will always be just out of sight.

The gear you can do something (“imperfectly”) with will always be within literal reach.

The ideal gear will transmute to imperfect as soon as it reaches your doorstep.

shigginpit · 2023-05-10T17:48:35.947Z

There seems to be some ratio of never satisfied to always motivated that is key to people who are perpetually driven to create. I doubt infinite money equals a like amount of satiation.

homealone · 2023-05-10T17:56:24.823Z

shigginpit:

I doubt infinite money equals a like amount of satiation.

Definitely not. Vangelis was always moaning about the lack of expressive instruments in interviews, even though he could afford anything that was available. I think in the end he did in fact get something custom built, which is one thing money can afford when you have lots of it. Like getting a bespoke suit from Saville Row. Or some proper shoes made just for your feet.

thermionic:

The ideal gear will transmute to imperfect as soon as it reaches your doorstep.

Not if it is already inside your house… (ie you make it yourself)

I’m still pursuing this path but it is slow going. And having lost the impetus to make music kind of knocked the wind out of the sails of making things to make music. But learning to program has been really rewarding, as has slowly getting to grips with the mystical dark arts of EE.

LucienFoort · 2023-05-13T08:59:40.005Z

Well, looks like I’m making about 3$ so we should decide on n percentages. No, but thanks for the inspiration. God knows we’ve all been there. And walking around SUPERBOOTH 23 at the moment isn’t helping much

distantcomets · 2023-05-13T18:31:25.056Z

I use Elektron gear in non-techno scenarios but it does take some effort. Great points on the sequencing @SoundRider, but the other idea is to work to build kits and sound banks that are appropriate for funkier or in my case House type sounds.

Filtering out some of the harshness using the filters is a great starting point.

In general, I also lightly use the analog units to add saturation and warmth - drive, compression, and, even some very light LFO warble to give the whole sound design a less clean, more organic edge.

distantcomets · 2023-05-13T19:21:10.766Z

Great thread! Lots of good points above. A few have mentioned the joy of small setups relative to huge ones, and I agree wholeheartedly. If I can, I’d add a few more thoughts on what makes pairings - my preferred setup - so much more fun than both single instruments and big setups:

Easy connectivity - most two piece setups can work with just a midi cable and audio cables. No mixer, or midi or USB needed.
Bases covered - obviously this can take some thought but you can usually cover an entire track’s worth of needs with two units - samples, synths, sequencing. Beats, bass, harmony, melody. It’s hard to flesh all these out in a single but two usually allows for full coverage and some layering.
Cheat codes - This is an Elektron forum, so most of us know this, but the first time you use an LFO to modulate an external device, or program change sequence an older synth, you realize there’s still tons of sonic potential in your old pieces.

As has been said above, most people just get bogged down past a certain volume of gear. I heartily recommend that whether you only have two pieces, or own 20, that you pick just two and bounce them off each other. It’s cured my gear blues many a time…