What do you think of GAS?

The Lounge General Discussion
#62

Reminds me of a quote a friend sent me this morning:

Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers & misfits, people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all the holes in their lives. (From a forward to an edition of Into the Wild they’re reading).

I think when I placed my overly hasty Digitone order, I half-jokingly said “this will be the synth to fix all my problems and pull me out of my slump, right? RIGHT?”

And then this morning (before my friend sent me that quote), I was thinking “another trip to Alaska will fix all my problems and pull me out of my slump, right? RIGHT?”

:wink:

3 Likes
#63

Maybe take this time to get in depth with one particular instrument…

I am using mainly the A4 mk2 for weeks now. Other boxes around like satellites, but this one is the true heart.
I can take it alone with headphones and forget myself in music for hours… Now I understand way better how to use feedback, handle FM and AM, and start to really use this QPerf knob (so great to play with Delay feedback while tweaking sound parameters)…

The only gear I am impatiently waiting for right now is the Dtone.
But otherwise I’m feeling more and more that I have all I need right now.

Having sold the gear I was barely touching anymore really freed me from GAS, I felt.

3 Likes
#64

Personally I think that inexpensive gear can be gas inducing because it is easier to obtain on a whim.

Also being too focused on one area of your life may create artificial pressure, gas can be a coping mechanism when looking around your synth cave and wondering why the tunes aren’t flowing.

#65

Something I ask myself when I am GASing real hard is:
Where could I travel with all that money?
I am kind of a neo-hyppie so 1500€ Could last up to a month and a half in some european countries or more if I have a friend there. Maybe two months in South America (I live there).
Tools are great but I think knowing new places, seeing beautiful things, meeting other people makes me happier and more creative overall than one more synth.

4 Likes
#66

A good GAS antidote can be rather than watching a video of the new shiny thing, watch a video of a thing you already own in the hands of someone else, it might give you ideas and make you realise what you have is what you need.

20 Likes
#67

Exactly :point_up_2:

1 Like
#68

exactly! I’ve had a Blofeld for a year, last night I found some videos that made me realise I have no idea about how to use wavetable synthesis. Bam, 20 minutes of watching a video and I have a whole new synth.

4 Likes
#69

For me one thing I try to do is find out what people who make the music I love are using.

Most people who post on internet forums hardly ever make anything or what they do make is terrible. It’s nice to discount the opinions of people whose music (or at least sound) you don’t respect because otherwise you’re being led in a potentially bad direction.

There’s tons of posts by people saying certain gear is great that has objectively bad sound quality issues or is completely useless for the kinds of things you want to be doing.

So the best thing is to ignore comments by most people and find out who you trust. Maybe a musician you like or a youtube demo-ist who is actually making good stuff you like with it.

I ignore almost every opinion given about gear that’s just a text post on a forum by a faceless person.

That will reduce GAS.

3 Likes
#70

I am actually using a counter intuitive approach out of GAS

I am purchasing/trading my way out of it and coming through the other side

I started off purchasing everything i could afford and wanted but as time is going by I am wanting less and less, in fact I am actually selling off more gear than buying these days

3 Likes
#71

My opinion of gas is that people treat it like a terminal illness when it’s just not. It might seem like I’m being negative but the point is positive, just stop buying shit and reading about buying shit all day and the urge will go away. I desire things I can’t afford like everyone else, it doesn’t stop me making music. The thing stopping me finishing tracks is usually either
•A. Laziness
•B. A jam I’ve played isn’t worth recording/saving.
•C. Ive overproduced it and destroyed all magic that was once in the track

I don’t think creativity is constant, it’s like a muscle. Train it and it gets easier to use on demand. If you want to build muscle it doesn’t mean you lift weights round the clock every day, you change your lifestyle. Buying more gear is the equivalent of consistently buying more weights. I’m glad people are throwing money at something I’m interested in, but at the same time it results in companies rehashing the same things over and over in a different package with the buzzwords of the month. Is this really progress :thinking: imagine if companies weren’t milking the cash cow and started taking full advantage of the technology available today. I’m rambling

tl;dr gas is stupid but at least gear is attainable now. Buy some and use it

7 Likes
#72

A4 mk1. Analog subtractive synthesis covered.
Octatrack mk1. Sampling Covered
MDUW2 Drum machine covered.
Studio monitors: covered.
Musicians I enjoy have made better with less and at this point I need to lear how to use my existing equipment. I lump learning music theory as the other manual that needs reading.

I watched an interview with Steve Reich, he claimed an apple ii was sufficient for one of his albums.
Dj Shadow made Endtroducing with a MPC 60
Loop Finding Jazz Records was done on an ensoniq asr-10 sequenced by an atari.
and on and on.

I’m sure people have more examples to add.

5 Likes
#73

#1 for 2 weeks and known worldwide

2 Likes
#74

The entroducing example is a little misleading tho.
Sure it was written on an MPC 60 alone. But it was tracked to ADAT multi track recorder and mixed in a studio.
Just saying, since I know the whole “I did it all otb” hipster movement is big around here.

3 Likes
#75

Back on topic, GAS is the basis of an entire industry, so obviously we are all gonna be suckers for it at least a little.
But I feel, personally that I am very nearly where I want to be gear wise.
Maybe a couple little things to improve workflow would do it for me.
The thing I am really “GASing” for is a proper space, where I can make music whenever and not disturb anyone, or be stuck using headphones which are killing my ears. A large enough space I could mic guitar cabs, with proper acoustic treatment etc.
I don’t really need or want much else gear wise tho.
But GAS can also be fun too, thinking about gear, just don’t let it get in the way!

2 Likes
#76

i sometimes escape the gas triggering event sequences, and sometimes am enveloped by gas.

when free of the acquisition convinced mindset, it seems ludicrous to want more.

when i desire more for seemingly sensible reasons, i get filled with great expectations, then think less of what is currently in the studio.

i think the secret is songs, musically relevant arrangements of vibes. the perfect section, and then the perfect next section to transition to. also, having a well written manual on how to mix open on the table nearby is a help. learning about frequencies makes it easier to focus on the basics of what can be done with a simple eq or volume adjustment, etc.

my current desire is a comfortable studio chair that is positioned at the perfect angle. and gigs. live performance, such a joy.

1 Like
#77

When GAS attacks I open Reaktor. Also Dexed has cured my GAS for Digitone. VST synths sound great doubled up on two tracks with each panned. Can’t tell the difference between hard and soft synths anymore esp in the mix.

1 Like
#78

is this the ‘grit’ from Starlight Drift sampler? I like that track. been trying to find a copy of that sampler for a while. wouldn’t have pegged that sound for Reason so just goes to show what the right hands can do with any of the tools available to us these days. for me GAS is usually a diversionary tactic from really getting down to producing something interesting, sadly enough. I’ve got an A4 and AR here which I am gasing to update with an OT (which some may find perfectly reasonable)… back in storage I’ve got a ton of stuff from my last big GAS stage in the 90s (waldorf stuff, XT and MQ, TX81Z, Akai S2000 and various outboard gear). Keep telling myself to stop buying any gear until I have an album’s worth of decent tracks. On the plus side, once I unearth my old gear from storage it may be worth something on the vintage market :slight_smile:

1 Like
#79

As often as I have GAS, I have Anti-Gas as well. Then I want to sell most of my gear.
Happened during NAM, when these endless videos and gear discussions came up recently. And often happens when I think about the things I still don’t know about the gear I own already. Especially with something like the OT… And sometimes I’m getting annoyed of all the promising countless possibilities, cause making nice tracks can be much easier and faster than learning the newest purchase.

1 Like
#80

I don’t care for GAS. I just want the Neutron.

4 Likes
#81

I think GAS is the result of too much money and not enough free time. This, and bullshit jobs leaving us with too much time for the internet.

13 Likes