You have gas!

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
Tarekith
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You have gas!

Post by Tarekith » Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:17 pm

Tarekith
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hussey
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Re: You have gas!

Post by hussey » Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:00 pm

I have a very bad case of it, man. I got my production setup in FEBRUARY, and I have not made one single piece yet. I'm being honest, I have not even made a loop, let alone a track. All I do each day, is spend 3-4 hours looking for more gear. In a short time, my setup has expanded: I started of with Suite, an I-mac, speakers and a midi controller. I've added Audiomulch, Circle, Max 4 Live, Logic Studio, Korg Nano Kontrol, Tascam Portastudio, Zoom H2 field recorder, Waldorf Blofeld, and a variety of effects, and plug-ins. I'm not buying anything randomly, I study each item for purchase, to make sure it will benefit my setup in some way. I'm not looking for sympathy by posting this, I just wanted to show people what this can do and how it can affect your confidence. Any advice will benefit me. I cannot tell you how pissed of I am. :(


P.S. Great article tarekith. Did you find it, or did you write it yourself? :)

Tarekith
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Re: You have gas!

Post by Tarekith » Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:15 pm

I always write the articles on my blog :)

I think it's really hard for beginners to get over GAS, because you read so many interviews and articles wih your favorite producers and they might mention all the tons of gear they have. The thing is to realize that in many cases they acquired that over a very long time, and that like you, they too probably started out with only a few key pieces.

In your case, I think it's more or less a discipline issue. You have to have the desire and discipline to say "right, that's it. I'm not buying anything until I've written 5 tracks with what I already have". In your case, you have WAY more than enough to get a song done.

One thing I forgot to touch on in the blog was that the other downside of buying gear is buying too much of it all at once. It takes months to really get into something like say the Blofeld. So when you buy a lot of thigns at once, you really don't have the focus to sit and learn any one thing. It all becomes too daunting. Best to remove some things, put them back in their boxes and just focus on 1 or 2 things for now, then slowly add more back in.

Just my $.02 though.
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hussey
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Re: You have gas!

Post by hussey » Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:51 pm

Wow thanks Tarekith, thank you. I'm really into making soundscapes, and stuff so every item was bought with that in mind i.e. the field recorder, but you hit the nail on the head. I think discipline is so crucial. I guess my problem is that I don't think I have enough sound processors, that i'm limited in someway. It's very easy to say that and actually put it into action, but hopefully i'll get there. I ordered 2 books which were recommended to me on the subject of concentration and focus, so i'm looking forward to getting stuck into them. I have a terrible habit of trying to find out what other people use: when your hear someone use fuck-all it's a fantastic feeling ( Henke just used Ableton and field recordings on his latest album, Burial etc..) , but when you hear someone that your really into say that they have a rack of hardware, it's like shit, I need a rack of stuff. I know it doesn't matter what people use, but it's hard for a noob coming into this production world. Thanks for understanding, man.

octopod
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Re: You have gas!

Post by octopod » Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:56 pm

I'm just recovering from beginners GAS. When I first started everything was new and I didn't know or care about the "proper" way of doing things or perceived limitations of my kit. After a little while I was hooked and wanted to go deeper so I started to read about synthesis, arrangement, drums, buy/watch some tutorial videos. etc. etc. At some point early in this process, I realised just how much there is to learn and I think this is when GAS started. I was hoping that synth X would magically make me understand synthesis better, or effect X would magically fill in whatever was missing from the sounds I was trying to make. Bzzzzt! Wrong! :)

I have managed to cure myself of this (mostly) by writing down a list of everything I already own that already does X. Due to the GAS this as always way longer than I think. There are moments of weakness of course (c'mon, Phosycon for €39!) but mainly I've been much more sensible the past few months. I am knuckling down with one synth to learn it properly, like all those posts I read and ignored said. I'm not unhappy I have all this stuff though, there's a lifetimes worth of study and cool noises to be made!

hussey
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Re: You have gas!

Post by hussey » Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:07 pm

Yeah, I can relate man. I have a variety of books on synthesis, electronic music, field recordings (the listening book), and video tutorial courses etc.. I'm not pissed of I have alot of stuff, it will come to good use in time, though. I'm gonna learn about how to focus, concentrate and have self-discipline. I just need to get over this idea that I have not got enough sources of sound.

Is my setup somewhat efficient for what I want to make?
Last edited by hussey on Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

LeifonMars
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Re: You have gas!

Post by LeifonMars » Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:08 pm

Evolver (desktop) was the first hardware synth I bought about 5 years ago and I have barely scratched the surface of that thing since I haven't really explored its sequencer at all. Since then I've bought 4 more hardware synths, out of witch I've sold two already, and I am considering selling third one (Monomachine). Every time I'm lusting for a new piece of kit I remind me about Evolver; I'm confident, that exploring the limits of my existing kit will lead me to more inspiring and original results than grabbing new toys every two months or so. Lust still remains, though, and it's hard to fight against.
MBP OSX 10.6.8, Live 8.4, MFII, Evolver, Monomachine, Octatrack, APC40, Launchpad

octopod
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Re: You have gas!

Post by octopod » Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:27 pm

hussey wrote:Yeah, I can relate man. I have a variety of books on synthesis, electronic music, field recordings (the listening book), and video tutorial courses etc.. I'm not pissed of I have alot of stuff, it will come to good use in time, though. I'm gonna learn about how to focus, concentrate and have self-discipline. I just need to get over this idea that I have not got enough sources of sound.

Is my setup somewhat efficient for what I want to make?
I think you need the focus/discipline thing, but you also have to have fun too. Assume your kit is good for what you want to do and just get started making stuff and experimenting. I know that's the easiest thing in the world to say but can be the hardest thing to do. I think you have to accept "failure" as a part of the process and not be scared/pissed off throwing things away. If all you learn is how not to do something that's still good knowledge! Watching too many tutorials and not doing enough experimentation is a related "disease" to GAS, of which I'm also guilty. Sure have some planned out learning and study time but also turn a synth on and see what crazy noises you can make with no aim in mind :)

hussey
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Re: You have gas!

Post by hussey » Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:52 pm

Some great advice. I hope that my setup at this particular time will be enough. It seems that there is alot of possibilities, unfortunately I haven't got to grips with any of it yet. My setup if anyone is interested:

I-mac, nio interface, krk speakers, nocturn 25 midi keyboard, korg nano kontrol, zoom h2 field recorder, tascam 414 portastudio, korg monotron, waldorf blofeld.

Ableton Suite, M4L, Logic Studio, Audiomulch, Circle, and a variety of plug-ins.

It seems pretty sufficient at this point in time, it might be fuck all for some people, but I shouldn't really focus on that.

Great thread. :)

Poster
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Re: You have gas!

Post by Poster » Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:58 pm

no GAS for me anymore.. cured since about a year, though all worth the fun and experience/knowledge in trying out different pieces..
shrank it down to 2 hardware synths, 2 software synths, a couple of FX and Maschine, that's it..

don't think it's always a case of GAS, especially since there are no demos for hardware.. you have to buy to try..

macmurphy
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Re: You have gas!

Post by macmurphy » Fri Dec 24, 2010 8:52 am

hussey wrote:Some great advice. I hope that my setup at this particular time will be enough. It seems that there is alot of possibilities, unfortunately I haven't got to grips with any of it yet. My setup if anyone is interested:

I-mac, nio interface, krk speakers, nocturn 25 midi keyboard, korg nano kontrol, zoom h2 field recorder, tascam 414 portastudio, korg monotron, waldorf blofeld.

Ableton Suite, M4L, Logic Studio, Audiomulch, Circle, and a variety of plug-ins.

It seems pretty sufficient at this point in time, it might be fuck all for some people, but I shouldn't really focus on that.

Great thread. :)
that's a nice setup - the possibilities are pretty much endless with that.

as octopod said - experiment!

Radio Arcade
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Re: You have gas!

Post by Radio Arcade » Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:42 am

Well written! Sooooo True!
Music Makes You Lose KoNtRoL!

Machinesworking
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Re: You have gas!

Post by Machinesworking » Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:48 am

The only time GAS ever really hits me is with sales. <--The PolyKB if I could afford it for instance.
Unlike a lot of people I rarely sell anything, so mostly I struggle with every purchase like I was using my last dime to buy it. (sometimes I am) Software and hardware synths I get for specific reasons, the only synth I bought because it was a good deal was the Poly Evolver, and I've ended up using it on plenty of my material. I'm not a frugal person when it comes to this, as an example.
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... start=3690
Though at this point, beyond getting a windfall and having 10K to spend on a modular synth and some decent mics, I'm pretty much done for a long while. Freakin software upgrades alone are enough expense IMO! :evil:
I made songs with a single sampler and a copy of Digital Performer, so it's not that I need the stuff, but I am where I want to be with the gear at this point and that's cool, the sound palette is vast. Mostly I know exactly what I want and why though, I'm not just shooting in the dark with purchases. The Xpander was an almost life long desire for instance.


Al I'm saying is it's good to know what you want and why before buying. I definitely take into account any gear I'm glad I own that I haven't gotten around to fully using if I'm lusting after new gear, that's a must!

Khazul
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Re: You have gas!

Post by Khazul » Fri Dec 24, 2010 1:47 pm

The best fix for gas is lack of cash and a refusal to use credit as an alternative :)
Nothing to see here - move along!

channelite
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Re: You have gas!

Post by channelite » Fri Dec 24, 2010 3:31 pm

I always buy on credit having a year with no interest to pay it back. I won't buy anything new until my balance is zero. I like having less gear and learning Live better. I finally am content with my two midi controllers, the Axiom 25 and pad kontrol after trying a bunch of others.

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