Geek, Wannabie or Pro?

anonymouse · Post by **anonymouse** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:29 pm

I think it was rikhyray who recently said that many Ableton users are not "Geeks or Wannabies"

So I am trying to figure out, if not that, what the hell are we?
I assume the alternative will have something to do with commercial success and popular recognition.

But I'll happily volunteer to be Geek.

I love music - listening to it, trying to make it, experimenting etc. (but don't have the urge to really want exposure or commercial success)

I guess the vast majority of us here are happy Geeks, but I'd like to hear some feedback from people in general, incase I am wrong ...

Are you a Geek or are you a Wannabie? OR ... are you making a fulltime Pro living out of music?

There is already an interesting discussion "Style vs Success" about the compromises a Wannabie must make to get to the top.

I don't know how to set up one of these polls so I'll go first in the old-fashioned way -

Geek

minimal · Post by **minimal** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:48 pm

... what about wannabe geek?

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:56 pm

Do what you want!
- Bad Religion

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:42 pm

minimal wrote:... what about wannabe geek?

I'd prefer geeky wannabe, but hey, beggers can't be choosers.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:53 pm

One wannabe right here.

I wanna be free. I wannabe free to do what I wanna do. And I wanna get loaded. And I wanna have a good time. That's what I'm gonna do. I wanna get deep down...

-Paws

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:57 pm

sweetjesus wrote:Do what you want!
- Bad Religion

Do whatcha whatcha whatcha want!
- Beastie Boys

bitmap · Post by **bitmap** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 11:44 pm

semi-pro?

spiderprod · Post by **spiderprod** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 11:50 pm

it's funny cos i started as a wannabe , then i belive i became a geek witch made me make money from my knowledge . now i have my production company & my record label .
it's good to see posts like this ,it makes me remember how the way to get were i am now was not a walk in the park .& to be honest it's still hard to make some real profit at the end of the month ,
but the most important i think is that i never gave up my dream & now i am living it .

what makes a track pop or underground is simply the number of peoples who listen to it .
a good pr can make any track a success ...

braj · Post by **braj** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:24 am

Geek. I think I enjoy the tech as much as actually making music. Things are so far beyond what they were when I got my first synth in 1983, starting using CV to sequence. Just the fact that you can get really high quality sound and results using Live and a bunch of free synths on a moderately priced computer. I remember spending $15,000 on just a small fraction of only the Midi part of what modern sequencers are capable of. It all just amazes me.

5inusoid · Post by **5inusoid** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:26 am

Geek and proud!

Never a Wannabe.

Be yourself, never Wannabe something you're not.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 4:08 am

braj wrote:Geek. I think I enjoy the tech as much as actually making music. Things are so far beyond what they were when I got my first synth in 1983, starting using CV to sequence. Just the fact that you can get really high quality sound and results using Live and a bunch of free synths on a moderately priced computer. I remember spending $15,000 on just a small fraction of only the Midi part of what modern sequencers are capable of. It all just amazes me.

so, SO true. looking back on how music was made 20 years ago. it just seems all so trivial. and for so many years it stayed that way. until computers became fast enough to do EVERYTHING, audio AND midi.

you look at the early 80's and the midi craze. CV and Midi combined. "this controls this, and is slaved to this, and that controls that and is the master for that". Now its like "he controls a computer", simple enough eh? but imagine how we are going to look back on the digital audio production leap from 2000-2005 in say 2025 !! How will we be making music then. I can't even begine to imagine.
Will computers be so fast and inexpensive that everything will be recorded at 32bit/ 192khz yet also at the same bit/sample rates to fit a million of these files on a hard drive the size of your thumbnail? Will MP3s become obsolete because memory and hard drives will be so big/ yet small in size that compression won't be necessary?
Or will one of Bush's cronies have nuked the whole damn world that we'll never see 2025?
either way, it will be inspiring

braj · Post by **braj** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 4:12 am

AdamJay wrote:
braj wrote: Or will one of Bush's cronies have nuked the whole damn world that we'll never see 2025?

Unfortunately, that would be my guess

supster · Post by **supster** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:22 am

I think you should enjoy the f*ck out of what you're doing, and that's all that matters in the end.

If you're creating something you're an artist, whether or not a single other person "gets" what you're doing, or even if nobody else ever hears it.

If you "wannabe" commercially succesful, or a rockstah, then go for it. Just remember the odds are high, the road is long .. and if you cant comprimise at your chances of getting there are a whole lot slimmer.

But - if you into this anything beyond an occassional hobby: you are most definitely a geek

So that includes probably about 99% of the regulars on this forum

duncjam · Post by **duncjam** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 3:20 pm

Definitely a geek.

I actively do not want a record contract, gigs, etc.

This is not down an illusion that I'm some kind of artist, I make music because I love to play with sound, and I love the technology, and the process.

It also gives me the freedom to sample from commercial recordings if I want to, as I'm pretty much the only person who will ever hear this stuff. If I feel like making some unlistenable noise after a bad day at work, I can.

Self indulgent, yes, but all that means is that my music has precisely fulfilled its intentions!

dunc

Nick Maxwell · Post by **Nick Maxwell** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 3:51 pm

I think that I am more geek than anything at this point in my development. I have been writing some form of electronic music for about 7 years now, which may not seem long to some of you, but it's been long enough to realize some things. I don't practice and hone my craft enough, regardless of whether I have enough free time or not. I am lazy like that. As a result, I spend most of my time tooling around in the studio with different sounds until I enjoy what is coming out of my soundcard.

That being said, it seems apparent that the process and the tools are absolutely as important to me as the final product. I enjoy the aesthetic of minimalist tools like Live, as they promote efficient workflow, creativity that is hard to feel in more traditional sequencers, and this aesthetic is in line with the kind of vibe I am trying to achieve in my music. I am pretty shallow when it comes down to the tools I use; if the interface is not appealing to me, I don't use it, regardless of the quality of the sounds it is outputting.

When it comes right down to it, I want to enjoy every element of the process. To some that will seem shallow, but I suspect many of you will recognize some of what I am saying as part of your artistic process. For me, personally, the transition to being more artist than geek will come when I am able to sit down and consistently produce the sounds that I am hearing in my mind with a minimum of effort, leaving more time to polish what is already there rather than trying to lump more crap on top of the current sounds in a vain attempt to 'make it sound better.' Each time I do this, I further betray the minimalist aesthetic that I had in mind when I sat down in front of my computer.

Anyhoo, this is the frustration, as well as the pure elation, that I have been feeling pretty consistently over the past 7 years. Luckily, I have put together enough tracks to build an album that I am quite proud of.

EDIT: In hindsight, after thinking about my post a little, I came to a comforting conclusion. I create art by capturing pieces of the sounds around me and challenging myself to make sense of them in a composition of synths and samplers, since most of my music is based around field-recordings. This lends to the geek vs. traditional musician vibe that a lot of us seem to have on this board.

thanks for reading my book,

- Nick Maxwell