Gear Lust and Hardware vs Minimalistic Setup. Discuss.

[M. Bréqs]

I have the worst timing in the world.

When I had weekly gigs, I was hauling an Andromeda A6 in a flight Case, a second 5 octave keyboard also in a flight case, and 27 (yes twenty-seven) rack spaces of gear. It was a nightmare.

So, I pared down the set up so that I could "gig n' go". Laptop, software, two controllers. I could ride a bicycle to a gig now!

And that's when the gigs dried up.

What crap timing.

I miss my hardware. Perhaps it's nostalgia, perhaps it's "alpha-male competition" or gear hot-rodding, but for some reason I really miss it. I find I am less creative without the hardware. Why?

Because for 8 to 9 hours a day, I sit in front of a computer at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is to sit in front of a computer for my hobby. The hardware sequencer and physical synths made that a lot easier. But, my decision was made and I'll stick to it.

[Machinate]

For me it is key to have a custom interface, be it a highly modded software environment or midi controller setup. I have a bunch of ideas about what I want to do, and how it's going to happen, and that needs to translate into a UI that makes sense. This means a million little controls that I want to be represented, which means that it *needs* to be custom.

At times it feels like a huge paradox that many of the reasons for getting rid of hardware means getting more hardware, just different stuff, but the thought of knowing that every button in my maximal/minimal setup is being put to good use for a control freak like me.

[Mike Goodwin]

This is a great thread.

Well I sold most of my hardware a couple of years ago. I am down to some sound cards, my TC Electronic Tripple C compressor, a couple of decent mic pre's a patch bay, EMU XL7 and my trusty Nord Lead. All but my nord stays off about 95% of the time. I am all about the computer at this point. I have my trusty AMD, a dual G5 1.8 and a IBM laptop.

This is kinda how I see it.

1. Have all the tools you need.
2. Use the right tool for the job.
3. Dont waste time trying to turn a hammer into a screwdriver.
4. Know where your trying to get to when you start and dont lose focus.

I like to have qute a large selection of tools in my toolbox but I do generaly know how I like to work and what tools I want to use. I think it is a good idea to take less is more when trying to wright a good track but that does not mean that you cant have a huge selection of synths to choose from. The key is to exercise discipline in order to not lose focus.

For my desktop/production computer power is always in demand. I try and use the fastest computer I can and I have also taken to using DSP cards. For my laptop I am not so worried as I dont expect it to be able to run all the things I need at one time. The hard work is done on my desktop and bounced down at the end for use on the laptop. I could see how in a few years only working on a laptop could work out for me though with the speeds getting as they are.

well thats my bag

Peace

[mikemc]

Angstrom's observation about "beginner's mind" was really good, what happens when one is presented with something new, whether it be a new plug-in or new piece of hardware or instrument.

You can do a lot with a laptop by itself, but as M Breqs said it gets to be a little more work-like and less musical-like.

I'm a guitarist more than keyboardist, and got a Novation ReMOTE 25 because I wanted a small keyboard/midi controller. This way bass lines are easy to come up with. I have an old CZ5000 synth that has a larger keyboard, it's heavy and dusty and arcane-- keys work fine, it's fine for controlling a softsynth as well as having a few good sounds (as well as cheezy) in it-- but it is a silly thing to tote around. Having said that, playing a 61 key synth is much more musical.

If I have a "philosophical issue" it's more, like, "at what point am I really cheating?" For example, i could play guitar riffs at a slow speed, then use Live to speed it up til I'm like Hyper-Ynqwie Malmsteen: that to me is despicably cheating. But, using an arpeggiator plugin to generate notes such that I just need to play a couple of keys that's not really cheating at all. For my keyboard skills and general style, where I'm putting together some basslines or simple melodies, the 25 key is fine, I just don't have the same range of contiguous travel, but that isn't always essential to my stuff, and when I plug up the larger keyboard, then I get some new juices flowing.

It may be 'hotrodding' to some extent, but a real consideration might be, if there is a practice to avoid that "irrevocably sullies the art" which may or may not involve some amount (or lack) of hardware. It is more or less up to the individual, and I think you don't necessarily sacrifice something essential when you pare down to have less to lug around. I'd feel like I was empty if I couldn't use my guitar, or larger keyboard, from time to time, but I'd be lying to myself if I think what I'm doing is anything other than primarily computer-centric, and as such should be able to grasp that and make it work in it's bare form (lol, if you can consider Live 5, Bidule, FL5 and a few hundred plugins "bare").

[djshiva]

i kind of like the "smallness" of computer based studios. to me, gear lust was always just a reflection of an acquisition-driven consumer society. i love the idea of getting two or three really good base programs and plugins, and then grabbing free vsts and vstis to make tunes.

of course, the acquisition drive is never TRULY negated when you have updates/upgrades all the time, but...hey...you can't win 'em all.

i, for one, took a look at a friend's gear-based studio, and while it was "neat" to see all those knobs and such, i sure as hell do not have the room for that kinda thing, nor the patience to hook it all up. not to mention finding the focus to learn every piece of gear to an extent that i could find a decent workflow method to writing. more really is less in my book.

i don't want to have to be an electrical engineer to make tunes. i just wanna frickin' make tunes, dammit!

i'll take the puter anyday.

[Mbazzy]

With today's laptop setups, minimalistic is very relative ...

Even with "just a laptop and controller" , you can have an overbloated setup . It's the pitfall of overcrowded vst(i) folders ... .

Have been there myself - scavenging the Net for plugins - but personnally at one point I decided to go grassroots again, and try to some extent emulate what a hardware studio would look like and go for one or two reverbs, compressors etc
and to try to understand what these efx are doing ... same thing on the virtual synth side.

Same thing on the recording/producing tip : stopped using 64 tracks to make a song ... if it can't be done in 8-16 tracks , you're on the wrong path ...
Consequently this approach frees up tons of cpu power and makes much of the cpu/platform/blablabla discussions obsolete ...

just my 2c

[Mike Goodwin]

With today's laptop setups, minimalistic is very relative ...

Even with "just a laptop and controller" , you can have an overbloated setup . It's the pitfall of overcrowded vst(i) folders ... .

Have been there myself - scavenging the Net for plugins - but personnally at one point I decided to go grassroots again, and try to some extent emulate what a hardware studio would look like and go for one or two reverbs, compressors etc
and to try to understand what these efx are doing ... same thing on the virtual synth side.

Same thing on the recording/producing tip : stopped using 64 tracks to make a song ... if it can't be done in 8-16 tracks , you're on the wrong path ...
Consequently this approach frees up tons of cpu power and makes much of the cpu/platform/blablabla discussions obsolete ...

just my 2c

I agree. I still have quite a large number of plugins but most of them are attatched to my powercore and uad DSP cards. I dont see the need to have any more than that. As for synths I look at it the same way you do. Have the synths that you might own if you had a hardware studio, not all the synths you can find. I use about seven or eight synths and a software sampler. Mind you one of the "synths" is reaktor. but to be totaly honest I am getting to that point where I dont need anything more. This is not to say that I might not want some things but rely from here it is all about the computer and how fast it is. Same thing goes with mixing a track If i ever get over 16 stereo tracks with 4 FX busses I know that I am just making a mess when making dance music.

[dj superflat]

this is obviously oversimplification, but i think there's a divide between musicians and, for lack of a better word, fetishists. that is, for some people, the gear (and fiddling with it) is the end, like fly fishers who focus solely on making flies rather than fishing (or guitar players who are more interested in fiddling with thousands of fx rather than finding a great sound and making musics). for others, the goal is making music, however that's easiest when compared to necessary level of quality in output.

and i think some of it's maturation -- what attracts many to electronic recording is the possibility of having an entire studio in a box (that's essentially reason's selling point). after a while, many realize you want something more like an instrument than a studio (because the idea of a studio makes less sense if you're not recording a band, etc.). so you switch from logic to live, become zen and reject the plenty (i'm joking, but after a while you realize it's an illusion to think that you necessarily get more out of having all the synths logic offers rather than focusing on one synth like operator).

i'm biased, of course. i'm a guitar player, and over the years, a very good accoustic has more appeal than just about anything, because you can just take it anywhere and play. so you tend to play more, more spontaneously, etc. i'm trying to find the same way of hacking around with live so that it's not work -- so that i don't go into an "office"/studio/computer room to make music, but instead just drag the laptop in front of the tv and look for the same odd inspiration you get from noodling around on a guitar while watching (e.g.) monday nite football.

so i'm definitely trying to get to minimalist (my real problem is that i need monitors -- i don't like playing through headfones -- and you don't want to cart those around, or have a set in every room).

[thump]

it's so funny that i checked in to find this topic going today. i am in the midst of some serious, chest-tightening, breath-shortening gearlust right now over the pics of the new mpc1000 bk:

http://www.gearjunkies.com/news_info.php?news_id=978

i've got a nice setup that i'm really pleased with at home - i definitely have enough stuff to keep me occupied and learning for some time, and for the most part (barring the obligatory fascination with new kit, which never completely goes away, it seems) i'm quite satisfied (in that respect) where i'm at.

however.

i'm realizing that what inspires me is very much a tactile experience, and what's more, the sitting-in-a-chair-in-front-of-a-computer syndrome can be just the opposite. so i'm thinking that i want something that i can sit down on the couch with, set in my lap, and start clicking and knobbing away at. and i don't want to interrupt my moment-to-moment concentration trying to make a mouse point just so. and i don't want to stare at a laptop screen. plus, ever since i heard protolab doing live d&b on a pair of mpc2000s, i've always fetishized that delightful, solid, *gearness* of akais as the way i'd want to be rocking my own material in a live context. i don't know if that's how it would go over nowadays - i suspect that my live setup will ultimately have a laptop at its hub (when i have a live set to speak of) - but it's been gnawing at the back of my skull for going on 7 years or so now, and i think it's time that i indulged the whim, since it never really went away.

but i wouldn't give up my home rig for anything. i like the idea of having options, different ways to compose. that's basically how i'm selling the idea to myself.

[MarkH]

I think the secret is to make the music writing "process" feel like an extension of what I like to do in DJ performances. Like I'm spontaenously jamming in my studio (with some guidelines, of course) to make a song. Live is the only program that really allows this. It's all about making variations of phrases in Session view and copy/paste the ones I want into the Arrange view. Works like a charm.

While working on a song I like to move around in my software programs as quickly as possible. I've tried a few times to force myself into Logic or Pro Tools as my main sequencer apps but I just can't do it. My attention span is short and each time I've started a song, I look at it 8 hours later and think "Time to start over" yet in Live 4 I completed my first commercial remix in 3 days and my second one in 9 hours. What gave me the kick-start to try Live was when Chris Cowie told me he had just completed his entire EP in Live 3, so I knew I needed to give it a try for more than just DJ'ing. That's when I knew Live has to be my go-to application.

I'm holding out for the Access Virus TI to get the bugs worked. Having a 16 part hardware synth piped into Live over USB with a VST/AU front end means 0 CPU utilization. This gives me enough headroom for my other plugins without feeling like I need to Freeze all the time and bridge the gap between the tactile feel of hardware/software.

I have to admit I do find Cubase SX 3 a pretty cool application. Not as "instantaneous" as Live, but still pretty darn good. If the Yamaha 01V96 support Mackie Control, I would add that to my Live studio rig immediately. The new Tascam DM3200 does this but costs $4,000 with the Firewire and Meter Bridge add-ons.