#256

there are anti-capitalist threads here, but i wouldn’t blame people “down the food chain” for the wreckage of capitalism. synthfluencers don’t own the means of production :wink:

7 Likes
#257

I must be the only person whose GAS is not only not provoked but is actually squashed by the the rise of all these synthfluencers! Part of the allure of new gear for me has always been the mystery - imagining what it might be able to do based on the functions presented, thinking through my own workarounds and tricks that I want to explore, what features might be able to be stretched beyond their intent with clever patching or programming. I remember back in the nineties poring over catalogs and brochures for hours, getting myself all riled up to buy some total (retroactively) dog crap piece of gear like a ROMpler because of the potential that it offered.

For me, synthfluencers kill the mystery entirely - especially the talented ones. If I looked at the 0-Controller on a website, I’d daydream and imagine all sorts of cool applications and also recognize that there were untold new adventures waiting once I got it in my studio and started exploring. I’d probably buy one that day. Now? The day it’s announced I’ve got 10 different dudes all spending an hour completely pulling it apart and already spoiling all of that stuff plus their own cool tricks that I now wouldn’t have the joy of stumbling on on my own. It’s like watching a complete playthrough of a new video game before you even get to play it - by the time it’s done, I can’t help but feel like “why bother now?”

It’s always been as much or more about the journey as it is the destination for me.

25 Likes
#258

No, your are not. My ego enjoys to claim a new discovery to itself.
The demos which works most well from my gas are dose which are soundwise excellent done.

1 Like
#259

I second that these videos make me want to explore my existing gear in new directions. Especially the more advanced videos like from Loopop. Can I clock Rene or Brains+PP at audio rate? I will definitely try that out!

2 Likes
#260

The difference being that there are only so many ways to play a video game, and near-infinite ways to make music.

A video game stands alone and is by and large linear - when you know how to beat the boss, you can reliably beat the boss. But no two people, even with identical pieces of gear, are going to make the exact same music.

1 Like
#261

I definitely had to do this when I started out here and was trying to figure out Kria. With all the firmware upgrades along the way (prior to this most recent official release) I had to read through the threads and make notes, annotating a PDF of a blank grid along the way so I could reference the different button layouts/combos on different pages. I agree that it 1. helped me understand kria better 2. helped me remember what I was learning

3 Likes
#262

Actually this is one thing I have been thinking about with videos on Youtube. I think one of the problems is, what the hell would you search for to find new cool electronic music experiments if not for the gear?

This is actually a bit of a problem I think. What do I search for if I want to find videos like this? I really like videos like this, but they are pretty much ALL based on “me using this piece of gear”. If I were to search them out without focusing on gear I really don’t think they would be easy to find.

6 Likes
#263

There will always be something missing.

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#264

I must not have GAS. GAS is the wallet-killer. GAS is the discernment-death that brings total distraction. I will face my GAS. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the GAS has gone there will be nothing. Only my bank account will remain.

25 Likes
#265

Everyone has to make a living, including the Make Noise guys. Don’t begrudge them what is not only their livelihood, but also clearly their passion.

11 Likes
#266

I just decided I won’t buy any new gear for the rest of the year, and more importantly, not look at new gear to buy. I’ve been struggling with looking at second hand gear listings compulsively for a while, and after sharing and talking about it with friends I realised it just have to stop. It takes too much precious time from my life, and fills me with feelings of hopelessness and lack of meaning.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the many things that has been reported is that online gambling is increasing. There was a lady on the radio that described the problem, saying that the dream of that big score, that will change everything, might just be one bet away, and you can’t not bet because then you could miss it. Even though I’m not a gambler, I could see and feel a strong connection to this feeling. In reality, I don’t have any money to spare on gear at the moment. But that amazing deal that will change everything might just be one page refresh away. And if I don’t check the listings often enough, I might miss it.

I can also strongly relate this feeling and behaviour to reading toy catalogues when I was a kid. I could spend hours, days and weeks flipping back and forth through the toy store catalogue, circling in all the toys I want but would never get, fantasising what it would be like to actually hold them in my hands – how much more fun it would be, how much more fulfilled I would feel.

But it’s a chimera. And it becomes like a rash you have to itch even though you know you shouldn’t. I’m trying to figure out a good strategy to keep my promise, and not buy any new gear and not compulsively watch second hand listings. One idea is that I can watch videos and read posts about gear I already have instead.

I also find that the best schedule for me is to start making music directly after breakfast. It’s just a small threshold to come over, it usually doesn’t take more than 20 minutes, but then the hours start disappearing (in a good way). Also, planning studio time into my calendar has been an important step. Whether or not you make music professionally or as a hobby, setting away time where you’re not available to others or can make other plans, makes a big difference.

25 Likes
#267

it seems like this discussion kinda gets to the heart of the state of electronic music instrument development and marketing today and I really don’t think there are any easy answers.

the Make Noise thing has been talked to death here, but let’s take a look at Monome as a contrast…

Whereas the 0-ctrl is now a very well understood thing before it has even shipped, norns is (2 years on) still a mysterious object to a lot of people. A lot of that is surely due to the nature of the thing (norns today is significantly more/different than it was in 2018 and defies easy functional explanation), but a lot of it is also clearly a personal choice by @tehn.

is something lost in this? would more people knowing about or understanding norns mean better things (however you define that)? I don’t know.

I have a hard time faulting Make Noise for building a thing they care about and wanting people to know about it. if you build tools for creativity and have the marketing landscape that exists today, you simply try to get people aware of the thing you’ve done. their new standalone form factor was always clearly about making the intimidating nature of eurorack a little more accessible and so education for these tools also feels incredibly valuable, especially since a lot of people might not even understand the limitations and opportunities of an analog sequencer.

leveraging people with dedicated followings who aren’t already, say, followers of Make Noise on any of their channels, is a real way to spread information about the product.

however, what you do get is an highly coordinated flooding of the airwaves with foggy lines between what is being informed by passion and what is being driven by commerce. it’s par for the course in most of the world, especially the musical gear world, but it feels like we’re losing touch with the origins of Make Noise and from some of these youtube creators. so there’s a sense of loss in all this (to me at least).

all to say, I don’t think any of this is simple. if any of these people’s main focus was just making money, I don’t think this is what any of them would be doing. making and introducing a new thing into the world without traveling down existing and somewhat distasteful avenues of communication is hard.

15 Likes
#268

I don’t have Norns, but I’m very interested in one but to be honest, the fragmented and abstract nature of information is making it harder for me to evaluate how it would fit to my workflow, how I would possibly use it and how I would practically take advantage of the openness. I don’t need dozen youtube influencer reviews, but some kind of rough run-through in video format would be nice. Written manuals and hundreds of forum posts are one thing, and very valuable at that, but without actually having one I have hard time comprehending the actual practical use of the unit. For example loopop style review/walkthrough would be super valuable for me. I rarely look at these review etc. videos for their opinions on is the thing in question any good or worth to buy, but to see it in use, to have the principles explained and shown. If I compare Norns something like Organelle, I feel like I understand the later much better. There’s video content on it from both Critter&Guitari and third parties, plus I can practice Pure Data on my own computer etc. Norns is just this behemoth of alluring, mysterious potential, but if I got one now, I wouldn’t know where to begin.

7 Likes
#269

Used to think so too until I got norns shield. I think shield is a good and inexpensive way to try if it’s your thing or not. Primarily use it as a quirky delay looper. Don’t have grid yet, though introduction of live processing to cheat codes makes it harder to resist :slight_smile:

1 Like
#270

I can also strongly relate this feeling and behaviour to reading toy catalogues when I was a kid. I could spend hours, days and weeks flipping back and forth through the toy store catalogue, circling in all the toys I want but would never get, fantasising what it would be like to actually hold them in my hands – how much more fun it would be, how much more fulfilled I would feel.

It is funny that you mention that because I had similar experience as a kid. My father traveled few times to UK and each time he would bring me back the toy catalogues. I would do the same as a kid - fantasize how I would play with them etc. never really getting anything (and I can’t blame my parents - teachers wage wasn’t a lot in the 90s especially in Eastern Europe (and unfortunately it still isn’t)) so maybe when grown up I started to compensate a little and buy a lot of shiny gear that I want. Being engineer also doesn’t help because I am genuinely interested in how things work, every gear peculiarities, interface etc.

2 Likes
#271

@karol i like the cassette/reel to reel videos a lot actually. i find instagram very inspiring. sometimes when i feel stuck like im trying to hard to fit a current work in progress track into a genre or i have a certain idea stuck in my head and can’t break out, ill just scroll my feed. i find a lot of the more creative or experimental artists seem to use instagram (maybe). i love youtube too. if i want to be inspired by a certain piece of gear/workflow/or cool tips, workarounds & tricks for manipulating gear i already have but maybe haven’t fully dove into yet, i will browse youtube.

i don’t know if i agree with the egalitarian attitude of “all art is objectively good” but i was mostly pointing out that the appeal to a certain demographic/likes/fans by using tropes that the creators know will gain attention in an already oversaturated landfill of music posts rather than creating art is regressive and probably will lead to a bad place eventually. just a theory

@n-So exactly

#272

How you determine that what someone created is done just to gather fans and when it is art that they want to create? How you determine that some art is worth of being published and other people art is just a noise and contributes to landfill? Because I think that with such attitude you can basically simplify any art to just an act of getting attention (and I am aware that it possibly somehow contradicts my attitude towards gear related videos :P). And please remember that we are here in a very little niche, most of my friends don’t know anything about tape loops, house plant ambient music (which I personally love :P) etc. so while we can feel that we are surrounded by it it is probably the instagram/yt algorithm that does the work.

1 Like
#273

i don’t, it’s just a hypothesis i’m working on. i also do it

#274

I agree with you, this sort of question risks becoming hyperbolic and philosophical to the point of complete paralysis. Isn’t all art a call for attention? Isn’t all art a personal expression of what is inside the artist? Doesn’t all art comprise both a personal and impossible to quantify point of view? Doesn’t all art have a political context?

The act of creation is both personal and public. It is both a manifestation of my personal feelings yet occupies the real world which I don’t truly own any of. So, yeah, we could talk all day about how the private and lock away 4-Track tapes is the sign of a true artist and the SoundCloud promoted after a viral tweet is automatically trash.

Or, we could just put aside the over complicated (and in my view counterproductive) grandstanding/gatekeeping about what art IS and instead look at creations we enjoy and that motivate and inspire us. We can spend all freaking life time wallowing in the pits of this argument over what formats are legit. Many people have! Or we could skip the question of what publication tools represent a real exploration of sound and just say “dang, that sound I found on this BBS board (or instagram, or tumblr or a blank unmarked tape I bought of eBay at 3am) is really cool! Let me hear that again!

4 Likes
#276

I sometimes wish citation would only be allowed in full because I feel like you omitted my next sentence which completely changes the meaning of what I said :stuck_out_tongue: Basically I don’t agree with encephalitislethargi because I personally feel like those questions lead you nowhere and you can basically play down any art going by that reasoning. I believe anything is art as long as someone created it with intention (or sometimes even without it).

1 Like