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GAS as told by the little mermaid taken out of context

"Look at this stuff
Isn’t it neat?
Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete?
Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl
The girl who has everything?

Look at this trove
Treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you’d think
Sure, she’s got everything

I’ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I’ve got whozits and whatzits galore
You want thingamabobs?
I’ve got twenty!
But who cares?
No big deal
I want more"

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To the GAS theorists, observers, and participants in the house, this week’s Disquiet Junto project may be of interest:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0510-cold-turkey/

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Ok, if there was any doubt that the synth community may have a hoarding problem, this should clear it up:

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I’ve come to a point where I want to change how I think about gear. In short:

  1. I have this habit of looking for opportunities to trade my gear and change things up. That made sense when exploration was my goal, but it’s a lot less constructive now.
  2. I feel like I allocate too many brain CPU cycles to gear and gear choices.
  3. I talk/write about gear all the freaking time and it’s probably pretty monotonous :laughing:

I do have one last round of tweaks I’m going through for closure, then will declare my modular “done” (again).

But also? I’m no longer taking notes on the synths, modules, and plugins I use for each recording.
I never did that in order to recreate sounds, just to satisfy curiosity and track how much I was or wasn’t using various things.

This is a habit I’ve been keeping up for years (since before getting into modular), and have done it a couple of thousand times or more… and it felt really weird not to make those notes last night. Not liberating so much an almost OCD-like experience. But I’ll see how it goes in the longer term.

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What prompted this change, if you don’t mind me asking?

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I know I’m not helping anyone in this thread (testing resolve maybe) but another VEIMA auction just started and check out this synth: RMI Harmonic Synth (GAS avoided - starting bid: EU15k!)

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demo record on Youtube: part 1 and part 2

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It’s been building up, I think.

For one, I read an essay last year, “Spectral Objects: On the Fetish Character of Music Technologies” by Jonathan Sterne, which had a couple of lines in it about the “feeling that an instrument brings magic or power to the musician, rather than they to it” and “agential inversion of musician and instrument” that poked my brain pretty hard.

When putting together the “notes” pages for my releases it’s hard not to notice that the text about the theme, process etc. is a lot smaller than the lists/descriptions of gear. I’m a musician rather than a writer, so I don’t think it’s bad that I can’t write multiple pages of text about an album without going into those details. But the balance kind of makes it seem like the gear is the most important aspect.

Likewise in my blog, I write much more about what I think of new gear I’m trying or what I might change in the near future than anything else.

I’ve gone through a couple of waves of wanting to make peace with the great stuff that I already have… and then I’ve continued to want to try other things. It’s mainly not dissatisfaction, but curiosity, which I guess can lead to dissatisfaction in a Yoda-like way. I figure if I spend less thinky-time on “I haven’t been using X much, I should trade it for something shiny” or “I really like Z, I want to try more things that are like Z but not exactly like it”, that leads to less rearranging stuff in ModularGrid and rewatching gear demos…

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It’s for this reason that I’ve decided that 2022 will be a depth year for me, but I’m preparing for that by trimming down the amount of gear I have too. I have been discussing the concept of “consolidating upwards” regarding our setups with the aim of hitting 1 monosynth and 1 poly synth. I’ve essentially accepted that I will fail on the former because, although my monosynth of choice is the 0-Coast, I am very attached to my Werkstatt, so I will also be keeping that. It has prompted some hard decisions (I had somewhat of a glut of monosynths and parting with some of them was harder to do than others) but the rewards are already clear, both in terms of maximising the space I have (removing the sensation of feeling cramped and hemmed in by my gear) and consolidating upwards so that my fistful of monos became a single poly (my first actual poly, funnily enough, which also seems like a significant step).

I still have items to sell and I’m attempting to consolidate upwards further in a few areas before the year is out, but the essence of my setup is solid now and it has brought a kind of excitement with it. The removal of some elements has made me see others with more clarity, too. For example: I had originally got a Launchpad Pro Mk3 with the intention of using it in a computer-free setup, but I realised that I only had 4 MIDI tracks within the LPP3 sequencer and far too many synths to use with such a setup. Getting rid of a load of them means that the LPP3 is now perfectly placed to act as the brain within a setup that includes 4 LPP3 sequenced pieces (a mono, a poly and 2 samplers) and various iOS devices I can use as standalone devices (or I can even use the sequencers within iOS, although I don’t actually know how to sync them with the LPP3 yet).

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I’m reading Anne Balsamo’s Designing Culture. The Technological Imagination at Work (Duke University Press, 2011). Loads of good stuff in here. She brings in Bruce Sterling’s Shaping Things (MIT Press, 2005). This section of Balsamo (pp. 5-6) made me think of GAS and this ongoing discussion here on llllllllines

Bruce Sterling, the author and public intellectual who, in his book Shaping Things (2005), turns his well-honed imagination for science fiction to the project of unpacking the contours of contemporary technoculture, provides another vector of inspiration for this project when he speculates about the changing relationship between people and objects.¹⁴ In his case, the privileged object of theoretical fascination is the “gizmo” an explicitly designed object-form that manifests the fecundity of digital information. Living in a gizmo technoculture requires significant investments of time and attention. “What impact” he asks, “does this have on us?” He describes the cognitive conundrum of living in a gizmo epoch: "It may dawn on you that you are surrounded by a manufactured environment. You may further come to understand that you are not living in a centrally planned society, where class distinctions and rationing declare who has access to the hardware. Instead, you are living in a gaudy, market-driven society whose material culture is highly unstable and radically contingent. You’re surrounded by gadgets. Who can tell you how to think about gadgets, what to say about them – what they mean, how that feels?" (29). From Sterling’s vantage point, the opportunity costs of attending to the information-fecundity of gizmos are too great, and more importantly, not sustainable over time. In an effort to elaborate what is needed to harness these excesses, Sterling fixes his vision on one of the key elements of technoculture: the role of design and designers in creating the infra-structure of sustainability.

(Bold emphasis mine)

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This is a really good take imo. We live in a really fragile world of things, as the supply chain disruptions from COVID-19 and someone simply steering a really big boat wrong, have both painfully illustrated. There’s risks not only in attaining the device itself, but in terms of keeping the devices “alive”, the gizmos could be shut down as quickly as the power grid being disrupted or losing internet connection for the more complex ones. And none of this stuff lasts forever, and the stuff that can be repaired can often only be fixed by a small handful of dedicated experts who often don’t get the chance to share their knowledge. For any of these problems to even become problems, you also have to have the money to buy the stuff, which locks out the vast majority of humanity.

The fragility is more obvious (but maybe not more severe?) for the gizmos with no material body - streamed media, digital assets, and digital tools, are only as robust as their platforms or development teams. As consumers are pushed further into virtual worlds, there will be even more at stake. Many didn’t know what to do with themselves when a major social media platform went down for a day, and just last week the creator shared his vision for everyone to live in a virtual world. When even more of our constructed existence is at risk to platform errors, even more will be at stake.

On the music side, I think there’s some interesting read through. So you can take the path forward of avoiding gizmos, which is totally fine. An acoustic instrument is hardly a gizmo most of the time, they’re frustrating and the time input to utilize them effectively is often not worth the time and effort to many. And you don’t need any power, other than giving yourself adequate food and water.

But since we are all on a music tech forum, and I think many of us already do this, the best bet is probably to be aware of what you’re consuming, why you’re consuming it, and who your consumption affects, including yourself. If your gizmo makes you happy, and you use it to the best of your abilities, and it helps you create work that might make others happy, then by all means go for it.

Really great excerpt though, thanks for sharing, being vigilant about consumption is an always relevant topic

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As an essentialist and Buddhist ( for many years), I hit upon this very thing. It’s a tricky one to navigate.

The waters run deep……

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This is apropos, I was reading through a very, very, very long AMA-type thread for Autechre the other day. One answer stuck out in my mind—though I can’t find it in the list anymore because the list is so long!

To paraphrase: One of the pair said that he prefers to work in Max/MSP because it enables him to invest in himself instead of gear. Rather than buy an object, he says, he can learn to make a thing himself.

That stuck with me. Personally, the draw of gear was to have something new to learn, and I often find that once I have learned something at a basic level, I get bored with it. So, basically, I can see his logic, and it makes a lot of sense to me.

If only Max/MSP weren’t on a computer!

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This is an interesting thought!

What is it you want that is different from a computer?

If it is the assosiation + temptation to go online and to other stuff just because it is so easy to open up Facebook, then get an Organelle. Preferably in a dedicated space with a dedicated screen + keyboard.

If you want something that is physical and without a screen, that’s why we have eurorack.

In the middle of this I guess the Er-301 would kind of be.
Then it’s that Percussa SSB-thing.

I guess I would love to hear an even more detailed explanation of what you want, hehe! I am also thinking similar thoughts.

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I did buy an Empress Zoia to avoid the buying lust fuelled by DSP-pedal manufacturers such as Chase Bliss etc. I’ve got an Organelle too – and it appears, time for neither.

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When even the GAS thread dissolves into discussions on what gear to purchase. :exploding_head:

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oh no, only too much gear - too little time. Biting off more than I can chew etc. There’s a lot of Zoia and Organelle-patches that sound great. But there are so many paths to walk and I can’t explore them all.

My conclusion/recomomendations about them as platforms - make your own stuff, with your own logic, your sense of order and workflow. You might love the sound of someone else’s patches, but their organization skills might leave a lot to be desired.

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Haha! Yes I was juuuust about to write:

Aaaah here I go!

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Exactly.

While certain instruments feel like they hold power for us, @Starthief mentioned also, but speaking to both your points, i sense that ultimately whatever way that may be, that fundamentally we make something as opposed not… Suffer also with not expanding because as Autechre said I am not investing in myself but someone else’s way/tool etc (ultimately it’s not personal, they make modules for everyone!) and that comes back to my life force versus my bank force, not pushing myself or something. So yeah, as an over thinker too, sometimes disabling that dialogue, the cure of a new thing, can bring your mind calmly back to resonating normally :grinning:

Hate to say it, but less can mean so much more. But only if you can work with it……

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I have had a nagging desire for a decent stereo delay. I was looking at a few things, expensive ones, cheaper ones, is this where I get that PCM81 I’m secretly dreaming of, trying to juggle all the considerations. One thing that caught my eye is the Boss DD-7, since there are a few available second hand near me. I found a video comparing it to the stereo Zoom Multistomp, and I thought the Zoom seemed pretty good, maybe even better, obviously more flexible. In general I tend to be happy with my Zoom gear, but it is a little noisy. On the other hand, I make noise music. But the DD-7 is more immediate, plus I could get it second-hand (so no environmental guilt) without all the cultural implications (and expense) of proper boutiquity, or unnecessary highendianess. I don’t want to be another dad with a Strymon and six plays per year on Bandcamp. Do I? What to do? Pontificate. Dither. As always.

The funny thing is, the Zoom has one very clear advantage that you’d think would settle it for any rational person: I already own one and I could just go get it from the box of things and play with it.

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I also read that autechre quote, and it resonates with me as well. I’m not using max/pd (although I tried hard a few times), the modular with its tactile experience works much better for me.

But related to building your own stuff/investing yourself vs gassing over new tools, I’d say it’s quite possible to apply this mindset in modular.

For me:

  • Invest in basic but (in a patching context) flexible building blocks. Don’t buy into the new-is-better or the vst-ish/guitar-pedal-linear patching paradigm and modules that support it. Rather build a modular that’s truly modular and that you’ll be able to enjoy 10 years from now. Always look for flexibility in a module, and explore the (cliche I know, but it’s true) endless possibilities of patching even a small modular system.
  • A few cheap hardware synths combined with a modular can really expand the sonic capabilities and the whole creative experience.
  • Small monthly budget and stick to it. Save up if I need something more expensive.
  • Never impulse buy.
  • Focus on making music with what you have.
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