_mgb
539
Much of what leads to GAS for me, and not just music gear, but any new toy/tool, is the initial novelty that comes with learning about the new thing.
Once you understand your gear fully, what is left is simply the process of doing, which of course can be frustrating even for the best of us, dealing with our own limitations as humans, but getting a new thing allows us to temporarily find gratification in learning about the new thing and the potential of it helping us get past those limitations.
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Ha, this is pretty much what I said. It’s true—we’ve become conditioned to prioritize novelty. It’s partially a human flaw and partially a result of predatory marketing. In order to move forward, we need to adopt a mindset wherein new does not always equal good. Essentially, we all think of products with a manifest destiny mindset.
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I replied to a message in the Eurorack thread about how to get to know your modules with a list of relevant creative and compositional suggestions that were entirely gear agnostic.
After receiving effusive thanks, within a few posts the thread returned to gear recommendations. No other comments, engagement, application, or following up with results of exploring the ideas.
Felt kinda like throwing a wishbone into a meat grinder.
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Can you point to that post?
Don’t be disheartened by lack of response, sometimes a post will catch some wind weeks or even months later…. I view it a bit like casting seeds in a field, you never know what or when things will happen!
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Felt kinda like throwing a wishbone into a meat grinder.
Man, I feel this analogy. Those kinds of posts can be so infuriating to share because people tend to like the idea of the post more than the post itself, so they’ll shallowly appreciate the content (usually via a ‘like’) but won’t engage with it.
In a twisted way, that kind of content can even exacerbate GAS because people conflate new ideas and new gear. It’s a whole mindset, which is why it’s so hard to break out of. Music has become largely a space for collectors.
I’ve also noticed a surprising lack of a spectrum when it comes to gear talk. On the one hand, you have the collectors who want to do nothing but talk about gear and specs; on the other, you have punk-esque aesthetes who use whatever without putting much thought into it. There’s not a lot of discourse about collecting the right gear for your needs and then exploring it.
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I’d prefer not to, in case my description of the situation gets taken personally.
And I appreciate your compassion, but I honestly don’t feel disheartened. Mostly surprised and alienated, which was useful because it told me that corner of the community is not for me.
There are plenty of other threads here where I’ve participated in engaging, meaningful conversations. This one for example. 
Yes, this captures what I’m getting at. I was trying to keep judgment and “negative” emotions out if it. But that might be impossible given underlying beliefs and values.
I gave my answer in earnest and put effort into responding in a thoughtful and creative way. But by posting in a different direction than the typical current of conversation, the post itself may have represented a criticism, and been tacitly rejected as such.
In other words, I knew I wasn’t part of that micro-culture when I posted, so what was I expecting? Functionally, the experience provided a concrete example of the differences in perspective. But I’m guessing people already have opinions on the differences between these types of value systems.
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Sorry to hear about your experience but grateful for your sharing it and sticking around!
I suppose the community serves a variety of purposes for different members. There are plenty of threads I can’t contribute to meaningfully or even understand! But there are others that go to places that feel really nourishing to me, so I tend to hang there mostly…
At the end of the day, I’m most grateful for the friendships that have grown out of being here for a while…
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To be clear, this wasn’t a bad experience for me and I don’t feel badly about it, or even disappointed.
This is more what I’m getting at.
And that it can be difficult to suspend judgment when it comes to the material aspects of things. 
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Honestly I think it’s just easier to talk about gear online than technique, creativity, etc. A lot of the latter is difficult to put into words, and also more personal and less universal.
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That’s a fair point. But I disagree that the more personal things are, the less universal they are.
And for me, things that are difficult to put into words are usually worth trying to express, perhaps because of the difficulty.
From what I’ve observed, these efforts are generally rewarded with substantive conversation around these here parts.
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JES
549
Very much this, plus pretty pictures. I think people can share work in progress and talk about it with others, but with strangers on a forum that can be hard, and I think it works better in smaller groups. It can go well on forums but it takes work.
At least this is the finest forum I’ve ever encountered… 
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Floa
551
“Ask not what your forum can do for you, ask what YOU can do for your forum…”
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Sure, it’s easier to talk about gear, but that’s a really vapid way to “engage” with a community. The fact that most people don’t try gives off the vibe that no one really cares, and in a community like lines, where there are a lot of people doing inspiring things, that results in noticeable cognitive dissonance. Why is this such a creative community with so little discussion about creativity?
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Please start a thread that you really want to exist! I’m excited to take part!
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This forum is a jelly doughnut.
EDIT: Although Wikipedia says this is a myth.
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squim
555
I used to enjoy using what I had to make terrible sounds without any prospect of songs as an end goal. These were my most enjoyable moments of recording. My studio as instrument moments. I bought a lot of machines that work off the assumption that I want to make club smashers. Nothing wrong with club smashers. I bought them with the assumption that they would make my production better somehow. I don’t exactly regret the purchases, they are powerful and interesting devices, but I think I want to get back to making long slabs of sound that most people wont dance to or enjoy. Electronic music is funny - there are so many avenues to pursue. Finding the methods and processes that you enjoy might not require much beyond what you already have. I guess I’d like to learn to recognize those moments when I am enjoying the process and take note. I don’t know if I’m making any sense.
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I agree with this sentiment - making strange noises that appease you that are probably not suitable for mass consumption. But for me, those noise sessions have glimpses of beautiful moments, which i pull and reconstitute that end up becoming tracks. That’s like 70% of my process, make total crap and finding something interesting in the mess. I think this inspiration stemmed from me reading about Autechre making tracks that way.
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squim
557
I guess the thing I’m trying to get at is “does the object/gear you want to buy work with/for YOU and the kind of art you want to make or is it something you feel like you just want to have for whatever reason?” - something I wish I had asked myself more.
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It’s a hard question. For example, I’m gearing up (no pun) to buy a Norns and grid with the expectation that it will improve my workflow and create a portable environment for me. But I know that I can accomplish much of what I want to do with Norns with my Eurorack, except the process will be more streamlined with Norns. So I don’t really need Norns but I certainly want one.
