#170

I’ve been battling with this (with myself) for the last several months. there’s no question that I’d been more productive/creative with less (cliché rings true) … a couple items I had to part with out of necessity (being in a tight financial spot) - these are the things I regret losing the most - Just Friends was a perpetual source of joy; with repeated new discoveries and happy accidents, although it introduced undesirable noise to my system–more a consequence of maxing out my power supply than it was a fault of JF … then I sold Sinc Iter, which I got along with quite well. since then I’ve succumbed to hype and the promise (or fantasy) of ‘new & shiny’, or existing objects of desire, and it’s brought me back to learning things all over again. just as I began settling into a groove, I’d sabotaged all of my momentum towards a productive process.

For me, ‘researching’ new or desired modules can be a form of passive avoidance (from actually learning my system) or fantasizing on ‘what could be’ if this or that object were a part of my system (please pardon the retread of sentiments that have been expressed many times over) … there’s little effort involved in the “research”, however stimulating it might be. it’s mostly fantasy. I need to constantly remind myself that my system is quite capable, and it’ll be quite some time before I’ll (will I?) realize its potential or come close to learning it inside out. there’s always that itch (x oscillator will sound better, or be more efficient than mine, etc.), and I’m here, playing out scenarios in my head about some ideal arrangement or other. Eurorack can be tricky, though, because oftentimes there is a module (or combination of modules) that can really open things up, or ‘click’ within a system and spur a markedly improved workflow or functionality. And there’s always the excitement of the unknown. it helps to know what you want to do (if that’s possible), but the process of getting there will inevitably involve pitfalls and mistakes. I don’t mean to condemn the act of researching things and gathering information, to get a better understanding of what will work for (be beneficial, or needlessly complicate/convolute) yr system, but there’s a point where it can become a hindrance.

I don’t know that I have anything useful to add to the discussion, but def agree that the overwhelming abundance of choices can cause a sense of paralysis, and that exercising discipline (simply), as @jasonw22 stated, is necessary for learning.

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#171

Funnily, the notion of a depth year was brought up in a much older thread here about GAS. I was inspired by that, and went and took a year between birthdays off from acquiring anything new, in order to learn my already-very-cabaple system that much better.

Apart from a small amount of churn in my FX setup, it’s remained static since. A side effect of that year was (echoing some commenters above) noticing how much gear-oriented sites can incite GAS in myself.

It makes me wonder: are there forums that are explicitly about music / acousmatic sound creation that are explicitly gear-agnostic, more about process and outcomes? This is a less than half-baked idea, and I have no notion of how that would even work.

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#172

well, the process category here tries to do that. Maybe also the composition sub at electro-music. It’s true (to me at least) that most of the time hardware “gets in the way” of process (when i try to “reverse-engineer” sounds made and presented by other persons, for example).
That’s probably my bias towards free software that makes me feel more deliberate while using that rather than hardware, but it doesn’t protect me what’s discussed in this topic.

I’d argue that in an “gear-agnostic” topic it might get difficult to explain thoroughly what is happening in details, as the perks of hardware are often in the subtle non-linearities and the complex mapping of parameters. Also i believe that interfaces do heavily dominate the processes people engage with when it comes to gear, thus rendering an agnostic rationalization quite difficult. + there might be a bias towards intuition vs abstract planning amongst gear users here.

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#173

I had an interesting experience recently wherein I invited a local experimental music events producer to my home, and when we went to my “studio” and started to point out some gear, it registered literally zero interest. And it hit me, “this guy is about the music and is disciplined about avoiding distractions, and the gear is, in fact, a distraction”.

All of this was already knowledge I possessed on an intellectual level, but I hadn’t yet encountered an electronic musician and organizer who had fully internalized it and simply wasn’t distracted by the new shiny, at all. And it was a tiny but important revelation for me.

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#174

My gas has diminished several orders of magnitude over the last 6 months. I think primarily it was having filled my 7U 84 hp case - if you don’t want gear lust don’t leave physical space for gear lust. This also applies to desk space. I’ve realized that I value ergonomics to such a high degree that adding any other piece of gear (even non-euro) would not fit on my desk in a way that’s comfortable to work with. The thought of squeezing in something else and leaning awkwardly over a large gap to access it (happily) kills almost all desire for new things.

Using lots of multi-faceted, multi-mode gear that can shapeshift to a high degree based on a specific piece really helps me as well. This doesn’t necessarily mean lots of menu diving hell - I think plaits (and lots of mutable stuff) epitomizes direct UI with multiple alternate uses/sounds.

And then there’s realizing that maybe your gas has left because you own all that you desired. It’s an odd (and somewhat embarrassingly privileged) position to be in - to want for nothing else. Or perhaps I should just be grateful that cycle of wanting “more” and “better” isn’t infinitely consuming.

Finally, the best gas-fighting strategy: running out of money!

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#175

I felt that way when I first started learning about modular. I visited a friend’s house who was a big name in the modular world back in the day. He owned (and I imagine still does) walls of modular, literally; one wall was Doepfer and Eurorack, the other Buchla, and so on. It was so much gear that I actually felt zero interest, as something in me found it distracting and somewhat miserable to be surrounded by so much stuff. Contrary to all this not registering with me, he did make use of it by making several albums at a time. So good for him!

I’m no longer in that position even though I very rarely get interested in other people’s gear. I know what I want and couldn’t care less what other people have. I can’t say I’m handling my GAS very well (if at all), but I get what you’re saying and I plan to strive to get back to that place of caring more about the music than the medium.

My personal problem, and the source of my GAS, is not the gear itself but the concepts and prospects. My desire for something always starts with a concept I want to realize, an idea I want to try and so on. That kindles research, and optimizing things come naturally, which usually ends up with a purchase or two - it even happens that I buy stuff I previously owned, or that people find obsolete or not shiny enough.

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#176

What is that gorgeous little mixer? :heart_eyes:

#177

Not a mixer. Faderfox LV3

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#178

Not Eurorack related per se but my most successful approach to keeping GAS in check has been watching videos of gear I already own instead of videos of new gear. Whenever I think there’s a limitation with my setup I find myself watching one of the purely MS-20 channels and realise that, in comparison, I barely know mine at all! It makes me incredibly keen to start playing around with mine immediately and although I might start off copying a patch that I see on a video it soon morphs into something else entirely

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#179

Yeah for me its this…the concept, then the ‘research’. It causes the cycle to start again everytime. This is very well said. I don’t want to have walls of gear either. I think its overindulgent and I find it not inspiring.

With all of this said… I’ve overcome a little hump with my setup in the last few days since I posted. I think my long post above was coming out of period of idleness, where I had no performances or anything to work towards so I was just spinning my wheels. I’m playing a show tonight and another in the next few weeks and I’m happy and excited with my setup again. It forced me to make choices. I ended up going to back to a DIY case I had made a year or so ago, where the top two rows of modules are more upright like a 2600 or a Synthi and I arranged the bottom to have all of the control modules, and it really feels like a playable instrument.

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#180

Used to think it’s a “good problem to have”. Now I’m not so sure.

Guess I should preface with this…I DO read manuals. Even still…

I’ve felt pretty overwhelmed for the last year or so with the amount of new gear I have acquired over the last 3 years or so. I won’t go into specifics of what pieces because I’m not sure that is the issue, and it runs the gamut: modular, synths, sequencers, samplers, multiple new DAWs…You get the idea.

Like everyone in this time, I’ve buckled down and put some time in. But I have to say I still feel like I am getting nowhere.

I’m guessing I am guilty of moving from one thing to the next too much? By the time I get back to revisiting one thing, I’ve forgotten what I learned the last time.

It’s gotten to the point where I’ve just spent most of the last quarantine month learning Scarlatti sonatas on piano. I don’t really play piano. So it kicks my butt…but at least I can finally hear progress. Yet when it comes to learning new gear…it seems hopeless.

I’m wondering if anyone else here has struggled with this and found a good method for working your way through some daunting gear with steep learning curves? How did you go about it?

Thanks!

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#181

Ok, this might sound quaint but hear me out: have you tried meditation? Sometimes the struggle is in our head; aiming for something nebulous, trying too hard, thinking of too many things.

Meditation helps me clear the negativity that resides in my head, and allows me to once again approach the machines with the same goal that I had when I bought them: to have fun, enjoy myself, make sounds, make music, explore.

I’ve studied a lot in my few years on this planet, and I can say this much, you learn better when you’re having fun, you learn easiest when you have a specific goal you’re aiming for. Emphasis on “specific”. I read ALL the manuals, trust me, I do, but things settle when I’m trying to solve a specific problem, not an assumed one that I made up. When I’m tackling a problem, I read the manual, and keep on working. I’m not trying to master all of the things, all of the time.

Set specific goals, set aside specific devices, maybe sell some stuff (it feels better than you might think), and don’t bemoan yourself for owning all this stuff.

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#182

i spent a while finding this thread to send you the link, by the time I did the mods (in their wisdom) moved you here lol. i’ll just add that goals and intentionality can help a lot. a changing financial situation stopped any gear acquisition for me quite soon after it started, but it was figuring out what kind of music i wanted to be making that made me learn to better utilize what i had. for me, limitations can be the most fruitful—forcing limitations on yourself could be one approach. i told myself—no new modules, not even trades, until you make a tape. i did that, and the process helped solidify my relationship with (in my case, my modular) gear. theres still some things I’d change when i have the chance, because its modular thats the nature of the beast, but it helps me to know what direction im going in and what might be able to help me go that way. I know you’re not strictly talking about GAS, but these methods can apply to that general feeling of being overwhelmed i think. The sonatas are a perfect example of something that is a clear goal and so it challenges you and is fulfilling to accomplish or attempt to accomplish. There’s no reason that can’t be applied to other gear.

Edit: another thread, linked here above but esp relevant to your question

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#183

Thanks for that!

One thing I have been doing (actually almost THE only thing I’ve been doing) is trying to replicate demos on YouTube. This is about the closest thing I can think of to “eurosonatas”. I do find this as close a way as how I learned to play more traditional instruments: by replication and rote.

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#184

something i’ve found helps me a lot is taking notes on manuals. you end up spending more time ingesting the concepts which helps them stick, and putting things in your own words keeps you from glossing over something that maybe you read but didn’t fully take in.

i also only take notes on things that don’t work the way i naturally assume them to. if playing the thing by intuition got me there already then i already “knew” it before going through the manual. this keeps the notes useful and quick if i need to refer back to them.

doing it with pen and paper is also great because you can easily give things different emphases by the size of your writing or by circling things or creating different layouts, you can draw the icons/buttons/whatever you’re making notes on, and it’s slower than typing which goes back to my first point.

and something i got from learning traditional instruments - doing a little bit every day over a few weeks will cement things more than doing longer sessions that are spaced out by even a few days. of course, you can’t top daily long sessions. :smile:

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#185

Putting in half and hour each day is something I learned from Hainbach. It’s such a good practice. Consistency and being that person that says “I have 30 minutes, I’m going to patch something” instead of being the person that says “Meh, 30 minutes, I’d rather do nothing”. Huge difference for me.

Even sitting down and doing one Teletype exercise, or reading one thing in a manual, or solving one small problem. It all adds up.

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#186

That’s funny. I just started a regimen of taking notes to start to really learn my Octatrack.

Big difference!

And it’s even still hard to follow!

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#187

Lately I’ve been struggling with how many modules to keep. I have a set of modules that I like that’s just shy of a 520hp-case-worth (some acquired, some to be re/acquired). That said, I’m very fond of the the 9u 84hp case format, which works out to roughly half the hp. I think it’s just something to live with, and maybe the answer is discovering how to more satisfyingly live with such a scenario rather than fret over what is too much or too little?

#193

It’s so funny to watch the synthfluencer video barrage that comes with high profile launches now.

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Pre-release Hype Megathread
#194

My feed today:

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