Iāve gone through a couple studio iterations in the past 10 years in which I amassed too much gear and used too little of it. I bought a lot of gear, sold a lot of gear, and barely put in enough time with most of those objects. In the end, my most productive stagesāthose in which I actually recorded and released an albumāinvolved using very limited amounts of equipment: a sampler, a couple of effects and a mixer; a guitar and computer; guitar, a couple effects, and a loop pedal.
My first piece of electronic music equipment was an MS2000. I just had that and a Gateway PC. I would build whole worlds just multitracking that synth. Not the best music in the world, but I donāt remember being distracted, hitting creative blocks, or feeling like I needed more gear. Then, as my blissful ignorance of other gear eroded, I began to think, āI need that thingamajig to really make professional music.ā
I like this idea of āreturningā thatās been mentioned a couple times. Iām now returning to a very simple setup. Selling off most of my gear. I now have a couple small synths, a computer and soundcard, monome, a tiny but powerful guitar amp, a guitar, and some effects pedals. It all fits on a table (except the guitar).
I now look at my workspace and see welcome restraints. Itās manageable. I donāt need or want a hulking studio. I want a simple canvas and a diverse but limited color palette.
I donāt claim to be an expert in much of anything, but hereās my recommendation for getting the most of what you have: Treat your electronic music gear as would a classical soloist. A violin has only four strings, yet the sounds that can be coaxed out of it are plentiful. Approach your synth, sampler or what-have-you and explore just one of the sounds it can produce. Make a whole song out of that sound by moving it around in space and time. Ignore everything else.
