Musicians!! Read this, stop, and think...

[bustromo]

OK, I admit it....

I have all the sounds anyone could ever want. More than I know what to do with. I have software instruments coming out of my ears, I'm routing audio between humdinging applications, sampling, modulating, sweeping filters, applying effects on effects on effects, sequencing notes, sequencing sequencers. I'm having a whale of a time.

but I'm not making music any more.

I'm a home studio hobbyist, not a pro. My first set up was a Proteus 2000 and a roland MC50 sequencer, and nothing else. I used the synth presets, no tweaking, and blasted out an entire album's worth of stuff in my basement within a few months. And some of it was pretty good, though I say so myself. I felt superior when I read about people who obsessed about gear instead of making music.

but, but, but.... gradually, insidiously, it took hold of me. First an A4000 sampler. cooler sound possibilities, but much more labour intensive to use. I laboured for a year over another few songs. Started thinking - wouldn't it be easier, so much more powerful and elegant, to do all this on a computer. So I started getting into software. Pro Tools. Then the virtual instruments - in swift succession, I have succumbed to the temptation of buying Reason, Pro 52, B4, Battery, Lounge Lizard, Live..... the sounds, of course, are fantastic. but my composing output has dropped to zero. I now spend all my music time on..

- scanning websites, downloading, updating OSs, tracking versions, reading bulletin boards (like this one)

- learning how to use all the various virtual instruments and playing around with them

- creating, tweaking and auditioning new sounds,

....all this till way past bedtime, and another day goes without me having created any kind of art.

I think the truth is I'm becoming addicted to the process of acquiring, learning and assembling gear (in my case, software gear). I suspect I'm not alone. there are a lot of readers out there just like me. It's not that we're addicted to something that's bad for us, or even that we don't enjoy it. It's satisfying and interesting working on the system, keeping all the software bang up to date, and exploring the possibilities of this wonderful new software technology. It's just that, for most of us, it's not what we joined up for. we joined up to make music. and the seductive, wonderful technology is getting in the way, not helping. With so many possibilities, so many sounds, unlimited opportunities to make things just that little bit more authentic, or weird, or phat (or whatever floats your boat), it gets increasingly hard to settle on anything and say: that's it, that's my piece, and I'm going to burn it and move on.

what I want to know is, how can I break the habit, and get back to making some music?

[Ozz]

Are you my long lost twin brother?



Ozz

[GZUZIZLORD]

I feel you there.

[Cliffy_Boy]

Make music? I thought I was doing this so I could read manuals. no one told me I could also compose music with this stuff

[MidnightFlyer]

At some point you have to put on the brakes and get back into the music, the reason you made all your purchases in the first place. It's a matter of will, I think. You have to Will yourself to do the music. That takes discipline, and sometimes discipline isn't very much fun. (on my 400th post) that said, I think the first year or two of doing this, is about finding stuff out, exploring and experimenting, and making mistakes.

At some point you will be ready to dive back in. Believe that.

[dubaifox]

Great Post!

I just upgraded my entire studio. New Everything: mixer, PT Soft/Hardware, computer, 2 new synths, monitors, Mic's and 5 types of software that require this new frickin' Challenge/Response system. 3 of the 5 didn't work right and I spent a total of 12 hours wasted on this alone.

I have had several mis-shipped items, terrible tech support from everybody (though some worse than others) Power Harness failure on my 002r.

I was figuring on a two month "Learning Period" to set this all up. It looks more like 6 months. Oh well, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.......wait....everybody IS doing it!

[sean shannon]

Now that you got the stuff, and know the stuff, write and record stuff. Sounds easy, but.....
What I do is I sing into a voice recorder, with a pad and paper, get a tune sketched out like that, ...then... hit the machines. Just a thought . . . . .

[halfguard]

great post, i think this happens to all of us. im going through some of this as we speak.

[tsd]

i suffer from this too!! the only way i can be trully productive these days is to co-lab... unless its with a gear nerd like me and we just distract eachother!!! find a singer-songwriter then record and produce your way to productivity!!!!!!!

[The Patch Chord]

Hi, My name is Stan H. and I'm a musigearaholic. My addiction is so bad now that my bank account is empty, my credit cards are all maxed out and I've resorted to filling out every online free giveaway form to every online gear supplier I come across. (btw I scored big on Sweetwaters October giveaway and won a Yammie Motif ES-6)

My problem has got such control over me that I've had to totally give up drinking, smoking cigaretts, doing drugs and chasing loose women. I just don't have the time, money or energy to do any of those normal things anymore. It seems like every moment of everyday is consumed with my obsession for my next gear fix. I find myself searching endlessly for new gear thrills that will only feed my obsession and cause worse withdrawl when I am forced to quit.

I've become addicted to the terrible habit of Gearnography. I've filled out every free gear catalog return mail card I can find and now my mailbox is filled monthly with unmentionable stacks of picture catalogs and magazines. I rush to the postman grabbing the latest edition and lock myself in my tracking room while scouring the pages for new visual gearthrills or even the forums of user stories that make me feel so inept and inexperienced. Although I succeed at my instant gratification, I leave the room feeling empty and unsatisfied, knowing that I've either seen it all before, or could never afford my most intense desires.

I've gone beyond the printed pages and developed an online Gearnography habbit that consumes my late nights with hours of newsgroup searching and online spec sheet reviews. Then I spend just as much time erasing my online history, temp internet and Cookies folders so that no one else can track my depraved web excursions.

What's worse, I've gotten other friends involved with me and I feel so ashamed. I've alienated all my old rowdy partying buddies and started hanging around other musicians and studio engineers. I've spent late nights in private with them at the local protools den indulging in group gratification around dual monitors, warm inviting tube preamps and large diaphram condensers while tripping on mind altering acid loop tracks.

For seemingly endless hours we all fondle the keyboards, trackballs, control surfaces, pitch-benders, modulators and even data sliders until we've collectively gone beyond our senses with orgasmic expressionism.

By the end of our nights of involvement I feel guilty and decadent, knowing that the others I've inticed into this dark hidden misunderstood world must return home to their families and friends with no good or understandable explanation of what they're involved in. I'm sure some of them find it easier to tell their spouses and children that they've been to the bar, strip club or casino than to actually admit that they've been involved in self indulgent gearlust and geardultry.

I should be so ashamed of myself. I know my weakness only enriches the evil gear pushers that tempt me and convince me that I'll be happy with just one more gearfix. I hate them, I hate them all but I can't help myself. I feel like without them my life has no meaning, so even though I can stand here and admit my weakness to you face to face, I realize I'll probably never be able to change.

Thanks for listening.

Oh, one question... during the after meeting refreshments? Will anyone have a pocket multitrack digital porta studio with amp and mic modelling software installed? I understand that can be a really quick high and you can carry it with you undetected. Even the gear sniffing dogs have a really tough time locating those in your car or baggage. Any comments?