the watmm GAS thread

[TubularCorporation]

(or switch to PC and you can spend maybe 1400 to get a laptop upgrade AND a Machinedrum)

[modey]

Sounds lovely!

[Guest Chesney]

If I had to get rid of all my gear and only keep one (apart from a recording device/DAW or mutitracker) it would be the Machinedrum.

I'm not opposed to software, I just don't have much interest in the computer side of things so i'm not the kind of person to take any advice from but the MD UW is a glorious piece of equipment if you're willing to take it to places musically. For normal electronic music with standard beats etc it's probably an underwhelming, expensive piece of kit.

[user]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Good points all around.

I just picked it up, been playing for about an hour and already starting to fall in love. 

[TubularCorporation]

Another one of those inexplicable eBay auctions from Japan:

 

Casio VL-1 $9999.99 USD (plus shipping)

 

 

 

This unit does not work at all.It comes with 100-240V worldwide adapter version.It comes with your regional adapter plug too.

 

 

I'm not sure what their angle is with these.  Do they really think someone is going to accidentally buy one of these and then pay? And if that's the plan, why do they offer a 14 day money back guarantee?

Edited July 8, 2017 by RSP

[YangYing]

Erebus could be good as one reliable synth sound to tie all of the weird noisy stuff together. Then again, the Softpop also looks/sounds pretty great.. it's a tricky one, get both lol

man, that's about 10k just flushed.. but i have been thinking maybe as you say it might be a good way to finally tie everything together... 'tis trully a scary hobby this one, and the worst part is knowing in the back of my head that it most likely won't end there!

[sweepstakes]

Yeah I want that soft pop pretty bad... I'm lusting so hard for that bit ranger right now and they seem like a smoking hot couple. Save me...

[TubularCorporation]

I just traded some nice but nonfunctional 60s hifi speakers (KLH model 7's that need new crossovers, but aren't easy to repair because the woofer is permanently epoxied in) I got free a few years ago for some totally decent speaker stands that usually go for around $200, so that's good.  I had no GAS for speaker stands but I knew I was going to have to buy them and I really didn't want to.

[YangYing]

New from Dreadbox...

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2017/07/11/new-dreadbox-synth-medusa/

 

please save me from the fresh hell that is gas

[thawkins]

Just because you *can* do everything a machinedrum can do using software, doesn't mean you will. I've found the elektron workflow/interface design inspires me more, when I have no real plans to make anything specific, than sitting in front of puredata and thinking "well, I could make literally anything I want, what first?".

If you need a new computer though, you should probably get one before anything else!

 

This is what I am dealing with the most now. I think I have spent the last year trying to put together software so I could have a nice workflow using my laptop and a few controllers, but even though I have a completely workable setup, I keep thinking about changing or improving the workflow instead of learning how to use it. It's terrible - after having finished getting my DIY Doepfer Pocket Electronic project to work and setting up a template Live set, I almost immediately lost interest and started building a Pure Data midi looper to use on a Raspberry Pi. That's basically finished now too, but instead of using it to experiment getting away from Live and the laptop, I lost interest AGAIN.

Edited July 12, 2017 by thawkins

[auxien]

I think there's a lot of us that go through similar situations, thawkins. I've never gotten that deep into it, but I remember a year or so ago starting down the path of learning Max so I could create some specific Max4Live stuff, I realized how much time was going to be spent just on that learning process. Then I realized, shit, there's a TON of awesome/weird/useful M4L devices already shared among the community, most of them for free. Though I often can't find one that does specific things, the stuff I do find is always interesting and often inspiring in and of itself. I'm surely not saying there's no use in devoting time in the back end like that, as you've done with PD and such, but that can easily become more a hobby itself than actually writing and playing music. This also applies to GAS/gear research/etc. And if someone is just into writing code for musicians, great. If they're just into researching and collecting musical instruments, go for it. But it's one of those things where it's just best for everyone to realize where their true interests lie, and keeping your focus on it.

[thawkins]

Well I guess it's the sort of thing you will always realize *after* you've poured a lot of time into it. Definitely what I've gained is an understanding into how Ableton scripting, pure data, touchosc and stuff like that works. I guess what distresses me the most that I feel I'm no closer to mastering my music creation workflow than I was before I did all this. It's like GAS in the sense that the hunger to improve something by way of getting or building a new piece of equipment or software is never satisfied. :)

[modey]

I've been going through the same shit recently. I've often wondered if I should focus my energy more on sound/patch/system design than actually making music.. and in a way, I have been over the past few months, but I still have semi-regular gigs for which I have to actually put work into composing something to play. Having said that though, I'm considering taking the rest of the year off from gigs and releases in order to concentrate on arduino programming / electronics just so I have some employable skills outside of my regular employment.

I keep imagining a future where I design compact, classy yet quirky sequencer/synth boxes and selling them in small quantities to people like me haha

[thawkins]

Yeah I have been thinking that if I had a regular gig commitment or just a rehearsal of some sort, it would ground me down and force me to learn to use my existing gear, because if you're jamming or playing with other people there's no way to digress into improving some pure data patch or scripting Python in the middle of it. Right now my lack of discipline for actually practicing on my existing gear is showing pretty badly. :)

[modey]

Yeah, the gigs do ensure that I'm focused. However, it's also a bit frustrating, since I temporarily have to put my more wacky ideas on the backburner.. so when I take this enforced break, I'm hoping to get going with some weirder nord patching!

[thawkins]

I hope it works out well for you. I think it's sort of the same thing that "limitations make you creative", as in that if you've got a lot of time on your hands and no small concrete goals, you end up sprawling with your stuff all over the place because there's no apparent limits to work against. But I guess what these periods really help with is building technical skill that you can call upon when necessary.

[modey]

Yeah, I think my main idea is to work towards getting some good sound design/patching knowledge, without having to worry about compiling everything into a 30min live set or EP release. I've been considering setting up regular live streams of my sessions, just so I can force myself to regularly work on something that people can choose to listen to if they like, without the pressure of making something polished..

[TubularCorporation]

I've been dealing with the same stuff over the last couple years, mostly because for me it's really important to work with other people (not fileshare collaborations or stuff, actually in the same room playing together) and a bunch of people I know left town in 2013 and 2014, everyone else I've tied anything with either wasn't clicking for me or was too busy to work on a full blown project, and it gets easy to get into the cycle of getting some gear, making half a dozen tracks with it and then getting more gear when I'm just working on my own, because new gear kind of takes the place of the feedback you get with new collaborators (except it doesn't really take the place of it very well).  Playing out regularly can fill a similar role but this town really is in a rut musically these days, and the stuff I've been doing doesn't really lend itself to live performance well either.

 

Got a bunch of different local collaboration things in the works for this fall and winter though, and a few people have moved back, so that's finally turned back around. In the mean time I've gotten way better at mixing, learned quite a bit about electronics although I'm still pretty ignorant theoretically, and put together a pretty solid home studio so it wasn't a complete waste at all.

 

 

Point is, I think a lot of the time if you don't have regular feedback from an audience or collaborators or a band or whatever you start to look for other things to keep from getting stuck in a routine musically (and I guess the opposite is true, if you're ALWAYS working with other people then it can be really freeing to do solo work completely in isolation for a while) and that stuff can take over.

 

 

thawkins, one of the great things about playing with other people is that discipline isn't as important.  Obviously you need to know what you're doing up to some base line of technical  competence (although that base line can vary a lot depending on the kind of music you do), but the main thing is being able to listen an interact with other people and/or a crowd.  I'd take someone who can listen, react and take risks but only has moderate technical skill over someone with a ton of technique who's never willing to make a mistake or move out of their comfort zone any day.  When you're working solo you can't get away with that as much because no matter what goes wrong you're on your own.  Although the truth is half the time the worst thing you did was actually the best thing you did.

Edited July 12, 2017 by RSP

[Auditor]

the truth is half the time the worst thing you did was actually the best thing you did.

I like that, that's pretty. 

[Guest]

Anyone have a Yamaha RM1X, can get a second hand for around 150,- euro's, don't really need it, but might be fun groove machine for this vacation. Is it worth the money? Not too impressed with what I'm hearing on youtube.

[flacid]

Just because you *can* do everything a machinedrum can do using software, doesn't mean you will. I've found the elektron workflow/interface design inspires me more, when I have no real plans to make anything specific

 

100% - I find that my thought processes are loads more rigid when entering hits/notes into a DAW. "This should go here, this goes here" etc - Whereas with a piece of hardware I just think "Lets try this..." Without getting in too deep I would say (for me) that a computer/DAW process is conscious and hardware more playful/subconscious. 

Edited July 12, 2017 by Alan Ord

[Guest Chesney]

Nah, the RM1x is kinda electribe level but nowhere near as fun. If it was given to you then yeah grab it.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Chesney

[TubularCorporation]

Nah, the RM1x is kinda electribe level but nowhere near as fun. If it was given to you then yeah grab it.

 

 

I was going to say do it but then I realized I was mixing up my model numbers and thinking of the RX5.

 

 

If I had 150 to spend and could get an RX5 at that price, I definitely would.

Edited July 13, 2017 by RSP

[thawkins]

 

thawkins, one of the great things about playing with other people is that discipline isn't as important.  Obviously you need to know what you're doing up to some base line of technical  competence (although that base line can vary a lot depending on the kind of music you do), but the main thing is being able to listen an interact with other people and/or a crowd.  I'd take someone who can listen, react and take risks but only has moderate technical skill over someone with a ton of technique who's never willing to make a mistake or move out of their comfort zone any day.  When you're working solo you can't get away with that as much because no matter what goes wrong you're on your own.  Although the truth is half the time the worst thing you did was actually the best thing you did.

 

I totally agree, working with real people in a real room is the best way for creating amazing stuff. I have had more fun and excitement making music with a cheap midi keyboard and some single loop waveforms loaded into Live's Simpler and playing along with other people than tweaking knobs at home. And that's also true that sometimes when I listen to some ancient render I find on my hard drive it sounds really amazingly good even though I thought it was shit at the time.

Basically I think that the discipline I need is some means to fool myself into this playful mood that's much easier to get into when you're playing with other people.

Currently I do have some collaboration (the physical, not fileshare) going on, but that mainly involves me playing drums. 

[TubularCorporation]

 

 

thawkins, one of the great things about playing with other people is that discipline isn't as important.  Obviously you need to know what you're doing up to some base line of technical  competence (although that base line can vary a lot depending on the kind of music you do), but the main thing is being able to listen an interact with other people and/or a crowd.  I'd take someone who can listen, react and take risks but only has moderate technical skill over someone with a ton of technique who's never willing to make a mistake or move out of their comfort zone any day.  When you're working solo you can't get away with that as much because no matter what goes wrong you're on your own.  Although the truth is half the time the worst thing you did was actually the best thing you did.

 

I totally agree, working with real people in a real room is the best way for creating amazing stuff. I have had more fun and excitement making music with a cheap midi keyboard and some single loop waveforms loaded into Live's Simpler and playing along with other people than tweaking knobs at home. And that's also true that sometimes when I listen to some ancient render I find on my hard drive it sounds really amazingly good even though I thought it was shit at the time.

Basically I think that the discipline I need is some means to fool myself into this playful mood that's much easier to get into when you're playing with other people.

Currently I do have some collaboration (the physical, not fileshare) going on, but that mainly involves me playing drums. 

 

 

Drums are the best.  Drummers who play other instruments/compose in some way are the best.  Well done!