Acquire Items

If you haven’t heard of it, it’s called Gear Acquisition Syndrome, commonly abbreviated as GAS. The primary affliction plaguing people that both A) are into any sort of music production and B) have access to the internet. My problem is that I need some amount of gear. Right? At least I think I do? What causes this feeling? What can be done about it? What is my role in all of this? I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately.

Anybody who has used Instagram in the past few years is very aware of how aggressive, specific, and targeted advertising has become. In fact, nearly any site hosting user-created content nowadays is absolutely flooded with ads, both explicit and cleverly-disguised; “influenced” at you in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. If I open Instagram, I’ll see maybe one or two posts from someone I actually know, followed by a cascade of about a trillion boutique guitar pedals and esoteric synthesizers for sale. And the horrible thing is a lot of it looks really cool.

I often avoid content from even some of my favorite creators due to the advertising slant. I just don’t want to watch a video that makes me feel like I need to buy a new expensive thing. I’m primarily talking about unboxings, reviews, and in-depth breakdowns of new gear. “Geartube”, I’ve heard it called (at least in the case of YouTube). Don’t get me wrong—gear-centric videos can feature amazing music and be inspirational despite being very consumerist at the core. And I don’t want to disparage anyone for making this type of content. In most cases, art alone isn’t profitable, and brand deals and views from gear review videos can allow artists to continue doing what they do. Not to mention that it’s not uncommon for the gear in question to be made by a small creator, trying to make it in a very saturated market.

The good news is that if you know where to look, there are some niche communities on the internet that focus on art and music production that don’t have a primary goal of selling you something. But even in these spaces, the talk of new and enticing gear is ever-present and unavoidable. Simply avoiding all mentions of shiny things is not a viable solution for me. And I’m talking specifically about musical and audio equipment here, but this can be applied to basically any hobby.

So What Do I Do?

I mean me. This is a question I’m asking myself. First, I’m going to share not one but TWO fully completed tracks that I’ve finished up sometime over the past couple months. This is ostensibly the reason for hoarding all the gear in the first place, after all:

track 1 – Scouring – This is Somt Thinghsn

This one uses a lot of short, glitchy, sampled drums. 
Sampled, resampled, the whole thing bounced to a single track,
sped up, played underneath itself and sequenced to create some 
really cool textures.

Samples taken from a few different drum packs, plus a few 
random modular recordings I had lying around. I couldn't stop thinking
of BoC's Geogaddi while working on this one.
Mixing was difficult with so much going on sonically,
but I'm very pleased with the result.

track 2 – Sprong – Song About Sprong

This one is just a little tiny Animal Crossing song. 
Relax, chill out, listen to the sprongime sounds.

When I first set up this site, I was also toying with the idea of starting to upload more to my YouTube Channel. I put a couple of videos up a few years back where I’d make simple tracks on standalone synths. To my surprise, I got some really nice comments! I just struggle with the idea of a piece of gear being the focus of the video. Front and center. I know what this type of content can do to the viewer. I’ve been there. “I love this music, and if I buy this expensive device, maybe I’ll be able to make music like this!” I didn’t want to be part of the problem. I want the music itself, or the process, to be the subject of the video and the discussion rather than the equipment. My idea then was to continue uploading music, but without ever showing any of the objects used to create it. The noise machines do usually provide an interesting visual element, but I guess that’s precisely the problem, isn’t it?

Well, today I stumbled upon Mikhail Medvedev’s music. I think this piece is truly amazing. Does the video make me really want a Soma Terra? Yes. But I also think the video would lose something special without the footage of the instrument being played. And even better: At the end of the video, he walks through the setup of the instrument for anyone who wants to try to recreate what he’s doing. So now, I’m rethinking things. Maybe it’s okay to sometimes put gear on display in a video, if the situation calls for it. I realized that videos I had uploaded were, at their core, intended to showcase the (excellent) Midinous sequencer software. If someone can watch the video and come away with it with a deeper understanding of the process, I think that might justify it. It’s more than just showing off.

So that might just be it. I think the solution to my own GAS problems is also a bigger focus on process. Learning more about the gear I have helps me to learn what I like and what I don’t like about my current workflow. You’ll often hear things like “It doesn’t matter what you use to make the album. Nobody listening is going to know you used a cheap XXXX.”, “Nobody will notice that you used a plugin vs a physical compressor.”, “you could make the same music in a DAW for free.” etc. But to you, the artist, it’s not just about the end product. It’s all about the process. I really don’t believe that I could make the same music in a DAW. Or maybe it’s more precise to say that I wouldn’t make the same music in a DAW. I think it’s true that choice of tooling isn’t important per se, but it is important to enjoy the tools and the workflow you’re working with.

If I had an idea for a track, the results I’d get from sitting at a DAW would be different from what I’d get at my modular setup, which would be different from what I’d get in a studio stocked with standalone synthesizers, etc. I’m not saying it would be better or worse, but it’d definitely be different. Tooling itself is a stylistic choice that can’t be fully separated from the result.

But How Many Items?

The unfortunate truth is that this sort of hobby does have a pretty steep initial cost. A modest guitar pedalboard with 5-8 pedals can easily exceed $1000. And that’s on top of the cost of the guitar itself, speakers/headphones, amp/sim, and recording setup. With a modular synth, it’s difficult to make anything resembling traditional “music” for under two grand. So you’re going to be spending a lot of money just to get started. Music production, as a hobby or as a profession, primes you right up front to normalize spending huge chunks of cash on shiny new toys. The important questions are how much is enough, and when do you stop?

The crux of GAS is that you just need this one more thing that will really need to be able to fully realize your creative potential. The tricky thing is that there are things that you will actually need.

So at this point it probably sounds obvious or even trite, but the idea is to try my hardest to figure out a way to make the sounds I want to make with what I have. If you’ve ever put this idea to the test, you’ll know that you’re often way closer than you’d think. On top of that, it’s an extremely rewarding experience that will give you a much deeper understanding of your instruments. If I feel like I really can’t do something I want to do, or if I really don’t enjoy the sounds, or the methods available to me, maybe it’s time to consider making another purchase. I think it’s important to recognize and admit that this is a possibility. Likewise, if I’m never using certain pieces of gear, then I should consider selling them. Practice good mental hygiene. Think harder about purchases. Avoid social media and unnecessary sources of heavy advertising, or anything else that causes gear-induced anxiety. Also recognize that I’m definitely going to occasionally buy things just because they look cool. That just comes with the territory. It’s all about trying to minimize that impulse, and maximize the utilization of available tools. This whole gear vs. process thing is messy, and the two are closely intertwined.

As you can probably guess, I am not a minimalist. I’m not against buying gear, and I’m not even against the idea of spending tons of money on gear that isn’t strictly necessary. But I do think it’s important to be mindful about what we consume. And that’s perhaps even more important when it comes to social media and advertisements, because advertising works on you, whether or not you actually need more stuff.

;3.5