All this New Music gear to die for. Is it making us better ,players,composers,etc?

There is soo much new gear to die for comming in recent Years.

Is it having Fruits? Do we now make more beatifull music, making more creative and inovative music,

more complex msuic? are we now more skillfull musicians? becuase of all that new gear? software etc?

Dont be scare by the efects of this question , people have

reported their having some weird activity on them.

Its called thinking

No pond intended, but with all of the practice i m doing it has got me thinking . I m a gear fan to please remember that.

I think that you're living with a little too much passion...

no

This comes up often after NAMM.

The answer is that if it inspires you then yes, you are better because of it. New synth, new girlfriend, new car, whatever. Take inspiration any way you can get it.

Personally nothing this NAMM has inspired me so I'll be on the prowl for inspiration from other sources. Should be fun.

I think you're fishing around too much.

lets be honest : Yes this really sounds like bashing

But lets face it . the truth can be really really hard to face.

I think you're fishing around too much.

its free thinking

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"Commit to CANI! -- Constant And Never-ending Improvement"

The answer is a BIG NO. The more gear the more trouble.

Well, that at least saves you buying 30 self-help motivational books.

It's all a question of who's in control of what ...

yes. evertime I buy more gear, I automagically become a better player. that only follows. Just like my sneakers make me run faster.

soon, I will have enought gear that even mozart can go kiss my ass!

The answer is maybe ... but qualifing that one is important.

Two things exist in the world; truly creative people, and other people trying to get them to buy something.

I haven't seen any product come out in 30 years that was ground breaking or changed music. Maybe the Moog synthesizer, the 303/909 things, the first real sampler (Akai?) and maybe the DX7 (maybe). Everything else since are just variations of the same themes, and everyone of them is marketed as the new end-all in gear. NOT!

It shouldn't be about the gear, it should be about aspiring to play as a virtuoso.

What the emphasis of gear has done is create a bunch of musicians who can't play a note or even deal with something as simple as tuning an instrument. And that means less creativity due to limitations at the player side. Meaning if the gear can't do it for them, their lost.

I know that's an over-simplification but I do not think it's that far off the mark.

Owning has become an "art".. to the expense of the actual art [of making music].

there have also been collectors and admirers ... it's not wrong to admit you are ...

... however, I feel my music is more about expressing something unique or in a different way than being a virtuoso (though I guess I'm trying ... )

I don't feel I achieved much of anything yet with my music, but I know it's improving and I'm become a better live player AND I have a lot of gear to keep me interested and more educated about the production tools available to me.

I keep telling my wife I'd be a better musician if only I had a new girlfriend....

Oh no doubt, Diamento. Don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying if you are not a virtuoso you are not creative. I'm just saying their can be too much time spent on studying gear, which could be better used towards practicing the instrument.

Moreover, there seems to be an entire segment out there that "makes music" because the machines can do it for them, and they never learn how to play. This is limiting their creative potential and they probably don't realize it.

I can write in midi notes in a DAW like it's nothing, but because I can play my choices are more creative since I understand fundamentals. For instance choosing certain voicing and velocities within that voicing, or understanding things like legato, from a players perspective.

In the 80s, when I saw the cover from Howard Jones "new song" with the nice Jupiter-8, I thought that it would take a lifetime of making different sounds. How little I knew, since my JP-8 lasted 2 years in my studio and that only because it broke and I was lazy to get it fixed.

Nowadays, we get bored with much more complex instruments in a month or so. Either that stuff got so cheap, my income increased substantially, or I do not spend enough time to make them sound good. Somehow I was much more productive with less equipment in the past than I am now.

Now, back to reality, I have some gems just because I adore them. Not that I am using them much but just to look at them makes me happy...and then there are the VA...

...and to answer your question. All that gear makes you sound more professional of course!!!!!

Your final product will sound a lot better with today's technology. When I started, the way to record demos was with a four track recorder. The studios that sounded good were uber-expensive. There was some mid-way studios that produced okay demos. It's cool in this regard.

It's also cool that the gap between the top tools and the low-end tools is much lower than it used to be. I started on a DX27S (and a four track). Quite a limited beast. I forget the original price of that thing, but I bet for the same price these days I could grab a cheap computer and controller keyboard, and wail away on tons of free plugins. I know I definitely could do that for the price I paid for my used D-50 ($700 or so, this was a fair bit ago).

To make more beautiful, complex, innovative, creative music, you focus on your composition skills and musicianship. That's independent of the tools in many ways. I do think it is better to focus on a *few* tools then be overwhelmed by *many*. Helps the process.

I think in some cases advancements in equipment can enhance one's playing or composing ability. For the last 5 years or so I've been using a Korg Karma workstation as my main composing tool, and it's been absolutely incredible and has opened many new doors in my creativity. I never thought that I would ever even consider selling it, however, after seeing and playing the Korg M3, I can see that this would provide me with some new features, including the new second generation Karma technology, that would help me take my composing to the next level. It's not that this would create an automatic improvement as soon as I take it out of the box - I'm sure I will spend a long time learning to use it and get the most out of it in relation to my own creative process. So I think there are times when the latest technology can make a difference.

i remember seeing the pink floyd 'live at pompei" video where there is a studio interview with waters and he has some modular next to him. he says something along the lines of:

"people say the floyd are nothing but a bunch of effects and machines, but this machine doesn't do anything by itself, and if i give it to you..it doesn't make you the floyd, now does it?"

2 things to get from that:

1. this isn't a new problem/issue (video is probably from 1973 or something)

2. equipment by itself doesnt do anything, and if i have the same gear as eno, it won't make me Eno. (what YOU direct the gear to do makes the difference, makes your artistic endeavour)

and, ps, the original poster's english/wording was really confusing and, i think, maybe, condescending ("don't be afraid...")-although maybe not, again, can't tell. this isn't the discussion of a ground-breaking philosophical tenet anyway.

it has come up in every band ive ever been in though, generally its a less talented member of the group attempting character assasination of another : "well, he isn't {censored} without that looper (expensive guitar, badass keyboard, 8-string bass, etc) is he?", etc

sometimes it's a legitimate issue though, one of rthe character of the group-do we really need all this junk? do we want to become dependant upon it?

my solution is generally to write a simple rock or punk song we can play with a guitar and a snare drum or somesuch. generally, it ends up sounding like us still, which reassures everyone a lot.

just my input

Congrats, Troll-y...I mean "ADSR"...I mean "CarouselCandy"...I mean "TonyRobbins"..... You've once again successfully wasted everyone's time with this pointless, re-hashed topic.

I think we've got it now: Gear bad, creativity good. See you next time.

Congrats, Troll-y...I mean " ADSR "...I mean " CarouselCandy "...I mean " TonyRobbins "..... You've once again successfully wasted everyone's time with this pointless, re-hashed topic. I think we've got it now: Gear bad, creativity good . See you next time.

He has only wasted as much time as you have given him.

...and yours, and resonators, and karmas, and raffors and soundwaves and diametros, etc etc.

crap. i forgot about that sorta behaviour. i havent been on a forum for months. duh.

i remember adsr now.

tool.