limitations: the true food of inspiration?

[skinny.b]

It's a debate that's been going on since self aware beings have roamed the earth, is less more, or is more, as the word seems to state, more? Even back in the stone age there were guys sitting around saying, 'yeah your flint axe may look the shit but when it comes down to it an antelopes skull has never argued with my big fucking club! I'm keeping it real, fuck your technology!' So it is today with all types of technological advances, but specifically for us, music tech.
Like most people here, my setup could be viewed by the Abelton/Macbook pro set as archaic. I've got a Roland MC307 groovebox running into an SP404 and that all runs into a cheap ass sequencer on my old ass laptop. Along with some other bits, mics, guitars etc, that i've picked up along the way this is my gear and I fucking love it. It's all I need to make the music I want (with the exception maybe of an analogue synth!) and I know it inside out!
Anyway, the point, I went round my neighbours the other week. He has a kick ass computer and runs Reason into Abelton and tends to make tech/funky house. We'd been chatting about making some stuff together so we got together and had a go. Man, when I first saw this shit I was amazed but it soon became apparent, at least to me, that I wasn't getting the best out of myself or the gear. With so many options I found myself wasting time scrolling and going 'oooooh, awesome noises!' instead of trying to make awesome noises myself.
'You like Aphex Twin?' my neighbour says. Now, to me that's like asking do you like food! Of course I like Aphex Twin, the man is a god to me! Anyway he slaps this effect on the drum track we had made and hey presto! Aphex Twin style, fucked up, messy drums! At the time I thought shit yeah! that's awesome! But later I thought 'wait, what's the point if you've not done it yourself?'
I dunno, it just seems to me that if the tech is doing it for you, then what's the difference between you and any other fucker with a computer. Also you're never gonna learn the programming skills to do this shit on your own so eventually you will hit a brick wall creatively. When I listen to music I think 'how did they make that noise?' then I try to make the noise, not look around for a sample pack or VST that can do it for me, that's not progress and it means you'll always rely on others. It's like a covers band, why play other peoples songs when you can write your own?
So yeah, I feel that the limitations of my gear have made me more creative than if I'd gone out and spent a couple of grand on all singing all dancing computer programs. I figure, build your setup slowly, learn the fuck out of it and the rewards will be vast and voluptuous, rather that the instant quick fix of sample packs etc.
Not to slag off Reason, abelton, logic etc, I'm just saying at this stage they're not for me, much respect to anyone who can work their way round those labrynthine screens and produce amazing music! But I guess I'll always be stuck in the past, being the caveman sitting there with his club saying 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'.

peace

[Unfolding]

Firstly, nice rant. Read similar things a bunch of times & I never get tired of it.

So it is today with all types of technological advances, but specifically for us, music tech.

True, but what about guitarists and classical musicians? They don't have the same debates as us (as far as I'm aware) & they're bound by the same/similar limits we have recording with hardware & actual instruments.

this is my gear and I fucking love it... It's all I need to make the music I want and I know it inside out

This is getting shit right.

See, your neighbour can make Aphex snare rushs that goes for days. Good for him, but does he know how the plug in works? Probably not. Can he make authentic Aphex-style snare rushes without it? Probably not. The key here is Aphex didn't use a plug in to do that, he used sequencers for sure but not what your neighbour has. There's been debate about Aphex's set up for years, but chances are he did those glitches with a tracker. A more impressive option is to learn a tracker to do what Aphex did. Chances are the rhythms you'll come up with will be more creative than the plug in because the plug in works to rules that you (with an imagination) aren't bound by.

Aphex learned how to make a snare rush himself. Don't know if he invented it, just that he helped popularise it. Like yourself he pushed his gear & learned the shit out it. Software or hardware, same deal.

Here's a clip of an embarassing dad messing with an SP-606 & it's presets.

you're never gonna learn the programming skills to do this shit on your own so eventually you will hit a brick wall creatively

Lastly, this I disagree with, composition of a creative song is something that gear has nothing to do with. Learning how to use your gear doesn't mean you've learned music theory.

Cheers!

[false tropics]

agreed on all fronts. also worth noting, i think, is that we're all limited to what access we have to samples. no amount of effects or capabilities can save a track full of dull samples and synth patches. primative equipment with good sounds beats high tech with cruddy sounds anyday.

[Unfolding]

Just watched this clip of Fourtet talking through his live set up & couldn't help think of your post, B. http://www.youtube.com/embed/9KIvnLBF7vU?autoplay=1

Fourtet seems to walk both lines: He uses 2 laptops (running Ableton & Cooledit), a 4 channel mixer, a monome, a looper & an (underused?) SP-303. It's all based on really knowing what he wants to acheive with his show: manipulating the audience & giving them something they don't get out of his recordings. Can't argue with how he uses Ableton either, he straight up admits to not going deep into it because he doesn't want to sound like other Ableton dudes. He keeps his identity in the craft, not necessarily the gear.

[Chopperman]

All I've ever used to make beats is the SP 404, besides some PS2 game before that, and I still learn new techniques with the machine all the time. I'm definitely an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" type guy. It seems like it was my first day with the SP when I realized it was all I need to make music, besides maybe a keyboard, which I now have and always neglect.

A friend of mine is always looking for ways to make beats easier. He always has some new technical method that he's really excited about that usually doesn't seem like much fun to me. Like the other day, he told me about a program that plays the stems randomly and then you go through and choose which parts you like. I don't get it. It seems to me like the more work the computer does for you, the less original (human) your beats will sound.

[rrr*]

All I've ever used to make beats is the SP 404, besides some PS2 game before that

MTV Music Maker?
Anyway to reply to the OP, I love making beats with just my 303. I got tired of staring at a computer all day.

[hseiken]

Being creative is trying to bust out of a box that someone or something put you in. Gear tells you 'i can only play 4 samples at a time'...your creative response is 'fuck off, gear...you do what i tell you.'

With infinite possibilities and no restrictions, it's impossible to decide where exactly to start, much less figure out where you're going...

[Eureka]

It seems to me like the more work the computer does for you, the less original (human) your beats will sound.

WOOOORRRRDDDDD

This is why I'm getting a 303/404 and just keeping my production in that. I can construct, mix, and to an extent, master, whole fucking albums as well as play them live with one machine. Why would I need anything else?

[Ill Green]

Limitations make one feel in a comfort zone because they know all the limits to their equipment and are confident in their production. Flipside of it is when you have unlimited sources, production gets lazy. Back in the day, before beat makers, there were band leaders and instead of pads with samples, he had men with soul and in order to get a certain sound he had to position them and possibly omit some players in front of the mic. It was work too because sometimes a player was too drunk to play so the band leader would cap one in they ass and the player will all of a sudden play correctly and bleeding. The music was all that mattered. But today, we have computers and beat machines and no need to wait on drunken Quiles with that bass guitar. Beats are made at a rapid pace, and as technology expands, you'll be able to make a beat with a snap of the fingers and a cough.