My name is Scott... and I'm a recovering "gear-aholic". There, I said it. I've put off this admission for a long time, but there's no denying or wishing away what you know to be true...
That simple statement came into my head today, as I was thinking about my ongoing work on my current batch of recordings. I've been doing this home recording thing for well over 15 years now, and I think anyone who's been into it like I have knows that, over time, you start to accumulate... stuff. Instruments. Amplifiers. Recording equipment. Cables and other accessories. If you're not careful, the accumulation of these things can overwhelm, to the point where it becomes a hindrance to your creativity, instead of feeding and nurturing it. I've battled with this "problem" for years, and I feel it's time to finally do something about it.
I started recording music at home back in the early to mid-90's, and though I was a young musician who hadn't been playing any instrument for very long (and couldn't sing all that great either), I was eager to learn. Eager to create something that was important to me, if no one else. I was also driven by artists like Prince and Stevie Wonder, who played most if not all of the instruments on some of their most popular records. That got me excited to see if I could pull off some of that myself someday.
As my short money would allow, I would upgrade to more and more pieces of equipment. Guitars, effects, amps, drum machines, keyboards. But the game-changer was my first 4-track cassette recorder. It was a revelation AND a revolution! It was the last piece of the puzzle to finally give me at least a taste of the sounds that I was hearing in my head, and it was a great learning experience. But what was an even greater lesson was when I met the bandmates of the very first band I played in. They recorded with 4-tracks like I did. But when they played me their songs... It was an eye-opener, on different levels.
The lesson learned then, was to keep it simple. Less is more. In those early days, I was stuck in the trap of trying to make my music sound like it was played by an entire band, when in reality it was just me, and my fancy equipment. Stevie and Prince did it, I can too, right? Well maybe, maybe not. They were the exception, not the rule. And I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not the exception. But it doesn't mean that I can't make music that pleases me, and hopefully others. We shall see how that goes...
My bandmates' music had simple arrangements, the playing was never busy, always to-the-point. But the music had impact, and "vibe". That's what I'm going after, every time I attempt to record, to this day. And over the years, I've discovered more artists' music that follows that same ideal, so I feel that I'm on the right track. I'm learning that lesson a little more every day.
The "less is more" motto applies not only to writing and arranging. For me, it now applies to the equipment that I use. These days, I'm about getting as much of it out of my way as possible. The technology has now advanced to the point to that you can do great recordings to easily share with anyone (without embarrassment), with a bare minimum amount of gear. As recent as last year, I had 2 computers, a multi-channel audio interface, a mixer, a drum machine, and 3 keyboards. All that extra equipment was getting in the way of me getting much work done at all, resulting in a hard drive full of abandoned, half-done ideas. Today, I'm working with a laptop, a basic 2-channel Pro Tools interface, microphones, headphones, speakers, a few guitars, a small MIDI keyboard, and my voice. That's everything I need to get my ideas across.
From now on, if there's something not right with the music, it's gonna be on me, not on what equipment I feel that I "need," and don't have. The recordings should be able to stand on their own, because of the energy that I put into the music, not the equipment. In that respect, I feel very liberated these days. Freedom is a beautiful thing...
That simple statement came into my head today, as I was thinking about my ongoing work on my current batch of recordings. I've been doing this home recording thing for well over 15 years now, and I think anyone who's been into it like I have knows that, over time, you start to accumulate... stuff. Instruments. Amplifiers. Recording equipment. Cables and other accessories. If you're not careful, the accumulation of these things can overwhelm, to the point where it becomes a hindrance to your creativity, instead of feeding and nurturing it. I've battled with this "problem" for years, and I feel it's time to finally do something about it.
I started recording music at home back in the early to mid-90's, and though I was a young musician who hadn't been playing any instrument for very long (and couldn't sing all that great either), I was eager to learn. Eager to create something that was important to me, if no one else. I was also driven by artists like Prince and Stevie Wonder, who played most if not all of the instruments on some of their most popular records. That got me excited to see if I could pull off some of that myself someday.
As my short money would allow, I would upgrade to more and more pieces of equipment. Guitars, effects, amps, drum machines, keyboards. But the game-changer was my first 4-track cassette recorder. It was a revelation AND a revolution! It was the last piece of the puzzle to finally give me at least a taste of the sounds that I was hearing in my head, and it was a great learning experience. But what was an even greater lesson was when I met the bandmates of the very first band I played in. They recorded with 4-tracks like I did. But when they played me their songs... It was an eye-opener, on different levels.
The lesson learned then, was to keep it simple. Less is more. In those early days, I was stuck in the trap of trying to make my music sound like it was played by an entire band, when in reality it was just me, and my fancy equipment. Stevie and Prince did it, I can too, right? Well maybe, maybe not. They were the exception, not the rule. And I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not the exception. But it doesn't mean that I can't make music that pleases me, and hopefully others. We shall see how that goes...
My bandmates' music had simple arrangements, the playing was never busy, always to-the-point. But the music had impact, and "vibe". That's what I'm going after, every time I attempt to record, to this day. And over the years, I've discovered more artists' music that follows that same ideal, so I feel that I'm on the right track. I'm learning that lesson a little more every day.
The "less is more" motto applies not only to writing and arranging. For me, it now applies to the equipment that I use. These days, I'm about getting as much of it out of my way as possible. The technology has now advanced to the point to that you can do great recordings to easily share with anyone (without embarrassment), with a bare minimum amount of gear. As recent as last year, I had 2 computers, a multi-channel audio interface, a mixer, a drum machine, and 3 keyboards. All that extra equipment was getting in the way of me getting much work done at all, resulting in a hard drive full of abandoned, half-done ideas. Today, I'm working with a laptop, a basic 2-channel Pro Tools interface, microphones, headphones, speakers, a few guitars, a small MIDI keyboard, and my voice. That's everything I need to get my ideas across.
From now on, if there's something not right with the music, it's gonna be on me, not on what equipment I feel that I "need," and don't have. The recordings should be able to stand on their own, because of the energy that I put into the music, not the equipment. In that respect, I feel very liberated these days. Freedom is a beautiful thing...
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| 2006 - Bad... |
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| 2007 - Worse... |
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| 2009 - Worst! |
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| April 2011 - Under control once again |
Dude I totally feel you, as I'm in the same boat! Great read and nice to know were not alone! I make myself jump through hoops before I add to my setups now, as I tell myself - one more thing I have to support outside of the features it gives me. Less is truly more!
ReplyDeleteWord... Thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteKewl Bro!
ReplyDelete