Learning Curve, Information, frustration

[Slammered]

Remember the pre-broadband days.. Information took time.. The days when

Cubase ran on an Atari St , VSTi's had never been heard of & you had to save for

ages for the next decent hardware synth..

Although the speed of Hardware has brought us into a new era with unlimited possibility

I couldn't help feeling a bit lost when I got yet another PDF user guide for yet another VSTi .. Not sure if anyone else is in the same boat but I feel I'm spending an increasing amount of time reading & learning to use new software whether it's VSTi's or the latest

upgrade of sequencer.. At first I didn't mind as it was all new & exciting but I'm wondering how do you find a compromise between learning new instruments & the actual creative part that is picking a chord lick from thin air, developing a beat etc..

I found myself getting extremely frustrated by the amount of re-training I'm having to do & have written nothing for ages as a result.. & worrying that by the time I learn it , the magical lines in my head will have faded...

So do I go back to my old faithful setup & write the songs & convert them when I'm up to scratch with the new instruments or is this all part of learning...

I'm probably not the only one that finds the sequencing bit tedious as hell & the creative bit enjoyable..

 

What say yee professionals ???

[Amygdala]

I probably don't count as a professional, but here goes:

 

I remember the good old days, but never used Atari - but a really minimalistic program for PC instead. Now adays, I use a five year old version of Logic on my equally old powerbook, and your point is exactly why: I can't be bothered to learn all the new stuff out there. I don't use any VSTi's - I have seen and heard some decent ones here and there, but they're no way nearly as fun as turning actual knobs, looking for a bad cable in the setup that causes the most wonderful distortion, routing three actual physical devices in a chain, and recording the result with cracked knees, and sweat and the forehead. So in my studio, it's still the good old days.

 

I think there are two overall routes to learning music production: The way I learned - let's call it bottom-up. No gear, no fancy presets and no easy solution. If you want something done, you have to learn the basic principals behind it all, and combine them with your creative and musical "sense".

 

Then the reverse: top-down. You get all these fancy softsynths for no money (= in no time), without knowing the first thing about what is going on underneath. A lot of good music can come from preset-riding, but truly great music (I believe) requires deeper understanding. This comes later (a LOT later) with the top-down approach, since all the tricks of the trade are available here and now - but, alas, just the way every other top-downer is doing it. No creativity is needed, and the results show. The usual disclaimer for exceptions apply

 

 

- If I was to start now, I would definetly be a top-downer, but honestly - thank god I have the basic knowledge of synthesis, sampling, effects and whatnot. So here's what I meant to say all a long: Find the instruments (hard- or soft-) you really like, and stick to them. Pick a few, one of each kind (virtual analog, wavetable, physical modelling, modular, ...), and learn them - REALLY learn them! When you know them by heart, it's easier to let creativity take over, and surf the music, instead of hacking away at it... Throw away the newest upgrade of some arbitrary synth or sequencer, if it interferes with your workflow the least

 

-A