JUSTIFYING MY MASSIVE STUDIO 

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never justify, rock that shit

Gear doesn't have to be about what you make. I have more gear than in your background, and I just enjoy the technology and experimenting for myself. I didn't 'earn' it with musical skill, I worked my ass off at my job, and I choose to spend a lot of disposable income on things that bring me joy. End of story. Nobody should ever have to justify their hobbies and interests to snobs on the internet that probably haven't produced anything of value either. We're all just out here trying to have a good time.

A lot of those negative comments are just from envious people. It's the same thing with most of those who are complaining that a particular synth is too expensive.

I believe no one should justify what they do with their money. I have been targeted many times with "look at that gear vs the music you do " and I would lie if I'd deny that sometimes those comments hurts. I grew to believe that most of the time jealousy is what fuel that kind of hate, and I feel that minor artists/youtubers like me are easier target because we are more relatable ( "why him? he's not better than me" kind of though ). To me the best strategy is never engage, unless the intentions are good, like yours. Thanks for launching the discussion and see you at SB!

The amount of gear I've bought because you've reviewed it is remarkable. I love what you do so keep it up

@blush_response lol I remember your original setup in that dorm! I bought that red virus b from you hahaha

I have a massive amount of gear old and new. The only thing I need to earn is the money to buy my gear. I’ve been buying gear for the last 40 years. I made music for a job and now make music for fun. whether you are a pro or hobbyist, who cares what people think. You do whatever makes you happy 😊

I too have a pretty respectable studio and I’m damn proud of it. I treat it like a library where I can ‘check out’ gear whenever I want. I love having dozens of pieces to pull from and honestly I find it inspiring. I say love what you have and rock the hell out of it.

If they don't like your style of music, why are they bothering to watch, listen and especially comment. You clearly enjoy your studio, meld with it and know your craft very well. An artist's set is earned, when they pay for it. More so if they know it inside out. More again if they produce interesting unique music with it. More so again, if they are able to pay for it through their craft. That includes RU-vid videos, but more so again if it's from selling music and/or performing. Mostly it would be horrible if all gear was used in one context, and I think experienced producers know that, set limitations and choose appropriately. You do you're music with that setup, it sounds powerful to me. If it was my setup, my interests lean more toward percussion-less electronic music, but that's just me, as I get older. My electronic setup has quite a lot of overlap with yours, in the synths and eurorack pieces. Maybe half the size, and my interest is more ambient, electronic, electroacoustic. So I have maybe less drum/sampler/pattern oriented pieces, and more standalone sequencers, loopers, granular, reverb, delays, and modulation fx. Then I have more acoustic instruments. But these synths are so powerful and flexible, they can do whatever you want. FWIW, many guitarists working producing professionally will have many acoustic and electric guitars of various kinds, walls of amps, basses, mics and tons of pedals. And if it's vintage US made guitars, amps, vintage pedals and mics, could make the cost of your studio seems not so bad. Guitarists might pay more for one classic 50/60s Fender amp and guitar than you're whole Eurorack setup, and think nothing strange about it.

I think a lot of people don't realize the path most people take toward a big setup like this is that it's often the culmination of decades of buying and selling and trading up to more advanced gear combined with professional advancement and life changes. I was like you, I got started on some really basic groove boxes and stuff with just a few hundred dollars when I was a teenager in the late 90s (in similar genre circles to you, even!), and it's only been in the last 5 years or so that my setup has bloomed into a bigger one like this. The only way I was able to do it was incrementally over a very long period of time. Back in the day I saw a $5,000 synth and was like, who is buying this shit? But decades later I look at something like that and go "oh, I could totally fund that if I sold this and this and this". The market for some of the pricier synths is not necessarily people who can run out and drop $5,000 on one synth at the drop of a hat, but they're mostly people who probably accumulated a lot of gear over the years and decided to trade up into a pricier device. Without the second hand market as a tool to help fund ourselves, most of us would not be able to afford this stuff. Like anything else, it's just a lifestyle we buy into, for some people it's guitars, for others it's cars, and so on. Currently I am weighing selling some stuff to help pay some bills while also being able to justify getting into a Digitakt II. It's a never ending process, and people hating on your setup are just people who were not around to witness all the little micro-decisions that led up to where you currently are, they are just impatient and want to take a shot at someone who has more than they do.

An artist can do / use whatever they like. I also have quite a bit of gear - Variety is the spice of life - A cook can have many spices but only need to use a few in combo at a time. I love having so many options and just go with the flow when making music. Applying rules and limitations to music production is dumb. Love your vids J. BTW I make DnB so would like to hear some from you @ 175bpm.

BR is my favorite no BS channel. Straight core content. No crap.

Joey - from my humble pov, I'd say that given you are in a position to own a good range of gear then just go for it and enjoy it. The enjoyment is key to creativity. I'd be astonished if you had said that you used your whole setup on any one piece of music. I'm guessing that you move from one machine to another as your muse directs. Even if you just use a thousandth of your setup at any one time, then that leaves the other 99.9% as potential energy waiting in the wings, ready to be released and explored when the time is right...

Though I wouldn't comment on it, I am guilty of mentally judging many electronic music you tubers who are always showing off new gear. Same with many 'beats' you tubers. I see a lot of equipment delivering pretty mediocre music. What they make just doesn't reflect the quality or complexity of their kit, so its easy to be cynical. I wouldn't put you in that basket at all. I'd put you in the 'highly skilled producers who also make you tube videos' basket. Your demos always show a deep understand of the equipment and synthesis, and frankly are some of the best synth workouts online. You push machines hard in a very creative way, and the manufactures must appreciate this. I want to see you delve into new and old kit, so I welcome new additions.

You have released a lot of music and you have a very eclectic style. I don’t think your studio is excessive at all. Keep doing what you are doing. I like your musical style. You are also really good at demoing modules and synths. Haters are going to hate, you can’t really change that.

With this setup i was expecting bossa nova from you. I am being honest. Bossa nova is one of my favorite styles, so that is what i expect from everyone.

1. When is an artists setup earned? When they spend hard earned money on it, or are gifted pieces by friends or partrons. Never when pieces of gear or ideas are stolen without integrity and honest attribution. 2. No, it takes a long time to integrate and use some pieces of gear. It took me over a year to learn to program a 303! 3. What music would I make? The successor to Skinny Puppy. 4. What would I make with your setup? Your music. Experimental, edgy, noisy, creative, in the moment, and awesome. 5. What should you be making? Something with really banging cool rhythm and experimental noise, chaotic but listenable, even danceable, and with a mesmerizing beat that you can't steer away from. Rhythm and exotic textures are your forte, keep plugging at it, you excel at both of those (as demonstated in your live video from Boiler Room Berlin). I love it when you evoke harmonic and melodic elements on top of this. Like I said before, when you do this, it reminds me of Front Line Assembly (I said this without knowing that you had performed with Front Line Assembly). In short, keep doing what you're doing and keep being a creative inspiration to yourself and others.

Personally, I have a minimalist setup. I am expanding it in very small steps.... I try to draw the best sounds for me from what I have, get to know each instrument well....Big Up JOEY! Brap On!

One of the misunderstandings is that gear lovers (with a lot of gear) need to be 100% productive, just casually playing with your gear can be an goal in itself. Also you don't have to use every bit ALL the time. A studio is a big puzzle and every part of the puzzle has it place. For me, i just need something new now and then to spark some creative flow, this can be some exotic budget FX, or some 90s rompler.

Every artist needs the right set of tools to bring their ideas to life.

I hope you used all that equipment on your new album... j/k. Nice to hear you've worked with Frontline Assembly - my band Tragic Venus was on an early Third Mind Records compilation alongside them. No one questions how many hammers a carpenter owns - these are tools (especially if you are a professional).

I think every setup is earned, no matter what someone does with it. It's hardware, it's collectable and a part of it is having fun, not much else. And what you do with it, is only your personal thing. - If someone does not like the music someone else does, it does not matter what (or how many) tools were at hand in the process of creating it. I also don't think that a setup was meant to be operated all at once. It's like a box of woodworkingtools or brushes and colors...you choose what is needed. - Personally I reduce my setup progressively and replace stuff to quite a low ratio, just to refine my limited but effective resources. I don't think that the "dreamsetups" hold up all that well, since the finality of the setup itself is a point I would not want to reach. Pathetically spoken, I love the journey of refining what I like, what I can operate well and what brings results that are beneficial to the music I'm after. (What I don't like: people to release 12 videos a year titled "I _finally_ build my dreamsetup!")

turning all synths on and not playing them is bad for the planet! 😱

Limitations help build mastery and creativity. I have a simple affordable setup, but it's perfect for where I am at on my composition journey. Give me infinite options and I might spend more time fiddling with knobs and VSTs than actually making anything.

All that being said, another interesting thought experiment would be asking one-self: "What music would I be doing if for some reason all electric equipement went not working anymore? " ( some stellar magnetic event or what not)

I love your sounds! you're so inspiring! rock on F the hater trolls on the internet

Instruments are tools to express yourself. A carpenter doesn't need to use everything at his disposal to make a great piece of furniture , its just whatever fits. Its funny when it comes to music we view doing certain things as "cheating" or having to explain yourself. Just do you , the people who cant do that thought experiment are not able to have a fair logical conversation. Id just like a Waldorf Quantum , Octatrack , a field recorder , a cirklon , an external clock midi bay etc , OTO machines for processing , My mostly MN modular system and an electric drum kit. With a 16 channel API desk and some decent nearfields and a treated room. But very happy with what i have bar a quantum and pro recording setup! I made more music with less things and the right mindset vs learning synthesis to the point I became an RF engineer getting bogged down in process and science and networking. It can be a seriously slippy slope , but a positive one in my case! It just meant i diddnt directly lead to a career in making music. Just in understanding signals. For your setup id probably just do a lot of industrial and ambient with a live band. That would be fun. Good video :)

"You're overdoing it" says I with 500 plugins LOL! Nah each to their own do your thing. Great vid and follow what gives joy to your creative process. It's a unique time in history to have this technology available. Push yourself, your art, and find the tools you need to do that: this is a lesson for those who are jealous of your setup. But if they've done what you've done, they could have a similar setup. You've done the work and have earned what you have so fair dues.

As for what I’d do with your setup, I’d probably do a lot more wave folding than I normally do, but probably still CV sequencing rather than midi, and I’d probably work at much slower tempos than you usually do (power electronics is like slow mo gabber industrial, I guess)

Why does anyone need to even make music with the shit they have? Let's be honest, for most people their music will never be heard or enjoyed. I'm an engineer. I build this shit and love sound design. It's my therapy. I hardly press record and I don't give a shit. Some people buy cars and keep them in a garage. I buy synths and make weird noises.

People should clean up their own doorstep before thinking about judging others. And then realize they can take that judgement and put it up their ……… Apart from that, I currently have four synths/drum machines and two samplers and those keep me busy all the time ;)

Lol I own a fuck ton of gear and i don't release shit because I just enjoy sounds and toys. Fuck the haters.

You don't need to justify anything to anyone. Enjoy making music and don't bother with the comments!

What i find hillarious ,are people getting judgy about"what you do with all that gear" when you are in fact a working musician, who is both playing with some of the biggest names in some genres of music, and has a bunch of their own projects. You make the kind of music you make, because you have found your creative voice, and these are the tools you use to express it with. You have been super successful doing this. WTF have these haters done!?

I think thats a response to people saying that you need analogue gear to do something good, then people go 360 and when they see people with a lot of gear doing something they dont like they lash out, I would be doing nothing with that chaos of a setup while I do a lot just pressing a button around, the issue comes from justifing something that should never be in question. Its a toy, I enjoy using it should be the only valid response. stay creative!

Thats an impressive list of artists, i might be becomming a fan

When is an artist setup earned? - Whenever the artist decide it is Does an artist need to use all their setup 100% of the time? - No, that’s ridiculous like saying a chef needs to use all the ingredients in their fridge in every dish What music would you make with your big dream setup? - No idea, my inspiration usually is coming from my toys, so I’ll have to get those first and tell you after :D What music would you make with my setup? - I don’t know what music I would make, but I wouldn’t go anywhere out of home for months, you got so many items on my wishlist! What do you think I should make with my setup? - What ever the fuck you feel like man, screw the haters! Bottom line, you don’t need to justify anything. As long as you are a responsible human being and make sure to do your duties and pay your bills, you don’t need to give an excuse to anyone how you spend your time, your money, or how you make your art.

What I want to know is how do you justify that BOOTY??!🤩

if i had every synth in the world i would still create goofy techno 👍

Do you brother, we can all get by with a laptop but if you love gear and have the means who cares what anyone else thinks, haters will be haters. Also the value you are providing with your reviews is reason enough… love them all.

why does the setup need to be earned? I don't even get the hate. Does it matter at all? However much you want and like to have is good for you :)

I think the main point of music is that for me (and for many people) it’s basically everything BUT job. On the job you have to optimise, and be rational. Music is about emotion, fun and satisfaction that has nothing to do with being responsible or sane even.

Bless you Joey! Great questions! I sometimes feel like I haven’t earned my setup and I don’t even post online. It’s kinda one of the reasons I don’t post jams. But thinking about these questions I feel every setup is earned unless someone is out there stealing gear! 😅

An artist has earned their setup when they start making brostep, an artist needs to be using 100% of their setup to make brostep at all times, I would make brostep with my dream setup (which is just a controller, Ableton Live, Massive and FM8) and I would make brostep with your setup, and I think you should be making brostep obviously.

Why feel the need to justify your setup?

what music you should make? what makes you happy 😊 we have a decent setup and never use everything at the same time (who does?), what would i make with your setup? what i do with mine: italo disco, new beat, electro and a bit of ebm, sometimes techno and house (same i would do if i had unlimited budget),. an artist has earned their setup on day one, it is nobody´s business how people spend their money, and making music shouldn´t necessarely have a purpose, it can be a job, a hobby, an obsession, a therapy (or all of it)

F the haters. Just do you as you always have and always will.

Hey, love your new track Avulsion, heavy sound and vocals really add to imagery. Based on your gear I’d assume you have real passion of some kind, even if you were just a gear reviewer or producer who doesn’t perform. Watching how much mastery you have over your gear and the passion you use it with is unique and reason I watch your channel. Also your music is pushing limits of sound design, which I think many who like “music” don’t appreciate or want. Many just want what they’ve already heard or radio / dj music. If I had your gear, I’d be learning and experimenting nonstop, pretty much what I do with much less gear or digital. Analog is just way more fun and less mousing around. Also your gear seems to encourage deeper understanding to get it working together. Negative comments are probably really boring people who haven’t even really bothered to watch your videos. Even if they weren’t into experimental and heavier sounds, you offer so much knowledge on gear and sound design a lack of appreciation would just show their lack of understanding. Many beginner musicians are at stage they just “like” stuff vs exploring like more advanced musicians. Same goes for those beyond beginner stages with most things. I think interesting question I’d like to know is : does your gear collection grow or stay at a certain size ? Is there too much gear for practical reasons ? Often you say you sold stuff , is it just because you no longer use it ? What’s your criteria for buying or selling ?

I’ve always thought I made better music with a more minimal setup. When I had more gear the complexity took away from the creativity. Your setup is awesome. I think a cool video would be how you turn a jam session into a track.

man you are great, keep doing what ur doing

A lot of the hate comes from peeps that are not able to access or maybe afford some of these awesome machines. I remember what that was like too, then after a while you start to acquire the gear that truly inspires. I Have a nice setup now and release music on some cool labels that I have always loved (6th circle is the project on sonic groove, phage tapes and sentient ruin) but by no means have I earned it in the eyes of the haters. Nor am I 'big" and thats ok, cant please 'em all. But I like to leave all my shit setup all the time because I want to feel inspired by it, and know when its time everything is right there to work on music rather than hook it all up etc. Love your music and these vids as no one on youtube comes close to underground techno and ebm like you. Keep it up! (bought a pwm malevolent cause your vid and loooove it)

What should you do with your setup? Big bucks 😂 You'd totally deserve it.

I'll be curious to see you do some breackcore tracks

What music would a make with your setup? I wouldn't , Or at the very least I would be very lost. I do slow, melodic minimalist ambient music, usually without a drum or baseline or rhythmic sequence anywhere to be heard.Working with sequencers and keyless instruments would drive me nuts. Our approaches to music are very very different Your set up fits how you work super well.

I dont mind it when someone has a lot of money invested in gear if they are actually making music and being productive, but I gotta admit I do get envious as hell when I see fetishists and collectors with all kinds of dank gear doing nothing more than making crappy bleep bloops and posting flex pictures on social media. I used to be a lot worse about it when I was younger because I never had a job that allowed me to splurge much on gear... what I did have was the result of scrimping and saving and buying used. Now I have a job that allows me a little more wiggle room (no pun intended) for luxury purchases (i.e. music gear) but I am not ballin' by any stretch of the imagination. It's just that I'm unmarried and don't have kids, so now at 43 I have the bedroom 'studio' I've always wanted. Of course there's loads of gear I'd love to own in addition, but I have everything I feel like I need to make the kind of techno / electro that I like to make. I can totally understand the negativity sometimes though... it sucks when you're young and driven and creative and simply do not have the money to invest in hardware, and working in a DAW sucks. It's really easy to be jealous and I am still salty sometimes when I see people's social media / RU-vid channel when they have amazing gear and don't do anything with it except record the most boring and bland loops. Theres no scarcity of people like this (not you), which is why the negative comments are so common. You cant really be surprised when people are jealous or negative when someone is showing off thousands of dollars of gear and either have little to no actual musical talent, or simply make the white bread equivalent of music. I'm still a hater sometimes for sure lol. It'd be so nice to not have to work a normal job and instead just produce music all day and make youtube videos like so many 'synthfluencers' but that's sadly just not reality for most people. If I am lucky I get 2 hours per night to work on music due to various responsibilities. All I really want to do is create art but I have to work my ass off to survive and hopefully one day be able to actually retire (doubtful) and simply don't have much time to feed my soul, and that blows. If I could quit my job and make a living from music and/or youtube I absolutely would.

No need to justify.

I see the kitchenette in your videos, feels underutilized imo. Perfect space for some Mos-lab 2500 clones or a Fenix II. Snacktime

Recently found your channel after your fire review of the OXI. You don’t need to justify to anyone. But I have a feeling you already know that. For everyone else. Jammerade or haterade. Choose wisely.

Answer to all your questions: Dont read the comments and Keep doing what you do its🔥!

Impressive setup from 20 years of collecting, If I had stopped smoking cigs 20 years earlier I could have bought more synths :) No need to justify of course. I would make witch house because that's what I love, I think people should make whatever kind of music they like.

30 plus years of sound design for composers and folks who wanted original sounds and everything in my rig is used unless it won’t play nice like the mantis that won’t sync to clock .✌️👽

I would listen to Blush Response even if it was made in Paintbrush.

I have loads of gear, similarly to you I started when I was around 14 and have been collecting, buying, selling and trading ever since. I've gotten to own some really cool stuff, meet some great people, and I was lead to my current career through buying a Minimoog from a guy local to me, staying in touch, and getting into the same industry through acquaintance. I don't 'produce' much and what I do make, I keep mostly to myself, I don't do any of this to have an end product to present to the world. I do it because when I am not working or spending time with my family, I enjoy unwinding by jamming and exploring what different synths can do. I don't owe anyone an explanation or justification, and nor does anyone else. The only point for me is that while owning nice gear, I make sure I look after it. That way when I am finished with it, either if I sell it or after I die, it goes back into the collective pool all of us musicians go fishing in for funky studio treasure and someone else can take their turn with it. I see it a lot on forums and Facebook groups whenever anyone posts studio pics the common response is 'let's hear what music you make'. I'm sure some of that is in good faith and it is people who are genuinely enthusiastic to hear it, but there is a decent amount of people who are really saying 'justify that gear to us by letting us tell you if your music is good enough'. Fuck those guys, they need to concentrate on their own setups and music. Nobody owes them anything.

I've worked hard and dealt with tons of s**t to earn the money I use to buy my gear. Not gonna apologize for my 35 year love of synths and gear!

I’ve a question, or a petition: maybe showing your process to create a track could be interesting.

Considering what all you have accomplished on your path, I think you have an appropriate amount of gear. Rather modest amount actually. I struggle personally with just focusing on a few pieces at a time and not trying to incorporate every voice of every piece of kit in my arsenal. But all that aside man, your music is fire. You’ve helped me get through third shifts at work quite a few nights So rock on my friend and get all the toys you want along the way

WRT to your questions, I'd like to believe that if you have the setup, you've earned it. Simple as that. If money was no object, I'd buy more modular stuff, obviously, but I would probably look into some nice sampling gear - it's the side of things I feel I am weakest at - and would work tirelessly to make some dark industrial/ebm type stuff I'm sure, or whatever my brain told me to make. With your setup, I would probably endeavour to make the same stuff I make now. Just with your gear instead of mine. I'd have to up my game bigtime. But in regards to your setup, you don't need to justify it. You own it, you use it, and that's justification enough. You've accomplished a lot, and have a setup that reflects your workflow and skillset. That's called inspiration in my books. Keep on doing these videos. They are seriously inspiring and your attitude towards music/gear is very awesome. Thanks!

Definitely not. A track should always start with a single bit of inspiration that leads to the song. The more you use the farther away you will get from it. It’s better to write on a piano or a guitar before enhancement begins for me anyway.modular is for some folks the answer but it will never replace great song writing period . Too much emphasis is put on beats nowadays for me personally. 👽✌️

I find it super inspiring that you can mold any synth and hardware into your signature sound and style and find things there no one else can. :) Awesome stuff! (Btw., this discourages me, personally, from buying new hardware as I feel I have not explored the ones I have enough. :) but some that I bought after seeing your reviews and performances both in your videos and live, like Rytm, work perfectly for me and became my staple for sketches and sound design)

Personally, the only people I hold a negative sentiment towards are the RU-vidrs/ influencers who have tons of equipment and a full time job making content just to make sounds significantly worse than the factory presets for 15 minutes with no musical context, never actually putting the effort into creating something artistically in 90% of their content, often while exclaiming how great it sounds. For me it's just disappointing. If you want to make mindless shit while turning knobs, then do that on your own time, all the power to you, but it's annoying when those are the videos that prominently make it on my feed, often with high viewer counts simply because they're good at making thumbnails and playing to the algorithm. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism of musical ability or taste. I'm not going to like every creator's style of music. It's the distinct lack of effort and shovelled out content that bothers me, just as much as it bothers me in every other genre of media. If you're going to make art to show to others, do it to the best of your abilities! AudioPillz is an amazing example of someone who's truly passionate about the art he puts out, and I commend creators like that! As for what I'd make with your setup, I actually make music fairly similar, which is what drew me to your channel. I love pushing equipment to its absolute most aggressive points. I'm influenced by a few very underground artists who make extremely aggressive and noisy art (SVDWRIST, Gloomstone, Where Swans Will Weep, deadrazy, Maenad Veyl, to name a few off the top of my head), and while I don't expect most people to enjoy that (there's a reason it isn't more popular) there's still a level of effort that goes into all genres that needs to be respected. That said, of all content creators I've watched, yours is the only setup I'd personally want. I could lock myself in that room for years. I do love my own setup as well, which currently consists of a Minilogue XD, MS2000R, B Wasp, a couple semi modulars (soon to become a little modular system), and an ESX-1 (your demo of the EMX-1 partly sold me on that), plus an 18i20 and a computer and a nice set of headphones. I'm only 22 and have been collecting gear since I was 18, and I know I'll eventually end up with a room full of gear regardless of if I ever release a single track.

Setup doesn't have to be earned or fully utilized but there is always going to be something cooler about people who do more with less. If I had your gear I probably wouldn't finish any music because I would just be stuck in sound design world. I like your music the way it is but would like to hear more of a human element be it played parts or vocals or whatever. I think a lot of electronic music lacks a cohesive message which is going to make any art more impactful.

I appreciate your channel because you are obviously a busy working musician and you still take the time to do gear reviews that show how different tools can be pushed in interesting experimental ways that typical tutorial videos don't, and the enthusiasm always shines through and is contagious. Seeing what you can do with, say, a Virus, Syntakt or Evolver makes me feel good going forward to know I have a piece of gear I can grow into as I learn for years to come. Of course musicians typically don't use every piece of equipment in every song. That seems obvious to me. Nothing wrong with having a small setup and squeezing every diop of use out of a few tools- now you can make completely finished, amazing music on just an ipad, but I don't think that's ever been the norm. I think of all the equipment I have sometimes like a labyrinth that over time I get acquainted with more and more and learn to find my way through by building up muscle memory, familiarity and sustained interaction. It's a truly wonderful collaboration between human and machine.

You have built a spaceship totally customized to be you ! It’s a massive detailed hard work not just technically, but personally , it’s a journey of self discovery and you evolve with it , takes a lot of courage and dedication, it’s one system , it’s you , and it’s rocking and inspiring! May the Force be with you 🍄⭐️🤘🏻

Yeah.... But who have you worked with?? 😅🤣 Nice.. I earned my setup through countless dj gigs in the late 90s throughout Europe and NZ also setting up underground nightclub in Poland bringing Sounds they had never heard before in 2001 also I always supported the scene so YEAH I love and earned my setup🤫😘

To be honest, I truly think it's pointless to relate music to gear because 90% of gear is versatil. And the same thing with : Did you earn the right to have this gear. Like previously it's pointless to relate success or socalled quality (I don't know how to name it) with the right to own gear or to use it the way we want. I think these people trolling with stupid questions are just jalous and they do not deserve you or anybody else to spend precious time on this kind of shit

Just wanted to say that I love your channel! Don't get the criticism at all, but those guys don't even look closely.. they just rant. I mean, one can really see who you work with your synths, how quickly and intuitively you use them, which says it all! Must be hours, months, years of daily training. Otherwise you wouldn't be so "fluent". Amazing! And you really push the gear to the limit which is nice to watch. Keep it up! 🖤

Never spend too much time trying to understand the negative types, one will just end up trying to understand why they are the way they are, - and that's certainly not healthy for a creative mind. Why should anyone have to justify their artistic/creative passions. I've been buying gear since 1986, - I also have much of what you have, plus a shed load of vintage and outboard. Never completed a single track in my life, - as a high functioning autistic myself, I just love having the control, - for me its just a creative release mechanism/expensive hobby. Retired a decade ago, from a life of hard physical labour, working on site, in logistics, operating forklifts, cranes, shipping, etc, - and on the side I would buy and sell synthesizers, samplers, outboard, etc, - this was all pre eBay of course. And that side hustle funded my own "over indulgence and decadence" regarding synthesizers, and "other" lifestyle choices, - the thought of doing music as a source of income never appealed to me as, 1. I wouldn't enjoy the pressure personally, from an autistic perspective I'm just way too much of a perfectionist, and I know I'd just stress myself unnecessarily. 2. I can just indulge myself, 24/7, and not have to worry about tidying things up, or evaluating whether what I create would be viable to others appreciation. love the channel btw, always inspiring - god bless Currently listening to, - Starsha Lee's Post God Metaphysics - Filmmaker's the Love Market

Currently I’m running a base model M2 8 gig ram MacBook Air with a Novation Lunachpad 49 . This would be my first upgrade . More capable MacBook Pro with either Novation SL or Arturia’s fancy MIDI keyboard .Maybe trade in my Ultralite mk 5 for an Arturia 16. Would love to be able to afford a syntact . The Arturia flagship Polybrute would be nice together with few other Brute synths . An SSL big six mixer and some real nice speakers for live loud work. A Eurorack but wouldn’t get to excessive with a hardware modular setup More time and a trust fund account In saying that I’ve found the M2 MacBook Air combined with a Motu M4 solid for running Ableton with some loops and a soft synth for live work . I haven’t used my Arturia Minifreak that much. I really like softubes modular VST . More than enough to contribute sounds to my band and tinker with. I had periods where all I had was an sp 303 and computer found on the side of road used for cool edit pro. Work with what you have got.

Here's my take. I am not a musician, I am a DJ as a hobby since just before this millenium. But I love synths and I love how they sound. The best phrase to describe, why I like having gear, is collection of sounds. But I love to tweak them, not just sample or listen. Then there is that first statement - I am not musician. And not just as a profession or even as an education. I don't have TALENT for music. The only interest in music that I have is being consumer. I sometimes hear people saying that I have talent, but I don't see that - I am mathematician by heart and scientist by education and this results in me understanding music, thru mathematics. This results in weird situation, where I use mathematics to program structures and then my consumer's approach to judge the results. And that's it. Now, my setup is massive. Like: four to five times, what is on your rack, and two to three times of your eurorack. And if anything it is rather display of my lowest self, my depression and bypassing. I am in process of selling more than half of it (and getting DT2, sorry to say that, but for me there are not many things better in synths than comb filters). Including all Modal 00x synths. So I am not proud of it, it will never earn me any money, and is rather distracting. I made more music having only MC-909 than with all that gear combined! I never played anything, nor finished with all that stuff, contrary to said 909, where I even gigged with it! But the point isn't to justify it economically. I do a lot of stuff that isn't to return investment. Like buying inks and nibs, or bikes - I even was racing professionally, but without trying to be on top, but because I liked it, so I never pushed to be on top, nor adjusted my life for that (like proper diet and exercises, with trainer and manager). From all your questions, one grabbed my attention the most. The thing about, what one performs with gear. And to be honest - I don't know, what I would perform. For now EVERY TIME I had some plans for gear, they turned out to be not what came out. When I bought OB-6, I had plan to make Goa, but every time, when I sat in front of it, Ambient came out. I love it to bits and it's my most inspiring synth (and fourth in terms of sound), but I never wanted to make ambient. Then when I finally gave up and said that I will make some chill or groove at 100 BPM with my Syntakt, Digitakt and Digitone - EVERY TIME I sat down, when I listened to that supersaw machine, I came out with 150 BPM industrial. Not even once I managed to make what I set out to make. So to summarise it: it is the instrument that drives me to results. And I am probably lacking my imagination to even predict, what will come out. I am that weak that I am dominated by non living objects. ;] That's my story. I like your music and like that you are you. P.S. Forgot to add. "Ghost in the circuits" by VAC ignited me to buy my first analog. Before that it was for more than a decade only MC-909 and Nord Modular G2X.

I’m sure I would make no music at all on your setup since I play acoustic guitar. There is no “earning” a setup. It’s just what you spend money on. If it earns you money by using it, that’s one justification. If you like , there’s another. Fuck everyone else’s opinions. My guitar cost 15k, I have been playing 35 years and never earned a penny from my music and I don’t care. Most people suck at whatever they do for fun compared to SOMEONE. How does this affect ME? Not at all. As long as they don’t post endless videos of them being terrible musicians.

Never justify yourself. Even if you collect them to collect dust. I collect synths since 1996 and although it was my full time job to produce music, often I would get "do you really need xy". There are things that pay off immediately, there are things we buy because at some point in our careers we can. Cheers. Also, your gear is very versatile, but you do have a lots of out there sound sources, so I guess I would go full on industrial too with all those screaming complex oscillators. That being said, you don't have many high end poly's (at least not that I can see, ok Peak, Hydra and Minifreak), so I would probably make drones/evolving ambient with that modular system and then use AR and Digitakt to mess that up and make it even more generative.

I only recently found your YT channel thanks to the Neutron review (i just got one!) But ive followed you for at least 2 years or so on IG, only because the sounds you’re making are so good ! F the haters, keep doing what you like to do.

I'm not sure the people who talk negatively will put themselves out there in the comments to justify it through 5 questions.. But since this is an open thought experiment and they're interestingly fun questions, I'll take an honest stab at them. 1. It's never not 'earned'. You worked for it doing whatever it is you do, waiter, engineer, construction worker, janitor, musician, etc. If you worked and saved up, then you earned it. Some people have different financial situations and different motivations. Like.. I make really good money, but my total accumulation of gear is relatively small.. However, one of my buddies makes half of what I make and has 5 times the amount of gear I have. Doesn't matter what, why, how, or when.. we've both earned our respective setups. On the other hand, if we're talking about 'earned' in the since of 'respect', I think that's straight up just a silly argument that will get nowhere until the end of time and as cliche as the term may be for the argument, I think it just boils down to envy. And, in an effort to cover all bases here... In the extremely rare instance that someone inherits a whole studios worth of gear... Well, I can't imagine someone is trying to do or be something they're not, but if they were fortunate/lucky enough to be in that situation, have fun with it. I don't know what you call it at that point. 2. At a certain point, using 100% of your setup becomes a nightmare in more ways than someone who argues that would or could be able to imagine. Eventually it's just a wall of sound, good luck mixing that, and for most genres, there's the saying "Less is more". Good sound coming from just a couple pieces will always sound better than a shit load of just 'ok' sounds coming from everything. 3. What would I buy if I could have anything? Mostly gear from the 80s and 90s. Direct access and very little menu diving (if any on some pieces). I have a couple pieces of gear that were made in the last couple of years and I can't tell you how much my creativity is stalled because I get 'lost' menu diving in them. Again, sometimes less is more, in that regard. But that's just a 'me' problem. Part 2 of the question: I'd love to see what kind of techno I could come up with that generations hardware limitations. It's very easy to build a rack in Ableton these days with as many FX chains as you want to come up with something cool, but that wasn't a luxury back then. I'd love to explore those restrictions more. (On a side note: The more hate that Behringer gets for their inexpensive clones of the older gear I'm talking about, the more I research them. And, to be quite honest, the next 3 pieces I want to get are Behringer products. I accept my fate in the replies.) 4. Looking at your setup, there's a few pieces I still haven't tried out, but I actually would love to try some dub techno or ambient techno. I think I'd definitely take a polar opposite approach, but that's not a bad thing, I think that's just the first thing I'd be inspired to try out if I was standing there. :) I would definitely pick pick your brain though on your approach to sound design to see how I could incorporate it in my own productions. 5. Make whatever you're feeling in the moment. Don't limit yourself to what others think you should make. It frustrates me when people stick ONE label on a person/band as if that's what they should always make.. and no other artist comes to mind first than Mr. Bungle. Their catalog, while small, is wildly different from album to album. People tend to pick one or two albums from an artist and pigeon-hole them in that genre, and then when they come out with something different, people lose their fuckin minds. Some people/bands like to stick to one thing, and that's great. If you enjoy it, do it! But if you're feeling something else, that's great too! Do it! Fun questions. Cheers,

I watched you DSI MEK vreview and noticed a comment in reply to your mention of "Dad synths" and the person commented on having finally had the funds to purchase what he couldnt when they were younger. (Neither of you were being hostile or snobbish.) I think that's awesome and I'm kind of in the same boat. Missed out on a lot of things other people took for granted, coming up. But i do have a MEK i bought really! cheap which had gathered dust. After watching your video I am super excited to use it again, give it the time and respect it deserves. I figure judging by the walll behind you that it's not getting a heap of use. I am super glad you kept it ✌️ I would love to have the resources to buy all that gear to test if it works for me. I am envious of that, but I wouldn't wish for another person not to have it. For whatever purpose or time they give it. As long as it isn't just an aesthetic piece they hang up for show...then i would say, donate that to a community group or something. But whatever. Did behringer ever do the donation thing? Probably not

Earned setup? I earned the money to buy my setup. Need to use 100% of their setup/at all times/ever? NO- I have guitars that I like to play but that I'd never record, a 303 I'd never record in my music due to style conflict but I enjoy using it and playing around on it, there are bits of kit that never get recorded but lead to ideas. What music would I make with a dream setup? What I make now but new gear always yields new results. Make what you have a passion for an it will show in the music. The whiny people who think that x instrument should be only in the hands of established musicians who have 'earned' their approval to possess such an instrument is not good for the industry, more sales of instruments means more innovation and better instruments, all musicians benefit. Behringer seeing a market for clones of classics is putting what was unobtainium in the hands of bedroom musicians who will now be able to realize their ideas. That $15k PRS guitar or Moog One polysynth needs to have a market far larger than just the successful musicians to stay in business. Gate keeping a hobby/passion is a cancerous mindset IMO.

Dont worry about people comments, you inspiry us with your massive experience on gears, some of the gears i have bought, i have evaluated through your videos, Thanks🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

Guess I'm a little late to this one. I've heard this question also, not only to some close friends but also people I support. These questions always result in people having to justify themselves. If music is your trade then you need tools to hone your craft, no justification needed. It's never based on how good you are it's always based on what you can afford. If you can take an instrument and make a sound with it, then you're a musician, If you can make money from it, you're a professional musician. All of those things needs no certification to say you've been trained to do these things, these are the chains that bind and cloud our creativity.

Does a child have to play with all of his toys at the same time? I think no 😄 . Not "allowing" musicians to have some instruments is toxic and says more about the person .. so when you can effort it and you have enough space - buy it

Earned unearned, didn't know that was a thing hahaha, live and let live, who gives a fuck. I never use all my gear in any tracks, select a few core elements and off i go, i would/do make Detroit inspired techno, electro, would make the same with your set up, you SHOULD be making techno of course, not the festival/business shit , the real deal Onwards!🤘

Everyone should be free to consume and use whatever they want and create whatever they want, I'm tired of the good vs bad everywhere. But one thing I rarely ever see being mentioned in the gear space is the environmental factor. Some people just collect stuff that ends up gathering dust on a shelf, and these products involved natural resources, metals, plastics, batteries, wood, paper, shipping, gas, electricity to power it all. And because it's niche music doesn't mean it's not happening on a massive scale. Music tech is a market like any other. Maybe we're spoiled and maybe we spoil in the process. Another issue is social/economical class... Some people living in developing countries (but not only) can only dream of owning a single of these machines. Can devices gathering dust be pooled somehow?

I would not give much thought to the negative comments. I came across your videos researching synth gear, because I'm piecing together a little studio for my 7 year old daughter, and the effort you put into your videos, and music is greatly appreciated. Thanks you for all the hard work, it is appreciated more than you might realize.

Imagine asking a chef why they have all these pots and pans and ingredients and spices why they don't use everything for every dish.

I've just started assembling some pieces after a longer hiatus. I just made a track out of the blue from inspiration on one piece of equipment. You don't have to justify or earn anything. I find hardware to be more interesting and I can't get enough of it (except space). I would buy a Polybrute and something that I can use to record sounds outside.

If I could buy anything, I would buy a new set of ears not trashed by years in the military and playing loud music in various bands, or maybe I would buy the ability to come up with a good melodic hook in whatever genre I try to do, or maybe if I could I would buy a cure for the depression I have dealt with for the last 5 years that makes even the simplest of tasks completely hopeless and kills all creativity...

Earned / unearned debate is just about ego, dumb to think like that. No need to use it all at once. My music (funky groovy stuff) is he same regardless of what or how much equipment I have.

You earned the massive setup the moment you come out of the birth canal and experience your first urge to make noise. That first primal baby scream is your entry level gear. Seriously tho, You're not indebted to anyone but yourself and you don't owe anyone any justification for anything, least of all the things that make you happy.

FACT: I'd trade all my shit in a heartbeat for a life companion. All my toys, they're all just things to fill the empty hole in my heart. Sorry just having a midlife, nothing to see here.

If you went to work and earned the money, then who the flip is anybody to tell you don’t deserve it. You earned it. Just look at what other people spend their money on. Holidays, booze, cars that are faster than they can drive, etc. somehow that is better than buy music gear?

jeez all this gear means nothing, if you have fun with it, thats all that matters, if you do something satisfying for yourself thats all that matters, after all, its not like any of it is permanent you can always sell it, and I don mean "you", but anyone....