This has to be my favourite video of yours - ever. Really resonates with me and some of my studio /life decisions lately. Love the honesty and the new place looks perfect.
Exactly... I've hit prestige mode as well but I noticed going back to less reminded me why having certain equipment is a blessing. These plugins emulators are cheaper than some hardware but they tax the 💩 out of you cpu and if you don't have a great interface you're dealing with all types of issues (my komplete audio 6 interface is trash as I become a better engineer). I plan on buying 3 sets of plugin bundles (I already own a few and I rather collect the rest so I don't need more outboard gear), 1 to 2 warm audio eqs and a mastering processor to wrap up my final mixes. I know I'll be on the road and going to other studios so I might buy another maschine mk3 (or mk4? If it comes out) controller so I can be on the move (that if NI doesn't allow me to install it's software on my laptop). I basically gave people some a lot of my gear that said they needed it. My goal is to make music the best way I can without going through what I'm experiencing now with my setup. Later down the lines I want one of the new Mac pros so I can be complete updated but at the moment I'm using my 2010 Mac pro that I hacked to be stronger than a regular Mac pro for video production.
This happens when you've bought gear without understanding why you "needed it" in the first place. Life is a journey of self-knowledge, nothing more nothing less.
Stop being a gear lusting audio hipster. You do it for the gram, lets be honest with each other. You watch old videos of a kanye or some 90s house producer making bangers on an asr 10 or something so you run out and buy one so you can put it up on the gram to show how cool you are, but you dont understand what you are doing so you pirate fruityloops and then you spend the rest of your days using fruityloops and telling people you are using all that cool gear but secretly it keeps you up at night. Just stop, you drive prices up for people that actually care.
@@jonathansoko1085 Gram? you mean instagram...lol? No...he does it for RU-vid...IG is the proper abbreviation, not GRam..u confuse with Telegram! lol a back channel internet... no money there....only YT!
Thanks for being honest. I know a lot of us get GAS and hyped about new gear, even tho we don't really have the cash and/or need for it. Most of the time they are a headache anyways because they are not ment for certain DAWs that you might want to switch around so you have to keep tweaking midi settings which takes out all the fun/motivation and time you wanted to put into your music and not into making something work. I sold most of my stuff and just keep a small drumpad and a small keyboard. Mostly because I just like the tactile feeling of both keyboard and drumpad. But that's about it. My advice to anyone out there is, you don't really need much more than either a good drumpad and/or keyboard which is geared towards your favorite DAW. Don't get fooled by the idea that this other gear will make your music any better. Anyways good luck to everyone.
I've found that whenever you think a piece of gear is exhausted, some one comes along with a new way of using it that you didn't think of, proving that it's your imagination that's limited, not the gear. Computer work flows can suffer the exact same fatigue of imagination, that's not exclusive to gear. Computers do make life easier though, less cabling, everything in one box.
Well said but to say ya bored with a machine and all I see in a machine is a lifetime of possibilities he went bad not the gear and talking about replacing a computer every few years where gear last a lifetime sometimes
Even writers. You wouldn't think that it would matter if he were dipping a quill or clacking away at an electronic typewriter, but in fact it completely changes how you think. I've written things on paper that I never would have thought to write while sitting at a computer. There are probably ways to manipulate how you think without changing the medium, but it certainly is a quick and incontrovertible aspect of the creative mind.
@@Selrisitai Going for a walk... going to a club... going to work at a day job... traveling.. Change inspires ideas, and yeah a new or different media definitely inspires... But also, think about a guitar or a piano and the seeming infinite ideas that have come from only having a single medium.
So so true I used to buy everything now I only have logic and complete it’s not more gear it’s about makeing music not buying the latest gear sampling makeing your own sounds cutting up loops I would love to hear your music thanks some finely see’s what iam talking about
I got rid of all my stuff - I have much more fun recording real instruments only (that includes analog synths) - very liberating just banning all midi controllers and digital sound sources/sample packs. If it comes through a microphone or a TRS cable it's good fun :)
I prefer to watch and listen to people doing this kind of thing as well. I find digital-only music to be "all well and good," but it hasn't yet beaten the genuine airy blast of a trumpet or the commanding thump of a drum-stick on the kit.
I'm going the opposite way. I bought a Prophet Rev2 and just love the unquantized feel of recording into my interface with real keys. I got so bored of soft synths and i love the tactile process of designing a patch from the ground up on hardware.
With you on this one. I think the difference is the level of stuff I've been getting too, last year bought a Virus TI2. I think thats where it can really make a difference with analog stuff especially synths; you get what you pay for. Obviously creative process is a different discussion but I feel ya.
Thank you for posting this. It sounds like you are finding value in the open spaces! Congratulations on releasing the instruments that don’t serve you anymore. You have inspired me.
It takes wisdom to know what and why to buy. I like to keep it simple too but on the other hand I don’t like live performances to be on laptops. I like the performance aspect so being able to practice on the equipment I can perform on is crucial. Also important to not have too much gear or honing a craft can be to complicated. My gear fits in a guitar case…4 now
This is a really good and reflective video. I have been thinking the same since Apple released the M1 chip. The rationale for using hardware and offline effects is I found that creativity was stifled because eventually the CPU an memory crapped out in the DAW but like you I have a lot of stuff that I simply don't use anymore because other newer stuff came along and piqued my interest.
What an interesting journey you’re on. Something must have dramatically changed inside you to get you to pull the trigger on selling everything. A leap of faith.
Really interesting points you are focussing on. I really understand why you decided to get rid of all that stuff. I sometimes get to the same point. It has some analogy to "renewing" relationships & changing things in your life that makes you restless. Your arguments are comprehensible for studio musicians but for live music? Mhhh. Btw - I accidentally found your video due to hardware reviews because I was looking for a new synth... 😳
Spent around 1.5 years in this loop: buy gear / get bored / sell gear / buy new - this video is soo accurate illustration for this. Sure, I’ve learned a lot from all that gear, but eventually it boils down to «cool, now I should do this in my DAW as well, so what should I buy next when I sell this thing? »
I've been doing the same but "inside the box" way, getting rid of anything I don't use and setting up the workflow focusing only on the Creative Process, the mental process behind creation. Lots of organization marathons worth doing.. selecting fewer and better samples, presets, plugins and so on.
Just a note about the broken gear. After burning out some power supplies I started using line conditioners (like the APC Line-R). They smooth out the voltage hitting the gear and can protect the circuitry, and made a real difference in reliability. I think these are important if living in a place with older power lines, etc.
Good to downsize on the digital midi controllers etc, but nothing beats hardware. Computer screens and software just don't do it for me. Different strokes.
Flume had an interesting interview on this. Said all he needs is a fast computer and a good set of monitors in a treated room. Maybe a midi controller. I tend to agree. Minimalism FTW. Limitation = freedom.
for me, i like physical devices BECAUSE they limit my choices. In a DAW i can go any which direction and that's too much for me. Obviously, i'm not very experienced in the production side. And i'm sure that's a contributing factor.
limitation = freedom is often an argument for owning hardware. there's infinitely many things you can do with a computer. not so with a box that has a fixed featureset.
Glad to see you again. I’ve always been against hardware. I think hardware is pretentious. 99% of the time it’s just about telling people you have the gear.
You're One of many who have inspired me to start attending production school. I been wondering where you went for the past year and I am personally really excited to see you back on the internet! Congratulations on the life upgrades like the new Home, I hope this means the internet world will see more of you soon?
Hi Multiplier. I haven't followed you for a few years but RU-vid just recommenced me this video and it reminded me of something totally random... Way back in 2013 when I was 17, I was making Electronic music under an alias called 'Polex' and you remixed one of my songs called 'Jelly Bean'. Its still online and on Spotify lol. Glad to see you're still making content and doing what you love.
I understand completely, I almost did the exact same thing this year too. I sold everything, except some guitar pedals and acoustic instruments. The rest is gone, and I also sold a lot of plugins. Cleaning things like that feels super refreshing ! 👍🏻
Its all about having the RIGHT gear. And, respectfully, I think you didnt have the correct gear. If I had yours I will sell it too and buy usefull pieces.
I wrote hundreds of things on my four track and I’ve written about 10 things on my d.a.w. with its thousands of sounds and options (and headaches/frustrations/tears……yes, tears). What I have been enjoying though recently is the novation circuit as it is so portable and fun!
I don't blame you. Recording on 4 track back in the early 90's was my most creative prolific fun period of songwriting and recording. You'd actually rehearse and practice your instrument before you actually pressed record cos space was rare. With digital you end up about 50 guitar & vocal takes that you'll later sift through but never get round to and when you do it's a chore. I was gonna re recorded what I recorded on 4 track on a computer and do it properly. 25 years have gone by and It hasn't happened. Think I'll just clean up the tape versions in audacity. The definitive versions. Now I know why Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers) also dismantled his home studio. He never knew when a song was finished. 😁
I have just moved house also, I am in the process of filtering through my gear to reduce the ridiculous amount of cables, adaptors, and keyboards etc I have. You may need a gear demo corner somewhere but keep it away from your creative space.
If you wanted to work in a 'new' way, you could have done that by using any piece of gear you didn't or weren't used to using, and constrain yourself to using ONLY that for a period of time. I notice that most studio gear that goes unused is simply because we don't know what its actually good for and its not until we spend an extended period of time with it before we actually get a feel for its use.
It's not about your "best work" or "best production", it is about having fun playing with gear, isn't it? My iPad makes great music almost automatically but I never pick it up.
My 2 cents: I’d say it depends on your end goals. Some want to just have fun and don’t care about “commercial success” or making money. Some people want to be a content creator like the RU-vidr Zen World (as I type this Multiplyer literally just said the same thing at 9:04 lol). Zen directly states he doesn’t want to be a “successful/career musician”, he wants to help people achieve that goal with tutorials and selling sound packs, etc. it’s how they pay the bills. Then, some people want to try and be a successful musician, get signed to a label, tour, etc. in this case most successful people will tell you you have to work it like a 9-5 job, and even if you have days/weeks where you lack inspiration or even feel like you hate going into the studio, you do it anyways because quote “you’ve got a job to do.” There’s days where “fun” is the last thing I’m having in the studio lol, but I’m there anyways trying a achieve a goal.
If it's your business, I'm pretty sure the only thing that's truly important is that your workflow isn't horrible. Whatever works for you. I can fully understand how 'making your best work' is the most important thing for you. When I create, I'm only truly happy with it when I believe it's the best I could've done.
@@WillyJunior why do you say that? What can you not create using a laptop, an iPad Pro, a sound card, a set of headphones, microphones, a pair of monitors, and a few midi controllers. Every sound can be reproduced with an iPad and software. Any song can be tracked, mixed and mastered with only the previous described stuff.
I relate to this very much. It's hard to write a track with all that gear looking at you. And many times I want to start something new, but cant bc I'm still working on something that requires a slightly different signal path and I end up not doing anything. I started doing my sketches in DAW. It's much less distracting and stressful .
This is why I've shifted to gear like Virus TI and Elektron Overbridge. Lets me play the physical gear seperately, but it gets used often in my DAW as it's as easy to connect with VST. Gear is best for live perf tho
so many people commenting about doing the same thing because their gear wasn’t “doing anything.” gear doesn’t do anything y’all: you do stuff with gear. if it’s sitting there unused, it’s because you’re not using it; if you have $10K in gear that isn’t “doing anything,” it’s $10K you’ve spent on stuff you didn’t need or actually try to learn or use all that much after all. it’s one thing to use stuff to the max and decide something else will fill in some gaps or alter a workflow, but if you’re selling off two dozen analog synths in a few months, chances are high you never actually dug into any of them, which isn’t the gears’ fault.
I've been watching you from the start (has it been 9 years already? o.0) and I really appreciate that you at least seem to be doing okay. Hope that you're living the life you want, and that you can find the energy to create music and make those very informative and entertaining videos for us, your fans & viewers. But please do put your own needs before the needs of us. I think everyone here can agree that we'd rather know you're happy out there doing whatever, as opposed to you making enjoyable content whilst not being able to enjoy your life, your time, to the fullest extent. Wishing you all the best mate!
I think it’s great and very healthy to evaluate one’s creative process and determine what is working and what isn’t. Although I went the other way and I have left “The box” and have more of hardware now, I am more creative then I ever was with instrument plugins. Good for you 👌
When I realized I was spending more time learning how to use the new software and hardware than writing music, I realized I had a problem. At one point, I was juggling Ableton Live and push 2, Maschine mk2 and Jam with the software, Reason pre-plug-in edition, and Cubase. I finally sold all the extra gear, settled on Cubase and Reason-plug-in, only have 2 midi keyboards, an 88 key and a shorty desktop. I still have oodles of software, and I’m still working on isolating that down to the most useful things. The junk and gear and software just gets in the way. When I started with just a bass guitar an ancient PC and four track tascam tape I felt like I was more creative. Fast forward 20 years and I think I’ve written less songs and music in the last 10 years than I did in the first five years. What’s ridiculous is I remember dreaming about being able to afford all the things I have now or things similar to what I have now but I am much less productive with all the stuff. Like everyone says, gear doesn’t make you better, cheers.
You make great points about the software as well. Somewhere along the way i grew tired of the computer and invested in a ton of hardware, too much at one time and I haven’t made much music since acquiring all this gear. Now I’ve decided to sell it all and realized I need to narrow down on software too. What was your deciding factor for Cubase?
Man, I did the same thing. I've been DJing since middle school in the '80s and the pandemic completely upended my life. I stopped doing gigs, started a family, and transitioned to grinding out as many mixtapes as time allowed as my primary musical output. Quickly, I realized that I could make great mixtapes in a box using MixMeister. After a year of that, I sold nearly all my DJ gear. I kept one controller in case a gig ever pops up and one of my Technics 1200's for vinyl ripping and flipped everything else to eBay. The only small upside is that my gear was mostly pretty new so I got good resale prices because of pandemic-related electronics shortages. Cheers.
It always impressed me more to see / hear musicians create music with a very small setup, and so it inspired me to invest more time in refining the creation process than in what instrument to get next. Maybe it helps you too to focus more on that aspect, maybe not too much on sound-design vs sounding good, and much more on spontaneity and fun.
This by far is the best insight on the mental aspect of music production and all its aspects I've seen. And I've watched a lot! I'm currently where you have been right now. I want to sell everything and really focus on where my best work has been generated from (hardware/software). And what really gets me excited about making a beat. Thanks bro!
Just build a eurorack. And try audiotool. You'll probably like it. It's like a hybrid between digital hardware and regular daw. You see everything digitally, but you connect the parts through a visual interface.
I thought FOR SURE that was going to be click bait, and even though it kind of was, it really wasn't. You genuinely sold your stuff and you're going a new direction which I think is really great. I've been watching your videos for a couple years now and so it's cool to listen to you explain you reasons for your new direction and selling your stuff. I'm looking forward to hearing the fruits of your decision and seeing you evolve as a professional, an artist, and as a person. Thanks for sharing and best of luck-oh, and much inspiration as well. Aloha from Hawaii.
I've certainly found that, recently putting a studio together fuels the desire to obtain more stuff & can easily spiral (a curse on instant finance!!) ....obviously the utility things & the "boring stuff (mic stands for example) are a must but things that bleep & squeak are always just too tempting. Well done for taking that leap into minimalism- got to love a good old analogue candle ^-^.
Honestly, both are necessary. Yes digital is immediate but analog brings a "lightning in the bottle" value that is unmatched. What has worked for me is making sure all my analog gear has a purpose, so I don't have a crap tone of analog gear. Also, setting up this gear to be able to be recorded to capture those special moments without delay. Personally, I think you may have just had too much gear. If you kept a 3rd of the gear I think you'd kind value from the limitations.
More important than hardware equipment is the workflow process needed to create......so if Scalar 2, Melodyne and Serato Sample are an important part in the songwriting process, then a workflow process is created where hardware is integrated into the workflow. The hardest part to creating one's optimum workflow is learning how to design and construct your personalized workflow.
I can relate so much, I almost threw up watching this. Compared with the house's construction, that equipment looked like cheap junk to begin with. By the way, your home needs an animal.
@multiplier I am (was) in the exact same boat. I sold almost everything... and now I'll move into a new home. Old style in a medieval city. I totally understand your need for a "zen" studio where you can breath and not think about cables, power supplies, heat... or which gear to use next. Now the next thing to come thru: a purge of plugins. In the same kind of spirit, plugins create chaos too. But that's for an other topic. :)
I don't like having too much gear either. I once sold all I had, but after awhile I realised why I got hardware in the first place. I don't enjoy clicking around with the mouse while using software, and I often end up being lazy and just use the same automations for changes throughout the same project instead of grabbing a controller and record it in. With gear I find it more enjoyable and organic sounding recording while turning the knobs. Using fx like pedals are also very important to me. Especially for delays. I actually wanted to dubmix while recording a whole track, but I've realised that's just too much for me with a 16 to 24 channel analogue mixer. I have ADHD, so putting my attention to several things at once is not my strong suit. That also means visually. So if there's to many visual distractions I'll feel less motivated to use the gear. Also my ADHD gives me OCD like traits, so in case of gear, it also has to be visually pleasing. I can try to ignore it and get used to it, but over time it'll still annoy me, if it's not. And it has to be said that I make music in my 1 room apartment, so I have to look at it every single day. Under- or overstimulation is not what I want. But yeah I'm in the middle of buying stuff again. I realised that recording one thing or a few things at a time may work better for me. And then process further and edit in Ableton. The new combing feature should be great for this. Being only daw or only hardware becomes too limiting for me.
Dude! Erik Wøllo, Michael Stearnes, Steve Roach have large ROOMS of gear and they use it! They've produced album after album since the 70s and 80s. You can go to the Steve Roach channel and watch them make use of a bank of synths all around them, plus guitars for Erik/Michael. Then you have new people like Martin Sturtzer on RU-vid with a bay of synths integrated with a mac mini M1. You should've kept the hardware synths and got rid of the other crap. Also, why are the studio monitors gone? What did you have against them? I remember some of your videos on setting up this really complicated USB routing for your Mac. Man, I'd NEVER do that! hahaha. I think you made the hardware more complicated than it actually is. Maybe you just needed to tear it all down and find out which parts you could still use.? Those hardware synths would still have been useful to send MIDI out from the DAW.
Michael Stearns... oh... M'Ocean was amazing. I can also recommend you L'Univers de la Mer (by Dominique Guiot) and Legendes de Broceliande (by Serge Bulot)
Love this video. I've been doing a similar thing with my plugin list. Culling down and selling off what I can. Limitations breed so much more creativity with the limited tools you have.
Good to have you back, Multiplier 🤘 As much as I have GAS for all kinds of hardware (including Modular), my best work is done in the box, and I'm not ashamed of that. I actually enjoy working in the box, even if it's not in vogue.
You got me reflecting and I agree. I have sound gear I dont even use anymore. Ima plan to give them away or sell them. Actually, its not even just music gear its just stuff lying around. Like clothes I dont even wear. Its not just a waste of space its a waste of potential. I remember my cousin gave me his m-audio sound card cus he didnt need it. Looking back, that was a big reason how I got into recording music in the first place! So, thanks to him. You never know who needs it more than you or change someone's life.
I have too many guitars and too much other gear. All I need to keep is my Parker Fly, my bass and my old Yamaha keyboard. Having less gear helps you concentrate on actually making music. Good for you...you're very brave and a little stupid in equal measure. Very best wishes. I just hope that you didn't loose too much money.
Excellent advice was thinking the same thing, this will 'ruin his eyes' and seems very confined. I am thinking about one of those 4k curved flat screen TV's that you see more and more in studios to replace my 27 inch display monitor setup (4 of them in a cockpit config of 3 and 1 on a adjacent desk for Maschine only, not a bad setup actually)
I can't see myself without owning at least one sampler,one keyboard (midi or not) and a DJ set with a loop station (software or hardware doesn't matter). Sampler is in a way the instrument of a producer.Something like the SP-16, the MPC-2000/Live,the SP-404 or even the ASR-X are pieces of gear that you can use them when you take a break from your computer and you just mess around with sounds,not necessarily making music,just doing sound design, of drums, fx sounds or somekind of instruments/melodies samples.Doing things that even though PC can do,PC can't teach you,anyone with experience on ensoniq gear can get what I am saying. The DJ set with a loop station (in my case being either Ableton or Boss RC-505) is another kind of instrument that it is just healing,picking up forgotten tracks or even vinyls and giving your go on mixing them just for yourself,picking up things that you can loop and build up on that loop,that's a thing.Both the sampler and the DJ set are things that you can do outside of the pc and then either use the knowledge you got from them to the PC or just combine them with your DAW and do things.They offer too much and they are not holding you back the same way a whole bookshelf full of gear would. Finally the keys is just a confort that I feel like I need to have around even if I am not using it.It is the kind of tool that comes in handy out of nowhere.
I appreciate the transparency around income streams and the reality of why you ended up with such an incredible amount of hardware, and I'm definitely debating all the time whether hardware really is a long term creative source of inspiration or if it's a short term boost that merely ends up teaching you something new about the creative process that you could just as well replicate inside the DAW. However, I can't help but think that there's also some cognitive dissonance in your mind that still pulls you towards the idea of buying new hardware again. After all, like you say, hardware is fun and does boost your creativeness at least in the short term. For every hardware I've bought, it has resulted in at least a handful of songs that I'm proud of, and in my mind, that alone makes it worth the expense. Though that's easier for me to say since I don't own an annual salary worth of gear in my little studio!
I bought a MIDI keyboard thinking it would help me speed up my workflow. It only ended up gathering dust because I discovered that I work faster with an actual keyboard and mouse. Ended up selling it.
Im totally with you, it is just a nice to have - but usually creative is created in the brain and not what kind of expensive gear you own imho - often people comfort themselve with big studios - but ofthen there is too much focus lost through out - so for me: Desktop PC - Midi Keyboard - Empty Desk - Headphones - Scarlett 4i4 - Ableton 11 and many vsts
I actually really appreciate the bit about your income streams. It truthfully answers questions of "what does it take to quit your day job" and "how can I transition from my day job." much appreciated.
refreshing to hear...I share a similar way of thinking. Although, as an electronic musician, I don't know if I'll be ever be satisfied until I can output through a jack in my brain...
Hybrid is the way to but to each his own ... analog synths ... digital synths and apps .. acoustic instruments is where I flow the best... have no issues using amp simulations drum loops etc
Analogue Gears are Pure Gold! It shows Musicality Workmanship - No Boundaries - Unlimited Imagination & the list goes on. Yes! It feels like to me i'm Surrounded with the Great Music Pioneers..It's God's Gift to be Creative & Get Busy. Computers seems to take away the soul of music.
Interesting to see, but I use my hardware devices all the time - so I'll keep it. I actually went the other way compared to what you just did :-) --- I find the idea of sitting in front of a computer screen in order to make music frightening to be honest. But... I guess since I am an amateur, as in "doing it for the love" as opposed to professionals as in "doing it for the money", I have no interest in being economic. So I do not need instant and total recall, portability and gazillions of features. I work a fulltime job, mostly in front of a computer, so I want to use instruments for making music. The only computers in my setup are the "computer controlled" TB-303 and TR-808. I don't even like MIDI that much as I found DIN sync to be more solid and reliable. I love that these machines just need to be turned on. No long boot-sequence, no updates needed, no internet connection and what-not. That being said, I am not interested in having a room full of gear, even if it would be all the classics like JP-8s, Memorymoog or huge modular systems. My setup is like 1 meter wide, three tiers within a Jaspers rack, me standing/dancing in front of it. I got all the basics right for enabling myself to make the music I like. Acid techno / house / techno. I do have a macbook, I am an Ableton Live user since the first beta versions pre v1. I know that programm pretty well. I sketch out stuff with it sometimes, but I always get tired after like 30 minutes, whereas creating music with hardware makes me excited and awake. What I don't understand to this very day is why people in electronic music judge the tools so hard in financial regards. I mean, do piano players go crazy like that? Those are instruments, for most of us here, we're using them as toys in our spare time. Why is the money/features-ratio so important? Anyways, have fun guys and girls 😎
a table of gear or more is so cumbersome... but a nice stack of tiptop happy ending kits on a small rack stand, filled with interesting fx, filters etc. beside the monitor goes a long way :D
i think small eurorack setups are adorable. no need to go huge (unless you try to play "live" the whole song so you actually need 8-10 sequenced parts at once - e.g. see venetian snares)
