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Could expensive be better for actual music making?
My other thread on first apps got me reminiscing. My first foray into bedroom studio was a PC. I had literally tons of “free” cracked software plus free magazine stuff. I had everything on that PC all the big hitters. Yet I spent all of my time chasing more “freebies” or literally flirting from one thing to another barely scratching the surface of anything and certainly not making any music from start to end. Then I discovered the iPad years later. Not too much free but I’m lucky to have a reasonable income and these apps were cheap to me. Kid in a toy shop time. Same thing as before constantly buying, barely tickling the surface, then moving on. At least this time I did make some music but.…I wonder if apps were more expensive would this have forced me to concentrate and be discerning, learning to value learn and USE what I had? I know my butterfly mentality will not apply across the board.
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I can relate to that. My brain shuts off, when I see a good deal. It got a bit better over time. I certainly don't know the ins and outs of most of the stuff I've got. I don't regret having all of it, and some old treasures will be of use at some point, but certainly not all. What recently sparked my creativity to the point that I actually "finished" something was restricting myself to mixing with just the la2a and the API graphical eq from mixbox. And some more aggressive compressor for drums. I think I'll do that and similar things for a while.
I don't think the ability to finish tracks has much to do with the availability and/or cost of equipment, it's more to do with the mindset of the artist.
Give one person a four-track recorder and a guitar and they will create an album, put that same person in a fully-fledged studio and they will make an even better album. But give those same options to a different person, and they will complain that the four-track is too limited and the studio is overwhelming
Stephen King writes one to two thousand words every day, no matter what. T.S. Elliot and Anthony Trollope both had day jobs, and wrote in their spare time. They were able to do this because they incorporated writing into their daily routines.
I think a lot of the "option paralysis" is us just making excuses
The only way to be consistently creative is to make time for this stuff in your daily routine, and to stick to it every day. IMO anyway.
To cut a long story short: there's nothing wrong with owning 100 synth apps, as long as you use at least one of them to actually finish a track.
I think there's more 'motivation' to learn to use a more expensive app, partially to justify the investment.
With a lot of 'cheapish' options it's easy to get lured into the trap of getting new apps hoping that it will deliver when the harsh reality is that most apps already deliver quite a lot if we take the time to learn them inside out and fully utilize their capabilities.
What 'woke me up' from 'app-o-holism' was when I realized that most of the 'features' I was looking for in iPad apps I already had in Logic on my Mac which I had neglected for a long time. Starting to 're-lean & re-discover' Logic made me realize that I don't need a ton of apps but rather have to invest some time learning to use what I've already got.
For me the 'app-o-holism' has served as a learning ground, sure I've wasted way too much but without that 'investment' in the 'cheap' apps I would have a lot less knowledge than what I have today.
This knowledge in turn has made me appreciate the more advanced apps and maximize their potential for my use-cases.
So yes, I'd say that learning to use what we've already got is the way to go and that will help us evaluate if or when we need to get better tools to accomplish what we want to do.
LOL. Great observation.
I can’t disagree with a word. Ye speak the truth. I think my situation is more likely to edge towards appolism in that; I don’t make money from music so no deadlines. I work alone so no one to say stop let’s get on. I only have my own stuff no option for studio time so no expensive clock ticking and I don’t have that youthful exuberance coupled with the sheer creativity of youth. Everything has to be dragged out of me to the degree where I hop onto YouTube and end up with a new app! I am working on stopping being this way though… honestly 🤔 can’t wait for Logic…😫
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I think, if you don't feel the music inside yourself, or you are not a musician, or you don't have the talent, it doesn't matter anyway.
Before there were home computers, you had to buy an instrument and go to lessons to do something with music. And the people with talent got filtered from the rest. There days anybody can buy some software and pretend to be a musician. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with that.
For myself I have accepted that I like to work with music, but I have no interest in producing finished tracks. That market is saturated already, I feel no need to add some filler stuff to it. I do try to be a better guitar player, and the apps help me with that in lots of ways.
There’s so many really bloody good insightful and helpful comments on this thread already. Thank you so much for your contributions. I take no offence at the psycho-analysis either. Having money adds. I grew up pretty poor. I abandoned music when I realised I couldn’t make or earn from it so got a ‘proper’ job. I like the attitude of not wanting to add to a saturated market (I still probably will!) but it’s all really relevant and helpful. 🤜🤛
I subscribe to that mindset as well, I just love things that 'go beep' and the technology behind it.
Over the years I've learned to play some scales correctly (including all the chords) by ear without looking at the keys...
...I usually play by ear and dislike the classic method of notation being a tracker junkie
As am amateur - which almost everyone here is, with most or many having no ambitions to make a career from music, you don't have to finish tracks as long as you are enjoying the process. That could mean either immediate pleasure, or a less tangible sense of meaning, making progress etc etc.
If you enjoy learning about new apps, investigating and exploring them, then great, buy as many as you can afford and want. But if you're genuinely feeling frustrated with the process of learning or trying to learn new apps, just pick a few you already have and know at least fairly well. Then just focus on those, play around with them, make presets of making full songs seems too much of a challenge.
If you want to buy new apps, maybe give yourself a challenge, like Svetlovska does, of making a piece of music using that app within a day or two of first getting the app.
Another thing to consider is the type of stuff you're trying to make. Ambient, soundscapey stuff will be a lot easier for most to make than actual songs, especially songs with vocals, which will sound a bit rough if your mixing skills, lyric writing skills, melody writing skills and understanding of song structure are not at a good enough level.
All of those things are blessings IMO:
I honestly think that having the luxury of working alone at home is really awesome. If I need 50 takes to get a vocal there is no-one judging me, no-one pressuring me because of time or costs. If a week later I decide to change the lyrics and do it all again, same thing, there's no-one to please but myself.
For most artists in the past, studio time was really short and really precious. Many albums were recorded on low budgets that only allowed two or three days of studio time. We can take all the time we need - we just need a little discipline to see it through to completion.
I think the motivation for creating art is usually completely separate from wanting to make money - or at least it should be. Van Gogh was technically an amateur (he only ever sold one painting in his life), and while he no doubt dreamed of being a professional, that wasn't really why he made art. The desire to create is something innate IMO, and if you are a creative person without some sort of outlet you will become frustrated. Mixing money into the equation can sometimes muddy the waters.
So IMO the labels "professional" and "amateur" are not really meaningful. Sabato Rodia was an amateur, but the Watts Towers are a stunning work of art.
And those are all skills that improve with practice, the more songs people write, the more they mix, the more they sing etc, the better they get at all this stuff. It just depends on what you want to create, if someone has the ambition to write songs but they don't have the skills yet, I say go for it, and learn it all while doing it
Classical too options paralysis .. it needs a bit effort but it is solvable .. just set for your some rule like "i can have installed in my ipad just apps which fit on ONE home screen page (which is 30 apps), and if new should come, some old must go"
Also it's good to have from one app category just one MAX two apps.. like ONE chorus, phaser, reverb, delay, daw ... and deal with limitations as they are.
It's refreshing to intentionally reduce options.
The music pro reality is a bit different of what it was decades ago.
Many pro including some famous ones don’t have now a Label behind their shoulders, they have their own pro home studio and they got now the luxury to do an Album every 2 or even 5 years and you can drop many famous names here doing slow process now.
Absolutely bang on. My initial goal was actual songs with vocals. People got in touch to say “have you thought of getting these properly recorded in a studio?.” At my cost btw! I took most songs down for all the reasons you highlight. They didn’t mean harm they were very amateurish. I am trying to be VERY selective. I will still post anything that I BELIEVE to be a good song because and I’m going to get deep here but… using Carlo Rovellis theories on everything is ONLY interaction then if anybody listens just once to one track then it lives beyond me and that’s my only goal to have the courage to let it live beyond my iPad fortunately it is my hobby not my profession. I started out with ipad as a studio in 2020. I’m determined to make 2023 the year I consolidate and just enjoy making music as you all rightly point out. By 2021 I had always wanted one “in the box DAW” as I do think it helps if you want to finish and add a modicum of polish. I know it’s not really the price of things or the huge amounts of choice. Is it meditation where they say the hardest thing to do is to get on the mat?
I just lowered my expectations of what I want from the iPad.
If I make a good patch or a good idea on it then I am happy.
I used to do music for a living, now I crack backs. I don’t expect much from the small windows I get to play these days but it’s all incremental.
Now for me doing music is mainly a therapeutic way to feel better. I focus on what is my feeling to express into music. I put on Soundcloud not the best tracks I did just what remenber a personal matter.
Since 2018 I don’t work anymore because of health problems, I have nearly 100 tracks at the stage of be polish and mastered a bit for Soundcloud . And 40 tracks more on the go. Yes I know I can make a EP with that but it is not my aim at all. If 100 guys heard my music I am happy with that.
I discover with the support of pro musicians how it was exciting to do a jam live , no stress only joy. Next time I will be doing one in front of 10 000 people this summer during 15 minutes at a festival, the only amateur musician not paid for that, it is my birthday gift 🎁 that my pro friends offer me a guest appearance in a festival. My 15 minutes of great joy. It is also a challenge in some way even technical issue to solve.
+1
Adding rhythms to some beeps and I’m in heaven😎.
/DMfan🇸🇪
Yes, this, when it comes to electronic music, there is nothing better for me than AUM. Connect some stuff and go crazy.
Random pattern generators and stuff that glitches (like Hammerhead patterns) helps a lot, I don't to want to program al these little nuances by myself.
Here's a test for you:
Limit yourself to only ONE instrument/app for a week, two weeks, or a month. THEN see if you're still interested in making music. If you are, then you have the inner drive to continue. If not, perhaps you're only interested in acquiring things and the music part is irrelevant.
Generally the ability to afford gear is inversely proportional to the amount of time one can spend on it.
I’d say, at this point in time though because of massive advances in digital technology there’s really no excuse to blame inability to make music on the lack of funds.
Could it be Logic?…(with thanks to Take That!)
It’s all in your mindset. I learned how to play guitar on a hunk of shit and learned how to shred that thing like I was Jimi
I got arthritis in my hands which slowed any shredding then found Geoshred and now I’m an ace iPad shredder!
Post some music bro. Lots of GS fans in here!
For me it is the mixing plugins that I often lust for and that do pay off. Tone Balance, Soothe2 and Spiff have enhanced the creative side so much for me because I am not fiddling with getting the sound right or being down a few days later listening to what I though was great but my ears at that time simply were not. Now I am lusting for Knock vst... But yah these things actually reduce my "option paralysis" because they reduce the amount of options I need to noodle with. Soothe for resonances, Spiff for multiband transients (not just any transient shaper!), Tone Balance to make sure it is not "a bad ear day". But yah, I hope Knock is the last one heh (yah right).
Right on! I love shredding on Geoshred, it really gets me pretty close to the feeling of a guitar. I’ve grown to really love using the Launchpad as well with its grid layout, I can pound away riffs on that thing with my guitar instincts
Now I’ve gone all shy 🙈… however I do have track currently residing in GarageBand which I intend to use as my main test for Logic. It features Geo. If it works out I promise to post 🤜🤛
No subscriptions!
Sure. LOL. Pick only one instrument from the entire gallery and try using ONLY it for a period of time.