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Too many app syndrome or how to stop worrying and choose what to use?
I’m an anxious person by nature, and I’m also a big fan of the idea of minimalism, but this doesn’t really work when it comes to my iPad.
I’m mainly a looper kind of guy but I love the idea of synthesis and Messing around with modular and noise and stuff. Recently I’ve been feeling a bit guilty about using certain apps over others that do similar things but I feel that’s limiting my mastery of the other apps on my collection, I have culled my music making apps a lot, but I still find I’m using certain apps over others and it annoys me that I feel that anxiety. For example:
For doing loops I have koala, gauss and I made a looper in Drambo. I feel my workflow is much quicker and inspiring in koala so I use that, but I feel guilty about the others catching virtual dust.
It’s the same for synths… for west coast I have branches, Ripplemaker and Hilda, but I find myself reaching for Ripplemaker and feel I’m not exploring the others enough, but Ripplemaker is so good.
For modular environments I have miRack, Drambo and audulus, they are all massive with loads to learn, but I find myself jumping from one to the other and then chastise myself for not learning one properly.
Of course this ends up in choice paralysis… I want a synth sound to sample, do I go for a moog, or shoom, or something else?
As a samplist and by no means an audiofile I feel that I’m just crippling myself by taking so much time in just choosing sound sources to sample.
Am I just a mental?
Comments
imo When it comes to art…being mental is mandatory
Ha! I guess that makes me at least halfway to becoming an artist!
The really nice thing about having so many to choose from is sometimes I just don’t think about it too much (when I’m able to be mindful about it not mattering much) , and maybe just grab whichever subtractive/fm/granular one that first comes to mind. It’s way easy to feel guilt about having so many I know, but I’ve been trying to see it all as part of the process, and much less harmful than most other slightly obsessive behaviour, and really doesn’t hurt the environment in any way apart from a tiny data transfer…
Man you are right, it’s not hurting anyone, and yeah it’s better than collecting real synths, for the environment and the wallet! I will keep buying plugins of course, I’ve made my peace with that, but maybe I need to uninstall not only the ones I never use, but also the ones that are surplus to ones I use all the time. And bram bos or Hainbach or beep street or whoever won’t find out and won’t be disappointed in me!
I know the kind of thing you mean - I get it particularly badly now and then if I’ve been concentrating on apps and not using my hardware. “All that expensive stuff gathering dust” says the horrid little voice lurking in the back of my head.
Which is, frankly, bollocks (NB this is me talking to myself, not being dismissive of how you’re feeling). Loads of instruments means loads of choice, and easy ways to push yourself out of creative slump by switching tools.
So: maybe just relax (soooo easy… not!) and use the first thing that springs to mind? Which over time may well include most things, if they are sitting there ready for you to spot them and think “oh, I’ve not used that for a while, wonder what I can do with it?”.
It’s easy to get sucked into a mindset that says you have to “master” every single thing, and if you’re the kind of person that wants to devote a lifetime to working with just one instrument, that’s absolutely great. But there is more than one path up the mountain, and there’s nowt wrong with learning just enough about a tool to get the creative job done. Everyone learns differently, and uses stuff differently. And when it comes to instruments etc some things resonate at a particular time, and others at other times.
It reminds me of my Dad asking why I needed “all these records”, as if they were somehow interchangeable. “You can’t listen to all of them” (or words to that effect) - well, actually I can. There might be decades between listens, but when the mood hits, there they are. Same with apps etc.
I think it depends what you mean by ‘mental’.
I always comfort myself that too many (iOS) apps syndrome is at least no worse than than too many desktop plugin/hardwares syndromes when it comes to price. Like all I've spent on audio apps over the last few years can only afford handful of desktop plugins or presets.
Oh yeah my dad said the same! My folks had like 3 records.
You are right about the fact that one app can inspire over another, and about the knowledge. I don't want to be an expert, but some sort of approximation of flow state would be nice, especially with the modular stuff. I think I'll focus on mirack for a while I feel I can get where I'm going with drambo but mirack seems sexier somehow and they are different beasts. At least until mirack has that front plate creator.
I mean I know I am a bit, but…
You’re right there it’s a cheap hobby at least!!
lol at why I needed “all these records”
)
for me, some apps i know - no matter how deep and possible - i just won't spend the upfront time required to reach the joy of play - all on me, and my post-www mind
so those apps that slot into existing spaces, become much easier.
i'm not saying this is good, but it is how things seem for me.
always pleased when i find an app that opens my world, but with signposts i recognise
)
My dad said the same at my cassette collection. I had around 50 of them at that point. It was going to get way worst with the arrival of CDs. Lol
@sevenape When I reach for a app I purposely select one I have not used lately In its category.
You could make sometime just to explore/learn less known apps in you catalog. I like to know I have a least a hour in front of me when I start writing. If I don't or I know I will get interrupted I explore a app.
It could be worse. At least iOS apps tend to be very affordable, so worst case, you haven’t “wasted” much money at all (if any is truly so).
yah, I wouldn't worry about it, they are virtual and pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things. When I think of software in my 40s vs beer in my 20s I am doing great.
For me creating music is both deciding upon which sounds to use and which sounds NOT to use. I am basically a curator of sounds, matching together the ones I like. When you go through the prests of a synth app and feel uninspired by them, it might be time to delete the app, perhaps sampling anything you do like first. That helps reduce the mental paralization of too many choices. However IF you are a sound designer and can create better sounds with the app, then keep it and create the sounds you like. While the basics may be similar, I don’t have time to become competent at all apps, let alone master them, so I choose my favorite apps to focus on. The others are just a collection of presets.
A strategy I like is to cycle between creating music and sound design. Sometimes I don’t feel inspired to create music. At these times it is good to put on the sound designer’s hat and try creating some sounds I like which can be used when I feel the inspiration to create music. Often the new synth patches will inspire the start of a piece.
I recall an interview with Deadmau5 and him saying that he spends most of his time trying to find or create appropriate sounds. I feel that angst as well. Sometimes I’ll use temporary synth patches or drums, esp. if I’m creating music and I’m on a creative roll. At those times I don’t want to get paralyzed by all the app choices. I can find a “better” bass (or whatever) later.
I don’t feel too guilty ignoring some apps. Some are excellent but I just haven’t had the time to climb the learning curve, like Drambo. I’m not deleting it, but I’m also not using it. It is also easier to use AUv3 apps and forget IAA only apps. When it’s time to find that better bass (or whatever) I have to work hard to remember the IAA apps, or the synth apps I have had for over a decade and forgot about entirely.
@sevenape I think I have a similar nature to you and I often find myself in a similar situation to you…and it’s tough to figure out. I hope that some of the advice in this thread can help me as well.
But I also think that this is a common problem for many people, so we aren’t alone. Maybe starting a musician journal would help:
Each time you have a session, write down the date, what you made, what you used, and how you felt about your choices or what happened.
Maybe you found a certain synth easy to tweak, you found the presets from another app to be uninspiring, you had a crash with a certain app…
Or you were looking for a specific sound and never found it?
Journaling seems to help many…and I’ve been considering doing this to see if it helps with my anxiety and decision fatigue.
Writing down the session details is a good idea but what app would you use to do that? 🤪
Hehe, that is one nice thing about Cubasis 3. I used it as a sort of index for all my tracks. Each tune I would work on whether it be BM3, NS2 etc would get a bounce and end up on it's own track in Cubasis and each track can have it's own notes.
Decision fatigue and paralysis is a real thing. I think it's exacerbated by how cheap apps are. If a new synth was 1000 minimum We'd all generally have way less of them and it wouldn't be as much of an issue.
Personally I try to combat it by first reminding myself that I'm here to make music not learn synths. Learning synths is what happens BECAUSE I'm making music. I know I'm getting off track if I finish a few "sessions" and didn't get anywhere musically.
I also have a folder where I hide apps I'm not currently using to avoid having then tempt me until I'm ready to be tempted.
The thing that helped me is by saying “well I’ve already spent the money on it so it’s too late to go back now. I might as well keep it” 😂
I do think about the same things sometimes but then I’ll randomly use the app a while later and be glad I still have it. Choice paralysis sucks. Especially when there’s this much choice. One thing that helps me with it is to occasionally scroll through the list in AUM and intentionally use ones I don’t use often. Makes me feel better about not ignoring them and usually inspires me in new ways.
And if you need to offload some, go for it! If it doesn’t help you can always redownload lol
Another difficult choice! All painfully real jokes aside, I find Apple Notes to be the easiest since I usually have my phone with me.
They have really improved Notes lately. Now you can organize by folders, add tags and filter by tags, and even potentially link between notes.
And with integration to the Shortcuts app, it can really create a nice workflow. Though it’s still buggy.
This is from the Shortcuts app Gallery but it’s very useful. It creates a note for the day with a timestamp with any text you want to remember. You can even take a picture and add it.
You can find it in the Gallery but here is a link. Although it may not add properly if you don’t have your security settings to allow shortcuts from external sources.
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/488c2b6ed3024a47bbdfc862a988ecc5
Then you can add an icon to your Home Screen so that it is easy to add a new item to your system.
The green icon Remember This will execute the shortcut for me. Super easy to use, no need to open the note in Notes, or it creates a new note for the day. And timestamps make it decently organized.
I wouldn’t write any lengthy text with it, just short notes, as you might hit the cancel button or lock your screen in the middle of writing.
But it’s very convenient.
I modified my own version of the shortcut to allow me to add photos from the photo library, mainly for screenshots. I take a lot of screenshots and now I can keep them somewhat more organized with these tools.
Digital organization is tough!
AUM has session notes built in, though not as sophisticated as that Remember This shortcut. But useful if you want to save notes with your projects.
Or you can just take a nice walk outside...
Great tip, thanks! Seems really useful if some shit goes down that you need to recall at a much later time; ie, litigation, work incidents, or anything that involves covering your ass.
@Blipsford_Baubie Yes definitely! I agree
Forget about decision paralysis, the real devil in the OP is guilt.
Look how many times it's mentioned ... about a leisure activity! That must be very hard to deal with. It's insidious. I'd be combating that over anything else. I'd be asking myself "Where the hell does guilt get off invading my personal enjoyment time?", "Where is that even coming from?", "Who's expectations am I trying to meet here?", "How can I get past this and just _do whatever the f*ck I want?".
Of course, maybe music making isn't simply a leisure activity. Maybe it's professional to some degree? But even then, guilt is the real enemy and sapper of creativity. If decisions need to be made about focus, they shouldn't be guilt driven. They'll be poor and unsatisfying decisions if they are.
Anyway - that's what stood out to me as the real issue. Dealing with that might help the rest fall into place.
Damn @wim that’s the truth. So now the hard part is how can I get past this and just do what I want?
That’s difficult…at least for me…
I stopped caring about genres, and pleasing people, and targeting music at markets.
I like when my options paralyze me…
I do however erase apps that I find I don’t like using in leisure time…maybe a synth that sounds kinda like all the others, or a drum machine that does regular drum machine stuff but nothing unique.
There has to be something about the app for me to keep it long term… it must be good for my headspace/writing at the time or it has to go to the bottom of the list until it finally finds its way off the iPad.
NOTE:
I rate every patch on every synth (even Hardware) if it’s below 2 stars it goes to the delete button. I find it’s not the synths so much that cause me problems…it’s the hundreds of useless patches (for my music) that I have to sift thru. I have some synths that only have 10 patches hahahaa
What I hate is…synths that don’t allow erasing of factory patches. Now that sucks!
It's difficult for everyone.
Step one is recognizing that it doesn't belong there and has no right to be there. Guilt gets so ingrained in us that it feels completely right and true, helpful, and necessary. It's the opposite of all those things.
For me the next step is recognizing where it came from. Probably a parent. Which means it has been a part of you all your life. Recognizing the harm it causes and where it came from is a start, but it's a habit, and habits have to be (and can be!) unlearned. I picture myself as a kid, picture the guilt-trip happening, and step in on my behalf and say "No that's wrong. You're OK. Have fun and do what you want!".
There are still areas where I fail at that, such as when I'm struggling at work and really am not performing my best. That's my Achilles heel But at least I can mostly defeat guilt in of my personal time these days.