I never buy synths. Nope. Not me. Ask my wife, she'll tell you. All my synths were gifts from friends. I'm a synth holding-facility. Really. *cough cough*
The gear that was bought based on an excuse were resold one year later, when it was revealed to me that I really bought them with excuse.. BUT The gear that was bought based on a reason stayed with me years later, after it was revealed to me that I really bought them for a reason. BUT I would never know if I hadn't bought them ALL. So it seems to me that all we need to do is to know the way to tell between excuse and reason. And that can take a lot of time for some people. (edit) Also, last year I found a solution for this GAS / FOMO problem: Instead of buying new gear, I make a favorites list, or a "to buy" list, that is constantly evolving/shrinking and after a few months it reveals the gear that I really need. If it remained in the list for so long and won over the other selections, there must be a real Reason. So I will buy it being 300% sure that I really need to have it.
I am still convinced a new guitar would help me to play better :-) Concerning the creativity I think it depends. Like Miles Kundra said in one of his recent videos the restriction to only one or two synths helped his creativity. But I agee. Synths like Pigments boosted my creatvity. Also did the Moog Mother wehen I bought it in 2019.
Not fully music related, but I have podcasting and friends who also narrate things who buy mics and never really use them. Worse: those who keep buying gear and never make anything with it. But they've convinced themselves that once they find the perfect set up (that they'll likely never find because there's always something new), they will finally start. I know people who have talked about starting things for more than a decade with far better gear than mine. And they just keep buying more.
Functionality and sound, if it doesn't add anything of value I won't buy it. I have not upgraded to newer hipper amp Sims i.e. because I know the old ones so well I feel confident I can get all sounds I ever need with them.
I think your first idea is the best, just wait a few days (or weeks) and usually you've forgotten about the 'new' module you so badly needed. I think that we're often attracted to the bright new shiny modules like VCOs, Wavetables and fancy sound manipulation modules. However, I added less 'sparkly' utility modules like switches and mults, which although less exciting on the face of it, very quickly open up new territory without spending much money (and often small in HP too).
I actually am thinking about buying a few more Doepfer filters for my Eurorack. They are not that expensive and I like playing around with filters like die A124. Yesterday after watching a video by @MidlifeSynthesist I definitely wanted to buy a Polyend Tracker. Gonna wait a few days until I forget about that ;-)
Well let's see the excuses I've come up with the last few years. In other words fooling myself and doing weird investments - I buy new synths because I have GAS - I buy new synths because I have a big house that needs dressing up - I buy new synths because I have a high paying stressing job, so I play away the stress - I buy new synths because as a kid I drooled over a Moog - I buy new synths because as a teenager I could play a week long with an Elka Synthex (the real hardware one) - I buy new synths because I can't afford to buy a CS80 - I buy new synths because I went to Knobcon - I buy new synths because I want to start a museum (sorry 'Look mum no computer'', just teasing) - I buy new synths because I want to have the biggest collection ever (sorry ' Swiss Museum for Electronic Music', just teasing) - I buy new synths because I don't like VST's of software version (except for VCV Rack) - I buy new synths because I can''t play at all 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 Setting the fun aside, I did buy a few too many, but still enjoy having them.
I buy synths when I think it will improve my sound quality or make composing easier and faster. I never buy new to the market synths, I wait a minimum of 3 years and read the reviews and listen to them played by different musicians on TH-cam. I research synths for years and read the manual several times before beginning to consider buying. I will live with bad choices for a decade before correcting my choices, searching for the synths strength getting to know the synth at every level. Example: I will be buying a new digital piano this year, replacing my 13 year old one. Why? Technology has made a better piano than I am using, the sound recorded will improve drastically with the new piano's ability to record audio over USB, and the sound engine and keyboard action has improved also. This new piano will allow me to record piano again for the first time in 13 years.
The best thing to do is to study what is available, what serves you the best and might be the fastest, cost-effective piece of gear....or software as they're dominating the scene so bad. Although buying stuff just to be supportive for your favorite brand isn't entirely bad thing if you don't need the money!
We are talking about non-essentials here to begin with. We grind hard in our daily lives and music gear is something we buy to treat ourselves. It is always excessive and not necessary.
True that. Especially modular is a slippery slippery slope when it comes to money. I came to that conclusion 2 years ago. Im in the second semester of electronic engineering now, so i build my own gear for much cheaper with EXACTLY the features i want. Ha! Take that music gear industry! :P (no joke)
Look! This guy has no cat but dogs, (yes plural and if you didn't spot them, watch the video again), and I can't see any teacup sized pot plants, nor tiny figurines or cute plastic thingies, so how can I trust him talking about synths? As he also has at least a child to take care of to, how does he have time for synths? Does not sound very possible to me. In my experience you have to get 100% into it with no concern for the outside world or others, immerse yourself into it and become the synth. So to whomever read this; what kind of synth are you?
Martin, .. I try to tell myself, (in my weaker moments .. and I have some) .. back when I used to buy music gear magazines .. and look at full page ads, promoting some heavenly sounding/operating things .. I wonder what they're worth now, in comparison, to new? But hey, .. most likely the buyers of these, .. really had good times, with them?
I buy new gear because it's a coping mechanism for my childhood trauma.. Well actually any retail is.. Then I went to therapy. Still buy a lot off stuff I don't need but now it's not just music gear. FOMO is real.
@@martingoldmannmusic Thank you but no sympathy required here I learned my lessons well. You touched on a good topic with this video though. Hope more folks out there realize there is a reason for this behavior. Peace out!
Hi Anthony, no, no plans actually. At the time I focus on my (german) channel with Apple Mac Tutorials. And my dark ambient channel is still alive :) Hope you are doing well?
What kills me are the YTer's who have rooms full of synths - running them thru some crap mixer. $20k worth of synths going thru a $500 mixer. Makes no sense.
I can see the trend in TH-cam for 2023. Let's not buy more gear unless we really really need them and even then, let's not. Having said that, I bought a retrofit for a new display for my Deluge. The Deluge is traveling to the place where they will switch the display.
Yeah, that topic is discussed more often. I did a video about GAS last year around this time which also found a lot of viewers. I guess that is a topic many of us can relate to.
But if we don't buy, the world slides into a recession or even a depression. We must persevere! Buy until it hurts, and then some more, for the good of all.
Learning to play live electronic music (honestly!). So far given 5 (small scale) live performances, in the last two years. Actually last night was the most recent one: lying down meditative concert of ambient synths, vocalized singing, crystal singing bowls and more fun instruments all through a Starlab. Audience did seem to love our performance. The trick in buying more synths, effect boxes, microphones, Eurorack, etc. etc. is to start making music together with your partner, wife , your other half. Fulfilling a teenage dream of making electronic music - well that is my main excuse. Took me 40 years to make that dream come true. Next time I really need a new synth all I have to say: "we need it for our next live performance" or even better: "you know if I haven't bought this we could not play this live". ;-) Great video, thanks!
I never buy synths. Nope. Not me. Ask my wife, she'll tell you. All my synths were gifts from friends. I'm a synth holding-facility. Really. *cough cough*
Yeah, that is absolutely credible :)
😂😂😂🙌
The gear that was bought based on an excuse were resold one year later, when it was revealed to me that I really bought them with excuse.. BUT
The gear that was bought based on a reason stayed with me years later, after it was revealed to me that I really bought them for a reason. BUT
I would never know if I hadn't bought them ALL. So it seems to me that all we need to do is to know the way to tell between excuse and reason. And that can take a lot of time for some people.
(edit) Also, last year I found a solution for this GAS / FOMO problem: Instead of buying new gear, I make a favorites list, or a "to buy" list, that is constantly evolving/shrinking and after a few months it reveals the gear that I really need. If it remained in the list for so long and won over the other selections, there must be a real Reason. So I will buy it being 300% sure that I really need to have it.
That is a good point. Maybe I should start a list like that. Item No 1: Waldorf Iridium :)
Ha ! I was thinking about how much I need a new synth to "help my creativity" ha ha ha ! You just saved me some money
I don't think that this is an excuse. I have first hand experience that a new synth indeed helps creativity.
I am still convinced a new guitar would help me to play better :-) Concerning the creativity I think it depends. Like Miles Kundra said in one of his recent videos the restriction to only one or two synths helped his creativity. But I agee. Synths like Pigments boosted my creatvity. Also did the Moog Mother wehen I bought it in 2019.
- I buy new synths to collect them.
- I buy new synths because now I am obsessed with synthwave sounds
I am ok with that ☺️
Not fully music related, but I have podcasting and friends who also narrate things who buy mics and never really use them. Worse: those who keep buying gear and never make anything with it. But they've convinced themselves that once they find the perfect set up (that they'll likely never find because there's always something new), they will finally start.
I know people who have talked about starting things for more than a decade with far better gear than mine. And they just keep buying more.
I'm looking at three mics right now and can fully relate :)
@@martingoldmannmusic I've promised my wife that I'd only buy one more mic...and she'll get use from it, too. (But it would be easy to buy more!)
You can have enough synths but never enough mikes :-) (As a filmmaker as my day job I have always an excuse for a new microphone)
Functionality and sound, if it doesn't add anything of value I won't buy it. I have not upgraded to newer hipper amp Sims i.e. because I know the old ones so well I feel confident I can get all sounds I ever need with them.
I guess this is a good way. I bought quite a few synths that are overlapping in functionality...
I think your first idea is the best, just wait a few days (or weeks) and usually you've forgotten about the 'new' module you so badly needed. I think that we're often attracted to the bright new shiny modules like VCOs, Wavetables and fancy sound manipulation modules. However, I added less 'sparkly' utility modules like switches and mults, which although less exciting on the face of it, very quickly open up new territory without spending much money (and often small in HP too).
I actually am thinking about buying a few more Doepfer filters for my Eurorack. They are not that expensive and I like playing around with filters like die A124. Yesterday after watching a video by @MidlifeSynthesist I definitely wanted to buy a Polyend Tracker. Gonna wait a few days until I forget about that ;-)
@@martingoldmannmusic If you're seriously thinking about a tracker, take a look at the NerdSeq before buying anything else 😉.
I impulse bought Renoise last night. No I am sitting in a hotel with my macbook having quite some fun building odd beats :)
Well let's see the excuses I've come up with the last few years.
In other words fooling myself and doing weird investments
- I buy new synths because I have GAS
- I buy new synths because I have a big house that needs dressing up
- I buy new synths because I have a high paying stressing job, so I play away the stress
- I buy new synths because as a kid I drooled over a Moog
- I buy new synths because as a teenager I could play a week long with an Elka Synthex (the real hardware one)
- I buy new synths because I can't afford to buy a CS80
- I buy new synths because I went to Knobcon
- I buy new synths because I want to start a museum (sorry 'Look mum no computer'', just teasing)
- I buy new synths because I want to have the biggest collection ever (sorry ' Swiss Museum for Electronic Music', just teasing)
- I buy new synths because I don't like VST's of software version (except for VCV Rack)
- I buy new synths because I can''t play at all 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂
Setting the fun aside, I did buy a few too many, but still enjoy having them.
There are some very good excuses :)
I buy synths when I think it will improve my sound quality or make composing easier and faster. I never buy new to the market synths, I wait a minimum of 3 years and read the reviews and listen to them played by different musicians on TH-cam. I research synths for years and read the manual several times before beginning to consider buying. I will live with bad choices for a decade before correcting my choices, searching for the synths strength getting to know the synth at every level. Example: I will be buying a new digital piano this year, replacing my 13 year old one. Why? Technology has made a better piano than I am using, the sound recorded will improve drastically with the new piano's ability to record audio over USB, and the sound engine and keyboard action has improved also. This new piano will allow me to record piano again for the first time in 13 years.
I like the idea of waiting a few years before the purchase. Thank you
The best thing to do is to study what is available, what serves you the best and might be the fastest, cost-effective piece of gear....or software as they're dominating the scene so bad. Although buying stuff just to be supportive for your favorite brand isn't entirely bad thing if you don't need the money!
I'd like to add Space as variable. I simply don't have enough space in my room for more hardware :)
@@martingoldmannmusic Yes, space is a huge problem, especially with keeping the original box for when you finally sell the synth.
Oh yeah - I have a storage room for those boxes (and many other things I didn't want to throw away yet).
We are talking about non-essentials here to begin with. We grind hard in our daily lives and music gear is something we buy to treat ourselves. It is always excessive and not necessary.
I agree. I used new hardware as a treat to myself :)
Hardware is a zero-calorie treat, and empties my wallet to reduce unsightly bulges.
@@jeffryarchambeau5441 Best analogy ever.
True that. Especially modular is a slippery slippery slope when it comes to money. I came to that conclusion 2 years ago. Im in the second semester of electronic engineering now, so i build my own gear for much cheaper with EXACTLY the features i want. Ha! Take that music gear industry! :P (no joke)
Oh this is certainly fun. I would be never able to even hold a soldering iron ;-)
Look! This guy has no cat but dogs, (yes plural and if you didn't spot them, watch the video again), and I can't see any teacup sized pot plants, nor tiny figurines or cute plastic thingies, so how can I trust him talking about synths? As he also has at least a child to take care of to, how does he have time for synths? Does not sound very possible to me.
In my experience you have to get 100% into it with no concern for the outside world or others, immerse yourself into it and become the synth.
So to whomever read this; what kind of synth are you?
Yeah, I totally lack nerd credibility. Thanks for the laugh :) (there is a third dog actually)
Martin, .. I try to tell myself, (in my weaker moments .. and I have some) .. back when I used to buy music gear magazines .. and look at full page ads, promoting some heavenly sounding/operating things .. I wonder what they're worth now, in comparison, to new? But hey, .. most likely the buyers of these, .. really had good times, with them?
i guess they had :) I only discovered music six or seven years ago and I enjoy everything about it :)
@@martingoldmannmusic And I hope you keep sharing, about your experiences, Martin.
I will, Ken :) Thank you
Great excuses ... a perfect start into the new day 🤣
Thank you :)
I buy new gear because it's a coping mechanism for my childhood trauma.. Well actually any retail is.. Then I went to therapy. Still buy a lot off stuff I don't need but now it's not just music gear. FOMO is real.
Jeez, that is somewhat sad to hear. Hope it will get better some day.
@@martingoldmannmusic Thank you but no sympathy required here I learned my lessons well. You touched on a good topic with this video though. Hope more folks out there realize there is a reason for this behavior. Peace out!
alternativer Titel: "Menno"
Und bald "Menno 2" die Rückkehr des Trotzalters :)
@@martingoldmannmusic lol, sehr schön 😛
Grüße aus dem südlichen Frankenland!
Grüße zurück aus der Mitte :)
Hey Martin, you have been a bit quiet on this channel of late. Any plans for the future?
Hi Anthony, no, no plans actually. At the time I focus on my (german) channel with Apple Mac Tutorials. And my dark ambient channel is still alive :) Hope you are doing well?
What kills me are the YTer's who have rooms full of synths - running them thru some crap mixer. $20k worth of synths going thru a $500 mixer. Makes no sense.
guess I would too and call it lofi ;-)
I can see the trend in TH-cam for 2023. Let's not buy more gear unless we really really need them and even then, let's not.
Having said that, I bought a retrofit for a new display for my Deluge. The Deluge is traveling to the place where they will switch the display.
Yeah, that topic is discussed more often. I did a video about GAS last year around this time which also found a lot of viewers. I guess that is a topic many of us can relate to.
But if we don't buy, the world slides into a recession or even a depression. We must persevere! Buy until it hurts, and then some more, for the good of all.
Finger weg! 😂😂
:)
‘Ruhig!!!!’…..Richtiges komisch Kinderschauspieler….😂
She is not really like that and usually doesn't pull the plug :)
Nonsense people buy synths because we love them, I personally prefer hardware synths over vst one's,
I like both - hardware and vst :)
How many synths do I need? I am asked. How many are there there? I reply.....
I guess it is always just one more than you have :)
When asked how many synths does one need a wise man replied "Just one more".
u r me
What is your excuse?
Maybe I should hand my XD to my daughter :)
Learning to play live electronic music (honestly!). So far given 5 (small scale) live performances, in the last two years. Actually last night was the most recent one: lying down meditative concert of ambient synths, vocalized singing, crystal singing bowls and more fun instruments all through a Starlab. Audience did seem to love our performance. The trick in buying more synths, effect boxes, microphones, Eurorack, etc. etc. is to start making music together with your partner, wife , your other half.
Fulfilling a teenage dream of making electronic music - well that is my main excuse. Took me 40 years to make that dream come true.
Next time I really need a new synth all I have to say: "we need it for our next live performance" or even better: "you know if I haven't bought this we could not play this live". ;-)
Great video, thanks!
Thank you, Gerard. Yeah, maybe I should perfom life (better with a synth and not the guitar ;-) )