Ditching guitar? One man band content.

[ThurberMingus]

So lately I've been thinking about how disappointing the guitar is to me, much of the time as and instrument. I can play it well and I can use it to great effect to convey my musical ideas to other people.

As I (and my peers) grow older I'm realizing how hard it is to get together with other people and actually create the music that I want to. At home I don't find the guitar to be a very inspirational instrument. It's fun, and nothing can replace my love of a decent rock toan, but I feel like I'm falling short as a musician when I try to compose by myself with only a 6-string.

I suppose it doesn't help that I've been feeling somewhat depressed lately and played a relatively disappointing show with my band last weekend, but I feel like my best chance at pursuing any type of musical "career" (not in it for the money, duh) is to progress by myself in the realm of electronic music. I don't want to play techno shows or anything like that, but more of you typical blog-worthy sad guy solo shit. You know, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Jerry Paper, Homeshake, bullshit with some Dan Deacon and Grimes mixed in to keep make it so I'm not totally derivative of one on niche internet genre.

I've quickly found that using my iPad is a lot of fun for finding tones, building beats, and making loops, but I find it somewhat tedious to compose on. Mix in my lack of chops and consistency on the keys and I'm off to a rugged start, especially when I plan on doing vocals. I've never been good at singing and playing keys. At all.

Fortunately I scored an SP202 for $100 on Reverb, and in my research I've realized that it's exactly what I need to make electronic music inspiring. A way to play and arrange loops outside of a boring daw, with a cap on the amount of tracks I can use, so I can actually trim a lot of fat from my songs and still get the satisfaction of playing an instrument live. At this point I quickly realized I could also benefit from something like an SP404 to use as a "brain" and trigger loops/Bones for a song, while using the 202 for playing as more of an instrument using one-shot samples recorded from other instruments.

At this point I realize I am once again looking down the rabbit hole of gear that always makes me depressed when it comes to guitar. I'm also quite certain that I could achieve everything I want to do, in a live setting, using only the 202 and 404 to make the sounds of my other instruments with a strictly "hardware based" setup. Toss in my SK-1 or Microkorg for improvised leads (maybe a loop pedal for good measure as well) and I think I have a pretty fucking powerful suitcase setup without ditching the authenticity of real instruments. Plus the learning curve seems totally within my ability, which is another major bonus.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this rant, but I just wanted to start a discussion among other people who might have similar thoughts and are wondering how to successfully make music outside the context of a "jam room".

So let's discuss!

[ThurberMingus]

Say what you want, CFTPA is one of the greatest band names and lo-fi artists of all time.

And of course I've gassed for an OP-1 since the dawn of time. Have you played live with it much/at all? Even in a like "Vid live in the living room" type situation? I know it'd be super cool and useful to have one, but how is it to "perform" (even just to your cats/so) on?

[D.o.S.]

tbh dude being in a 'band' with just yourself is an extraordinary relief in a lot of ways and a real pain in the ass in others.

[ThurberMingus]

Yeah DoS I know exactly what you mean, I was doing the guitar looping +drum machine thing for a while and it was always terrible. I stopped after about four shows because I was always super critical of my set and couldn't ever actually enjoy myself.

After a particularly unfun show with my band I figure it's just less organizing for me to suffer by myself

But yeah, I know. I've done it before, I just think I can do it again better.

[echorec]

You could get:

Artiphon INSTRUMENT 1
Monome
Ableton controller
Yamaha VSS-30 (to complement or sub for the SK-1)

For iPad:

Tenori app
Beatwave
various other matrix synths & sequencing programs

...I got bored with guitar in 2002 and have never really gone back. I'm more interested in improvisation and generative music, so I use drone instruments, tons of pedals, and a variety of synths. I have no interest in doing gigs, though, so I'm just cataloging textures and ideas for future cinematic applications.

[psychic vampire.]

For years I have been stockpiling shit, wanting to go down this hole, but for some reason fear and inertia prevented me from doing it. Always thought I wasn't good enough at keys, or my drum patterns would suck. This week, after wanting to do an industrialish project for ages, and inspired by my partner and i doing a techno duo, i just started writing drum parts on my old Korg ES-1, bass and chord parts on my Ensoniq ESQ-1. I can always port the bass out to my bass station ii later (or a mother 32 bc let's face it, as depressing as gear lust is, my brain is fucked by capitalism #whoops), MIDI the bass drums or snares or whatnot to my DRM1 when I am "recording" or something, but i figure if i can't write the interesting bare bones of a song with the ES-1/ESQ-1 i am fucking up.

But as much as i love bass, and playing music with peers, this has actually felt so much more fucking rewarding and exciting. I wish i had played more today instead of going to work while sick and then napping. I have something like 53 seconds of memory remaining on my Electribe, and i haven't even finished pruning all my old samples, nor broken out the ER-1. I am feeling more inspired than ever, who knows how long that will last, and i can't wait to start bouncing these ideas to tape (I need more tapes).

[psychic vampire.]

Also, not for nothing, and absurd modular desires notwithstanding, I feel like this change in musical direction has made my "wish list" a lot more practical. I am looking at MIDIverb IIs and rack multi effects and cables, and making do with shit i already have where possible a lot more.

[crochambeau]

Feedback loop noise is a nice tool to blow the cobwebs out.

It is possible to bridge any point between that and absolute composition, but - the matter in which one gets there is usually highly personal in regards to gear (and dammit, budget makes a huge impact too). My solo ventures are usually manual oscillator driven, but the occasional foray into MIDI is highly rewarding too. Between the band and my solo project I feel more productive in solo mode, the band is super nice for relativity sake. Keeps me grounded in a way.

[ThurberMingus]

Yeah, I suppose it was a little presumptuous to act like I was just gonna stop guitar all together. I still plan on being in the world's least respectable shoegaze band, but I need to broaden my horizons to play more shows.

Not really interested in drone or noise. It's cool and fun in the bedroom, but the scene around here is really lame, albeit thriving. Interested to hear about other people's experiences and gear tips. This is a fun thread.

[neonblack]

Use your bass VI like a tone generator. Play it like a synth.

Im not confident enough in my songwriting skills to do the one man band thing. I feel like I need someone to bounce ideas off of. But really I just need to learn how to finish a damn song.

That's all I really have to add to this.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I'm thinking in a similar sort of direction at the moment but for different reasons. I want to get back into recording a lot but I've just moved into a flat where I can't really turn up a guitar and mic it and definitely can't do live drums, so I'm looking at my options for another synth and something to make decent drum beats with because that will be so much easier to plug in headphones to and jam out/compose.

[fcknoise]

Totally feeling this idea too. I'm starting to work around a setup with an OP-1, a micro granny (maybe pick one of these up used? Super cool sampler that's not too expensive), sk-5 and various tabletop pedals. It's super fun and quite different from the music I make in my band. One recommendation, given the gear you already have, is to run the sk-1 into your pitchfactor and tape keys down and mess with the knobs

[Ev_O)))]

So I been playing with this lately too, less of the Lo-Fi/Homeshake (love HS) vibe but more of a drone/minimalist kinda thing. It's so much fun.
I am using a Maximal drone into pedals into Ableton, where I have 4 desperate 4 track loopers being controlled by an akai Midimix so I can build chords and massive looped washes of drone synth on a whim. I also run a Novation Launchpad for triggering samples and more prepared backing segments or textures that kind of vaguely gesture at rhythm. It's sounding pretty mad man, and I'm looking forward to whipping it out in public. I reckon if I were to add a Monologue or something I'd be set forever.

I'm also sick of my band. We are taking a break ATM, and after some though I realised that while we are all good musicians and make pretty complex stuff that a lot of people seem to like, I wouldn't listen to it independently. Like it's not the kind of shit I would click on on my iPod ever and I dunno if I can be fucked keeping up with it
So yeah, I dont really love the stuff we make, and that definitely a driving factor in me wanting to do my own thing for sure

[resincum]

I use a 4 track and a kp-3 as my main set up for shows now. the 4 track is a straight up sampler with a couple of movements per side. mostly rhythmic drones/percussive stuff. I do a lot of glitching / 'granular' stuff with the kp-3 along with some filter action. I have my guitar and pedals running along with it as well as a drone thing through an infinitphase. the *flow* of it all just clicks.. very seamless to perform with. i like to think of it as similar to GYBE without the epic jam parts. I'd eventually like to add a rhythm section with my friends, but for now it's a one man band ambient drone soundscape kind of thing. nothing too punishing. the great thing about working solo is that you call all the fuckin shots.. don't have to deal with any controlling personalities or cancellations. loading/unloading is a bitch tho

[psychic vampire.]

For real, for real, i have never fucked around with an OP-1 bc I don't commute ever and it's in that price range where, if i had that money, I could get an octatrack or make decent headway into starting modular, or some other vanity piece, but i hear great things. If this were a mainly synth/electronic music forum, i think a lot of people would tell you to get a Korg ESX-1 or Electribe 2S used for $250 and call it a day. I would back this.
Something to be said for a cheap all in one solution box. In bands, pedal hoarding and gear lusting becomes so easy, but when you are the band, on an extremely limited budget, it forces you to make interesting concessions and choices. I know, for myself, in band environments, it can become very easy to get bogged down by vanity of sorts, but when i am writing everything myself, it feels like i am able to see the big picture much easier, i have less pets. I still want to play in bands, but it feels much easier to be relaxed in those environments when i have this other thing. It also encourages me to practice music more in different ways.