Pedal/Gear Slump - What do you do?

[friendship]

well, when you stop and think about it...it's kinda like a musical selfie. so pause for a second and think what you think about people and their selfies...then realize those people think that when you ask them to check out your new song.

On the other hand, I like when my friends post selfies because I like to see my friends faces, because I love them.

[voerking]

If it’s purely for your own enjoyment, then why do you need to record anything? What do you get from having the recording? .

i personally can't play multiple instruments simultaneously, so the way i write for a group (even if the 'group' is just me overdubbing everything) is inseparable from recording. i build up parts and combine/arrange them while recording. I don't have the sort of musical brain that can 'hear' everything before it's assembled; so, without having a team of eager musicians ready to try out every idea i have...or the expertise to score everything out & know in advance what it will sound like - the only way for my music to exist is through the recording process. Even in bands i've been in, we record every practice to assess every step of the compositional process and edit/rearrange/etc material accordingly. Also, i've been a part of several long-distance collaborations (even pre-covid) and the only way we've been able to make it work is to send recordings (usually with some transcriptions, as well) back & forth.

[Paul_C]

Cosmicevan hit the nail on the head. It’s all about the purpose of the recording. If it’s purely for your own enjoyment, then why do you need to record anything? What do you get from having the recording? Listening to your own recordings always feels a little self fellatiatory. If it’s just for your own enjoyment, then why is it important to share with others?

The only reason I record anymore is to have recorded something. I wrote a song this year. It was the first actual “song” I’ve written in at least five years. It was also the worst musical output I’ve made in an even longer time. I’m going to try and learn something from how bad that song turned out. But what’s the point of making those “improvements” If it’s just for me? All that should matter is that I’m enjoying myself. The “quality” of my output is irrelevant, so, why not just have fun and not worry about recording.

I know that through the recording process you’re able to accomplish things that aren’t possible through real-time recording, and that recording in itself can be its own type of art form. So, recording for those reasons really can turn music into something that’s more similar to painting or sculpting.

Personally, because sound is so fleeting and ephemeral, and what I enjoy is mainly improvisation, recording feels like an exercise in vanity. So, I don’t record anything as a general rule. If I keep getting stuck on an idea I’ll record something just so I can move on. But other than that, I really don’t like the recording process.

well, when you stop and think about it...it's kinda like a musical selfie. so pause for a second and think what you think about people and their selfies...then realize those people think that when you ask them to check out your new song.

I only "announce" my new albums on Twitter these days so as not to endlessly spam forums, FB etc. as I'm not after a huge audience or trying to make money from what I do.

As my creativity includes what I do with what I record it does allow me to have a product to upload to Bandcamp, but while I will look every now and again to see if anyone is listening I don't need to see big numbers to continue. I have no desire to try and do any of it live, so if anyone is going to hear it then online is the only way.

I liken what I do as the audio equivalent of work by Rothko, Pollock et al. but I use them as examples because people might have heard of them, not because I see myself as at their level*.

Having said all of that, I could just as happily keep everything on my computer and not upload it anywhere, though it is nice to have someone say positive about something I've made and it helps justify the huge amount of money I've spent on gear

*I am though.

[Heraclitus Akimbo]

Almost everything I do is improvising, and I generally keep the recorder on just to have it for those times when something really exciting happens. Process is result.

On the other hand, one of my "instruments" is always my mixer, so maybe it's just easier/more natural to have the recorder plugged into the tape output.

Anything I release is usually going to be listened to a minuscule number of people, but I admit I love the absurdity of treating it like it's bound for the top of the charts. I listen to music as albums, so I like shaping my music as albums, and going through the rigmarole of releasing them as albums. I also like trying to shape them into something that is "coherent" (even if only to me) and having a trail of breadcrumbs stretching back a few years now to sort of show a path I've taken.

(And, as an aside, people seem to shy away from the egocentricity of saying they like listening to their own music, but I confess I find what I produce to be highly listenable — when I first fluked into the process that started me making music I was shocked and delighted that I could make sounds that were "the sort of thing I like" and I took that as a sign I was on the right track.)

[Paul_C]

Almost everything I do is improvising, and I generally keep the recorder on just to have it for those times when something really exciting happens. Process is result.

On the other hand, one of my "instruments" is always my mixer, so maybe it's just easier/more natural to have the recorder plugged into the tape output.

Anything I release is usually going to be listened to a minuscule number of people, but I admit I love the absurdity of treating it like it's bound for the top of the charts. I listen to music as albums, so I like shaping my music as albums, and going through the rigmarole of releasing them as albums. I also like trying to shape them into something that is "coherent" (even if only to me) and having a trail of breadcrumbs stretching back a few years now to sort of show a path I've taken.

(And, as an aside, people seem to shy away from the egocentricity of saying they like listening to their own music, but I confess I find what I produce to be highly listenable — when I first fluked into the process that started me making music I was shocked and delighted that I could make sounds that were "the sort of thing I like" and I took that as a sign I was on the right track.)

I listen to my stuff more than anything else, I think because the randomness of it sits nicely in the background while I browse the internet

[Blackened Soul]

Almost everything I do is improvising, and I generally keep the recorder on just to have it for those times when something really exciting happens. Process is result.

On the other hand, one of my "instruments" is always my mixer, so maybe it's just easier/more natural to have the recorder plugged into the tape output.

Anything I release is usually going to be listened to a minuscule number of people, but I admit I love the absurdity of treating it like it's bound for the top of the charts. I listen to music as albums, so I like shaping my music as albums, and going through the rigmarole of releasing them as albums. I also like trying to shape them into something that is "coherent" (even if only to me) and having a trail of breadcrumbs stretching back a few years now to sort of show a path I've taken.

(And, as an aside, people seem to shy away from the egocentricity of saying they like listening to their own music, but I confess I find what I produce to be highly listenable — when I first fluked into the process that started me making music I was shocked and delighted that I could make sounds that were "the sort of thing I like" and I took that as a sign I was on the right track.)

I listen to my stuff more than anything else, I think because the randomness of it sits nicely in the background while I browse the internet

Yeah, well.. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that you should make the you want to listen to first, otherwise what are you even doing? I always look at writing that way, I think about what I would like to hear but can’t find anyone else that is exactly doing what that is and I start there.. I mean if you don’t want to listen to your creations why the fuck would anyone else?

[Warpsmasher]

I've got loads of improv stuff that I've recorded over the years with all the gear that's come and gone, but I save it for whenever I feel there's an appropriate use anymore, instead of just tossing it out piles at a time in completely unrefined form like I used to. I feel like youtube and soundcloud are fine for that though, so I put that kind of stuff there now (sometimes), and try to be a bit more formal with the bandcamp discography....which has become quite limited by said approach, but it is what it is. I'm a scatterbrain with too many interests and directions to choose from, so that's just how I have to order my shit.

[Blood_mountain]

That is extremely impressive. I’m the opposite. I don’t record anything anymore because the purpose for recording feels really vain. I know that feeling has more to do with my own hangups than reality. The only reason I record anything anymore is so I’ll stop playing the same riff/pseudo song over and over again.

I can understand that sentiment. At the same time, if no one ever shared their art, it would be a pretty lonesome world.

[D.o.S.]

I'm going to say play with some fucking volume.

I go through periods where I hate all my gear and "need" new stuff, but then if I grab what I've got and head down to the rehearsal room, play with a proper amp and feel my pants moving cos I'm playing so loud... that usually solves everything. Most things sound pretty great when you've got a bit of adrenaline and 100 or so decibels behind you.

Another thing that's been fun for me has been limiting myself. For example making a pedal board of a certain size, or colour, or building something around a specific sound.

The man speaks the truth.

But pants moving volume is "normal" volume, old man.

[cosmicevan]

well, when you stop and think about it...it's kinda like a musical selfie. so pause for a second and think what you think about people and their selfies...then realize those people think that when you ask them to check out your new song.

On the other hand, I like when my friends post selfies because I like to see my friends faces, because I love them.

I was very deliberate in saying "what you think about..." as opposed to saying anything negative or positive. For the record, I'm in the positive camp as well and often click the link to hear the track or see the art/selfie

I also am a rabid recorder, but also relate to 01010111 and the whole struggle of perfection and purpose. Much like Heraclitus, I too, love to listen back to my music. I find the whole process of recording my music very self serving, but also very satisfying. I used to have this fantasy that the world would love my music and I found that fantasy to cripple my process. It forced an unattainable perfectionism and put a cavern of shyness around my music and while I love being a hypeman for things I love...something too personal about hyping my own music. I didn't want or need to test it for validation...as such, I tend to record just for myself and don't really share it out. I do have "goals" of making things more accessible and getting down more of my ideas onto some sort of recorded medium, but it's really for myself and so it's there if I ever felt the need to put it in my signature or reference it for those who, like me, get curious and want to click on things like that.

I have hundreds of hours of band practices and jams with friends and ideas recorded...it's the releasing part that's impossible for me. This coming year (I measure years by my birthdays and got one coming up), I'd like to start challenging myself to write/record things very fast just to practice putting out music since I find I get better at things through practice. At one point in my life I did something similar and wrote a handful of songs that were written, recorded and finished pretty much in one sit down. I've come to love those songs because no thought was put into them other than, finish this.

[manymanyhaha]

Listening to your own recordings always feels a little self fellatiatory. .

As a friend from high school used to like to paraphrase, one out of every ten of us can self-fellate. It seems there are about ten of us in this discussion. Which one of us is it? I kid, I kid.

But seriously, some awesome reading through this read, appreciate all of the perspectives of folks' creative journeys because I can relate to just about all of them.

I started making music because I loved it, and loved being in bands, the comradery, the collaboration, playing for people. Fart jokes with instruments. And then, at some point, the experiments began, the tape recorder never turned off and here I am many many many many many years later with thousands (tens of thousands?) of hours of recordings. I love it, I can't imagine living life any differently.

It was not until a couple years ago that I started releasing stuff and now I am addicted. It's a way of saying bon voyage, goodbye, and letting go. It is cathartic, actually. Wished I had started doing it 25 years earlier but whatever, no regrets. a journey is what it is.

And it's definitely not about the attention because in 2021, no one gives a shit. There is SO much music being generated out there, why would they? And I am stoked by that, because I get to do whatever the fuck I want, and that feels good. A bit like if I wanted to be a nudist and I bought a hundred acres. I have a mini studio and I owe nothing to anyone but myself.

Except of course that if everyone had this amount of electronic crap, we'd need like a 100 earths to sustain us but hey, cognitive dissonance, it WORKS!

[friendship]

But seriously, some awesome reading through this read, appreciate all of the perspectives of folks' creative journeys because I can relate to just about all of them.

I started making music because I loved it, and loved being in bands, the comradery, the collaboration, playing for people. Fart jokes with instruments. And then, at some point, the experiments began, the tape recorder never turned off and here I am many many many many many years later with thousands (tens of thousands?) of hours of recordings. I love it, I can't imagine living life any differently.

It was not until a couple years ago that I started releasing stuff and now I am addicted. It's a way of saying bon voyage, goodbye, and letting go. It is cathartic, actually. Wished I had started doing it 25 years earlier but whatever, no regrets. a journey is what it is.

And it's definitely not about the attention because in 2021, no one gives a shit. There is SO much music being generated out there, why would they? And I am stoked by that, because I get to do whatever the fuck I want, and that feels good. A bit like if I wanted to be a nudist and I bought a hundred acres. I have a mini studio and I owe nothing to anyone but myself.

Except of course that if everyone had this amount of electronic crap, we'd need like a 100 earths to sustain us but hey, cognitive dissonance, it WORKS!

This is inspiring as hell my man

[dubkitty]

To balance that my output has been ridiculous - I uploaded my 81st album (this year) to Bandcamp yesterday.

jeez, you and Furtkamp are going to blow up the internet.

[dubkitty]

i guess you could say i'm in a "slump," but it really doesn't bother me. in theory at least the point of buying all this shit was to find the sounds i like and keep them there, so i don't feel obligated to help drive the now-glutted and overpriced effects market or to buy overpriced computerized effects with 700 options of which i'll use 3 or 4 tops. i can't remember any more than that...i can barely remember which reverbs on the Muza i like. really, i only ever use about 40% of the stuff on the big board.

[Blood_mountain]

use a new guitar tuning! and/or a capo

I just did this - literally just used drop D - and wrote a part of a song right away. What other alternate tunings would folks suggest for sort of slow, atmospheric gloom-pop?