I want to buy some gear! What should I buy?
Every once in a while when you’re lucky enough to have enough expendable income to throw around, the gear lust creeps up and before you know it you’re making a list of the newest analogue glowy button super-knobber noise makers available.
If you want your money to be used effectively, there’s two categories of where you should invest it (in ranked order in my humble opinion):
- Something that makes your music better
- Something that helps you make music easier, faster, more fun, etc
Perhaps surprisingly, when you’re early on in your career/hobby, most new toys that are exciting won’t fit into the first category. Hot new plugins, sample pack deals, vintage synths, boutique modular panels, etc. Once you know the true value of a rack mounted compressor and can tell the difference blind between all your other tools, then yeah, go for it. Until then, consider the following boring but very important parts of your studio:
- Audio treatment & quality: bass traps, diffusors, speaker stands, monitors, headphones, room calibration
- Ergonomics: get a better chair, standing desk, a rolly ball thinger
- Training & Professional advice: teachers and mentors are an age old profession because it’s always been true that it’s faster if someone else has learned the hard way and you get the shortcut. Sit in mixing sessions, online courses to return to the fundamentals and relearn your way out of habits, books on technique to try out new perspectives, etc.
- Time: Being able to set aside time to work either on a schedule or when the inspiration hits is more important than new stuff. Toys and new options are definitely stimulation for playing around and exploring new ideas. But, be mindful that you don’t spend all your time in a honeymoon phase if you want to move forward. For that, you need to finish things. Even if they’re not as good as you hoped, finishing stuff is key to progress.
Okay okay, so this is all a lecture, I didn’t tell you what type of gear you should get. Probably because without knowing your specific situation, I cannot. Get something that’s reasonable to your budget and really excites you. If you compromise you’re more likely to regret it. Be aware that new things have the shiny temptation, when maybe there’s a synth from the 80s that already does most of that and would make you happier.
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