GAS is done?

[David Emm]

There's nothing quite like a testicular hernia to take the thrill out of hauling gear around. I bought a proper dolly before I got to that point. The specter of it became intolerable.

 

I've had the Incredible Shrinking Rig for years. If you don't end up playing live very often, its easy. I drooled over bands like U.K. live, but buying a (synth X) and a (synth Z) taught me the sometimes ugly reality when the stage lights were turned off.

 

I'm amused to have a bigger rig in a Mac than I could ever have collected as hardware. Its far less hassle, too. Then there are the orchestral creatures I could only dream of until now. I still see a few tools that draw my interest a bit, but thankfully, its not a white-hot thing anymore.

[Michael W]

I no longer have GAS.

 

With a Yamaha Montage, Logic, DP, Omnisphere, Kontakt, Diva, Zebra 2, and a dozen other software instruments, I have 482,491 onboard sounds at my disposal. More than I could ever audition.

 

My Roland Integra-7 has been in the closet for months. I love it, but it's another 6,000 sounds. I'll probably sell it.

 

I feel as though I could compose a thousand albums and film scores using only Alchemy, the sampler, and other software instruments that are included with Logic Pro X.

 

Show me something new under the sun - I am always interested.

[ajstan]

Rig efficiency is a temporary GAS cure.

THIS. I don"t think that any board or module would improve my enjoyment or efficiency of my stage rig to justify the cost or effort. My last GAS item was the CT-S1 as a couch/practice board and it has exceeded my expectations in ways the CTX-700 couldn"t due to its size, sounds, and speaker system. Totally worth the $200, and the $79 Bluetooth adapter is great for playing along with recordings when I"m figuring out parts.

 

Shoot, now that I started thinking about it, I guess I should take a look at:

- Cable management for the stage.

- Upgrade the Zoom Q2n-4K for recording gigs. The sound recording is very good, but I want a better camera with optical zoom.

- Upgrade my 2011 Mac Mini. I love the Mac hardware running Windows on Bootcamp, but I may just go with an M1 model and stick with MacOS for video processing.

 

Well, that changed direction quickly for me.

 

EDIT: OK, and Michael W"s Integra 7. Which would mean that I also need a rack unit and to upgrade my Key Largo to a KL-8. But that"s it.

[The Real MC]

But MC- you do have quite the (vintage) synth collection, that would definitely help quell GAS...

 

That, and running into the limit of available space in my dwelling.

[Tom Williams]

I usually have one or two fantasy gas attacks for interesting instruments like the sledge (a couple of years ago) or the 73-key Hydrasynth (this year). I have a love for expressive playing (a "need" which neither my weekend band nor church worship band can meet).

 

The reality for me is that I have only scratched the surface of my PC4-7, and can hardly justify another Big Dollar commitment at this point.

 

Conversely, I'm considering selling my PX-5S, an instrument that I love, just because my aging arm muscles seem to tire too easily from its heavy action. (I still prefer its piano sound and playability to the Kurz in some ways)

[Piktor]

I used to feel gear lust every time I opened each new issue of Keyboard Magazine. That feeling has waned. I bought a number of items just before I retired and if I can"t make some music with all the crap that I have accumulated over the decades, that would mean that there isn"t much music in me. It can take me years to personalize the synths that I already own (not a whole big bunch) and I still have a ways to go. I find that when I have too many choices available, I am tempted to spend too much time sifting through all of the available choices/parameters and not enough time doing some of the work that might be more important. â¦Having said all that however, I do have a lust for some orchestral library stuff. ð

[pinkfloydcramer]

Yes, I can say my GAS has ameliorated as I have gotten older. But I do have a strong case of TAS (Talent/Technique Acquisition Syndrome); obsessively playing for hours in an effort to "get better".

 

My running joke: whenever I go into the local music store and the sales guy comes over, I tell them I am hoping to buy a 6-pack of talent.

 

For. The. Win.

[pinkfloydcramer]

Yes, I can say my GAS has ameliorated as I have gotten older. But I do have a strong case of TAS (Talent/Technique Acquisition Syndrome); obsessively playing for hours in an effort to "get better"..

 

For. The. Win.

[Iconoclast]

My GAS is in remission also. Maybe I need to sell off some gear?

[El Lobo]

I have too many and can't get more: keyboards, speakers, stands, saxes, wind synths, mixers, PAs, pedals, wireless mics. But I probably will ...

 

I just ordered another pair of shoes that I don't need.

 

Stop me before I order online again ...

[Outkaster]

It will never, even be over for me. I enjoy the hustle of it. I enjoy finding Leslie's or Hammond organs. Celestes are cool also. I love finding out the history or accessories people have. It was a long time on the road but I found some good examples of pristine gear. It's a side business and only a part of the GAS thing. All that said I have to keep up with certain things. For example I like a good clone as I think it's important to help me put my best foot forward. I don't get attached to gear because often it becomes antiquated. Little things become big things also with gear. Really I like playing the piano. The gear is just a tool so i don't get attached to it. I do like my YC88 though. It serves me well.

[TommyRude]

Programs like Mainstage are causing me to redirect my GAS. Kinda like Uber for keyboards... a better-faster-cheaper way to do things. And really, isn't GAS about curiosity and the desire for continuous improvement?

[Marzzz]

But MC- you do have quite the (vintage) synth collection, that would definitely help quell GAS...

 

That, and running into the limit of available space in my dwelling.

This is definitely an issue. My "studio" takes up about half my home office, and there is the threat that the "L" may turn into a "U"! Hmmm.....do I really need a home office???

[lsj]

unfortunately even with 12 keys and modules and a hammond and leslie, still have the disease. always looking for something new even if I have the bases covered

[yannis D]

On a philosophical point of view, GAS could be considered non musical (even better: anti musical) . We don't need more gear. Most of the great music to our days was composed and played on gear which would be considered as primitive by today standards, but this dwas never an obstacle to the composers.

Every time i got GAS i remember Dr. Lonnie Smith doing wanders on an old Nord Electro 2

[Al Coda]

On a philosophical point of view, GAS could be considered non musical (even better: anti musical) . We don't need more gear. Most of the great music to our days was composed and played on gear which would be considered as primitive by today standards, but this dwas never an obstacle to the composers.

 

Analogy:

 

Do we need more music ? No.

Do we need more better music ? Possibly yes.

 

Do we need more gear ? No.

Do we need more better gear ? Possibly yes.

 

Today. most gear you can get/ afford is crap.

There´s almost always something,- misdesign, lack of build quality and reliability, too many bugs, too much latency, bad drivers, average sonic quality or less.

Today´s demand is cheap, compact and portable as also easy handling,- w/ consequences.

 

I also ran into space problems when I moved years ago.

Age comes in addition (want more lightweight/ portable), corvid19 came too.

Income from music alone is mediocre meanwhile.

Software and old hardware I own is already overkill too ...

 

GAS is almost gone, but not completely.

 

What made a livin´ before now becomes a hobby again more and more.

I don´t expect covid will disappear soon (this year),- it already changed (my) survival strategy.

 

In fact,- all I really need is a quality new digital / stage piano w/ good action, great masterkeyboard features and full MIDI implementation.

 

And there´s still some GAS left for something like SSL Big Six, MIDI over LAN gear (iConnectivity) and posibly one of the upcoming Mac Mini w/ M1X proc.,-

Quality gear which needs less space and I might be willing to spend money for once I sold more of my old gear.

 

 

 

A.C.

[yannis D]

Al Coda

I see your point but i disagree on one subject: "most gear one can get/afford is crap"...

IMO a Nord Stage or o Korg Kronos -to new but a few many people here use...- are anything but crap. On the contrary, they have features keyboards in the past could not even dream of, a substantial number of high end sounds, good ergonomics and a affordable price (at least if you mean to make some money off of them...). Back in the day one had to spend thousands of euros to get the equivalent of what a Nord Stage can give you now for less than 3 grands. You call that technology. Even my 60 euros ipad mini 2 with some cheap apps and my Axiom 49 can do more than an old Korg Triton did back in its glory days.

I understand though our quest for something better, more ergonomic, better sounding etc etc, it's totally human. All I say is that deep inside we all know that it's the fingers and the mind that do the business and not the latest and most expensive of music technology. Gladly, in music "democratisation" is here. It's up to us to make something out of it.

Then the offer is really huge (vsts, software and hardware etc) and our appetite is fed But this is how an industry works around our brains

[JFP]

Lack of GAS - to be honest - in the hardware camp for allround boards (workstation type) there have been zero to none innovations since Kronos and Montage took stage. The new Fantom is not really that new either - especially considering the old sound palette they still use. Same with Kurzweil , even the K2700 - still same sounds / same OS , same ergonomics. In other words , there is no revolutionary board that justifies GAS , just small evolutions of stuff that's already been available for years. Sort of consolidation of what they already had lying around and put it in one instrument (Nautilus, K2700, Fantom). On the Synth side , there is more interesting stuff , but most of these boxes make noises from the 80's / 90's analogue synth arsenal in a new disguise. There are however some small movement in better control over the sound with better keybeds (HydraSynth, Expressive E Osmose, Neova Ring ) , but all in all it's a bit of a stand-still.

 

What I personally am still waiting for is a do-it-all main-keyboard as a centrepiece that is a all-in-one controller wonder. So a 88 key , relatively lightweight , poly aftertouch or even MPE , keybed with a shitload of controls, joystick (Korg-type) over wheels, ribbon, breath input , you name it . Furthermore a good audio interface and USB- controller inputs (extra controllers direct into the mainboard , as on the Dexibell and Fantom) , enough empty surface space to put your laptop and/or iPad and excellent and future proof (!) integration with your favourite DAWS, MAINSTAGE type live performance tools (Camelot etc), and direct mapping of controls to your plug-ins. Furthermore it should have a setup for 16 zones of control , meaning you can create one program (performance set) with 16 zones of Plug-ins on the fly from your main controller, as you would do on a Kronos, or K2700 or similar when programming live performance sets. But NO INTERNAL SOUND ENGINE. Don't need that. The laptop or tablet is your sound engine.

Roland , Kurzweil, Studiologic etc- they all keep adding the sound engines and libs to their board, which adds to the cost and weight and makes it a crippled controller for your software. You loose channels (have to choose between internal/external ), add complexity and pay much more for stuff you don't really want or use. Studiologic Numa X Piano without the 'piano' part (no sound engine) and with 16 zones and additional hardware controls would be a good start. The Numa X Controller 88/73 (keep the buold-in audio interface of course). That would trigger me to buy new stuff. Not yet another stage piano recycled workstation or another synth that recreates sawtooth PAD sound from the 80;s..seen that , done that , been there.

[Anderton]

Being on the wrong side of the mortality curve, my goal is to thin out my gear as much as possible. That way, my survivors won't have to deal with it ("What the heck is a V-Machine, and what do we do with it?"). But there are some real advantages to having less gear. With guitar, I gave up on pedalboards years ago. Now I have a Helix, and that does what I need. For keys, these days I use mostly virtual instruments so all I really need is a good controller with aftertouch. My recently renovated Korg M3 and a Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol keyboard cover the bases. For poly aftertouch, I still have an Ensoniq TS-10 that works fine. Done!

 

The one area where I still GAS is the computer, because that's the brain and nerve center of the studio. I bought a new one last year and it made all the difference in the world. I've always used Windows and Mac, so my remaining GAS is for a Mac Pro desktop using Apple silicon to replace my aging Intel Mac Pro, and to complement my faster-than-light-speed PC Audio Labs machine.

 

What I need more than new gear is more time to use the gear I do have, and to dive ever deeper into its capabilities. I'm just starting to become proficient on the LinnStrument. But who knows what will happen when MIDI 2.0 gear starts appearing...

[AnotherScott]

I've said I'm done in the past, but then someone comes out with something new that tempts me. Like a Hydrasynth Explorer or Osmose, which I certainly don't need to do cover gigs, but look like they could just be fun in new, creative ways, expressively. Or if Behringer ever ships their DS80 (Yamaha CS80 clone). But I have to say, I have a "core set" of boards at the moment that I'm really quite happy with.

[jeffincltnc]

It's pretty slim pickings out there right now for a lot of the tasty hardware many of want to buy right now anyway.

 

There's a fairly short supply of digital pianos and workstations, and a lot of powered PA speakers. The supply chains for chips and other parts are disrupted as we've discussed here previously.

 

It's a sellers market. I can sell stuff on Reverb for well above what I paid for it --- Kawai ES920, Fantom 8 type stuff. Nobody has them. I can put my Kawai ES920 back in the box and sell it for a couple hundred over MSRP right now because they are not going to available in the US again until late Q3, best case.

 

But... there's not a whole lot to buy. If I wanted a Korg SV2, I can only get the black one in 73 keys, but none of the others. Long wait times for CP88 and even longer for Crumar Sevens and Legend 70s type stuff from Italy now.

 

I would like to upgrade my powered speakers, but the things I'd want are not available right now anywhere.

 

This is probably going to push a lot of weekend warrior and cover band keyboard players to software while all this settles down.

 

Great time to sell those pieces if you have them, but not if you can't find the next thing you want to acquire available anywhere.

[Al Coda]

IMO a Nord Stage or o Korg Kronos -to new but a few many people here use...- are anything but crap.

 

NORD is overpriced for what it does,- MIDI implementation was relatively poor in NORD keyboards always and there are more limitations.

Did they ever ditch fixed spiltpoints ?

 

Kronos is also overpriced for a machine running on a cheap ~ $70,- industry Intel computer mainboard w/ Intel Atom processor, DOM drive for system and a mediocre small SSD, last but not least introducing insanely long boot time.

It needed a long time to get Kronos OS stable at all.

I know several keyboardplayer´s Kronos´ craped out during concert touring gigs and it had a reason big acts endorsing KORG Kronos had several items in their trucks for case of failure.

Some deposit 4 in the US and 8 in europe when touring,- don´t ask "WHO" ...

Kronos had many issues,- keyboard action, joystick etc..

 

It also needed years debugging Kurzweil PC3 series OS and patch programming issues while the promised free editor software never worked as it should.

The pitch wheel mechanics design is wrong and unsealed cheapo pots for pitch- and modwheel are a no-go.

The pitch wheel mechanics in PC4 are a bit different but not much better and I guess it will be the same in the new K2700.

 

Some barely recognize, others get a nervous breakdown.

It all depends on the difference of "normal" or "heavy" usage.

Occasionally bend a note and use only 2 semitone steps up/down, rarely a issue and when it comes, it comes late.

Bend a lot, use larger PB-ranges and make many small and quick movements (also rules for mod wheel) and it craps out soon.

 

I don´´t have this up to now w/ keyboards from 80s/90s.

 

On the contrary, they have features keyboards in the past could not even dream of, a substantial number of high end sounds,

 

Features and soundware are much easier and cheaper to achive for a manufacturer because today, it´s all software.

Mechanical ruggedness and reliability is not.

It is what increases costs because it requires higher quality components.

 

good ergonomics and a affordable price (at least if you mean to make some money off of them...). Back in the day one had to spend thousands of euros to get the equivalent of what a Nord Stage can give you now for less than 3 grands. You call that technology. Even my 60 euros ipad mini 2 with some cheap apps and my Axiom 49 can do more than an old Korg Triton did back in its glory days.

 

Well, I don´t use NORD and never will and that also rules for a iPAD for me.

A iPad is consumer electronics level, -like a smartphone,- at least for me.

 

I also argue everything electronics being manufactured today has "planned obsolescence" built in.

I´m not interested to buy new every 3-5 years,- I never was.

 

RoHS compliance is also a factor,-

I come from times where semiconductors were made to last forever and "leadfree solder" was unknown.

Leadfree solder is very bad for electronics,- that´s why it isn´t used in aerospace industry by security reasons !

But you still can buy for quality repair usage ... why do you think that is ?

 

Same rules for wireing,- in aerospace industry, cable w/ direction of flow arrows are used by security reasons and in audio world these are called "esoteric" because it might not have a sonic impact.

 

In the past, the gear was made for pros.

Unfortunately that behaviour often ended w bancrupcy for the manufacturer(s).

 

Since decades, the gear is made for the masses and consequently needs a mass product streetprice.

This is what makes it difficult to deliver same reliability pro products in the past offered.

All my (now vintage) Yamaha gear works like day one and has rarely seen a repair shop/ soldering iron.

Within ~40 years, some battery- and push-button replacement and/or backlight replacement were the only "repairs" necessary.

 

I understand though our quest for something better, more ergonomic, better sounding etc etc, it's totally human.

 

I agree, but I wonder what you mean w/ more ergonomic when it comes to what ? A keyboard instrument,- or other piece of gear ?

 

I argue it´s subjective depending on how you work.

A single keyboard instrument w/ all the haptics on top is good when you use only that instrument,- but it isn´t when you want to stack keyboards w/ the smallest possible distance between keyboard actions.

A flattop instrument is better then.

It also depends on wether you perform standing or sitting.

I prefered standing when I toured.

In my age, I´m unsure what I prefer, knowing well sitting much causes circulation problems in (my) legs.

 

Some prefer knobbie desktop gear, other rackmount and use MIDI intensely for remote control.

 

Affordability:

You might have recognized I said today´s demands is "compact, portable, affordable".

 

That implies,- "affordable for whom ?"

 

I myself, I´m NOT interested in the now usual s##tload of featuritis for "under three grand".

I don´t need gigaton libraries because I´m used to program my own patches,- the ones I need for a given task.

I can still live w/ a bank of 128 patches in each device for gigging,- possibly 64 only too.

I´m used to do so from the past when I did concert touring w/ a multi-keyboard rig.

 

Anyway, today, I don´t need such rig anymore,- but when I´d switch to just only one board and a small rack,- I´d like to get the reliability every single piece of gear in my large rig offered in the past already,- and I doubt that will happen ever again.

 

At least I´ve found ONE piece of gear which is that reliable,- S|C XITE-1 ,- which I bought new early 2012.

Not a single issue up to now, super stable software which once up, runs ´til the cows come home and replacing lots of hardware gear.

Excellent build quality too and works w/ ancient WinXP ´til Win10 OS.

And the software also supports ancient Creamware DSP PCI card hardware from 1999.

Who else offers that ?

It has a price,- but I was used to spend thousands of bucks for single timbral analog synths like Minimoog D, Prophet-5 and other already in the 70s.

 

All I say is that deep inside we all know that it's the fingers and the mind that do the business and not the latest and most expensive of music technology.

 

That´s correct !

 

Gladly, in music "democratisation" is here. It's up to us to make something out of it.

 

You can dream !

 

Go touring as a freelancer, work in the orchestral pit, as a studio session artist and see where the democracy is.

There´s always a bandleader or musical director, the composer, arranger and managers, persnickety telling you what to do for the money,- far away from democracy.

I remember, a famous boss of a well known concert agency came into the catering room where I had my dinner w/ other musicians and crew members,- and he shouted "this is not a democratic production",- because there was someone complaining something.

 

 

A.C.

[Anderton]

Same rules for wireing,- in aerospace industry, cable w/ direction of flow arrows are used by security reasons.

 

You've got me curious, why is this?

[Theo Verelst]

Acquisition Syndrome presumes a wanting, a desire being met by a piece of equipment, or software. That's not much the case, because what I would be looking for: interesting and quality sound improvements aren't coming from simple equipment additions or some new software in the same style as most everything. Some analog should be interesting, but probably in practice isn't that much. As leadership in the music creation world it would seem more fitting to go back to demanding artists to make a *proper* sound first and design something other than a kludge of mainly digital sh*t which never much interests me anyhow.

 

T

[yannis D]

Al Coda

You enter to very specific and technical discussion wher I try to be more general. I undrstand your quest, but what i say is new music technology is more affordable and more powerful nowdays than ever (hence the term democratisation). A 20 y.o. kid can make a living with a macbook and some software whereas in the old days one needed millions to build a studio and acquire gear. To that, music is more democratic than ever. Yes, in the pit there's no democracy (have you seen Federico Fellini's Prova Di Orchestra?) and it will never be and a musician will always struggle to make a living. But remmber - one can perform with a good Macbook and Apple Mainstage and a controller keyboard (Jim Danaker doest that with succes and countrless others) without the need to buy expenssive gear. One can record his/her own music easily and put it out online where in the old days you where nothing without a contract with a record company. And so on and so forth...

As far as your/our quest of better gear - this will never end, cause it's part of the human nature. But what we have now technolofy wise is far beyond anything we had untill now. This was my hole point without getting into details (which are important)

 

Refards from Athens

[Al Coda]

Same rules for wireing,- in aerospace industry, cable w/ direction of flow arrows are used by security reasons.

 

You've got me curious, why is this?

 

I´m not native english speaking, so it´ hard to explain precisely for me.

AFAIK, it has to do w/ the way (some ?) cables are constructed and manufactured and because current flows on the surface of the cable.

Cables are twisted and production starts on one end of the wire, so that´s the flow arrow´s direction.

 

I don´t know if this is really better, more save or whatelse, but they do it,- possibly to eliminate every source of error thinkable.

 

 

A.C.

[Al Coda]

Al Coda

You enter to very specific and technical discussion wher I try to be more general. I undrstand your quest, but what i say is new music technology is more affordable and more powerful nowdays than ever (hence the term democratisation). A 20 y.o. kid can make a living with a macbook and some software whereas in the old days one needed millions to build a studio and acquire gear. To that, music is more democratic than ever. Yes, in the pit there's no democracy (have you seen Federico Fellini's Prova Di Orchestra?) and it will never be and a musician will always struggle to make a living. But remmber - one can perform with a good Macbook and Apple Mainstage and a controller keyboard (Jim Danaker doest that with succes and countrless others) without the need to buy expenssive gear. One can record his/her own music easily and put it out online where in the old days you where nothing without a contract with a record company. And so on and so forth...

As far as your/our quest of better gear - this will never end, cause it's part of the human nature. But what we have now technolofy wise is far beyond anything we had untill now. This was my hole point without getting into details (which are important)

 

Well that "democracy" leaded to massive globalization and a online music biz where only the biggest acts still grab most of the money.

Now we have a world where everyone is an artist, musician and producer and only a very few is able to make a livin´ from that work.

In fact it voided music and serious musicians, made DJs being popstars w/ insane income while musicians have to play for free or smallest fees.

 

This kind of "democracy" ruined my job,- so I hate it.

I´m happy I can retire now and don´t have to work under that pressure in future.

 

Refards from Athens

 

you mean what ?

 

re-farts or re-gards ?

 

A.C.

[nadroj]

I don't know anyone who would or wouldn't buy a keyboard for the way its guts are built. I know plenty of people who would say "it sounds great and it's capabilities suit my needs". Who cares what kind of processor it has.

 

That's probably related to the OP's point. 1 or 2 modern keyboards (and a laptop, if needed) is enough to suit most people's needs now. The last ten years saw a myriad of well specced boards come out, and the diminishing returns of spending money to buy an updated model grows with every new model released.

[yannis D]

you mean what ?

 

re-farts or re-gards ?

 

A.C.

 

:)

lol

Regards and have a nice day Al!

[ProfD]

In part according to our demands, newer KB technology is usually incrementally "better" than that which preceded it.

 

Some folks will get caught up in the shortcomings or limitations of gear and look/wait for the next replacement.

 

OTOH, there will alway be musicians who can extract music out of any piece of gear they touch.