500 WORDS, DAY 84: Music Creation & Consumerism

I previously wrote about the funny feeling I get when I think about how deep I’ve gotten into synthesis, and music gear in general, over the last few years. I realize that actual physical gear is no longer even necessary these days for making music. A computer can easily take the place of a mixer, an interface, a drum machine, and a bunch of synthesizers. So, what is the appeal of music hardware then? Could it all be rooted in materialism, and not much more? Well, at least for me, what started out as mere curiosity and a desire to get away from the computer has, by this point, escalated into a brand-new passion, along with a newfound interest in continuous, non-stop learning. The learning is fun in its own right, not to mention that it helps me to become better as a musician. There’s so much knowledge and information out there, and that’s for pretty much any type of hardware or software you might want to learn, as well as any musical concept or technique. So, why hardware then? There’s tons of information out there about software, like I just mentioned, including FL Studio, which is the DAW I’ve been using since I was a kid. I actually have been learning a lot more about it these days as well, since I’m basically learning anything and everything that has to do with music production these days. The thing is that, before getting into hardware, I never really felt compelled to try to learn the ins and outs of FL Studio. Having the hardware readily available for you to tweak knobs and faders just seems like such a natural way, a more artistic and organic way, of making music, that once you get that feeling you don’t really want to let it go. For example, getting into hardware forced me to learn a whole lot of about MIDI, so these days when I do use a DAW I have it connected to my hardware synths, so I have the best of both worlds to work with. The thing I love about music gear is that it’s all able to be connected to each other, and sometimes in multiple ways. There are so many possible combinations, that the possibilities are truly endless. Creating music without having to reach for a mouse and keyboard or keep looking up at a screen can also lead to an amazing flow state of optimized creativity and immersion in the experience. These experiences have personally been amazing in my own life, and, to touch back on my initial topic for this post, make me question how so much joy can come from these electronic devices. Can happiness come from material possessions after all? True happiness? Something tells me that’s ridiculous, but you could also then ask what true happiness even is. Is it different from momentary joy, even if that joy is pure as well as fueled by creativity? Maybe the key lies in the fact that music itself is actual a natural thing. You could make a rhythm with a bundle of sticks or whatever. Wait, then again, those are material possessions. Are they though? I mean, a stick from a tree is an object, but it’s also part of nature. Well, I guess things just keep on getting more and more complicated, eh?

If you have a minute check out my song ‘garden of peace.’