Blog, Producer Tips
Is Investing in Knowledge More important than Equipment?
Feb
Is Investing in Knowledge More important than Equipment?
What’s going on MM! AG with another post for you guys. Today I want to know if you think its more important to have plenty gear or to know when and why to use it? I would have to go with the latter.
Having tons of music gear is cool from an aesthetic stand point but what it really boils down to is knowing how to use it. I see a lot of producers asking what gear to buy or they’re upgrading to the latest and greatest. But not many are talking about expanding their knowledge. Thats one of the reasons we started Maschinemasters.com. We wanted to provide an opportunity for new producers that couldn’t afford the more pricier schools. Not to mention all our tutorials are free to any and everyone (shameless plug lol).
My question is how many take advantage of this. I remember getting into production and spending plenty money just to learn the basics. If I didn’t spend money it was hours and hours of precious time. I found out the more I was able to learn the more the equipment didn’t matter. Because once you know what you’re doing you can figure out how to do it on just about any piece of gear out there. Even if you have to get Macgyver with it.
Say for instance you make your basslines using low pass filters.. well that can be done on a SP1200, MPC, Maschine, Logic, Reason, Pro Tools.. the list goes on. The key was that you knew about doing a low pass filter in the first place. Or if you play out your basslines, notes are the same on the Axiom Pro as they are on a Novation Impulse or computer keyboard. Knowing how to find what key your sample is in would help in this situation. We all have underestimated how important knowledge is at one point or another. On the other hand I know how difficult it is to retain information without anything to apply it to. There has to be balance.
In closing. Don’t just invest in equipment. Take learning just as serious and then you will know what gear you need and what gear you don’t. It will make your musical journey a lot easier and more productive. Don’t forget its plenty of free resources all over the internet. Seek and you shall find. Besides MM will be here to help you as much as we can along the way! Until next time catch me everywhere @AGGOTBEATS
PEACE
AG
It definitely have to be a balance. If you are constantly buying equipment you are not taking enough time out to try to get the full potential of older equipment. You are right AG there are tons of free resources out there for individuals to utilize and need to take advantage of them. I went to college and only took 4 classes and it bored me because I was always around producers. I give all those producers credit in my knowledge in production and engineering. Knowledge is knowledge….. Go out there and take it in.
I love this article AG, I couldn’t have said it any better. I have been working hard at school for this as well as on the free side as well. I think that we as producers do well for ourselves investing in our craft. The key thing that you point out that I am so perturbed by is that once you learn the theory and correct application of plugins it doesn’t really matter what gear you have.
That to me is a very powerful statement. Another thing that I want to go in on is that a lot of the hardware that is out is headed toward software emulation. It has been headed this way for years. Every since I’ve seen Playstation games being played on the computer back in 02′ 03′. I’ve always trusted that there would be a simplified way of getting things done. I say that to say this. All the belief in racks and hardware is going to be superseded by software at some point. That’s why the TR line is so accessible now. How easy is it to get that 808/909 boom from the legacy hardware now rather than way back then….just more food for thought.