Should we ditch VST/AAX instruments altogether?

[martiu]

This is the best thread on KVR.

And it was made with just one keyboard and mouse. No vsts.

Hi Bippo, interesting thread, i have similar opinion on too much stuff, it paralyzes you in terms of creativity.
Once i began downloading instruments and effects from Reaktor user library i ended up with folder that had 800 instruments and effects, i zipped them all, thinking i am gonna use them "some day". I never did.
What i found out is that i need just a couple of instruments, i have a lot of effects however but they get a lot of use because i enjoy messing with sounds, twisting stuff.
But we need vsts, for some people is very convenient to have software instead of gear.
Other people cant afford to buy gear, but there is a ton of free synths and effects so they can still make music.

[SleepIsWrong]

Here is obstacle number one:
Latency and quantization.

I've not read the entire thread (so someone else may already have mentioned this) but this part of the OP stuck out. A 2ms latency is like a drummer hitting a snare. The sound does not reach the drummer's ears for about 2ms, given sound travels a bit more than 1000 feet a second. Another example would be a piano - where the mechanicals of the instrument (pressing key, activating hammer, hammer moving to strike string, string vibrates, sound travels from string to ear) guarantee you'll have more latency in your performance than playing a sample triggered by a MIDI controller. Maybe it's just me but I sure cannot separate two events separated by 2/1000 second into individual events. And in any event I surely cannot play "on a grid" with anything like two milliseconds repeatability. But then I'm also a pretty crap player so maybe it's just me.

Mike

[Bippo]

This is the best thread on KVR.

And it was made with just one keyboard and mouse. No vsts.

Hi Bippo, interesting thread, i have similar opinion on too much stuff, it paralyzes you in terms of creativity.
Once i began downloading instruments and effects from Reaktor user library i ended up with folder that had 800 instruments and effects, i zipped them all, thinking i am gonna use them "some day". I never did.
What i found out is that i need just a couple of instruments, i have a lot of effects however but they get a lot of use because i enjoy messing with sounds, twisting stuff.
But we need vsts, for some people is very convenient to have software instead of gear.
Other people cant afford to buy gear, but there is a ton of free synths and effects so they can still make music.

I agree that vsts are more affordable and more convenient.
But I've noticed that the market is flooded with an endless amount of libraries and vsts, and that creates fomo and some sort of creative paralysis when you've got an endless amount of products coming out every week.

Just look at random threads in this forum and you'll see tons of people constantly chasing vsts that they'll probably never need and use (or already got something very similar in their daw) instead of devoting that time to create music

[martiu]

That is true, a lot of people here are collectors, they like to have fun with different vsts, and that is fine, it is ineresting hoby we got here (most of us, some people make a living from those plugins)

[El°HYM]

Some consumers also make music because they own DAWs.

[vurt]

That is true, a lot of people here are collectors, they like to have fun with different vsts, and that is fine, it is ineresting hoby we got here (most of us, some people make a living from those plugins)

more importantly, the collectors are the ones who fund future development, far more than those of us who are a bit more choosy about what we purchase, and may only have a few pieces installed.
also, without those people, where would the prices of individual plug ins be?

the fact that some people don't or can't make music due to the issues bippo mentions, isn't down to the amount of plug ins out there, it's about the person themselves.
ie bippo won't do any better, with his one keyboard and a guitar than he does with plug ins, as his mind isn't in it.

[egbert101]

Just look at random threads in this forum and you'll see tons of people constantly chasing vsts that they'll probably never need and use (or already got something very similar in their daw) instead of devoting that time to create music

Nail on head. Exposing the truth we don't want to face: G.A.S. and a delusional mindset.

[whyterabbyt]

Just look at random threads in this forum and you'll see tons of people constantly chasing vsts that they'll probably never need and use (or already got something very similar in their daw) instead of devoting that time to create music

Nail on head. Exposing the truth we don't want to face: G.A.S. and a delusional mindset.

Its not even slightly 'nail on head' when it comes to the implication that you need to change category of tool to solve this.

Look at random threads on any musicians forum, be that guitars, hardware synths or ukeleles.
You'll see tons of people doing the exact same thing whatever it is.

For any kind of tool, there are some people doing that. Cars, cameras, phones, chainsaws, hammers, kitchen knives, whatever...

Ironically, the notion that it could be resolved by the 'right' type of tools, as the OP suggested, is actually an example of that same exact behaviour.

[whyterabbyt]

As an addendum, the following would have been more accurate

Just look at random threads in this forum and you'll see tons of people constantly insisting that other people need to think, work and use the same tools as they do, instead of devoting that time to create music

Nail on head. Exposing the truth we don't want to face: projection and a delusional mindset.

[egbert101]

Its not even slightly 'nail on head' when it comes to the implication that you need to change category of tool to solve this.

Admit it. You have an addiction problem. It's okay, we have all been there.

[whyterabbyt]

Admit it. You have an addiction problem. It's okay, we have all been there.

Exactly as I just said; projection.

[vurt]

quite a few of those pedals in the thumbnail are worth more than when new. collections can be investments, and more fun to look at than investment portfolio and better returns.

i don't collect music gear, i buy the things to make use of, and i use them. i do collect comic book and sci fi memorabilia, which decorates my home, makes me feel comfortable and is worth more than ive spent on it. therefore when i go toes up, my son can move it along and buy a new house.
if the cash was saved, not only would he end up with less, inheritance tax would eat it.

if he wants to sell the music gear, again, he can, without inheritance tax that me not buying it would take from the cash amount. even if none of it is vintage or overly special, very little of it, is worth a lot less than when purchased, but has also given me pleasure, for years!!
surely personal happiness is worth investing in too?

[egbert101]

quite a few of those pedals in the thumbnail are worth more than when new. collections can be investments, and more fun to look at than investment portfolio and better returns.

i don't collect music gear, i buy the things to make use of, and i use them. i do collect comic book and sci fi memorabilia, which decorates my home, makes me feel comfortable and is worth more than ive spent on it. therefore when i go toes up, my son can move it along and buy a new house.
if the cash was saved, not only would he end up with less, inheritance tax would eat it.

if he wants to sell the music gear, again, he can, without inheritance tax that me not buying it would take from the cash amount. even if none of it is vintage or overly special, very little of it, is worth a lot less than when purchased, but has also given me pleasure, for years!!
surely personal happiness is worth investing in too?

I'm not judging. I have my own addictions, problems, things to deal with life. Music happens to be one of those things that helps me deal with them. However, addictions can get out of hand, as well all know. So it's better to acknowledge it and be aware of it, than not.

[vurt]

of course, if you can't afford it, then yes it's an issue.

[whyterabbyt]

I'm not judging. I have my own addictions, problems, things to deal with life. Music happens to be one of those things that helps me deal with them. However, addictions can get out of hand, as well all know. So it's better to acknowledge it and be aware of it, than not.

Saying other people must have the same problems as you do isnt 'acknowledgement' or 'awareness'.

I dont care in the slightest whether someone else has too much gear, too little gear, the same gear as me, different gear from me, suffers from option paralysis, obsesses with optimisation or minimalism, doesnt use their gear for making 'enough' music, makes different music from what I like, doesnt make music at all, uses junk, spends all their time chasing the next big thing, or collects gear expensive they never use. It makes no difference to me whasoever, and yet so many of them seem to think it should.
I have my gear for my reasons, and do my stuff with it, my way, when I decide to, create what I want to create, and enjoy that. Other people's reasons and decisions arent even slightly relevant to any of that.

It really is remarkable how few people there are here who are secure enough to respect other people's choices. So many folk here seem to desparately need to validate themselves as being the arbiter of the One True Path, and just dont seem to be able to cope with life unless they're up on their soapbox, trying to diminish or undermine anyone who has a different opinion. Its f**king sad, it really is.