Should the workman blame his tools?

[eggnchips]

To continue my live set up chat, I want to ask you guys about the my set up and your opinions.

I have 2 synths, one an old Roland JX3P that somebody gave to me. The JX3P is a bit sentimental and can do its own thing. One of the outputs is a bit crackly, and it seems a bit slow on latency. I had it fitted with a new chip (Kiwi) so it can be Midi steered and I have a controller for it.
I also have a MFB synth II lite that I bought a couple of years ago that I didn't really use. I dug it out from the drawer a few weeks ago and now have it back in with the setup after deciding to give it a real try.
Other that that I have some drum machines that I am happy with.

Here's my gripe:
I can't seem to like the synths which is giving me 2 dilemmas: Are the synths bad? Or is it me being a bad artist?
I know the MFB is known for being quite bad. It is a basic synth with digital oscillators and I don't like its plastic sound. The JX3P is nice but its age related unpredictability and latency is annoying.
So should I shut up whining and use what I have, and learn how to make it sound good OR should I risk becoming a gearslut, looking for the greener grass and get something else?
Should a good synth sing out to me from the first sound?

Selling and replacing is a bit difficult as there isn't much of a second hand market where I live.

Cheers for listening and offering your advice.

[steevio]

simple answer - yes

i've been building a house for the last year, and everytime things dont work out, its because i've got sh!t tools. so me and my partner decided that just as important as anything else on the build, we buy the best tools for the job. and it makes a huge difference, things get done much quicker and more professionally, which in the end saves you money.

but of course music is different.

however to make minimal music you dont need so many tools, so it makes good sense to have at least one quality synth in your set-up (if you're using hardware) one which you really enjoy using, one which sings to you, and you cant wait to switch it on.

i now only have gear that i absolutely love, and have ditched all the marginal kit that i've gathered over the years. making music is now a total pleasure.

thats what i would aim towards if i was you bro, one piece at a time when you can afford it.

i'm not saying you cant make good music with crappy old synths, (btw i'm not saying the JX3P is crappy) and severe limitations, but if you can avoid it, do so.

[oblioblioblio]

making music is a very personal thing, and it's not so much about good or bad tools, it's about tools that speak to you, and being smart to fit it into your budget.

I too experienced a personal revolution on discovering modular hardware. I hadn't realised it so much, but I was frustrated with the machines I was using, and getting machines that really genuinely spoke to me really made a big difference.

I've used the modular second hand market place extensively, and have tried lots of the gear that is available, and have been really fussy about using stuff that is exactly right for me. I've used stuff that was really fantastic, but there are only certain things that really genuinely work well for me.

It's dangerous to say, and it's not particularly healthy to encourage a mentality of valueing the tools over the artistic process. But as long as you are dedicated, patient and passionate with the tools you are using, there is a lot to be said for finding machines that push all of your buttons.

I don't think any synth will jump out from the first sound. I personally like tools that are very open, and have lots of different ways to use them, and also are mysterious and unique, and in that respect they sometimes take a good while to really reveal a lot of their colours.

[steevio]

i've had personal experience of bad tools when i first started making techno, i'd made electrofunk for a few years in the early 1980s, but not with midi, so when i started making techno i had absolutely no idea what gear to buy, i didnt have much money, there was no internet to speak of, no forums, only advice from other electronic musicians i knew, and that was only one guy, who had released one of the first ever rave records in the UK. he advised me to buy one of the new general midi modules from Roland ( i think it was called a Boss DS330 )
i spent about a year messing about with it trying to get some techno happening sequencing it from Cubase on an Atari computer, and everything sounded shite. it totally held me back, it sounded so weak next to the records i was listening to.

so i got rid of it and bought a Juno 106 and an akai sampler, started sampling my mates 909, and immedeately everything started to sound right. i wasted a whole year with that rubbish.

[oblioblioblio]

that dr330 looks truely awful.

In some ways this thread reminds me of other decisions you have to make in your life... is this the right path for me, does it feel right, should I just grin and bear it, maybe it feels bad now but it's better in the long run.

With gear that I love, there is something about it that draws me in deeply. Sometimes it's little things like reading an interview with the designer and you see that they're on the same page as you. Sometimes it's when you see it you just know that they've invested their heart and soul into it. When you use it you feel connected with it and amazed at how it sounds (even if you don't find the sweet spots right away, sometimes you just get little glimpses before you can master it).

If you don't have a big idiotic grin on your face when you use it at least once or twice a day it's probably not right.

[Barfunkel]

Speaking of music, I don't think there's bad tools per se, almost everything has it's use. However, there are tools that are more suitable to specific jobs. If you want to make classic techno for example, a 909 will help a lot.

[steevio]

Speaking of music, I don't think there's bad tools per se, almost everything has it's use.

i definitely disagree.

when i was a guitarist, my sound, and the sound of the whole band was based around a Fender Stratocaster, and Marshal amplifiers and speakers. I tried using Gibson guitars and even different Fender guitars, i must have tried at least 10 different tube amplifiers over the years and i could only get that sound with the right combination, and i couldnt even play at all with certain guitars, thay were difficult to finger or had no body resonance, or you couldnt get feedback from the pickups etc etc...

a musical instrument is a very personal thing, it has to be right for you or it has a negative effect on the musical outcome. you try telling almost any professional musican that the instrument they use is not important and they would laugh at you.

[Barfunkel]

Speaking of music, I don't think there's bad tools per se, almost everything has it's use.

i definitely disagree.

when i was a guitarist, my sound, and the sound of the whole band was based around a Fender Stratocaster, and Marshal amplifiers and speakers. I tried using Gibson guitars and even different Fender guitars, i must have tried at least 10 different tube amplifiers over the years and i could only get that sound with the right combination, and i couldnt even play at all with certain guitars, thay were difficult to finger or had no body resonance, or you couldnt get feedback from the pickups etc etc...

a musical instrument is a very personal thing, it has to be right for you or it has a negative effect on the musical outcome. you try telling almost any professional musican that the instrument they use is not important and they would laugh at you.

I agree with you, maybe I didn't represent my opinion clearly. Even if you didn't gel with with Gibson guitars, they probably still have their use. Someone, somewhere is making awesome music with them. Speaking of synths, even a lowly Casio home keyboard has it's use. You just need to find the right tools for you, or alternatively make the kind of music your tools suit better for.