Hummmm...

Hi guys, I have a question to the  most experienced ...
Do you not think that too many techniques, too many plugins ... kills the passion for the sound? Music become just a business and not something that makes us happy? ...
Sorry if my question may seem "idiot" for some ... But that's a question I ask myself ...  especially when I see more experienced people in music ... In France :)
Thank you 
 
✌🤙👊👍

TheSteven
Depends on you and your experience.
If you're just starting out everything feels like its getting in the way of you wanting to make music.
It's part of learning you craft.  Just as you need to master your instrument, you need to understand technology enough to make it work for you. 
But beyond that - at some point you have to decide whether to obsess about your craft or obsess about the tools of/for assisting with your craft.  Few can do both, many more think they can.  
 
re;>Do you not think that too many techniques, too many plugins ... kills the passion for the sound? Music become just a business and not something that makes us happy? ...
 
The key to happiness is balance.
I've seen too many people obsess about music and only music - and end up hating the craft they've perfected.  Hobbies are fun because you don't have to do them but to make a successful career of something takes a fire in the belly that most don't have.   
As a teenager I loved scuba diving. At 19 I became a professional diver - 5 days a week in the water at 6 am, rain or shine, hot or cold, regardless of what I felt like. Before I was 20 I was no longer a diver and I've only put a wet suit on twice since then.  I didn't have the fire in the belly to make it as diver but I did for other things...

I'm happy with your response, thank you
I had a bad experience at SAE in Paris, where I had some courses with "teachers" who were not worried about keeping this "pleasure" that exists in making music and teaching students the tools of work, had a teacher who only spoke with the Students to sell the things he could get for free (plugins - hardware ...) This shocked me a lot, I had a great disappointment to see it all, because I was just getting started in music and I did not have so much experience ... Today I see that Most of the people with the most experiences in music here in France are like that, they like to have everything, to show that they know everything, they are all the time in competition, and they are not happy at what they do ... I think it's sad ..

mettelus
 
That said, the beauty of music is that it is personal expression, so do not feel compelled to be like anyone else. Know yourself and what you enjoy, and do what keeps you there. Take things for what they are, respect others position, but do not feel compelled to hop on the same boat they are in. No musician requires a DAW, but all musicians require an instrument.

I love it Mr, the Lord is absolutely right, I will not tell my whole story, but one of the problems I had with one of my "teachers" at SAE, he wanted everyone to do what he said, use the plugins or the Hardware that he was talking about ... Another example with this same teacher, most of the students in these schools are young, listen to modern music like EDM or "TRAP music", and this teacher always criticized the students who listened to these styles of music , I even had insults in their social networks, it traumatized me because I love music and i just wanted to learn a little more, and I did not understand that reaction of a teacher ..., I became sick with some of his actions ... Times later I stayed Knowing that he was working with some of those students that he was so critical of, I understood then that the whole speech he said was all a lie, that he only had an interest in doing business, selling the plugins he had for free to the students ... I started then to understand the mentality of some people more experienced in the music here in France ... I was traumatized and lost with everything, and I even wanted to stop the music ... Until I came to this conclusion as You said "Do not feel obligated to be like another person" ... This helped me a lot in my musical evolution.
Thank you

I am sorry you were put off by that teacher.  He was not a good teacher.  Students don't like the bad teachers.  A good teacher teaches the concepts and promotes the idea you can use any plug-in in that situation. They also respect students and never put them down.  For any reason and it is important to learn what the students are listening to.  That is how you fill your cup as a teacher.  Learn new stuff from the students.  I come from an electronic music background so hearing and getting into what they are into today is important, and fun.  It is just an evolution of electronic music on the past.  They will like you for it too.  There are many music production techniques that are purely associated with this type of music.
 
I started out in 1980 with multi tracks tape machines and a room full of synth hardware which had no patch memories in many cases.  Just a lot of controls instead.  I was creative then and got into the music first and foremost.  The difference today is the technology surrounding the same musical compositional approaches.  The technology has changed and for the better as far as I am concerned too.  You can still allow yourself the same creative approaches to the music.  It is faster in more ways now too.  It was hard work before building up polyphonic layers but now it is a breeze.  It can be that the creative flow is better now.  I can sit behind the drums in a recording room and control Studio One in my control room on my iPad.  I can start the composing process in more places than before. 
 
There is way more stuff to use and work with now and we are being bombarded with it every day too e.g. plug-in manufacturers now emailing you every day with super specials etc.. 
 
I think you have to separate the technology learning and practice into other sessions away from the music making.  That is what I tend to do.  Have setup, test, play, learn, practice etc.. sessions. There is a lot to keep up with. Keeping your instruments updated. Your software. The program you use to do this very thing. 
 
Bring your creative sessions into focus at times and the technology disappears to the background on those days.  As it should.  I made a piece of music the other day which sounded very much like something I did in 1982. The creative ideas were the same and I was pleased that the musical concepts came through.  The end result was very similar too.  Showing the ability to recreate a ton of analog synth sounds and well.  Without owning them.  Think about the music only.  How the first idea starts and how they build from there.  None of that has gone away.  It is up to you to tap into it mentally.  
 
If you are being creative and the technology suddenly slows you to a stop then you have not learned and practiced it properly.  You should know what you want to say musically.  You can devise your own training sessions with that info in mind.  If you are lucky some great musical ideas might come out of the training stuff you are doing.  If that happens then store it away somewhere and come back to them for development.  Musical work then, not technical.  When you are doing a lot of creative music making the amount of technology training gets reduced because you are using the tools every day.  There is nothing like doing it a lot (10 hours a day or more!) in order to get good at it.  
 
There are more interesting tools to play with now, and as a result the music for me is sounding like it has never done before.  You don't need a million of them though.  Often just a handful of great tools is all you need.

In general, having a massive collection of plug-ins certainly can be a distraction.  However ...
 
There's an old saying that goes something like: you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.  Same with plug-ins.  There are a few out there that will become your mainstays, like three or four compressors that will be the ones you go to pretty much all of the time.  But which ones are they?  Until you try a large number, you won't know.  So from that standpoint, using a lot of different plug-ins along the way is really the only way you're going to know which are the ones that make it happen for you.

Jeff Evans
 
 
I think you have to separate the technology learning and practice into other sessions away from the music making.  That is what I tend to do.  Have setup, test, play, learn, practice etc.. sessions. There is a lot to keep up with. Keeping your instruments updated. Your software. The program you use to do this very thing. 
 
Bring your creative sessions into focus at times and the technology disappears to the background on those days.  As it should.  I made a piece of music the other day which sounded very much like something I did in 1982. The creative ideas were the same and I was pleased that the musical concepts came through.  The end result was very similar too.  Showing the ability to recreate a ton of analog synth sounds and well.  Without owning them.  Think about the music only.  How the first idea starts and how they build from there.  None of that has gone away.  It is up to you to tap into it mentally.  
 

 
 


Very good sir, this is what I try to do today after many difficulties to understand the "system" ... Thank you

dmbaer
In general, having a massive collection of plug-ins certainly can be a distraction.  However ...
 
There's an old saying that goes something like: you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.  Same with plug-ins.  

This is my case hahahaha thank you Sir 👍👍👍

michaelhanson
 you control the art.  

Today I can say "I control my art"  
 
Thank you Mr 👍✌👊