SOS reader Eugene Romain frankly faces up to the embarrassing problem of gear lust, and asks: do we really need the next 'big thing'?
We buy too much. We really do. We upgrade to more powerful and more fancy equipment when we haven't got anywhere near the ceiling on the old gear. I think that instead of taking pride in how much we spend, we should be taking pride in just how little. My Atari 1040 is now a continued source of pleasure on this count, but it has taken some time for me to appreciate it in this regard. I confess, there have been times when I have stood around in trendy showrooms meekly apologising to salespeople for not having a Mac. Well, that has changed. Having a 1040 no longer says I am cheap and inferior, it now says I am independent, intelligent and not easily led by fashionable badges. Yes, just as flares are back, doggedly having your original Atari for as long as possible not only makes sense, but is also, in a post‑modern, urban gypsy kind of way, cool. It's ironic, then, that the Mac, with new babies like Logic Audio, has finally left the Atari neighbourhood and gone to a leafier and more swanky suburb. It is now substantially better, with facilities you can't get on a 1040. But before the Mac owners weigh in with their "told you so"s, the point is: change when you are forced to, jump when you're pushed. Macs are a lot cheaper now than 5 years ago, when you could spend £3,000 for a MIDI sequencer system which did no more than a £1,500 Atari setup.
In areas of technology where the developments are thick and fast it is crazy to jump unless you really need to. Some manufacturing and marketing strategies are designed to prise as much money out of the end user for as few features as possible. This is why really big revolutions in music gear provision often happen when a relatively new company with a new attitude and no vested interest in the status quo comes along. Alesis make a habit of doing this in a variety of markets; they could have sold the ADAT at a higher price and settled for less sales. Digidesign (bless 'em), on the other hand, have a policy of relatively high unit prices, but if people are buying, who can blame them?
But if we can't blame, we can certainly influence, and this is where we, the end users, have much more power than we realise. The more reluctant to buy we are, the more features per buck the manufacturers will have to offer. If you can wait, then in six months or a year you will be offered more. Manufacturers tempt the 'must haves' with flashy new stuff that doesn't do much, then get the more discerning purchaser by bringing out later models that do the job properly.
To say that we buy too much is really to say that we buy too quickly. We allow the manufacturers to take little grudging steps forward, rather than the massive revolutionary ones technology allows. But why? Why are we so easily consumed by gear lust? As a consumer group, we are a pretty discerning lot. How many washing machine manufacturers routinely have their customers picking through the spec sheet of the latest spin dryer? The reason we have this discernment but so often ignore it is probably hormonal; face it, if you are spending more money than you can sensibly afford on gear that you are then not fully exploiting before you trade it in for the next upgrade, then I'm afraid your gear has turned into surrogate children.
The answer to this expensive problem is self‑discipline. If you want to buy something, stop and take a look at the gear you've already got. If you haven't done all the things you promised you would when you were persuading yourself you needed it, then quite simply don't buy the new stuff. Just say no! If you take this stand, you might get back to doing some music, for as we all know, there are two mutually exclusive modes of thought in relation to music gear. One is getting it, the other is using it; and just as Michael and Latoya never appear together, so you don't do any music when you're held in the feverish madness of gear frenzy. Don't feel bad, it happens to us all sometimes.
If we can all get control of our natural urges, we will be less enthusiastic about this year's flashy new gear and manufacturers will have to work harder. And two grand for half a dozen A/D converters in a rack tells me that somebody, somewhere, has got it much too easy. Fancy a 48‑voice direct‑to‑disk system for under four grand including computer and hard disk? The more patient you are, the quicker it will come. And believe me, it will come.
Eugene Romain is a freelance composer and session player. An SOS reader for several years, Eugene has played on records by Adamski, Snap, and the Rebel MC, in addition to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the BBC World Service.