Isn’t that what teeth are for? 
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As electronic musicians, we tend to forget how amazingly versatile the human voice is. So in a way, yes you can do exactly that if you really want to.
Figuratively speaking.
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Yello used a lot of vocals in their latest Release. Very fresh. Me Like!
So i’d say without Equipment, one cant record anything…so Equipment Matters.
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…it needs a tool to get something done…ur right.
…but apart from maybe lasting longer, a tool does’nt have to cost a fortune in first place…
…any cheap one does the same…
…and what and where and why do u cut, without the idea, the vision, the whish for a sculpture…
this is not like…do i need a recorder to record…
this is about how much does the quality of the recorder reflect on the recording…
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If you strip it down to the basics, the single most important thing is songwriting ability. Production quality, timbre, etc. is all the icing on the cake but the fundamental is the basic song. Of course tools are important but they should be a device to help with the songwriting not a distraction in lieu of songcraft.
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Fair enough if you make the type of music that is song based or has lyrics but I would suggest that a large proportion of people on here are making techno or other forms of electronic music ambient etc so not much songwriting going on
It depends on what matters to oneself, but regardless :
“All this machinery making modern music . Can still be open-hearted. Not so coldly charted. It’s really just a question of your honesty. Yeah, your honesty”
Now letting gear get in the way of your progress, practice, music making, all things creative… THAT is the official problem of how gear has become, at least in my eyes. I finally have no GAS nor desire for anything but one or two synths down the road and that’s based off a long-winded trial and error I’ve gone through over the past year.
I have a setup that I LOVE, and that I know for a fact can be explored endlessly for close to its lifespan. I look forward to it now, I used to be stressed about what’s the newest gear, what should I buy, this, that… ugh, too much weight so I let it go. Now I get giddy when I turn on my gear and I have the opportunity to get creative.
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Same here. Gas free. Its a good place to be huh?
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like a few here i too have had that moment going back to a DAW and realising how easy it all is.
in fact i would say my most succesful recordings were done on a DAW - but when i think back, these were done in excellent studio environments, soundproofed, excellent speaker systems, great desk ergonomics, whisper rooms and facilities to record loud amplifiers etc, and importantly being able to blast my sounds and really hone in.
i think these elements that surround a DAW can really make it recede into the background, if the studio feels right.
but that’s production -
as above for ‘live’ - someone mentioned Kinaesthetics. i think this is everything, its whats behind the whole youtube / insta movements of gear demos and its what drives gas.
i think there’s a story that goes of the first Piano performances back in the day, they actually faced the back of the Piano to the audience, so the performer faced front on to the crowd. and everyone was really bored. but then once they turned it around to show the keys and hands everyone lost their minds.
there’s a line that blurs these two modes - production as a record of a live performance, vs production as its own thing thats not concerned with being a recorded performance. they kind’ve battle each other i think for attention in todays world, with gear caught up in the mix on two fronts - for the musician’s own personal satisfaction but also to please the crowd
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It’s a place of creativity.
An interesting side to it is how one would feel if they had an unlimited fund, because obviously for me, my gear acquisition is limited by funds. So I can honestly ask myself if I had unlimited funds, what exactly would I buy and how would I utilize it best? When I ask myself that, I find I am content (the absolute ONLY thing I could use right now are some more inputs but it’s minor).
I (try to be) a musician first. I know there are those that lust after a new Prophet 5, will compare preset to preset endlessly, that’s their version of it all I suppose, but not mine. I do what I do and I finally respect myself for it.
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Strong disagree Adelock. I bet most of your favorite artists are writing music that can be deconstructed and explained as a structured “song” that follows a lot of the same guidelines that other genres do. I’m not talking about pop and rock. Take someone like Aphex Twin for example. He is all about strong catchy melodies and building song progressions. Those are the things that make people like the music, not that he used a matrix 1000 and a Circlon.
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But it do think the tools matter. Different sequencers and synths and experimenting can lead to new ideas. Some instruments are a lot more effective at doing what you want.
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I think that if you get to know your gear in and out, you can focus more on music, not on learning the equipment. Repetition repetition repetition.
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Actually you are probably right thinking about it that way, must be why my own music is so crap at the minute, no song structure !!!
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If we only used what we need, we would all just play piano or something. Some stuff you want, whether to achieve some sonic goal or just to satisfy your own curiosity. That’s not wrong.
equipment matters. mines shit. cumbersome. awful workflow. I want to replace it all. but in the meantime I still have music to make, and I actually can. no excuses. that’s the key for me.