You beat me to it... I too have noticed that obsessing over gear is often the result of a creative block. So techniques that you use to get out of a creative block should help. I have two main ones. One is to pick a synth (any synth!) and spend some time creating patches on it. Not only will a new patch often suggest a musical idea, but it leaves me with building blocks for future compositions.gs wrote:My personal experience and reading about the experiences of others here, tells me that musicians become obsessed with new tech and GAS when they have reached a point of stagnation in their creative abilities or musical social lives.
The second thing is to look around and find something that somehow is not working the way I want it to, something that was inconvenient or got in the way the last time I tried to do something with it. And invest an hour or two into fixing it. This synth needs to be in this rack instead of that rack. These patch files are all in a jumble and need organizing. The compressor's side chain needs to be properly wired to the patch bay. That sort of thing. Then, go back and re-visit whatever it was that I was doing when I ran into the problem.