Blah blah blah!! All that bloody guff and you still didn't get 'round to telling him what synth you think he needsDim Vision wrote: ↑Sun Jul 21, 2019 11:49 pm Speaking from experience, my own beginner's journey has been characterised by a lack of constraint, GAS, Analysis Paralysis, improper focus and unrealistic expectations. As a consequence I've inhibited the progression I might have gained through deliberate, persistent practice. Instead, I've clung to the comfort of knowledge and gear acquisition, and have never really moved beyond the stage of conscious incompetence.
Close acquaintance with particular synthesisers and a fundamental understanding of several synthesis types has not immunised me from the frustration and inevitability of meeting my incompetence face-to-face. Eventually, the knowledge I've acquired must be applied, and here is where certain tendencies arise: to attribute my frustrated efforts to the shortcomings of a particular synthesiser, or to suspect that the answers are to be found in the right book, forum or video someplace, somewhere.
This strikes me as largely a mechanism of avoidance and a fear of moving outside of my comfort zone, and perhaps the fear of discovering that my own limits are more bounded than I would have hoped for. What's more, it is a mechanism which serves to additionally increase the overall sense of paralysis and to yield an even deeper and more troubling frustration — one relating to the value and utility of the whole enterprise.
As a beginner, I have found that the most challenging aspect of designing sounds for use in music is to develop an ability to generate specific timbres — or at least, timbres I find interesting — with an acceptable degree of intent. Some people may find satisfaction in hours spent noodling with parameters until something agreeable emerges, but personally I become discouraged and intimidated by the recognition that I have no idea where I'm going or how to get there, even when I know how to operate just about every parameter at my disposal — even the more esoteric functions.
I would say that if you are like me, you will suffer less and grow more if you impose constraint upon yourself, or even better, if you additionally have it imposed upon you by others — both of which are, unfortunately, challenges unto themselves. With suitable constraint I believe it would be easier to develop this sense of direction and intent more readily, given that the number of places you can go is curtailed by the limitations of the synthesiser.
It's exciting to open up a new synthesiser like Massive X — so much seeming potential and possibility — but with the eyes of a beginner, this experience is somewhat like that of a child walking into the cockpit of a commercial airliner — is that a sense of wonder you're feeling? Intimidation? Maybe you simply have the urge to press buttons and see what happens. In any case, you aren't ready to direct the airliner anywhere but into the ocean or into the side of a mountain — if you can even get it off the ground, that is.
If you're able to resolve to limit yourself to a more humble, simpler synthesiser, you will also likely have to contend with the temptation to be lured off in the aforementioned directions — namely, on the path toward further knowledge and gear acquisition, without having really pushed the boundaries of what you have at your disposal — perhaps even after only having dipped a toe. In this respect, those who have constraint imposed upon them externally have a kind of paradoxical, good fortune. I've always admired those whom can work with what little they have, but in another sense I've envied their position — they often have little to no other choice. Temptation and choice simply aren't on the cards.
Just kidding! Enjoyed the post
And the thoughts presented here are very common for everyone all over our lives, not just regarding the gradual learning process for synths. 
Thank you for sharing!
