Are you a musician? Photographer? Hobbyist or enthusiast of some sort? Then you may have heard of GAS, or Gear-Acquisition Syndrome, a semi-metaphorical compulsion that plagues us, wastes our time and money, and distracts us from our passions.
Masked Wolf – Astronaut In The Ocean (Lyrics)
We’re using music as an example here, but the problem applies equally to any other area where you can buy stuff. Even a knitter is tempted by that sweet-looking set of hardwood circular needles or a dozen skeins of new yarn, and so on.
On the Elektronauts forum, a friendly and helpful space for electronic musicians, a new thread has sprung up. This one is dedicated to not buying new gear in 2022. Instead of going down the endless travelator of buying and selling, participants will use what they already have and dig deep, learning their instruments and making music.
"For example, it's easy to get caught up in buying way too much for every possibility, but in reality our needs are often much more modest. I'm not a professional audio engineer, so I don't have the same needs as someone who does this 8-10 hours a day for a living," says musician DimensionsTomorrow on the Elektronauts forum. "In reality, I only have 8-10 hours a week at most, so I always have to keep that in mind. A much more modest setup is likely to yield much better results than if my attention is divided between too many things, all of which have to be learned to use properly."
