I often wonder about recreating some of the tracks I made over 20 years ago now I have a more hardware based setup. There's some that I'm still proud of even if they sound a bit crap compared to what I'm doing now.
I'm not sure I could.
When I first started back in '99 I was only using ReBirth V2. The limitations imposed by that forced a specific kind of naive creativity that I don't think I could replicate even if I only used the RD-8, RD-9 and two TD-3s – essentially the same but in hardware form but without a couple of features that made Rebirth unique.
The difference in sound between the software emulation and the TD-3s would also be a sticking point, not to mention that I doubt I could rework a lot of the old patterns by ear alone.
A lot of files were lost, and others got damaged, when an old hard drive corrupted. I then struggled creatively and, in a fit of rage frustration, deleted everything. I still had copies of my CDs from MP3.com and the mp3s but all the original project files were gone. This was some time in 2001.
I made a couple of attempts at reinstalling everything, writing only one track I was happy with, over the next two or three years but gave it up as a lost cause.
When Propellerheads (now Reason Studios) release Figure for the iPhone I spent a couple of months having fun with it but the app was only ever designed as a sort of sonic sketch pad, letting you come up with ideas on the go.
Later, I played around with Auxy, another iPhone app. After originally singing its praises I got into another creative rut and switched to Android soon after. So that was that.
I think it took the switch to hardware to force a mental reboot. The different approach forced me to stop trying to do things like I did twenty years ago. Going purely hardware at the start imposed its own set of limitations but I was having fun with music again. That was the important thing, even if some of it wasn't particularly good. I was adapting my processes and thinking creatively again for the first time in a while.
I've now settled into a more balanced workflow, blending hardware and software, and it's the most productive I have been in years.
Some might think that producing acid techno at my age is my version of a midlife crisis (maybe it is) but this is just the type of music I like to make and listen to. What's the difference between that and groups like the Rolling Stones still performing into their 80s?
There was never a risk of me doing "something stupid" during any period of depression so I wouldn't say the music saved my life but, in a way, I feel like it's given me my life back.
If that makes sense.
