We all know someone who spends a fortune buying expensive equipment like effects pedals and custom guitars, and a good chunk of the time they end up spending more time messing about making funny noises rather than focusing on writing music. I admit, I used to have a lot of hardware synths, and I enjoyed getting weird sounds out of them, but as I became more interested in making music and working with artists to record tracks I began shifting over to a core set of software plugins, and my lovely vintage gear was largely ignored.
Hardware isn't the only thing that musicians hoard though; more and more I meet musicians who just have to have the latest NI synth plugins or Waves bundle - or they spend hours on KVR downloading every free VSTi or AU they can find. Again, a lot of the time these musicians spend more time flicking between the different plugins trying to decide which one to use rather than developing their skills as a musician.
There are many reasons why both GAS and plugin hoarding are detrimental to your music making, but these five stand out to me the most.
