RTFM
Joseph Rowland
RTFM is a phrase that pops up frequently on the Internet. Anywhere that musical or recording equipment is discussed, someone gets fired up and says it, often for good reason: We just don’t spend enough (or any) time Reading the F***ing Manual. When acquiring a new creative apparatus, the natural inclination is to dive right in and see what the heck the sucker can do, right? If you’re anything like me, you may find it all too easy to derive a rush of excitement and acute anticipation from picking up new gear.
But reading the manual is crucial, particularly in today’s renaissance of technological marvels and boutique everything. Otherwise it’s too easy to overlook deeper functions or fail to comprehend the full potential of a new (or old!) piece of gear and begin lusting after something else. With a little more time on our hands than we might be used to, why not use it to develop new habits that can help boost the creative process going forward? Here are a few methods of how to get more out of your arsenal of musical tools via their how-to manuals.
Clearing the Path for Attention
I’ve encountered a handful of elusive exceptions, but product manuals can be pretty dry and generally fall short of captivating. Cultivating your attention can be a huge hurdle to clear. It’s important to minimize distractions. One of my favorite and most effective scenarios to read and absorb manuals is when I’m flying. There are few things to pull you away; you don’t have anywhere else you have to be right now, generally no one is vying for your attention and you can just focus. Since the Internet constantly beckons as a distraction and experts argue that it can inhibit deeper mental connections being formed while reading, put your phone on airplane mode, turn off Netflix, queue up some good background music, maybe make yourself some coffee or grab a beer, and just sit down and settle in.
Manual Transmission
Countless manuals, even for vintage gear, can be found for free online (in fact, I think I’ve been able to locate one for every piece I own, apart from an old 60’s era reel-to-reel I bought on Craigslist.) I keep PDF copies of my more challenging pieces in the “Books” app on my phone, organized in a synth/midi folder, a folder for plugins, one for pedals and so on. It can also be helpful to print out select pages detailing critical functions and keep them in a physical binder alongside any hardcopies you might have.
If you’ve got something that’s giving you the slip, get your preferred manual at the ready, sit down with your piece of gear and start reading. Once you encounter a function that you’re not familiar with, start following the instructions for its most basic commands. Let’s take the example of an old 80’s drum machine for which programming is just beyond your grasp. In this case, you’d practice the way it describes creating a pattern, maybe even repeating the same process several times to make sure it’s really embedded itself into your brain. This can be especially helpful if you’re dealing with some particularly turgid technical-writing or a really involved set of steps. I went through this process with an antiquated midi sequencer I bought, intending to add an “old school” workflow to my vintage synth collection. I quickly found it wildly obtuse and shelved it after a couple misfires in attempting some simple arp lines. One afternoon I finally sat down, grabbed the manual and powered through its basic commands again and again for a few hours, until those parameters were easily repeatable. Then I moved on to the next set of more advanced functions. I haven’t mastered it yet, but even just one afternoon of practice led to it exceeding my original expectations.
Making notes along the way doesn’t hurt either; you can detail your method in your own words or a diagram and add it to your binder, or pencil it in the manual itself. You can also add notes and photos in your phone. These little references can be perfect to jog your memory later if you’re dealing with a complex function with many steps or a unique series of commands.
Hash it Out
Another interesting way to grasp a more complex piece of gear is to try making a song sketch with it, if it’s an instrument or effect unit. The song doesn’t have to be the next Grammy-winning single or even a complete tune, but it can help to broaden your scope of what a piece of gear can do. Even “bad” sounds can put other “good” ones into perspective, and can help you develop tricks that you can use to great effect in a larger context. A very simple example: say you wanted to explore just what the Hoof fuzz is really able to do, you could try processing guitar, bass, drum machine, keys, and vocals with it using variations on the settings described in its manual.
The Expanded Universe
Sometimes the manual alone doesn’t quite cut it, but luckily we possess one of the best supplemental resources imaginable: YouTube. There are thousands of tutorials found on YouTube, whether from long-running series such as That Pedal Show, Espen Kraft’s excellent synth channel, or simply one shots that show explanations that a user decided to share with the wider world. All of these things can be totally killer expansions on the knowledge base found within the manual. If you’ve hit a point where you realize you’ve mastered something, why not enlighten other users to your findings on your own channel? Together we can shape a future where no gear sits sad and unplayed because of holes in our fundamental understanding.
For Your Consideration
Over the past couple of years, I’ve spent quite a bit of time amassing gear for a new home studio. I realized that an excellent way to educate myself on items I might need was to read their manuals while I was still considering a purchase. Rather than going in blind, this proved to be a good method to sense whether I might jell creatively with different items. Do you prefer gear that’s set-and-forget? Menus? Multiple button presses to access hidden functions? All of these facets are usually laid out in the manual, and can help prevent buying something that just collects dust because you feel stymied by its workflow, or conversely, pinpoint pieces that you suspect will fit seamlessly into your creative style. Plus, if you familiarize yourself in advance, you can go in with a deeper knowledge from day-one with your new piece, and it can help build a larger mental lexicon of connected concepts. Of course, there’s no guarantee that you will connect with a particular piece, but at the very least, you can know that you Read the F***ing Manual.
Joseph D. Rowland is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, known for his work in progressive doom metal band Pallbearer, as well as synth-based projects Information_Age and Hosianna Mantra. His current interests include owning too much 80's rack gear, hanging out a lot with his cat (she's not quite as enthusiastic) and hoping that delivery margaritas just "stays a thing."
