Yea, that RC505 is going to happen one day, but I am more waiting for a better multi looper package (like many people … also, that Electro Harmonics 99500 was a bit dissapointing, why oh why 
)
We do need gear that is easy and gear that needs more effort, both work eventually and lead to different spaces.
I figured I’d join the party!
I’ve two kids - 9 and 2. My eldest is disabled to a significant degree which means he needs help with everything in his life; the youngest is dev-typical. Both of them love music. They love to play my guitars, make noise with percussion, and f**k with my pedals while I’m trying to record!
There’s definitely less time (and money) to do all the super-flighty stuff (like being in a full-time band or gigging regularly) but it hasn’t lessened my enjoyment of making music. It’s just focussed it… a LOT. Every hour I get to spend with some toys in my hands creating is appreciated; they know it’s my ‘unwind’ from doing the days.
The Octrack’s been a boon for getting stuff out of my head quickly, as has GarageBand on the iPad. I’ve got a Logic rig on my Mac but to be able to make abstract sounds and track them quickly, without a DAW or having to fire up my computer, is just amazing.
Began indoctrination of my 8 month old the other day…
I totally agree - now that there’s a child in the house (besides myself), any moment to yourself is like gold, so I’ve become more disciplined in using those minutes wisely. I’m not always good at that, but at least then it’s my own fault.
Every once in a while I pick up my toddler (17.5 months now), so he can reach some buttons and knobs. He’s at the age where buttons and knobs are the greatest thing around. I think I need to either make or find a rugged midi controller and set it up so he can smash and twist away with me. Start 'em young, right?
@wouzer - You can combine the juggling with music now! http://cdm.link/newswires/its-a-ball-its-a-drum-machine-its-odd-probably-why-they-called-it-oddball/
We don’t have children, but we do have a summer cabin that we’re renovating, a small puppy that wants to go outside at least thrice a day and we’re both freelance entrepreneurs. Time i get to spend with my synths has diminished a lot from the times I was a single guy.
It doesn’t really help either that my synths are a kilometer away at our studio. I never seem to have time to go there anymore. If I had them at home I could use any spare 15 minutes with my synths, now I need to ”take special studio time” to get there. Luckily I have the Digitakt and iPad-synths that I take everywhere with me. Just today me and my oldest friend drank a few beers at our summer cabin and sampled beer bottles and cans, made a beat out of it and had tons of fun.
After turning 40 you have to take every little free moment you can get and savour it. I no longer have any pretensions of being a recording artist or professional musician. I’m not going to make a living out of this. Those times are long behind me, but I just enjoy fooling around with my gear now and then.
Cheers to that 
Ha that’s wild. Juggle three wearing ten of those midi controller rings. There’s some real weird gear out there these days, I’m curious to hear it used practically
Yeah, it’s a funny thing how your perspective can change as you age. I wouldn’t want to have to fly around the world constantly pulling all nighters at festivals anymore. I’d rather be at home with my wife and son where I can hopefully make an important difference to them. I have so much more going on now that I have to try to find time for myself to write a track now and then or work on a painting, etc. It seems that so few people even go to shows to connect with artists anymore, it’s about drugs and drink first and foremost. For sure, this has been a problem for many years but I can’t find it personally stimulating to know that what I’m working on is essentially meaningless.
I saw it, it looks amazing, the balls are also midi controller 
At that age, you need something durable for the kiddo to bang on. My 16 month old loves smashing the keys of my old Roland XP50 because it’s placed at her height on a table, thing is like a tank. It connects to my other synths, so she plays keys and I twiddle the knobs. She always tries to play my Digitone or MD if she has a chance, I think she likes the clickiness of those buttons the most.
seems to be the “build your own synth” section
no wait,
2 synths will make one better (2 in 1)
no wait,
the new concept for elektron machines, like teenageengineering - bring your own tools for syntheses
I am selling my stuff now. Sold monitor speakers, sold Octatrack, and will sell my A4 and ah soon.
It takes a lot of cognitieve Space, energy, time and money. At the end i have music
Slowly i change, i prefer to spend my time touching slicing and baking food to end up with a meal to eat with my family.
During covid pandamic, i have been over-digitalized. Zoom, teams, remote work, and after work elektron, ableton. I prefer walking around in the forest, cooking, juggling, guitar playing, and family and friends. I sold most computers, tablets. I disconnected my WiFi and soon i will sell my last synthesizer.
It feels like a good step, i learned a lot from this community, thans you all.
Wishing you all the best with everything wouzer drop in and say hi from time to time 
Sounds like a very liberating move and by the sound of it a well thought out one. Take care and enjoy family life.
I can really relate to this and have been on a similar journey in the past few months. I still keep some things around (guitar, op-1f, m8, beebo), but the mental relief of concentrating on fewer things in life, lowering expectations, focusing on being in the present (especially when cooking or being in the forest), reading (listening to) more books instead of watching YouTube or Netflix, and having more off-screen time in general feels very good. And I don’t even have kids.
Oh yes. I tried doing music and sound engineering for a while, alongside a day job and new parenting. My day job is “a career job” so I wanted to keep it going well. After a few months, I stopped music. I kept most of my gear and restarted when my kid reached about 8. (I could have started sooner, but put that time into kicking off a wider social life again first). I’m nearly 2 years into my “restart”, and finding my music energy is very variable and I’m much less productive than I hoped… but I’m learning to be ok with that and still enjoying it. YMMV.
I guess this really depends on what making music is to you.
i actually got back into music after my second child was born.
i have three kids and to me sitting with my synths is a way of regaining my energy. but my expectations of my interaction with my synths is basically non existent. sometimes i manage to scrape up a song, other times i jam, sometimes i just sit and tweak a synth or make a cool patch.
For me, my synths have been one of the bigger sources of relief and reenergizing in my life.
edit: and furthermore my kids love to play with my synths… they especially love the OP-1, my four year old has learned how to sample his voice into the synth samples, so i have a bunch of patches with him screaming into the mic 
. sometimes we sit together and patch my modular and let them patch and turn knobs and sliders and its been really cool to see them interact with my synths like that.
I “made” my kid watch Sisters With Transisters earlier this year. The following day we made rubber band bass and spooky lead melodies with my OctaTrack and Syntrx. They’re amused and sort of interested, but rarely ask to play without prompting,. They seem pretty capable of expressing moods and tones through sound (piano improv), but really struggle to be interested in the more systematic tutorials and practice that helps “learn an instrument”. I can empathise: I was/am pretty similar.
