And to stay on topic… I’ve definitely gone through periods of hoarding, lamenting what I had done/money I had spent, and worked hard to reorganize my thoughts and workflows to actually learn the things I have well. I love the machines just for what they are and so I have to be quite careful. My primary goal now is to not have too many of any one type of thing – one or two synths, samplers, etc – in order to focus the efforts on the creative side of things and try not to veer off and never progress much. I started off buying a bunch of cheap gear and in the past few years have been selling that stuff off and upgrading things. I like to think of the Elektron boxes as grown up Volcas, which is where I started.
I think what’s helped most lately in not getting too overwhelmed is either putting most things away, or taking a piece out into a different room to focus on by itself. Or even just mentally deciding I’m going to do one thing, like create a drum sound from scratch. I’ve learned a lot more about the A4 this week by doing that, and in only just a few days and a little bit of time each day. Usually the little bits and pieces from those mini-sessions end up getting recycled into something else.
One of the more overwhelming things I think can also just be seeing everything there sitting together, which is funny considering sometimes the goal is to have exactly that, in order to quickly record when you’re ready…
+100 agree. every now and then I’ll unplug a handful of things, put 'em on shelves, put away their respective cables, re-arrange the studio around what’s left, and have it… only to get too lazy to actually list, sell and ship stuff that a week later I just end up plugging it back in and using it anyway. it’s a little different though if something pops up you really want to buy, but need to find funds somewhere…
also I think this stuff comes in waves. you hoard for a while, then you sell off for a while. binge… purge… and I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with that. sometimes you just need a change.
if it’s killing your creativity staring at all the options, frustrating you with chasing audio/midi/power problems, you’re in severe debt, you’re ignoring work/family/life obligations, etc… yeah, then maybe re-assess your situation. otherwise, there’s nothing inherently negative with owning a bunch of gear. it’s not like we’re the first musicians to ever do this.
With a couple of little kiddos bouncing around the house, I definitely feel the lack of free time. Over the past couple years, I’ve done a fair bit of gear trading, mostly consolidating to a more simplified setup. For a while, it was one-in, one-out which then led to just moving stuff out that wasn’t contributing to the overall goal. I was doing pretty good this year avoiding new purchases, even starting to think about downsizing even more. Recently, though, I picked up an fx pedal, then another, and another. Add a stereo dictaphone/cassette recorder and, well, I’m feeling a little guilty. There’s one item that I’m considering selling to offset the recent stuff, but as of right now, I’m thinking I just stop buying, play with what I have and see which pieces end up being the most fun. If, by the end of the year, there are some items that don’t see much use, then off they go. The hard part is going to be sticking to this plan.
Any successful tales of software licence transfers and sales? Which of the big DAW/VSTnames make it a viable process that works out in reality?
At least it involves no packing and posting!
I’m always so surprised how buy & sell focussed this forum is…
I know it can be tough swimming against the wave of products, I’ve been there. With each piece of gear you imagine to create this and do that resulting in a certain perceived future gain. Which in the end is nothing but a future projection, an illusion.
At the end of the day it’s all clutter if it’s keeping you from the one goal you have: create and express.
Apologies if it’s bad form linking to other boards here, but KVR has a thread for exactly this. Just make sure to read the rules and safety tips. It’s a jungle, and scammers stalk that place for sure, so you’ll have to keep your wits about you and do your due diligence. I’ve traded there a tiny bit, both selling (Ableton, u-he etc.) and buying (just one - Klevgrand’s Brusfri), and everything went fine. Most plug-in companies have FAQs covering license transfers on their websites.
Fewer, better things is how I like it these days. There was a point about 4 years ago, when I was reading the Marie Kondo decluttering book, and I’d just bought a Minilogue. It did not spark joy, so I sent it back, saved up and ultimately got an OB-6 instead. Since then, only special things have made it across the threshold. Although, 4 years on, I still have gear to sell.
is it? I mean, yeah there’s a thread centered around “show me your new stuff.” but there’s also a minimalism thread. and if you look at most people’s setups here (in the thread of that title), they’re relatively small. and sure, there’s threads about new gear coming out and some saying “I’m getting this.” but you have that on any music/hobby forum.
Same here. Plus we had just moved into a townhone with less rooms (i.e. my wife and I couldn’t have our own separate “offices” anymore) so the challenge was for me to fit everything needed for OTB songwriting and production in a Danish Modern hutch and a (recently added) rolling rack on the side. This has been through several complete revisions to get to where it is but I’m happy with where I ended up.
To the original post, I try out a lot of gear but if it doesn’t “spark joy” or if it overlaps too much with pieces that are permanent fixtures I tend to sell them immediately. This is largely financially-based as I try not to use our family’s income for my creative pursuits, I prefer them to be self-sustaining.
I’m also patient waiting for deals on classic synths and recording gear to pop up locally (recently an ESQ-1 and Alpha Juno, for $150 each) which for me are a lot more exciting than most modern offerings. Of course you have to budget for inevitable repairs, and I still have some pieces waiting to get fixed, but I’d rather deal with that when the time arises then to be caught up in the rollercoaster of buying the latest and greatest thing (having done plenty of that in my 35 years of gear collecting…)
Having said that, I am guilty of occasionally getting swept up in specific gear mini-obsessions, buying a bunch of different versions to see which one(s) I like best and keeping only a few… most recently hardware reverb and distortion units. I have to rein it in and remind myself that once you have those pieces that work for you now, you’re good.
Yeah I can definitely relate to this, I have had a few tries at reducing my gear, with varying degrees of success, right now I probably have less than what I have in the past decade, but still a bit too much.
Most of my problem is because I don’t want to use/rely on a modern computer for music making, so in order to cover all the ground (I think) I need, a certain amount of hardware is required.
I think I’m getting better at configuring my setup though, there are certain aspects of it that I am very happy with, however I also keep in mind that what I want to do today might be different next year.
I can relate to this as well. Also that selling is so exhausting. And then there is also the money I lose. I bought a lot of stuff new. So I have a hard time selling it for 300€ less or so. Rather keep it then!
I’ve definitely gone through periods of hoarding, lamenting what I had done/money I had spent, and worked hard to reorganize my thoughts and workflows to actually learn the things I have well. I love the machines just for what they are and so I have to be quite careful. My primary goal now is to not have too many of any one type of thing – one or two synths, samplers, etc – in order to focus the efforts on the creative side of things and try not to veer off and never progress much. I started off buying a bunch of cheap gear and in the past few years have been selling that stuff off and upgrading things. I like to think of the Elektron boxes as grown up Volcas, which is where I started.