Discovering the power of the Ipad at the moment, incredible what you can do with this, I have a mixer, a few sequencers, a synth, a sample player and some effects and everything runs together smoothly, I have so much fun !
Bought it to make some music during my commute to work and time flies so fast !
4 Likes
Since getting a DN I havenāt used my A4 or AR. I can imagine wanting drums againā¦but I donāt know. Family changes mean I might have to sell my AR and A4 anyway, but I think I got carried away, and because I could afford these things, I bought them
Now looking at what I want from toys, and what I enjoy, I think a DN + AH + something drums/sampling is enough. If that something is OT or AR I donāt know yet.
But I like minimal, Iāve spent a year buying and trying a lot of things, and in the end, I think I want less.
5 Likes
Pre-pandemic I had aspirations of doing this:
Alas, once the world went sideways for a while, retail therapy charged up my GAS and it absolutely didnāt happen, but Iām there again and Iām trying to persuade myself to get to the point where I only have 1 monosynth and 1 poly. Itās tricky and I might have to accept that 2 monos is my minimum because I want the Moog sound my Werkstatt offers but also love the west coast entry level stuff my 0-Coast provides. Iāve just bought a Peak, which is my first poly (arriving this week), so that and the WS/0-Coast should provide me with all the synth I need for a lot longer than just a year.
All I need to do now is decide when my depth year actually startsā¦ and commit to it.
Anyone else done this?
4 Likes
In my career, for sure. Not in other aspects of my life. I should though. My career changed completely 2012-2015 cos I focussed on one thing only. I ended up being a kind of expert on it. Took a lot of energy, and I had to resist a lot of things (say no a lot). But yeah, I like the idea for music too.
I think it has been shown also that an initial phase of anything (sport, career, study) should be broad and wide ranging and shallow, to get an idea of WHAT you want to focus on for depth. I think that is my last 18-24 months. I tried SuperCollier, Max, Ableton, hardware, guitar. And yeah, It think DN + a drum/sampler is enough to go deep on.
we might actually crack that Margaret Atwood trilogy rather than tell ourselves weāll get to it someday
Lol, dude, come on, those books are a joy and pleasure to read. Iāve read that set (I assume he is talking Oryx/Crake trilogy) maybe 3 times already.
And reading is a great example. Back in the day, when a book was a rare and expensive thing, people re-read the same book scores of times.
I really appreciate this article, thanks @PeteSasqwax
1 Like
minimal is the best way to go, for me anyway, and less gear = more focus = more āfinishedā tracks, rather than the lots of unfinished loose ends that i always end up with when i try and have too many things involved at the same time. the more synths i have on my desk the more i feel obliged to shoehorn them all into a track regardless of whether they are actually needed (and they usually arent). DN + OT is my current setup and this combo strikes just the right balance of minimalism and flexibility for my needs. whenever i see the āyour setupsā thread and stacks of synths, all powered on, covering a desk (usually with dubious ergonomic sensibility), my first thought is always along the lines of āhow the hell can anyone actually manage to get anything done with that madness on their deskā?!
8 Likes
I am thinking OT + DN (can I keep my AH??)
you can absolutely do that : )
1 Like
The absurd thing for me is that I have an insane range of options already - more tools than majority of my favourite records ever utilised or even had access to - so why is it that I should be remotely hesitant about drawing the line and saying that enough is enough? Itās fascinating on some levels; vaguely horrifying on others!
2 Likes
Iām currently weighing the pros and cons of selling two very nice instruments that just havenāt become key pieces in my music: the Prophet 12 desktop and the Vermona Perfourmer mk2. Both are really, I mean, really nice but for a couple of reasons I just havenāt enjoyed or ended up using them as much as the real key pieces of my setup (Octatrack, Machinedrum, Matriarch and, increasingly, Monomachine).
In fact, for the most part this year, Iāve enjoyed single-box setups (OT, MD or MnM standalone) which I canāt do with the P12 and P4mer. The UI of the P12 also doesnāt exactly invite me into creating the complex patches I know itās capable of. Meanwhile, as much as I like the sound of the P4mer and have done a ton of jams on it, I just struggle to come up with stuff that Iād find interesting the day afterā¦
Still, I think Iād miss both the minute Iād let them go - a stupid kind of FOMO, probably. The P12 is now discontinued and steadily rising in price so I donāt think Iād buy it again at a higher price. Then again, the pragmatic me keeps saying I should just let them go and not look back. So what if an instrument doesnāt click with me?!
Just thinking what Iād gain by selling them since I donāt need the money - except for maybe buying some new toys (like a Prophet 6). Thatās just the reality if I suddenly found an āextraā 1k on my bank account. As it now stands, thereās a bit of gear guilt not having enough time to use all my gear extensively but nothing too bad. And as much as I love the silver Elektrons right now, the day will undoubtedly come when I want to play with something elseā¦
Sorry, just thinking out loud here. 
6 Likes
Iād like to do this tooā¦ I feel like Iāve gone through a GAS buying stage in the last 12-18 months that Iāve come out the other side of with an expensive lesson. If I could go back and start again Iād know exactly what to buy and in what orderā¦ I even think Iād know what to focus onā¦ hindsight 'n all, but how do you move forward with it?
Iāve discussed it with @igtheflig, I feel weāve bought similar gear at similar times in the last yearā¦ but I like how heās moved a lot of gear onā¦ Iāve not really sold anything yet, which brings itās own form of stress.
For all the gear Iāve gone through, if I had to have one device it would be one of the current MPCās, I can say that now, after the aforementioned experience, with zero hesitation.
At the same time, I would not want to part with my Analog Four or Moog Sub 37 (closely followed by my Analog Rytm, but I could live without this with the MPC). With these 3, with the ability to sample and adding in my guitar side, are more than sufficient for me to make music for the next 20 years.
So whyās it hard to let go of certain gear??
6 Likes
Been GASing after the SP404 Mk2 and the M8 and realise I can, and should, get as much out of my current setup (LSDJ, Zoia, Polyend Tracker and Microfreak).
Iām in!
1 Like
I wish I could start again. Iād get an OT and Rytm and start with those. The problem (for me) is now having acquired a bunch of high quality and in some cases fairly rare boxes, I canāt bring myself to go backwards!
Iāve done it in the past and just ended up re-buying most of it!
Looking at you 2022! I just need a couple of modules and a pair of CDJs before thenā¦
I really like this idea though. Iāve got more than enough gear to make any kind of music, in as big a quantity as I want. The article is spot on about the hit of pursuing and buying something new though. Unfortunately in this age of endless choice and connectivity itās quicker and easier to pursue that instant hit than learning what you have more deeply.
3 Likes
I can relate to this completely. Itās not so much even with the really great pieces, itās often with the things Iāve not found a place in my workflow for right now - and likely never will - but the prospect of maybe needing them, or just finding a purpose for them, at some point in the future means that Iām reluctant to sell. Thatās the hurdle Iām struggling with a bit regarding a few things I want to part with but, for no concrete reason I can point to, havenāt.
I can 100% relate to this, but I donāt regret the gear Iāve had and then moved on. Iāve read a number of pieces where people are talking about the negative aspects of GAS and how to overcome it, but thereās also that aspect of not knowing how something will work with my setup until I physically have it with me and can see how I get on with it. Also Iāve learned a load through the gear Iāve had and never really lost anything financially, all things considered. Iāve had a Little Phatty, Minitaur, Sirin and Grandmother but the only Moog Iāve ended up keeping is the Werkstatt because it gives me everything I really need in a Moog and itās fun. The GM especially was brilliant, but comparatively huge and I just didnāt have the space. I learned some interesting things from it though and am glad I scratched the itch even if only to ensure that it didnāt feel like it needed scratching in the future.
This! I wish I knew, I genuinely do - I think it would provide me with a fascinating insight into how my brain works that I could apply to other areas of life, but I donāt imagine Iāll ever really know.
Yeah, this is a massive thing for me too. Itās trying to become able to rationalise beyond that āNew! Shiny!ā magpie mindstate, see things for what they can do and become alert to how I can do that with what I have - and I always can. Iāve yet to find anything that I couldnāt either directly achieve or get incredibly close to & perhaps even discover new things along the way.
Thatās the killer bit there - especially if Iām feeling a bit shit or uninspired. Itās always easy to hop onto YouTube and windowshop for the next thing. One that Iāve found really helpful in the past is to try to watch YT gear videos about things I own rather than things I donāt. I reckon that will be a useful tool for depth year stuff. Also making statements like these in here instead of just thinking them helps make me accountable to some extent if I need the extra incentive not to give in to GAS!
6 Likes
Iāve had these thoughts about my Sub37. I put it in a box and away since I didnāt really need the money and had FOMO. 3 years later I opened the box and Iām very happy now to have it on my table.
If I had needed the money at the time, well, it would probably have been sold. I almost did a few timesā¦
Not sure whether that helps. The point it, box and away for a while
1 Like
Excellent comments and thoughts. I think when starting out, thereās an inclination to supplement your skills with gear, whether thatās software synths, effects, hardware, outboard and so on. Thereās also the fact that your musical tastes, styles and flows take time to refine and find or evolve so in a way the gear helps you define that, as you perhaps like the sound or workflow of one item vs another as it suits how you think or helps you get the sound thatās in your head.
For me, as I progressed through my music career which included personal label releases in my earlier years, owning a mastering business later in life and now running an active sound design company what Iāve found is as your skills increase, so does your confidence, with that comes confidence of decision and a capitalisation on the knowledge and experience with everything youāve learnt and had your hands on in the previous years (decades in my case)
So itās a lot easier to hone into the specific tool you want and I personally have less tolerance for keeping stuff that doesnāt really fit with the workflow, style and skills Iāve built around myself.
5 Likes
This is perfect. Itās almost an addendum to Dunning-Kruger in that you start off knowing very little about what it is youāre trying to do but through doing it you end up knowing a load, both about the thing itself and the about the tools you do (and donāt) need.
2 Likes
as for me, itās even harder to let the gear go when iāve learned a lot and know what to do with it.
even RM1x that sounds awful by todays standards (but THAT sequencer!!) 
3 Likes
will never get rid of my RM1X. was my first machine 20 odd years ago and is of huge sentimental value to me
2 Likes
actually, RM1x is still well usable for drum/rhythm machine job, just too big and heavy to take it to gigs.
2 Likes
yamaha rmx1? ya, itās a beast, i only sent it back cuz i have a squarp. i would have taken the time to get to know it though, totes worth it.