Question:
Does purchasing DIY kits to build a Eurorack module break the no gear purchase contest?
I am learning to solder electronics for fun and eventually to build modules that do not come assembled and save cost as well.
Yes.
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I agree.
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Forgive me fellow participants for I have synth.
The temptation to get myself a proper controller for NI stuff got the best of me and I ordered the Komplete Kontrol s49… cough…and their new Playbox plugin…cough
I will however try my best not to buy anything else this year lol.
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just checking this thread. there are hundreds of posts i haven’t read yet. seems like some folks are fine, others have bought stuff. it’s all good.
i’ve spent less time recently making music in general but also don’t think i’ve bought anything since declaring a moratorium. not buying hardware is pretty easy; not buying software/vsts, less so, but i’ve managed. every so often, i’ll go noodle on some hardware for a bit, which is like rediscovering the instruments anew. pretty cool…
keep it up, y’all. you can do it!
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Please take me off the list. Although I’ve done a good job of reducing purchases this year, after buying a Waldorf Iridium early in the year (after someone on this forum threw out a one time $500 off coupon for Guitar Center), a couple of weeks ago, I caved to an offer from Arturia to buy their V Collection at 75% off the normal price. Didn’t need it. Not sure if I will use it, but nice to have. Anyway, still very glad you started this thread, and now every time I watch a review, I ask myself much more keenly (do you really need that with all the stuff you already have that you aren’t even using) and almost always, so far, the answer is, definitely not.
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I haven’t posted here before, but I’m doing so now to celebrate resisting several tempations in the last couple of weeks. I’ve applied the tried-and-tested technique of flipping perspective - I spotted an SP-404 Mk2 in stock, and almost wavered, but asked myself: If I had one of these already, instead of a similar item I do own, would I now be tempted by the other item? The answer is almost certainly yes, and the absurdity of the situation always vents a fair amount of that GAS.
Or as someone more poetically put it in the past, remember when you wanted what you have.
This happy state of affairs will hopefully last until I have enough saved to afford a Pulsar, and at that point I’m going to have to have a difficult conversation with myself. But I live in the UK, so with any luck by then our new energy bills will have settled in and the idea of buying synths will be nothing but a bittersweet memory of happier times.
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No worries it will take me rest of year to learn to solder correctly. I’m practicing on cheap $5 electronics kits. Next year, I will attempt DIY modules from AI Synthesis since they have clear build guides and the parts are half as much as an assembled module. Besides I’m still learning my gear purchased from last year. I’m digging into the Endorphin.es modules and Make Noise shared system I bought last year. I have years of learning and discovery ahead of me without buying anything else.
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I like that! That is the most confusing and frustrating part of GAS for me. All the build up of wanting something and almost instant disinterest once obtained and straight on to the next object of lust. Totally FUBAR.
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I think that’s an all too familiar scenario for a lot of people in today’s instant gratification society, I’ve been going hard at Ableton these past few months and that’s more or less killed the gas for me👍here’s a photo of my sin btw…
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the camo is sick.
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I’m sad to see you off the list, but let’s do it again next year! 
How are you finding the Iridium?
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This is brilliant. Will be echoing in my head.
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great point- I dug into my Endorphin.es Shuttle System last few days to have fun such lovely sounds from Furthrrrr Generator.
No regrets (except having to break my commitment in this thread). I am not sure I would have purchased it without having traded in three unused machines for it, on top of getting $500 off to begin with. It turns out I actually like it more than I thought I would. (So, in that sense, my net hardware synth lineup is reduced by two). It has become the focal point of my musical explorations, of course because it is my newest toy, but I think also because it is so accessible while having such a huge variety of options. I won’t blather on about it though, to avoid inspiring GAS for anyone else.
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Short version: I failed my own challenge, you can take me of the list, but I will stay active in this topic because it helps me a lot.
Bit longer version: I failed on all fronts. Not only did I buy gear (which I did sell for the same price to be fair to myself), I sold gear and I traded gear this year. All within the first four months.
Although I am quite disappointed at my own discipline, some deeper realizations are starting to emerge for me:
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for me, it is not so much the gear per se, but I am addicted to the whole process and excitement of researching, buying, selling and trading gear.
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there is always something new and shiny that I rationalize myself into buying. I am very good at that. For most gear, the honeymoon period ends quite rapidly and the whole process starts from scratch.
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I am in love with the idea of DAWless, but not so much with the reality of it. I love jamming, I hate finishing stuff on it.
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since rediscovering Bitwig, I feel that my usual DAW-induced option paralysis is almost gone. Especially since I now use my DT in midimode to get started with something (something I only did because of this topic and my intentions to learn more about the DT) Best of both worlds.
All in all, I feel that I finally starting to see what I am looking for with this music hobby: fun times jamming with relatively simple boxes and occasionally creating a full track.
I am not giving up on hardware completely, but I am giving up the image of the DAWless producer that I created for myself.
As a result of this process, I sold of almost everything And I am now left with the Digibrothers as these are the only machines that really excite me. The machines that bring me fun and relaxation.
My biggest sin in the light of this challenge is that I just bought an OP-Z as I feel that this will deliver similar fun and relaxation the coming months while all my other stuff is boxed up because of travel and remodeling our house.
I hope you guys will do better than I did in terms of actually not buying stuff, but I do feel I got a lot out of this topic despite failing at my own goals.
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Thanks for the nuanced insight into your situation. One thing that has become clear to me through-out this process is that it’s never as straight-forward as “don’t buy = good and everything else is bad” and that gaining insight and understanding is the most important thing (and breaking unhelpful cycles of behaviour that we may have previously had is next best).
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I came to same realisation myself regarding hardware, it’s just not for me as a productive tool, after I sold my mpc one and took a proper crack at Ableton I realised that the main reason I was not giving ableton my full attention was that I’d spent loads on gear to supplement the mpcs shortcomings and was pretty much getting poor results all round…
Cut to now and I’m finally getting somewhere that I feel is comfortable place with a solid knowledge of my main creative environment, its yeilding better results with less friction and I’m not spending hours pawing over endless tutorials trying to learn how to make loads of different bits of kit work together to achieve an inferior product…
That said kudos to all you guys that can make it work for you I admire your ability to multitask and make it seem effortless when I know from experience that it’s not…
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To put a little success into this thread, I’m still holding strong with zero purchases and no idle browsing of Reverb/eBay and the like. I got a gift card for eBay and typed “eurorack” into the search bar…and there was no spark or glitter. Everything just looked meh. I feel like I’ve passed the first real hurdle in letting go of GAS and musical consumerism. Here’s hoping the same applies to the rest of the year!
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Right? I remember wanting a Make Noise Shared System and Endorphin.es Shuttle System when I first started getting interested in modular synths. Now that I have both there is tons of endless patching fun and sonic exploration.
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