No New Gear Year 2023 AKA NGNY 2023

I feel like Síva and Ganesha must make regular appearances in a few studios out there.

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I used to have Saraswati too, dunno what happened to her. I did Hindu studies at Uni, best stories, cool deities, and no one really takes it too seriously, all good qualities I think.
(Tasty Yocto! Did you build it?)

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But you need a good audio interface for your bass and guitar, no? :crazy_face:

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Count me in. Joined late last year after some large purchases after an audio interface failure and my 40th Birthday in January.

I did slip up a few times, but I feel those purchases were far more considered than previous and none were paid for via credit.

The only thing Im going to allow myself is purchasing tutorials if any are available that will increase my knowledge or skills.

Ive also started revisiting a lot of tutorials I have purchased previously. A lot of them are from Dance Music Production which are really high quality.

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Good luck everyone, I think this is a really good idea.

I do follow a different approach though, I am only buying new stuff from money that I made from selling stuff. Which means no additional crap in my small room.

Worked last year - until f***ing black friday with Arturia’s sale as well as Native Instruments. Oh and Korgs wavestate native offer as well. :grimacing: So now I start of negative and have to sell some stuff which is harder every time.

And I will need a new MacBook Pro as mine is from 2013 and sounds like an aircraft when using the new plugins. thanks again to f***ing black friday 2022.

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I felt that, the FabFilters are destroying my 2019 i7 mbp, especially when setting them on HQ mode

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Thanks @Wolf-Rami for doing this!

Still undecided on wether I’m doing it in 2023, have a few potential buys turning around in my head to start of 2023, but maybe if and when they’re done I will jump in again.

Last year’s challenge helped me buy less for sure, but I can’t say it helped me make more music, in fact it’s been a very weird year in this regard, but I’m unable to pinpoint the cause. Last year I moved, started a new job and went back to school for a year of studies, so this might also be a reason :slight_smile:

Anyway, good luck to everybody taking part! And keep those wise words in mind:

And a quick link to an article that was of interest last year:
Why the Depth Year Was My Best Year.

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Righto, I’m in.

Lasted 6 months last year until cracking under the weight of a shiny new job and spare $$$, reckon I’ve got a much better handle on things now.

Also, it’s that time of year again when I start getting an itchy brain and wanting to burn down the house so I’m considering selling everything but the Montage and OP1 this time.

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Fortunately for the Yocto’s sake, I did not. I think the builder went slightly overboard with the kick decay though; to the point where it can almost endlessly drone. But otherwise I absolutely love it.

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Ableton note is pretty nice too. My most used music app of 2022 i think. Pretty easy to use as sketchpad for ableton where you then can take things further.

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I’m up for it again this year… as soon as the Syntakt rumours started gaining traction last year I was worried it would be curtains for me and sure enough I fell off the wagon when it was released. That said, I did spend less last year than I have in previous years with only some buying towards the end of the year - notably the Fors stuff and changed a couple of Euro modules so that I could downsize into two smaller cases. So, I’ve got a everything I need, a couple of projects that need finished over the next few months and then a couple of others planned thereafter that I know exactly what gear I’ll be using… the fixed rate on my morgage ends in October after which I’ll doubtless be getting hammered so focusing on putting more into my monthly payments seems sensible!!

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Let’s do this !

Setup for the year :

  • Nordrum 3P with Roland Kt10
  • Maschine plus + Maschine Jam
  • Studiologic sl73
  • Expressive E osmose
  • Expressive E Touché
  • Rme fireface ucxII
  • Iconnectivity mio XL
  • Spherical sound society glitch storm mkii ( with angry robot )
  • 2 boss expression pedals
  • Morningstar mc3
  • Blokas midihub.
  • Bitwig and reaper as daws

Quite a list when you actually put it on paper !

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Alright, I’m in!

I gave in last year once the Syntakt came out, and spent the rest of the year selling and buying too many different synths to pair with it.
It’s hooked up with my Opsix now and they make a great couple.

I’m not going to kid myself that I can succeed in NGNY but I did find that the concept last year helped me only buy things that were actually useful for my music. No “just because” GAS purchases.

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That’s perhaps the greatest lesson for me too. After an abstinence of several months, I knew exactly what my setup needed and went for that.

After 12 months I knew that getting Logic Pro would be the thing that makes most sense. In a normal year I would be scourging the local second hand sites on every payday, but last year I had a long long think and knew exactly what I wanted/ needed.

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I’m not attempting it this year, I think it was 2021 when I did, and made it maybe 8 or 9 months. I think that’s fine though. The biggest benefit for me was not saving the cash, but getting time and headspace back. I was aware of all the new gear coming out but I didn’t feel the urge to have to spend so much time figuring out if it was the missing link, it was a ‘hey, that’s cool, do I need it? Eh, that’s next year’s problem’ kind of feeling. It was fairly liberating. Good luck everyone!

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I’m in. Bought a house last year and sold a lot of the cherished studio stuff. Then bought some key things before the house improvement spend ramped up. Upside is I now have a dedicated basement studio which is very me. I have plenty to make the music I enjoy but do get caught up in admiring the things I don’t have. Watching videos of things I have is one way I can manage that. But essentially my studio is awesome and lucky to have it.

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Count me in :slight_smile:

My setup for 2023:

  • MPC One
  • Syntakt
  • Super 6 Desktop
  • 84 hp of modulation and effects for processing the super 6
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The only thing on my horizon is Max, or Max for Live. Otherwise I’m in!

Last year I took the plunge with three Elektron boxes, two MIDI controllers, an audio interface and some monitors. No major regrets but I think that’s quite enough on the hardware front for a while. Tons of possibilities to explore and enjoy.

Wishing everybody participating in this thread all the best. It’s a great initiative, and props to @Wolf-Rami for picking up the baton and sharing inspiring personal perspectives.

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Ha! I had almost two, I call those decades kids and a house.

Once again opting out. Last year I wanted to upgrade my guitar at some point. I never did but made monitor upgrades, grabbed the 404MKII, and some pedals. Nothing crazy like past years.

This year I’ll be upgrading my electric guitar pickups and probably audio interface. Other than those planned purchases and I’m sure a deal or two I’ll try to it keep to a minimum. As I learned years ago, I don’t need all this shit.

Good luck to all that sign up! Nothing wrong with setting goals and positive vibes!

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