I’ve been fighting it lately… the urge to add. Even though I know better, there’s some things I really want right now - sometimes reading forum posts is like squeezing lemon in your eyes and thinking “mmm maybe with a little sugar this could work”.
I’ve recently been able to take my mind off it (slightly) by:
hooking things up in odd combinations - pedals where I wouldn’t normally try them, etc.
sequencing with something I’d normally just use as a module.
deep diving in manuals - I know this seems like a no brainer, but I’ve found some capabilities in old gear that I simply wasn’t aware of since I had something else that filled the gap.
I’m not saying don’t buy new things, or advocating buyers celibacy, but for myself or anyone else on a limited budget if you have 3 or even 1 suggestion that you can phrase positively please consider sharing because I’m running out of willpower
Connecting things in a different order has helped me lately. Make something else lead the midi for a change. Putting things in different roles is a wonderful way to see the strengths of a previous role or a different angle on things. This works even in bands, like that amazing last Portishead album where they swapped instruments to get a new sound and wow they succeeded.
In all honesty, what worked best for me was to commit to not buying any new gear for 12 months (2022 in my case). I became much more productive and interested in the different aspects of music production and mixing.
One thing that has helped me throughout the years is to nurture and develop the feeling of being comfortable with the thought that “my mind, ears, hands, and imagination are greater than the gear I have.” I say “being comfortable” because it is a very narcissistic point of view. That said, I would argue that a large percentage of people who do art of any kind is going to be narcissistic in some way or another, so an artist might as well embrace it in a positive way.
Anyway, it’s help me realize that I can choose to think outside the box at any time with anything I have, and one big thing that could stop me from doing that is myself.
So if you were to think of yourself as the best piece of gear you own, what would you do to take you to a new journey? Would would you do to, and how can you enhance your musical palette? What are routines that you can break? Etc. I believe that if you can answer these questions, those answers could easily trickle down to the hardware and software gear you own to use them in new and exciting ways.
It’s all mental hacks. Like dieting, one could go on forced and unnatural diets and not get results, or one could change the way they see food, the way eat from within themselves, and have a much higher rate of results.
I don’t, strictly speaking, set out not to buy fun new toys but, to alleviate mindless GAS I kinda have a bit of a rule.
I have to be making music, lots of music, and regularly using EVERYTHING I have (at some point, not all at the same time!).
A new thing has to add something fundamental that I don’t already have.
Both those things get me making music and exploring the gear I do have to really discover what I can make it do. Throw into that mix the fact that I’m still learning where my musical zen is, so I’m making something in every genre I can…that also gets me exploring my gear in new ways.
This evening I’ve dug out the bass, a guitar and a microphone and recorded a stupid punk number in 45 minutes and made me realise (as I’ve never sung before) that I don’t know anything about recording or mastering voice in the DAW. More to explore.
I usually make different sounding music and thus use my gear differently if I get someone to start me off, get a mate to send me a beat or a bass line or outline structure. Always something I’d never make, then I use my gear in a totally different way to fit stuff to it. No deliberately, it just seems to happen.
that was my original strategy thus you are a bad influence and you may not be wrong but I can’t freely admit you’re right when there’s all this good advice above your truth-posting.
.