Step away from the BIM, hands where I can see them… 
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Didn’t even take it out of the box.
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Had planned on doing the same. Except the library prolly wouldn’t be too happy if I returned some of them months overdue with highlighted sections and notes written in the margins.
Definitely making the effort to try before I buy though - spent a bloody fortune over the past coupla years.
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Agree!
To me, the whole idea of (profit)maximization is exactly what is problematic, both in the way of approaching music production, and the whole gear market.
Maybe it’s a bit idealistic, but I tend to dislike music/art if I know it’s mostly made out of commercial incentives. Of course musicians need to make money, but there’s a difference between looking at a song/album as creative expression which can be sold, or a ‘product’. The latter leads to thinking about music production as a factory process which should be as efficient as possible (Using ‘midi chord packs’ and prefab loops to make songs as quickly as possible ), instead of something you do for fun or expression.
The whole world of buying/selling/promoting synths online has a similar divide: on the one hand, buying and exploring new stuff can be fun in itself, even if it leads to nothing productive at all. Synth youtubers often seem to make video’s out of love for exploring gear and making music. On the other hand, there’s hard dollars, promotion deals and ‘engagement maximization’ involved, and the result with some people is that they feel like they’re missing out, or need a particular product to be part of whatever scene this is.
Anyway: my goal for this year is to be focussed on making music as a creative outlet, and have a setup which inspires me to do so, without falling into the capitalist trap of being tricked by some algoritm that I need more stuff, which causes me to not be creative at all.
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Don’t know if setup pictures are in the spirit of this thread but for me this marks one of those small goal posts @Joebas mentioned in the OP.
So I went from this.
To this.
So I put a couple of things in their boxes and sold the Prophet 12 which had a workflow I just plain didn’t like (the DFAM I sold a couple months ago). Plus I spent an hour or so redoing the cabling, going through my gear, holding it, dusting it… and it made me feel great knowing that I (already) have all these wonderful synths to play with. Kinda like when I was collecting records I sometimes ”forgot” to spend time just flipping through my collection. Or hockey cards when I was a kid. A pattern is starting to emerge here, methinks…
Anyway, right now me happy.
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Great idea! I’ll also try to get no gear next year. It will definitely be hard. But i just sold a few things and optimized my studio to have a faster and more enjoyable workflow. So maybe it won’t be too hard after all. Thanks for the inspiration
Yeah more downsizing pictures!!
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This is exactly how I feel about my gear, after starting this 
And don’t worry about the ‘spirit of this thread’ - that is a thing defined by you, as much as anybody else.
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You’ve been added 
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Seriously, most of us* live in an extremely consumerist society, receiving an enjoyment from the shopping and filling our brains with thoughts about shopping, the having MORE but not the actual having and appreciating, let alone using it all.
*And everyone posting in/lurking this thread 
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Re: Get Back…
It was weird. I found it interesting at first. But then it started to feel like a real live version of Spinal Tap. And it started kinda depressing me.
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So the last-minute GAS before 2022 is real. Sold the DT and TR-6S (plus a few odds and ends) and have a Jomox Modbase, Waldorf NW1, Mutable Ripples V2, Tiptop HEK and a RML 432k V2 coming.
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where’s the “maximize your gear in the new year!” thread…? 
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Well, just about every thread, besides this one…?
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Yah I only managed to wade through the first episode before giving up, for me it was the televisual equivalent of wading through treacle… it was interesting to see the group dynamics at play but there was too much smoking and brown ale for my tastes not to mention toast…
Anyhow back on topic, I’m seriously considering offloading the mpc one right now, I haven’t made a beat on it in weeks… it’s a dilemma for sure, 500 quid sat on a desk or 500 back in the bank…
Btw I don’t have to worry about an engagement ring cos it bought and paid for…
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You sold the Perfourmer?
Nope, it’s still here (in its box for now, probably borrowing it to a friend for some time). The same with the Matriarch and Prophet-6, still got those (P6 is sat next to my piano which can do midi as well). Also got the Digitone for some late night noodling in the living room. The Prophet 12 module is the one I sold.
So the minimizing is just a smoke screen. 
Half kidding, it actually feels great to have less stuff on the table. And I’m sure I’ll rotate the setup should I feel stuck with this Elektron-heavy one.
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You’re posting in it rn?
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Re: minimising, I might put everything on the desk away and slowly add machines as I learn more of them. That was always my intention anyway, before rampant GAS took over! Instead of buying new stuff, I would then have a good supply of kit - that I don’t honestly know very well - to gradually add to the table. Who knows, maybe I’ll even find I can do without some of it 
If I can bring myself to do it, I would start with OT, Rytm (and maybe Virus Ti). It will probably take me a year to learn those anyway!
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