I just read through a chunk of this thread and feel inspired to join.
So, I’m in!
I pledge to you all that I, Bemo of Elektronauts, will buy no new gear or plugins in 2022.
My 2022 setup:
Hardware:
MacBook Pro M1 Max (maxed out) / 2019 MBP i9
UA Apollo 8x
UA Twin X
Focusrite ISA 428 Mk2 w/ 8ch AD
Adam A7Xs and Sub10mk2
ILoud MTM
ILoud Micro
TE OB4
Erm Multiclock
Octatrack Mk2
Digitakt
Digitone Keys
Analog Heat Mk2
360hp Euro (mostly MI)
Tt303
Pro3 SE
Summit
Monologue
SP404a
OP1
All the pocket operators
Rickenbacker 325
Rickenbacker 4001
Taylor CS Mini
Strymon Iridium, Sunset, and BigSky
Software:
-Ableton 11
-Eventide/Newfangled (All of them)
-UAD Visionstrip, Voxbox, Capital Chambers, Lexicon 480, Helios, LA2As, Distressor, Pultecs, and Ampeg amps.
-Plugin Alliance EQ200, Bettermaker, SHMC, BlackBoxMS, All 3 Neold, almost all the Unfiltered Audio stuff, and much more
-SSL Native Channelstrip, Buss Comp, Drumstrip, Flexverb, x-comp, and x-eq
-Arturia (All of them)
-Omnisphere2
-Trillian
-Sublab
-XLN Keys, Drums, and RC20
-Spitfire Abbey Road One and Two
-Soundtoys 5
-Fabfilter FX bundle
-Baby Audio bundle
-BRA bundle
-Sonible Studio bundle
-Shaperbox2
-Soothe2
-Gullfoss
-Microtonic
-Komplete12
-Izotope 2.5 bundle
I’m also joining. I bought a lot of gear in 2021, and I feel like my setup is a very well rounded one.
GAS is still haunting me though. A few days are left of this year, and I have this constant inner voice reminding me of the options that could improve my setup.
I’ll be joining this - it really does chime with me for several reasons.
Firstly, I want to learn fully to gear I own. I feel that each time I hit a bit of wall in understanding or usage, my brain naturally drifts to a new purchase instead of knuckling down to learn new functionality or workarounds.
Secondly, I want to limit my family’s purchases generally for all the well known reasons associated with buying too much stuff.
Thirdly, I waste too much time reading about, researching and lusting over gear. This time would be better used actually making music or do something else productive.
I have been limiting my setup over the last few month’s anyway, and have decided to effectively have 2 little setups in the house: digitone and torso T1 as a portable duo. Rev2, analog rytm, Toriaz squid and iPad as my main setup.
I will be selling all the stuff I don’t use so have no reason to keep hold of: a keystep, subharmonicon, Minitaur, analog heat, model cycles and (maybe) a Typhon.
As stated some days ago, I’m not in for the “don’t buy gear” part, but completely for the “focus on what you already have” part, and I’m starting to make steps in this direction.
While I’m waiting for a jaspers stand to arrive (my setup needed an urgent rearrangement in order to be usable), I improvised this focused semiportable setup with only the digis, that are the first instruments I want to explore in depth:
Not sure I’m up for listing everything, but I’ll put up a pic of my room as it stands now. Hopefully y’all can hold me accountable in my goal of slimming things down over the next year. I get quite a bit done in here, but also playing multiple instruments with ADHD I can definitely get off on a tangent easily. I’ve sold quite a bit in the last month in an effort to simplify and focus on actually finishing a full record.
Snapped my lower back badly on boxing day. Haven’t been able to do basically anything for a couple of days now. I’ve had similar back pains before but this is off the charts. Worse than ever before. Wouldn’t even be able to get dressed in the morning if it wasn’t for my missus. Thank heavens for her.
In my worst dreams I would’ve gone even worse and somebody would’ve been forced to wipe my arse every time I went to the loo. Came real close to that, the pain was so bad.
Today I went to visit a physiotherapist and he gave me some very good guidelines and a set of moves to get my back in shape again. The guy that couldn’t put on socks in the morning went to the grocery store all by himself. It’s a miracle!
This whole ordeal has only fortified my belief in the NGNY2022 -project. When your health starts crapping out and you’re crying on the bedroom floor for not being able to put your jeans on, the last thing you think about is a new piece of music gear. There are more important things in life than new guitar pedals.
I love my gear, and I love sitting surrounded by my synths, but maybe it’s time for me to start a new hobby and start playing badminton or something similar. I’m turning 50 in three years time, I don’t want to be a ruin of a man when I get older.
I had a back spasm myself a couple of years ago. I was in a deep squat while warming up for exercise, and all of a sudden my lower back muscles decided to contract by themselves. Sucks when it happens.
Only caveat is that i’ll buy 1 Reverb pedal from my wants list. No instruments, just 1 reverb pedal.
I won’t add to that list & i won’t research any new gear.
I’m also going to make this the time to quit binge drinking. I had a shocking experience last week, and i could’ve been in serious trouble. Time to knock that on the head for good.
I’m also nearly 50, and i’m very much aware of my repeated failures & mortality. It really is the time for me to take stock of life in general.
But i feel good about it & i’m looking forward to leaning on you guys for support & offering mine in return.
I like this philosophy. The thing that speaks to me most about it is being mindful of our limited time and how we choose the spend it in relation to our music.
The space I have for my music machines is very limited so I don’t have a huge collection of stuff. I don’t even have space for a full size keyboard. Currently my setup is made up of a sampler, a poly FM and poly digital desktop synth, a 2,5 octave keyboard mono analog synth, two guitars, some pedals and an omnichord. Most of them I’ve had around for years and in terms of sound it’s all I need but I do find it hard to use the time i have for music to get things done sometimes.
I’m not someone who is constantly buying and selling gear, going through that loop you mention. But I do think I’m at a point where it would be good for me to get more focussed about my music, making better use of the time I have to work on sounds, tracks and getting things out there.
So I guess I’m not commiting to this nogear new year because I don’t think it’s gonna help me fix what I struggle with most. I think I’ll just start with a nowifi new year.
After umming and ahing about the best small form midi controller to work with reason, I’ve gone and pulled the trigger on renoise instead. Still early days, but it turns out I find the keyboard input quite appealing in a way that the piano roll hasn’t been for at least several years.
Tried using trackers way back in the early days but as someone who’s general ethos is/was to intentionally ignore the manual in favour of intuition and exploration, I never really managed to make them go. So it should be interesting to see how stepping way outside my comfort zone might shock the system. Prolly dig into the manual this time around too.
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