I forgot to mention this (because to me it’s just like a monitor or a desk) but I do have a 49 keys master keybooard. But I’m not much of a keyboard player, I prefer to program. It’s not even plugged actually.
Forgive me brothers and sisters, for I have sinned.
I know that 2022 doesn’t start until after tomorrow, but I still feel like I’ve wronged when I made a small Thomann order yesterday. I love the (user) oscs and fx on my Minilogue XD module but it has no audio input so I really wanted an NTS-1. I picked a pedal case for my guitar pedals and some new audio cords to fill the pack up to reach 200€ for free delivery.
Ever since I bought the book shop and ordered some audio gear for the shop, they’ve for some reason deducted the VAT from all of my orders. Even the ones I pay with my own card. So my 200€ order came out as a 160€ order and still free delivery included. The perks of owning a business are really something else. The Korg NTS-1 cost me only 80€.
Now I’m ready, bring it on.
7 Likes
It’s not 1/1 yet - now you are stocked up and ready to go 
4 Likes
Today is December 31st in Australia. No plans to buy anything else today so this is what I’ve got to work with in 2022.
Hardware
- MC-707: Haven’t really used it much but I do quite like the cut of its jib. Keep going back and forth on selling so I’ll give it a few more months.
- Innerclock Sync Gen 3: Will hang on to it as long as it works with the 707 audio routing (haven’t tried yet).
- Audient ID14: Basic interface that sounds decent, worth hanging on to. Small number of I/O has really helped keep the GAS at bay since I got it.
- Montage6: Still absolutely fkn in love with this keyboard. Currently in storage with family up north but hope to pick it up at some point during the year.
- JBL monitors: Easy to get a decent mix so don’t feel the need to upgrade. Also in storage.
- Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro headphones: Been using these for years.
- MPC One: Boxed up under the bed. Haven’t sold yet, mostly out of pure laziness but also felt a wee bit burned by the BS2 sale.
Computers
- Dual boot Win10/Linux desktop (3.8GHz i7 and a ridiculously overpowered cooling system), I built in 2018, with a few upgrades in 2020 (32GB RAM, extra SSD). No need to upgrade any time soon.
- Older Win10 laptop from 2016 (i7, 16GB RAM) that’s still chugging along quite nicely although the battery is getting a bit long in the tooth. Didn’t bother installing anything audio related when I swapped out the SSD a few months back but it can handle it just fine. Mostly use it for uni or connecting to the tv for streaming these days.
- Ipad Air 3: Don’t use it for audio stuff at the moment but it’s there if I ever want to incorporate it in some fashion.
Software
- Renoise: Picked this up the other day because I’m tired of the traditional DAW paradigm.
- Reason 11 Studio: Haven’t used it much because my system tends to struggle with the newer & more resource heavy synths; but looks like they work quite nicely as a plugin in Reaktor. No plans to upgrade until I can justify (and afford) getting a newer system which won’t be in 2022.
- Reaktor 6: Purchased during a particularly good sale but haven’t used it much since I last ditched the OT. Perhaps this might be the year where I finally go deep into the rabbit hole.
- Cakewalk Sonar: Rarely ever use it these days but it’s quite useful for opening up old projects.
- Handful of 3rd party mixing/mastering plugs
TLDR; If all this isn’t enough then there’s something seriously wrong.
6 Likes
This thread is inspiring.
6 Likes
I’ve got 24 hours and 41 minutes left of 2021 here in the mountains west USA and I have been giving this very deep and considered thought, even before the thread started. I’m gonna sleep on it tonight but I’m looking forward to resolving this either way tomorrow. And the 800 plus replies, cheering on, bonding and sharing posts that came before mine have been comforting, affirming, and inspiring in equal measure. 
10 Likes
Man, that was a stressful end of the year. I’m guessing I’m not the only one that made a few last-minute additions over the past month or so.
Looking around at all I have (and feeling a bit like that photo of Steve Martin above), I’m feeling more motivated than ever not to buy anything else. I don’t have a ridiculous amount of gear, but I still have more than enough to keep me busy for a lifetime, let alone the next twelve months.
I know a lot of people here are going “deep not wide” and not starting anything new in the New Year, but I’m actually thinking of signing up for a percussion class (on top of my other regular weekly music lesson). I have found that the structure of lessons is something I really enjoy, and it’s a lot healthier than going out drinking. Beating on drums also sounds like a good way to let out stress as well. Haha.
Aside from music lessons, I plan on doing as much recording as I can. I want to keep it fun though. I’ve been jotting down lots of ideas for an album, but I think that I’m going to try to let it evolve naturally if I can, rather than force something.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a great New Year. Stay safe out there, and don’t beat yourselves up too much. The world is pretty chaotic these days, music should be a way to escape that.
PS: Be careful this New Year’s Eve. Friends don’t let friends drink and buy gear. 
10 Likes
I’m in. Add me to the list!
This is my current setup:
- Octatrack
- Digitone
- Heat
- Peak
- Drumbrute Impact
- Specular Tempus
- Modular stuff
- RD-600
- Keystep
- Beatstep
- Focusrite
- Tascam DR-40
- a gazillion samples (Samples from Mars (all of them), some Elektron sample packs and many more)
- Computer (no DAW, but Pianoteq and Zebra 2 installed)
I have put a lot of thoughts into this setup. The core idea was to have one of each kind: One sampler, one FM synth, one analog synth, one drum machine, etc. I know this is enough to make some decent music. But my mind constantly wanders around asking myself what would fit additionally? How to improve my setup? Maybe go for another pedal? Or buy Dreadbox Typhon, as this is a pure analog synth (compared to Peak’s digital oscillators)? Or visit some forums and read another 1.000+ posts, to gain even more inspiration? Or watch yet another tutorial to further deepen my skills? Or buy a DAW, because how can/could I survive without?
All this holds me back from getting to know my gear and make music. And there is always (!) something to (re-)configure. Either because it is not working properly (due to buggy implementations), not working 100 % as I want it to work or because I need to fix things although they are not broken. Feels familiar? I bet.
But I add more to the challenge. An important building block for me avoiding GAS and not wasting my time is: Keep away from forums and online media in general. Stop watching tutorials, stop listening to snippets of what comes out of other’s gear. I have read them all, I have seen them all, I have heard them all. Yes, this will consequently lead to stop visiting this forum (and other forums alike). This might be even harder than the originally “no new gear throughout 2022 oath”. But I strongly believe this is - at least for me - a big and important piece of the puzzle.
So: This is my last post for many months to come. I will quit coming back to this forum for at least a year. Promised. I have not posted a lot on this forum, but I have read everything, listened to everything and watched all videos mentioned. I gained much inspiration and - measured by the amount of articles read - should be one of the world’s best electronic musicians. I am not. I have not finished a single track in my whole life. Sad, but true.
This is a great forum because of its great community. Keep on posting! I will return beginning of 2023.
The only exception from staying away might be SUPERBOOTH 2022. I am eager to go, have not been there during the pandemic. Maybe 2022? Of course this will trigger GAS. Will I be able to resist? Who knows? But what ever they will put on display - my setup is good enough already, isn’t it?
Happy NoGear New Year!
Thomas
(Feel free to reply to this post, but I will burn all ships soon after submitting this post. Consequently I will not be able to read and respond. Please don’t be offended, I am very serious about my one year ‘go deeper, not wider’. I have already switched off all email notifications in my profile preferences.)
10 Likes
This is perfect advice. The enthusiastic thinking up plans to shrink down kit, writing lists of what you own and what you will sell etc etc is unfortunately the other side of the same coin… it is the honeymoon phase of not buying kit and the patterns are repeating already. The goal is to make music, the worst time sink is the internet, whether you are buying or not buying anything… watching YouTube videos of kit you own or don’t own is really not that different, it is deferring using your kit to a later date when you either own that last piece to tie it all together, or learn that new trick then you can start…
Forums and the internet in general badly effect concentration for me, I find I can’t read a book after an internet session or deeply concentrate, I need a little dopamine hit that they can’t provide.
My tip is block internet to 20 mins a day for your personal browsing. I will do that and buy no new gear, and I am down to just vsts and an sy77 and now have money again so will be brutal the gas! Good luckto myself and to you all!
7 Likes
Good luck. The only thing I would say is that the threads about beat battles or music challenges are REALLY helpful for learning your gear. Beat battles are what taught me how to use my gear and make tracks. Not saying it’s for everyone, but if you’ve never finished a track, it’s honestly a good place to start and maybe even better than going it alone. Food for thought if things don’t go well on your own.
3 Likes
Added! And good luck, out there in the darkness 
1 Like
I remember thinking, before starting this thread, that 6-7 people might join, and that it would be surprising, if it got past 10. Here we are, at the end of the year, 82 people ready to embark. Wow! 
19 Likes
There is ZERO chance that all 82 people will go through 2022 without buying gear.
And that’s ok. The recognition and intention is a step forward in itself, and, even if it only helps stave off the GAS impulses a couple of times, it’ll be worthwhile.
With that in mind… it would be cool if everyone involved stayed true/honest to this thread and updated it… it could be for support (‘I just nearly bought this and didn’t’) or could be to let people know when we have cracked.
Let’s see/hear the outcomes of our best intentions. 
9 Likes
Yes, I’m ready! I’m actually much more confident in myself now than I was four weeks ago (I did buy one thing in that time tho: a midi thru box). Of course that’s easy to say cos it’s still December 31 here in Finland so I’m still, you know, waiting. What was the expression the youth uses a lot these days…?
Let’s goooooooo!
6 Likes
Anyone else been having mad short and intense GAS cycles over the last few days?
15 Likes
the plugin alliance sales this week were tempting. i successfully fended off buying a channel strip but did pick up another plug-in for free after applying the sale code. that felt like a minor win, at least. but i did cave and pick up xln addictive drums the other day after having it in my radar for awhile. it will take some time to figure out how it works. luckily, that’s the plan for the foreseeable future. so that plug-in is probably the last purchase for 2021.
2 Likes
Yep, except it’s been like that for me the whole December pretty much… Nothing out of the ordinary basically but maybe a bit more intense and frequent than usual.
1 Like
It’s that last chance panic-gas 
edit: hang on I think we haven’t discussed the rules enough yet – if I haven’t made a purchase in the last few days, does that mean my year is over sooner these few days?
1 Like
Everyone currently experiencing GAS before the window shuts must make a track called panic-gas with their current gear. Ready? Go!
6 Likes
I had to delete apple store mails from my inbox to see other subjects.
1 Like