I felt a bit responsible myself earlier in this thread, I’d mentioned the MPC and Pigments, maybe Ableton, and after posting I felt it wasn’t in the spirit of this thread, and the notion behind it.
But, you’re right, it is a gear forum… coming here in itself is like walking into a bar. 
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Not gassing as much as maybe questioning why I swapped DT for OT back in late November/early December. I was super productive with DT and it just sounds so good with minimal work and I love how each track just automatically has two filters, distortion, bitcrushing, reverb, and delay – with OT, I’d need three or four tracks to get all that up and running on one sample. So, OT feels like a struggle to me right now. But, on the plus side, I am learning new things every day, such as working with slide trigs and the fact the dropping the amp volume massively before entering the filter really helps the latter not clip horribly when using very high resonance settings. So, right now, I’m persevering but I’m still feeling some pangs of regret.
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Pocket consistently recommends gems. Thanks for sharing this 
I’ve definitely been guilty of this in the past, it’s so easy to justify spending this way.
So - anything I sell this year is purely to pay down debts, both to benefit my family and improve my mental state.
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Don’t worry, I think Elektron took the “no new gear” pledge too. 
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Im JASsing. I need a job bad 
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I’m trying to see this going past 2022. It would totally suck to return to the old habits with a vengeance and reset most of the benefits by doing so.
A few days after I made the vow I watched Stimming’s vid of the Waldorf M which is ATM the most interesting sounding synth (that I don’t own) I’m aware of and was already scheming to reward myself after this year but I don’t think so. I laugh at myself for even going there lol. Me you old dog… 
There is a real potential for a lasting change in ones attitude I reckon.
Lots of progress can be made in one year and there’s no need to stop there.
More music, financial stability, impulse control, time and self respect.
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I would like all of that too. I want to make this a permanent change in habits.
That’s not to say I wouldn’t ever buy any gear again. Just not do it on credit or a whim because I fancy something shiny…
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Just think about all the fuss getting new gear would cause: cables to organise, stuff to move around, new firmware to download before even being able to use it. Getting new gear sucks.
On the flipside: I’m not really suffering from gas in general really, but I’m in this to motivate myself to really optimize my workflow on a minimal setup instead of keeping on adding/adjusting things. Because of that, earlier I was about to post a succes story about the inspiration I already got out of my minimal setup. It felt like it would be good to not just talk about things we shouldn’t/didn’t do, but also about good things coming out of this. Now I wonder if that might actually trigger gas in others…?
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I would like to hear people’s success stories!!
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I am planning to sell a few Eurorack modules that I rarely use. Probably will post these soon as they are no longer needed for what I am doing.
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so far no gear and need the money for property taxes and home renovations/repairs for next few years. All good with real estate prices rising it will increase my equity to have cash later on. Plus next year looking at getting a new car if chip shortage ends and prices come back to earth.
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I’ve been struggling with a desire to sell things over the past couple of days. And while this is technically not against the spirit of the challenge, I know for me it is deeply connected to the impulse to buy something (and also goes against my pledge to not buy OR sell this year). It’s a response to discomfort, a misplaced desire to change something about my inner state through external/material means. In this case, rather than “If I buy something I’ll feel better” my brain is saying “If I sell something I’ll feel better” when in reality I need to sit with, and pass through, this discomfort.
On a more personal note, today is the one-year anniversary of my father’s death from COVID, so I’m not surprised that so many feelings are coming up right now. But the truth is I need to feel all of the grief that is surfacing rather than disassociating from it (which is what so much of the buying/selling cycle is about for me).
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Haha well basically:
I’ve downsized my setup to 1 synth, 1 sampler/sequencer and a daw (which will remain unnamed as to not induce gas), and it feels really great. I’m very productive with this setup, and it feels liberating to have very few options.
My main succes so far is that I thought about adding something to this minimal setup, and then figured out how to make my one sampler more or less do all the things the new piece would do. This makes me feel like I don’t actually need that new piece of equipment, but the thought process inspired me to get better with my current setup. I hope to have some more of these moments in the coming year!
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Most of last year I was waiting to sell my late mums house. During that time I was pretty much without any gear but I knew when the house sold I’d buy a few things. I could’ve literally bought anything I wanted and for half of that time I was convinced I’d end up buying a Waldorf Iridium. I even seriously considered getting a Quantum and an Iridium as an expansion. But for reasons I won’t go into right now (but I will one day, if and when I complete this challenge) I ended up buying 2 Op-1s. That might seem ridiculous to some people, given the opportunity and options, but it was absolutely the best decision I made.
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So sorry about your father. May he rest in peace. I recently lost mine, and it is life changing. I wish you the best going forward.
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It’s best to welcome the negative feelings just like the positive ones, and face them, than to try and escape bcs that never ends well. Sorry to hear about your father. I lost my father last summer too so I can kinda relate since it’s still fresh in my memory.
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Sorry to hear about your mother. Buying stuff to distract oneself in painful times is a concept all too familiar to me. Two OP-1s is a weird one but I’m sure you had your reasons for it.
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Thank you 
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