I just decided to forgo my pre (NGNY) order of the Vermona Perfourmer MKII which wasn’t due to arrive until at least April. I more or less realised it was too big an order in terms of physical and mental real-estate, amongst other things.
However, I chose instead to opt for something smaller and simpler; a 0-Coast in this case.
I suppose technically this could be considered a swap or a new purchase, but in my mind it was a less weighty substitute…a change of pre-order if you will.
Whatever story my mind decides to spin (sailing close to the GASSY winds!), there’s no getting around the fact that I went into the territory of justifying the acquisition of a new device and followed through.
I’m just admitting that, but I’m still in and committed to the NGNY cause (and a little better off financially).
I desire no new piece of gear. I’m content with the ones I have.
BUT, I catch myself all the time googling for stuff like new aluminium knobs for my MPC Live etc. I bet that before this year is over, I’ll have a cupboard filled with spare cables in factory packages and memory cards etc. and all of my gear have brand new shiny decksavers and custom made cases.
I sure hope not.
Today I made yet another great 4 bar loop with just my MPC and my Minilogue XD. Had a blast making it.
I’ve definitely spent less time online looking music related stuff. Much less time browsing this forum too. It’s very quiet with only a few threads tracking replied. A good thing!
I’ve been exploring the Octatrack for the past few days and am learning new stuff all the time. It’s hard to describe this dissonant feeling from learning new things (not even advanced, far from it) with an instrument that has collected dust for long periods of time, realising I’ve had no business buying more things what so ever, and at the same time being super stoked.
I mean this is great but I feel so dumb and ridiculous I can only laugh at myself.
This is quite a lesson smh…
OT is so wild!!! A true masterpiece!!!
Thank you so much Joebas for creating this thread! You have really done something special and invaluable here.
Made some more moves today. Boxed up everything apart from OT, Rytm, Virus and Avalon/fx.
I’m posting some pictures of gear, which hopefully won’t trigger anything in anyone, I’m happy to pull them down if anyone wants me to. The idea being to illustrate the insanity of the buying/setup activity I’ve been spending my time on. Here is the before and after:
It’s real madness. The first 303 I got was an Avalon. I got a RAT for it and it sounded brilliant. Then I got into pedals, bought a bunch more distortions, sold the RAT, sold the Avalon, got a TT-303, bought more distortions, sold the TT and got the mk2, sold that and got another Avalon, sold some distortions, got a RAT again.
If I’d just spent that time learning the Avalon with its RAT, I’d be much better at making acid and have more money. That’s just one piece of kit, I must have done it a dozen other times.
I’ve recently designed a new pedal that’s based on a RAT circuit (4 different RAT circuits actually) and would have posted a picture of it here… but it’s not in the spirit of the thread.
I guarantee it’ll give you GAS…
I can really relate to this cycle of buying and selling and then ending up in the exact place you started (except with less money). It’s pretty embarrassing the number of things I’ve bought, sold, bought again, and sometimes sold yet again. Eurorack is even worse as far as this goes. I think I’ve owned Mutable Instruments’ Tides 4 different times at this point. Madness.
Personally, the only thing I found triggering about the photos you posted was that it made me want to sell a bunch of things. My setup is pretty comparable to your initial setup, but with more euro and less monosynths. I don’t think selling anything right now is a good idea (for all the reasons I’ve mentioned above), but I do have more gear than is manageable for me. Maybe I could lend a couple pieces of gear to a friend for the year? I’m pretty sure if I box something up I’m going to end up putting it on Reverb.
I’ve been in the box for a couple of years, but am now using an SP404mkii and a Portastudio 424mkii, and I’m loving this setup, both in terms of workflow and sound. It’s the most excited I’ve been about a hardware setup since I got an MPC1000 nearly two decades ago.
It has also led to me making use of all of my other gear: guitar, bass, pedals, mics, VSTs, iOS, etc. So instead of making me ignore other gear it’s having the opposite effect and getting me excited about making music.
Not meaning to inspire GAS as setups are personal things. What works for me does not imply it’s a good setup for anyone else.
(I did get a bit of GAS from that Rat pedal above. Haha. I sold my Rat clone a long time ago and do miss it, but can wait until next year if I still want one.)
Not sure if it’s been asked in this thread but does it count against you if you buy stuff to clean up your setup? I.e. sliding shelves, cable boxes, back of desk cable holders, Velcro, etc? I just spent a bit rearranging the set up so everything is clean and easy to get to and all plugged in and what not. Which, actually relieves some GAS in a way. If I didn’t already commit a sin, i’m in… if it is, then fuck it i’m buying something. (I kid, I kid)
This actually makes the commitment to using what you have easier. I decided to make some upgrades to my HW sampler (scsi2sd), so that I am more inclined to keep it. And I covered it w/ some other stuff.
Green light imo, but the easiest way is to have less things
I actually sold a lot of gear this last year and just kept what was essential (to me). The old box it and put it in the closet for 6 months trick worked. I found myself way more productive with just a Digitone and Peak, not worrying about having to shoehorn gear into a song because you paid for it goes a long way. Doesn’t mean that the GAS isn’t strong still.
If you find yourself tempted by GAS, just browse this Twitter thread and imagine your new gear in a ditch, ignored by thieves looking for easier prey.
(I assume that like most things on news / social media that this is fake or at least more ordinary than it seems and is covered by insurance, but remains useful anti-GAS imagery)
