I resonate with this even though i’m trying to not do this i’ve really been thinking of selling my current bass and picking up a lesser priced model (new bass would be about half the price of my existing bass’ used price), This may end up being my exception, but i’m trying hard not to!
I’d say, a bass is like a soundcard in that a swap, especially for a cheaper model, doesn’t require any additional time spent learning something new. SO maybe it falls within the spirit of this challenge of minimizing time spent on new devices, but it certainly feeds the ‘new gear’ GAS addiction a bit and that could be a problem.
I agree with you, but do you feel the same way if someone is selling something that costs $$$$ for something that costs $$? if that something is the SAME item basically (like a guitar, or audio interface). Say we originally overspent and are now coming to terms with that because of this challenge? interesting questions to me.
I could see that. Maybe I should have defined exhausting the possibilities of a piece. For me that is something that literally takes years and I have nothing in my collection now I know inside and out.
Yes, I can only speak for myself of course but to me “no new gear” means no new gear.
If something essential breaks I don’t think replacing it is a bad thing bcs otherwise this thread might cripple ones workflow and creativity just bcs of bad luck.
I would advise against this unless you really, really need the money. If your current bass sparks joy, why not keep it? What happens if the new bass feels a bit off compared to what you had? Would that create more GAS and start you looking for something that is more like your original bass? Every bass is different, even two basses of the exact same model can feel different in some respects. So, I’d say if it/you ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
This is not to criticize you or anyone else personally but my opinion is that the point of this challenge is aside from actually being challenging, to make do what we already have.
If there are exceptions like allowing buying new gear in order to feel less bored with one’s setup it’s completely missing the point. This is just my opinion.
after reinstalling ableton to a new mac I’ve ditched lots of free / unused plugins and sample packs I’m not using, I only reinstalled what I really wanted to focus on like FabFilters, Stepic, Valhalla, Elektron OB plugins and Vital, it’s so nice to see it uncluttered. also was a great opportunity to loose all the “authorization / installers warez” that always runs in the background. sorry not sorry softube / ozone / ilok / other bullshit stuff.
I also discovered lots of useful racks I didn’t see before and I’m going to focus on learning them and perhaps recreating them with fabfilters.
I’m still waiting for the EC4 I’ve ordered in november so I could start mapping these racks to knobs and creating 16 params racks.
anyway, feelsgood starting the year with clean slate with 2 synth and lots of native ableton stuff, now to create and finish some music!
I’m a black and white person. It’s either all in, or nothing. No grayscales.
That’s what works for me. But that’s just me. Everybody taking part in this challenge makes their own guidelines and tries to live by them.
But…
You can’t just partially quit heroin or smoking, you need to kick it for good.
For that reason I took this mantle kinda reluctantly as I’m afraid that I’ll be too strict or harsh on someone else in this group. But I’ll try to manage and keep myself in check.
I’m often very hard on myself and for that reason I have heartburn, stress and all other kinds of negative physical reactions. Stress will kill me unless I learn to give myself some slack. But then again, I often think that I wouldn’t have accomplished the things I have accomplished in my life if I weren’t so ”driven”. I’ll try to be kinder to myself in most other aspects of life, but when it comes to NGNY, I’m full on spanish inquisition strict.
I’ll try to make no exception, but I’m weak af when it comes to respect a limit I’ve set to myself: I’m so good at twisting my own mind with one-time exceptions or one-in/one-out rules, last year showed me.
So I’m going for the Depth Year, it’s a more positive way for me, and it works even better at motivating me towards the end-goal, which is quitting this bloody addiction for good and getting durable pleasure from creating, not a spike from acquiring.
Plus I have more and more a reluctance to learn new machines anyway…
Embrace the #NNGY aka #DepthYear and make no retreat, no surrender!
I think a critical part of this endeavour is to stop the mind’s incessant searching for gear to evaluate.
To me a big part of GAS is the obsession with buying, selling, tweaking, fitting together different bits and pieces. If you spend the year evaluating a giant list of things to buy in 2024, have you really accomplished much except some money saving?
My problem is that I always think a piece of gear will give me a particular sound I’m looking for but I have more than enough gear that will give everything I want and more. What’s worse is a lot of the gear I see that I want is counterintuitive to my musical goals. I blame my addiction to Instagram and Youtube setups.
I’ve actually stopped buying gear in a different hobby of mine. Camping. There are so many crazy Instagram setups that look cool, but totally unnecessary. I have way too much stuff as it is.
So 2023 will be the year of learning and doing!
(Although I might still need to buy a laptop as my PC is 7 years old…)
I’m in.
I want to learn my stuff, and there is alot to play with…
Didn’t even set up the midihub and PC4 yet. Syntakt + Digitakt and 4 mono synths.
Had a flash of GAS tonight for an NTS-2 but then I looked at the Rigol MSO5074 in my drawer - I will be fine.
So far no gear this year. I bought a lot the past several years as we had no local synth shops here in norcal and hard to try gear out. Fortunately most of my purchases have been a pleasure to use.
Last year wasn’t much for purchases, this year I’m going harder into learning what I have, even if I’m planning on selling it.
I can get in touch with why I wanted whatever item over churning through gear (which admittedly lessens each year) and can get a better hold on what I’m trying to do with what’s remaining.
Welp my akai won’t fit in my portable tiny bag so I copped one measly NMSVE midi controller for my iPhone rig (and downloaded Ableton 11 Lite but that doesn’t count until I buy Standard in 11 months lol)
I am still committed to making a bunch of music with an iPhone 11 this year and won’t buy anything else that’s not weed so…. All good!
I’m the interest of going deep this year I thought an honest assessment of my knowledge of my studio instruments would be useful.
Prophet 10 - 20%
Modor and-1 - 20%
Octatrack - 60%
Tempest - 50%
Modor DR2 - 60%
Pulsar - 25%
Got a notification that a module I want is back in stock, and it’s under $100 which is affordable enough for me to start feeling impulsive. Posting here so I don’t justify my decision out of imagined scarcity/urgency in a moment of weakness.
On a similar note I almost bought a couple boss pedals my friend was looking to sell, but luckily I got off on a technicality as he gifted them to me (as thanks for some free design work I had done for his band).
I’m a little frustrated to realize how little self restraint I have but I’m trying to remove judgement and just make it an exciting goal; I genuinely want to focus on enjoying what I already have!
- I will be fine.