I’m in! I have too many synths and don’t need anything else. I need to focus, learn what I have, and make some music.
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Yes! That makes 65 of us (minus one). That’s quite a nice bunch of people willing to try to change our ways. Last year taught me a lot, I hope that this year will cement this into my new way of life and I’ll never relapse into my old ways. I am stronger than my hormones.
Good luck everybody, let’s be careful out there!
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Count me in. I’ve got way enough to enjoy myself by now after two and something years of assembling a beloved set of friendly gear 
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I’m in too! Made the purchase I was hesitant about, but it seems like the thing missing after last year’s NGNY, so I’m good now and ready to start again!
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I thought about it for a while, and I am willing to take the pledge again.
One exception is that I am currently in the process of selling my TR-6S and will buy a Traktor S2 as a replacement for my broken mk2.
Furthermore, I find that I am very happy with my DT+DN+Minitaur setup and my Push2 for ITB or hybrid work.
Thanks for setting this up again!
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The couple times I have mentioned to my girlfriend not buying any new music gear this year has resulted in her laughing at me, having seen my spending habits for over five years now. Now I get to add a “prove them wrong” energy to my resolve 
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I pledge to only buy gear with money from selling gear or trading so no money spent
Not sure if that counts ?
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Based on the new gear I need to learn, passing this year will be easy for me. So many synths like Virus Ti2, OB X8, Rytm MK2 and Digitone to learn and use new Hapax sequencer and remaster.
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I believe the point of NGNY is to tame the vicious cycle. selling to buy is still GASaholisim.
tho it does seem better to do things that way.
but my take on this therapeutic thread is, people are werking on getting control over their GAS.
so…it may not be within the constraints of the therapy to be dabbling in gear acquisition via purchase. gifts, however, had been deemed okay. so long as they aren’t gifts to yourself 
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Yeah i was chancing it for sure 
My plan is though to sell anything not being used so nothing sits wasted. Did the same last year. Defo helps with the gas as just focus on using what works.
At least thats what i tell myself
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Sell and save the money until 2024
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I’m not committed this year. But I keep having intrusive thoughts about hardware, which ultimately ends up with me wasting an hour or two looking up stuff and coming to the conclusion that I can do the same thing but better (or at least more flexibly) in Bitwig. It’s really annoying but it does spark ideas for The Grid, so there’s that at least. And it reminds me how much I used to spend on boxes with somewhat limited functionality and then sell weeks later. Anyway, I thought I’d share here.
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Looking at second hand prices and already sweating.
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just want to let yall know I’m still going strong (11 days in LOL) despite GAS withdrawals.
I have a few more things to sell, but don’t have any purchases planned.
I’m not here to judge anyone, but in spirit of holding myself accountable, I do think it’s hard to say ‘it’s ok’ to make all kinds of various exceptions like selling gear to fund other gear. Believe me, I want to do this too, so bad! but I think the point is to not bring in any new gear under any circumstances.
What is everyone’s thoughts on this? Is NGNY a hard and fast rule of NO gear purchases, or are there exceptions?
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same here no need for new gear this year on my end
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IMO, any new gear that comes in and requires some learning (even a mono synth that’s largely self-explanatory) is getting in the way of you using your current gear to the best effect. So no new gear. (Exceptions are replacing something like-for-like if it’s broken, additional cables, maybe a soundcard at a push, but the latter is stretching it)
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I think it’s ultimately up to you, and what makes sense for your goals. Similar to Jamuary. Seems everyone has their own rules, some allow one in one out, some allow none in none out.
If you’re asking for our personal rules though, I have a few exceptions:
- If I’ve exhausted a piece of gear (lol), I could swap it out for something of equal or lesser value
- If there is some utility piece that would improve my workflow and there are actually no workarounds with current gear or software, that is permissible within a reasonable budget
That may be considered cheating to some, but I think this is mostly about getting control of our irrational consumerist habits.
Fortunately for my NGNY, I got laid off from my job on Friday. Maybe TMI for a public forum, but without knowing where my next paycheck is coming from, it’s been a fresh reminder to focus on what is already around me. If anyone is struggling with NGNY, maybe pretend like there’s a chance you might be forced to sell your underutilized pieces.
Edit: I think for the sake of the group I will officially declare the two exceptions listed above void, in order to be part of a more unified front for this challenge. Thanks for everyone who responded with their opposing opinions and helping me see the error of my ways.
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Replacing broken gear seems fair!
buying a soundcard seems like something you should already have, and if you do and you’re getting a new one… idk walking the line right? people gas for new audio interfaces all the time haha.
At least with most interfaces you really don’t have much to learn (compared to a new elektron box or something) and it’s arguably a different kinda tool so maybe that slides.
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TBH I think allowing oneself to buy new gear if selling old makes this mean nothing.
It just sustains the status quo this thread is here to demolish.
Of course everybody can and will do what ever they please but to me it seems absolutely pointless to join something like this if the intention to actually change something is in fact missing.
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Heard! The Grid is currently my focus for 2023
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