So you’ve sold a lot of gear (I have), recently, over the years, yesterday or last year. But the point is, you’ve had some stuff that you don’t anymore.
What’s the one piece - and you can say only one - that you go “Hmm. I kind of miss that now. Should’ve kept it.” And why? And most importantly - do you remember why you sold it?
Mine’s the Tanzbaer. I reach for it from time to time, and it’s not there. For the amazing kicks (it has two!), for the swinging sequencer, for the clarity and punch of all its sounds and that it just has a lot of character. Didn’t matter what you did with it, it just sounded good anyways. Even the placeholder sounds for bass and lead had a suggestive tone.
And I sold it because it has a very specific sound. And for me, looking for a small but versatile rig, I couldn’t justify its price in relation to its limited bag of tricks. For all the times I used it, there were ten times more when I didn’t. Fine, if you’re a big player with big money and big on space. Not so much when you’re not, like me.
But of all the stuff I owned, that’s still the one I sometimes think: “Hmm.”
boss RCL 10 compressor - it did lovely things to the kicks i put through it. at the time i was buying lots of pieces from ebay, and sold lots of them again because i thought it was overkill.
listening back to the tracks i used it on, the kicks sound great. it’s not an expensive one to re-buy, so may do that soon.
A great idea for a topic, but I actually don’t have any regrets about selling - there were always good reasons. Even the Synthi AKS, even the Pro-One …
I was incredibly fortunate to have a Dad who was happy to reward me for passing “big” exams. So, first set of key exams he got me an old beat up Wurlitzer EP200. Sounded all crackly and amazing as it was on the way out to be fair. Still have it! But it really needs some restoration work - keep meaning to do it one day.
Anyway, the second reward was the FS1R. What a machine. I could only have been 16 or 17 when I go it so had heaps and heaps of spare time to program my own sounds. Never knew what the hell I was doing but some of the sounds I made with that box were tremendous. I remember coming across a recording I had made (since lost ) with this layered mono lead sound that had this ghostly voice over the back of it. Still gave me shivers!
So, what happened? The band I was in through school/uni split and I forgot about music for a few years. Just before getting back into it, my other half got pregnant and a whole lot of things had to be bought so goodbye beloved peugeot 206 (cabriolet special edition - loved it), goodbye FS1R and hello expensive pram, crib & other essentials!
Of course, who can be that upset with selling things off like that to help give the best possible life to your son?! So I don’t regret it, but I do miss it. Swore I would buy both car and FS1R again somewhere down the line but cannot believe what FS1R’s are going for these days!
Sold my Minitaur last year when I was in purge mode for the first time. I decided I only wanted a single mono, so I chose the BS2 over it because of the BS2’s flexibility.
I chose poorly.
The BS2 ended up going out the door a few months ago since it never put a smile on my face like the minitaur did. I don’t miss it. And try as I might, I’ve been unable to get the bass sound that I’m looking for out of the yet unsold Virus, or software.
So I bought another one. I know I’ve been going on a bit about dedicating myself to getting the most out of a single synth, but I’m looking at this as a kind of get out of jail free card since it’s so bloody good at doing the bass I’m looking for. This time I also have grand plans to integrate it’s CV & audio inputs with Reason.
Dave Smith Evolver Desktop.
The A4 is not so far from it soundwise, but the Elektron had “something”.
I sold it because of stupidity, it doesn’t send CC and I stupidly believe that my “studio” (a laptop, Evolver, a shitty midi keyboard back then) had to be totally integrated.
i miss both of them quiet a bit. I hated that they were rack modules, they were hard to control, but now i miss the multimode , the outputs and the vocoder of the micro q. It had several cool features…
Well at the end, i am now more productive, you had to squeeze the boxes quiet a bit to get something out, and the workflow was counter intuitive.
One of my first hardware pieces so I didn’t have a lot to compare it with. The sound, even though it was VA, had a certain rich buzzy biting harmonic richness to it. Just felt alive. Sounded great in a mix. Sort of stood out nicely. Not overpowering or dominant, just… different. The build quality was excellent too and it took up very little space. Bought a Nord Lead 3 keyboard instead. Although the interface on the NL3 was fantastic, just didn’t have that same sound texture to it. Sold that too and don’t miss it. Ah well. Maybe I’ll get another NL2x one day.
Ensoniq SQ80, just because it was so freaking intuitive. It always had this kind of kitschy sound that irritated me but which seems to actually be in vogue currently with all this vaporwave nonsense. I managed to find some sweet spots with it, though, and its workflow was just lovely. The real achilles heel was that the thing kept becoming unresponsive on me, which totally defeats the purpose of having a good flow.
Right now the only thing on my lust list is a Nord Drum 2. It was a Subpac and a Nord Drum 2 but I just pulled the trigger on a Subpac a couple hours ago. Yay bass.
I used to get really neurotic about gear and I would associate certain pieces of gear with certain “aesthetics”, which usually meant an imaginary, anachronistic place. It made me really unhappy. I have reams of journals and digital files full of rambling garbage about such. Like I could evoke nuanced feelings just by using the right piece of gear and being in the right state of mind. Ridiculous, it makes me sick to read that stuff now. I’m sure I was diagnosable.
I don’t know what cured me of that. Maybe getting a Monomachine because it was my dream synth for a long time (and now I’m kind of underwhelmed with it, lol). I just don’t really think that way about music or gear anymore. I realize now that music is all about sensations for me and the only way to find pleasurable or meaningful sensations is to let go of my presumptions and pay close attention to what’s going on right in front of me.
[ul]
[li]Roland MC-808 - nah![/li]
[li]Roland SP-404 - meh![/li]
[li]Novation X-Station - nope![/li]
[li]Korg Electribes - nyet (although I miss the ease of use of these guys)[/li]
[li]DSI Evolver (I’d miss it if I didn’t have a PEK)[/li]
[li]DSI Mopho[/li]
[/ul]
The only decent thing I’ve sold is the Oberheim Matrix 6R, but I don’t miss it that much…probably forgot some other gear, but if I can’t remember it, I’m not missing it!
I had one of these for a couple months and I couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. It sounded great but I absolutely hated the workflow.[/quote]
BINGO! I kept mine way too long trying to get all sorts of devices to control it. Finally, realizing that it just can’t handle that much midi traffic with it’s paleolithic cpu, I sold it. Nothing else I have can make sounds like the 6R though, so I do miss it!
Oh yeah, I forgot about my good old ESQ-1. Miss it even though the interface was not for me. I thought it was intuitive enough, but I just prefer knobs rather than all the clicky-clacky buttons. Fantastic machine though. I had the metal one. Built like a tank. Great 80’s sounds. Could get cheesy but also very dark and mysterious Carpenter sounds as well. Loved the bass it could put out - putting an arp on the track in Ableton was instant fun. I’m still looking for some sort of knobby digital/hybrid synth to replace it. DSI Prophet 12 looks incredible but a bit outside my budget.
novation nova desktop synth: such a cool knobby synth. i had just bought a couple of synths etc and then found out my wife was pregnant (unplanned) and so, i had a moment of panic thinking i needed to sell my gear since i wouldn’t have any time to play with it anymore. anyhoo, i still find time to play
audiofire 12: nothing exciting here, but again, i was trying to rework my workflow so that i wasn’t spending any time on the computer and i could just turn my gear on, jam out, and record. i replaced it with a DA3000, and while love it, i really really really really miss arranging in a DAW.
blofeld: i had a blofeld from when they were first released and really loved it. i had a moment when i decided to sell all my gear except for my monomachine and just work using the computer (for sampling/arranging/effects etc) and the monomachine. anyway, i ended up buying another a few months back and i’m happy that i did. a super easy to use and versatile synth.
) with this layered mono lead sound that had this ghostly voice over the back of it. Still gave me shivers!