Software Hoarding

[rod_zero]

It is an addiction, buying things releases serotonin and dopamine, you need to get those things form somewhere else: making music.

I have been pretty tight with money the last two years and the good part has been to not buy anything and concentrate in actually using. Now when I go across multiple plugins i realize they overlap in a lot of things so I don't need anything more really.

[zerocrossing]

Well, "hoarding" isn't a good term, because that means that you are stopping someone else from obtaining something. So, I could buy a supermarket's stock in toilet paper and that would be hoarding, because then people who need toilet paper couldn't get any.

But "collecting" might be a better term. I'm less likely to do that than I used to, but I can remember buying a plugin for $50 just because I thought it had good presets and was fun to mess with on a Sunday afternoon, even if I couldn't see myself using it a lot in the future. My justification was that if I went out to lunch and a movie, I'd have already spent that amount of money, so I considered it "entertainment." Now that doesn't interest me as much and I'm a lot more picky. I saw Dawesome's HATE for a good price, thought it sounded good and was an interesting concept, but in the end I just didn't care about it that much. It seemed like something I could do in Kilohearts' Snap Heap and have more flexibility. If HATE 2 comes out and has a good modulation engine on board, I'd reconsider it, but as is, not that interested. Maybe if it had come at a time when I was more flush and feeling a bit bored. I do think that often new tools spark creativity.

But I have a lot of plugins, and I probably could uninstall a lot and not miss them. That seems like more effort than I'd get a benefit from.

[Ah_Dziz]

I do have 3 bookshelves full of software from back when they sold boxes. Much of what I have can't be sold on anyway. I'm only really bummed out about all the many things that are broken due to shady behavior on the part of the developers (lots of unactivatable stuff). I do thin things out when I build a new system. I guess it would be worth some dollars to sell off all the things I have no plans on installing ever again, but I was able to write off everything against my taxes and it's all paid for itself many times over. So I feel not so much like a hoarder , but a person with a very large and organized workshop full of tools.

[felis]

.....Pay more attention to what you yourself do than what other people do.....

That's exactly what I was doing when I started this thread.

[mixyguy2]

Word.

Powerpoint.

[mixyguy2]

Hoarding sw...so what? If it tickles your ivories, buy as many as you want.
Hoarding hw...so what? Ditto.

I fail to see why anyone gets hot under the collar about either.

I fail to see why you think anyone is getting hot under the collar about it. If anything, it seems you're the one getting a little worked up about it...

Well, "hoarding" isn't a good term, because that means that you are stopping someone else from obtaining something.

Nope. Hoarding simply means collecting a great deal of something. Often today it is associated with doing so to an obsessive/excessive/irrational degree. But it doesn't automatically imply preventing others from having it, and clearly doesn't when it comes to plugins.

[JerGoertz]

It is an addiction, buying things releases serotonin and dopamine, you need to get those things form somewhere else: making music.

I have been pretty tight with money the last two years and the good part has been to not buy anything and concentrate in actually using. Now when I go across multiple plugins i realize they overlap in a lot of things so I don't need anything more really.

Agree 110%. I've decided to be much more frugal this year (always said not to buy "unncessary" plugins but didn't always follow my own advice), and be very, very selective with my purchases. I often find that it's more rewarding to look at what I already have and really explore it. Recently I've pulled out Arturia ARP 2600 V and discovered all the amazing factory patches. It's a whole world to get lost in which I had largely ignored because it came with all the other stuff in the V Collection.

[VitaminD]

I think kvr is a great place to waste time, with other hobbyists and enthusiasts who maybe aren't really serious with creating art, but more about collecting the next hot thing. It can become a form of entertainment. Expensive entertainment. But I see this in other niche pursuits online too.

For example the photography forums are no different. Except the age tends to be more on the silver side. But same personality conflicts and hotly debated threads about personal tastes. Same discussions about the newest gear. Lots of gear hoarding (err.. 'collecting'). They have Gear Acquisition Syndrome too (and use the term). Lots of terrible, low effort snapshots shared with high dollar equipment. Familiar faces effectively habitate there. Just like they do here. And I suppose all other forums.

I too ended up just another novice regular arguing (or debating?) things for days at at time that I can't even remember what they were about. Wasted time.

I'd say just have a plan for yourself, follow it through. Don't get caught in the rut of online forums or social media, if your aim is more serious to the art instead of the collecting and entertainment. These places can encourage buying new products to solve 'problems' that are often skill and talent issues.

I think I learned more about arrangement and mixing in a few days of picking through a few Cubase projects/templates from an established commercial artist than I did in a decade of forum visiting, (amateur generated) tutorials, and trial and erroring.

[JO512]

Another way to think about it too is that we are throwing a few bucks to people who are doing cool things, making cool toys. We play with them and maybe make some music once in a while. I really like the idea that there are people out there who are able to make a living creating such things as soft-synths, boutique analog synth modules, and so on.

If not for us hoarders, less money would flow into that industry and fewer people would be able to spend their time doing such things. Maybe they'd have to write tax software instead. And the quality and variety of creative tools that exist would be much smaller and more limited. By funding, even being patrons of, the development of such tools, we are also helping make great tools available for those who really do make actual music with these tools!

See, there is a way to still see ourselves as good people even when we collect far more plugins than we know what to do with!

Some people like to knit or do Sudoku puzzles or read fanfic. I like to learn about and play with synths and guitars and maybe make a little music here and there along the way. Not everyone who plays golf has to try to be Tiger Woods. Some just like to whack a few balls after work for fun and geek out about the fancy tech in their clubs.

[vitocorleone123]

Hadn't thought of it that way before, but I guess that's what I (and many others) have been doing.
Got so much software that if it was all hardware, I'd have to store it in a warehouse.

If I had it all in my house, I wouldn't be able to move around,
and most of it would be buried and dusty.
Getting software sometimes seems more important than actually using it.

Not looking for solutions, just looking at it with a different perspective.

I choose to keep things "in a storage unit". That is, I keep the number of plugins installed to no more than 150 or so of ones I know and use and love, and store the rest on a NAS. Sometimes I have a garage sale, but that's more to get rid of things without hope of making much money.

This is just me. My way isn't any kind of Truth(tm).

[concealed identity]

For me, being able to sell software goes a long way in pushing me towards a purchase if I'm not sure I "need" it or not. If I get a plugin at a low price, knowing I can sell it and recoup most of that money if I end up not liking it makes the purchase a lot easier, and I feel no buyer's remorse or guilt from a needless purchase.

I'm currently waffling whether or not to buy Serum 2 for its intro price- I really don't know how much I'd be using it compared to the other stuff I own, and $189 is not an easy purchase for me since I do have other synths. But if I knew I could resell it for a bit less, it would be an easy purchase for me. Worst case scenario, I realize I don't like it, and spent a few dollars having fun while learning that.
(In the case of Serum, I completely understand why they don't allow reselling, I'm just using it as an example for how "software hoarding" can either lead to guilt or be guilt-free)

[Michael L]

These places can encourage buying new products to solve 'problems' that are often skill and talent issues.

In the Rick Beato interview, Hans Zimmer says he uses just two soft synths: Zebra HZ (95%) and Legend HZ.

[vitocorleone123]

These places can encourage buying new products to solve 'problems' that are often skill and talent issues.

In the Rick Beato interview, Hans Zimmer says he uses just two soft synths: Zebra HZ (95%) and Legend HZ.

I believe you need to love your instruments, especially if limiting yourself to one or three. Mr Zimmer clearly loves those instruments that were tailor made for him (I would, too, if someone did that for me!).

But I, personally, don’t love those instruments. Instead, I love others that speak to me. Don’t settle for what speaks to others - find the synths that speak to you no matter what they do, or don’t do, for others.

[jamcat]

I’ll pickup a good analogue emulation if it’s on sale for a good price, simply so I can learn something about the gear it’s modeled on.

[jethrobull]

I don't drink or smoke. I buy hard and soft gear. Fight me..