Is it time to stop buying stuff? (gear, plugins, etc)

[tapper mike]

At 58 I think I know what direction I want my music to go. I would (and still do) try to expand my musical knowledge base. To much of that however tends to make one chasing after every next thing. Or revisiting old things that I've put on a shelf.

[Mister Natural]

it's a simple question for me of : do I need this new x(thing) or am I considering an emotional decision/purchase ? If it's determined to be a need; that's something that gets serious consideration and planning before the trigger gets pulled.

[DJ Warmonger]

I already have all the stuff I need to produce good music. But I still want to have some fun, too Every new plugin or device brings inspiration and helps learning new stuff.

Many people buy stuff to produce music, but now I produce music to justify buying more gear If I had any money (which I currently have), I'd probably spend it on gear anyway

[Bombadil]

One thing I've observed is that the 'pros' (i.e., people who actually make a living off music) tend to look at instruments as tools, rather than as a fetish, status symbol, or need for inspiration. They tend to not need new gear to be creative, they just get on with it. Personally, I have found that too many choices inhibits my creativity. That's just me, but when I have thousands and thousands of synth sounds to play with, of which perhaps 500 I really like, I go round in circles.

YMMV.

[pekbro]

Interesting, pretty much all the decently successful guitarists I know, tend to go through
a lot of guitars as they like guitars and often come across new ones that they like better.
They keep a stable of the ones they like to use and sell off the rest. I don't know any
that really collect them per se. They do see them as tools mostly.

*I guess a lot of this is upgrading as well, when new models or revisions are released from
a manufacturer they like, they almost always get them.

My really successful guitarist friend doesn't buy anything at all, as he gets them for free.

[machinesworking]

One thing I've observed is that the 'pros' (i.e., people who actually make a living off music) tend to look at instruments as tools, rather than as a fetish, status symbol, or need for inspiration. They tend to not need new gear to be creative, they just get on with it. Personally, I have found that too many choices inhibits my creativity. That's just me, but when I have thousands and thousands of synth sounds to play with, of which perhaps 500 I really like, I go round in circles.

YMMV.

Looking at people who are pros who also use computers, VSTi, and synths etc.
A lot of them own a shit ton of gear! like packed to the rafters level. I think Pros use whatever they want to, realize they can write on an iPad or with an acoustic guitar, but enjoy gear, i.e. a lot of choices, like most people.

The biggest difference is pros being able to pair down to a few things to actually work without getting overwhelmed, which is what I always take away from people posting that too many choices inhibit their creativity.

What I'm saying is it's not the gear, or lack of gear that makes you a prolific songwriter, it's your desire to write, period. Yes you see people using new purchases to boost their sense of creativity, and people with too much gear having writers block, and all of it to me is just a lack of the useful ability to be a discriminating. You have to be able to cut out all the noise.

A friend of mine is a pretty good songwriter, I told him to grab U-He Hive when it was still on an introductory discount price. He fell in love with it. Almost all the synth sounds on his last record were done with Hive. He has Komplete Ultimate, and dozens of other VSTi's but he got obsessed with Hive. I write complex time signatures, off scales etc. heavily quantized. He writes almost entirely in minor keys, and hardly quantizes anything. The personal restrictions we use help more in my opinion than less or more gear.

All that said I dropped $14.99 while writing this on the Homegrown Sounds group buy. I don't know if I'll get a lot of use out of all his work, ( a lot of generative type stuff ), but I support people offering incredible deals, so it's not wasted money to me.

[AsPeeXXXVIII]

When it comes to buying new music gear/software, I do my best to resist the temptation unless it's something I find beneficial for myself in the long run. My latest purchase, for instance, was a 7-string guitar, which I mainly got in order to be able to execute my latest musical ideas, with them having largely been written with an extended-range guitar in mind. If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't have gotten it.

Granted, I do like to browse around Thomann and eBay for music gear, but it's less for the sake of actually getting anything new and more for the sake of curious price-checking. I don't even know what practical use I'd have for a reel-to-reel machine or that Softube Tube Delay plugin. My budget doesn't allow that sort of indulgence anyway.

For the time being, I have everything I need.

[neverwhere2410]

As others have said, it's subjective. You don't need a ton of amazing tools to make good music, but the tools that inspire are different for everyone. I'm in a place where I'm really happy with the tools I have to write, record and mix with; so I keep telling myself enough new things. I still get caught up in wanting to jump on the latest flash sale and usually ask myself what that plugin gives me that I don't have right now - almost always the answer is nothing.

However, I still have a hard time turning down an interesting effect priced at <$30. Damnit.

[jancivil]

I've skipped a lot of rent to buy music software. Long story though.

I bought Morpheus 2 from Sonic Couture first thing this morning. It's going to fit perfectly in what I do, I'm use to their interface and they added a couple new twists to the scripting. $59.40! 99 bucks with a 40% off code.

[jancivil]

I bought next-to-nothing for years I was so self-contained with what I had.

[vurt]

ive got space and cash, till either of those run out its as good as anything to spend cash on.

[Jace-BeOS]

Sorry to hear about your employment situation. I had a repeat experience with one sociopathic boss, and a couple others. I wish I had left the job instead of fighting for my right to work in a non-hostile environment. You're likely making the right choice by leaving, as painful as it is to leave people and work you enjoy (if upper management won't fix the situation, nothing will).

When I was on psych drugs, they made me impulsive. I bought stuff on credit, which I wouldn't otherwise have done. Each time it was one of these or multiple:

1. This item will let me do this project (but I didn't really pursue the project)

2. This purchase will result in fun (I was too miserable to experience fun; mostly still am)

3. I want this, for no really good reason, and my life is over, so WTH, I'll just wreck my credit before I die (I didn't die, but I do have bad credit).

Off the drugs, my emotional regulation is far better and I don't act on every impulse. Thing is, now I'm in poverty and that is what keeps me from buying anything much at all, even if I have very good reasons to want a thing (one current desire is this: https://zeppelindesignlabs.com/product/ ... ontact-mic , for some creative sampling, which used to be part of what made computer-based music fun for me in the past).

It's human to pursue fun. It's unfortunately also human to mistake the desire to acquire objects of admiration as a need

Even though it's enforced by poverty, I've tried to consciously act with discipline and make use of the things I acquired (including *learning* how best to do so!). If I had that stuff when I first started out, I might've been super productive. I ought to be now. But there's always something basic missing, isn't there? For me, it's the fully-analog synth experience.

[kamalmanzukie]

i had plugin itis for a few years. that mostly segued into reaktor, where i was able to was able to get everything how i like it.

now more often than not if i need a virtual instrument i immediately use my fake reaktor oberheim, or fake reaktor fairlight. and probably bong vsti. the narrowing down of tools happened organically

seriously, get reaktor or something like it. then, when you get some itch for some new dsp trick, you can build it yourself if you are smart. then, with the stuff built, they become your tools

[tapper mike]

it's a simple question for me of : do I need this new x(thing) or am I considering an emotional decision/purchase ? If it's determined to be a need; that's something that gets serious consideration and planning before the trigger gets pulled.

I like that you stated that. I seriously had something in my head to believe a new guitar solves everything.
Nothing brings me joy like buying a new guitar. I had a long run of making good money with money to spare. I bought 50 guitars in 2 years. Liked em. Made money with them. And yet there was no emotional bond to them. It was very easy for me to sell them when I was building my studio. If I thought that I was going to build a professional studio back in the 80's I would have been less inclined to buy guitars. Back then it was like cocaine. I'd buy guitars and then get paid work as a studio guitarist. Which gave me money to buy more guitars so I could get more gigs. It's like strippers (and I've known a few) who earn well and then to earn well spend money on clothes to take off.

[Bombadil]

I get the 'no emotional bond with them' statement. I've only, really in the last year, begun to bond with various guitars in my collection, because I am sated. The only guitar of mine that has real sentimental value to me is my old Ibanez ST-55. I bought it a few months after getting off the street in 1981, and was used on all of my recordings and gigs for 20 years or so. Recordings made with my late best friend from kindergarten. There's blood, sweat and tears in that guitar.

I'm glad the insanity of guitar buying is over, though. I have a collection that, while modest compared to many, is beyond what I'd ever imagined owning, save for the 'rock star' fantasy.