Am I getting better, or is it the tools that are better?

[Bombadil]

I've got some great instrumenta. There's no doubt that picking up a particular guiar at a particular time inspires me to go in new directions, even from the very first lick/progression I play. Which is a dragon I've chased, needing new guitars to keep me inspired and playing. That's done, and now I am finally going to see what I can do with my gits, the synths, see what I've learned about mixing and using fx.
I hope it all inspires me to play my ass off. I'd like to capture something memorable before I shuffle off stage.

[BONES]

Has music production become so easy that there isn't much challenge anymore, or it's just me who got better?

IN your post, you keep bouncing between "musician" and "producer". There are plenty of talented, dedicated musicians who never write a song in their lives, just as there are plenty of producers who don't write songs and can't really play an instrument. They are different disciplines. Does Scaler 2 make you a better musician? No, it does not.

Technology over the last 40 years has made me a much worse musician but an infinitely better producer. In the song writing department, I'm not sure it has made much difference, but then I wouldn't even know what I'd want to use something like Scaler 2 for. I still write songs the same way I always have, by playing around with the instruments and sounds, stumbling onto something I like and teasing it out into a song, if I can.