Discarding Your Musical Past

[ghettosynth]

I'm in the middle of a complete cleanout for some practical reasons. Much mass is being discarded. As a part of this process I have encountered multiple boxes of my music past, mostly captured on various forms of tape, some on CD. I have a small number of commercial CDs that I probably intended to sell, then to give away, now this.

I think that I'm just going to dump it all, I mean literally, in the trash bin. The memories are great, anything that I ever wanted to preserve I probably have in digital form, if I don't, oh well. It's not like I'm going to go listen to it again or sample it. Along with the various artifacts, I can toss all of the players that I've been holding on to and will most likely never use again.

Music is consumed linearly. To listen to my past takes linear time. I'd rather listen to either the works of others, or, my own work that is more recent and sparks my current sensibilities as opposed to just being nostalgic.

What's your take on this?

[gullfo]

i'm leaving all my old stuff in a box (and the internet) and letting the people inheriting my estate sort it out. old crappy 4-tracks made during drunken rage binges may be all the new thing in a few year hence. why make that choice now, when you could leave it for the next generation of appreciative listeners and dancers?

[machinesworking]

Mixed, I would keep at least one artifact CD etc. I have had the misfortune to have lost two different 16 track recordings of two bands I was in, a seminal electro Industrial act in the 80's then a math rock project in the 90's. I'm not nostalgic, but not having any trace of the math rock band and only a few songs on compilation records of the Industrial act just sucks.

[pekbro]

A couple years ago having to move I really cleaned house and discarded 90% of my old crap musical and otherwise. Shoulda done it years ago honestly.

Liberating…

*of course, 2 yrs later and now I have a bunch more crap.

[ghettosynth]

Mixed, I would keep at least one artifact CD etc. I have had the misfortune to have lost two different 16 track recordings of two bands I was in, a seminal electro Industrial act in the 80's then a math rock project in the 90's. I'm not nostalgic, but not having any trace of the math rock band and only a few songs on compilation records of the Industrial act just sucks.

I have a keepsake box, which is all keepsakes, not just my tapes and friends. I'll probably throw 1-3 (music) items in there along with a few other things. The things that I've lost I value more than the things that I have. I have a demo from one band, but what I wish that I had was the live DAT that sounded much better. It was lost long ago. I digitized the video that has snippets of us recording the demo and the studio owner talking shit about someone now famous, who was not so famous at the time. The video is fun, I don't need the video tape as well. It's not just the tapes, it's also holding on to the, now useless, super-8 camcorder.

[ghettosynth]

A couple years ago having to move I really cleaned house and discarded 90% of my old crap musical and otherwise. Shoulda done it years ago honestly.

Liberating…

*of course, 2 yrs later and now I have a bunch more crap.

I'm kind of there. Every time I handle it I have to think about it again.

[pekbro]

It’s like they say, your possessions own you, not the other way round. Sadly…

[zerocrossing]

I'm in the middle of a complete cleanout for some practical reasons. Much mass is being discarded. As a part of this process I have encountered multiple boxes of my music past, mostly captured on various forms of tape, some on CD. I have a small number of commercial CDs that I probably intended to sell, then to give away, now this.

I think that I'm just going to dump it all, I mean literally, in the trash bin. The memories are great, anything that I ever wanted to preserve I probably have in digital form, if I don't, oh well. It's not like I'm going to go listen to it again or sample it. Along with the various artifacts, I can toss all of the players that I've been holding on to and will most likely never use again.

Music is consumed linearly. To listen to my past takes linear time. I'd rather listen to either the works of others, or, my own work that is more recent and sparks my current sensibilities as opposed to just being nostalgic.

What's your take on this?

Same. After moving a box of 4 track cassettes and 8 track reels around for a decade or two, I put it all in the trash.

[ghettosynth]

That quote hits. That is the current process. I am physically shrinking some of my underexplored DIY hobbies that I just don't have time or motivation for anymore. I'm not putting anything in its place, I'm just enjoying the uncluttered corners of my house/garage.

I think that nearly all, if not all, of the non-DJ vinyl is next on the chopping block.

[Bombadil]

I have trouble listening to my old stuff. It was recorded with my best friend since kindergarten. He died in 2011. Complication from Myotonic Dystrophy. I was right in the middle of remixing one of our 4 track sessions when he died.
I haven't gone back to that task to this day.
Recently, I demixed some songs with Logic's stem splitter, added compression, delay and a bit of reverb, and the songs came alive.
Of course, I thought if only Brian were here to hear this!'
I'm going to do it to get it over with and move on. We had serious technical limitations due to A) I was an impoverished student and B) these recordings were made pre-digital era, at least for amateurs like myself.
Aaaanyway… I had always planned, with all my toys, to do 'definitive' versions of the old songs and then put them to bed. I've come to the conclusion that, at this point, I really need not bother. I'm just going to remix the old tapes and move on to new things. It doesn't take up much physical space, rather the space in my head.
I have some music for about 10 new songs, ideas for themes, and am going to start working on them in 2 weeks while my Missus is away.
My friend's death made recording emotionally fraught for me. Best friends since kindergarten until age 51. That's rare.
So, it's best for me to move on and do new stuff on account of the emotional baggage attached to our old stuff.

[FranklyFlawless]

What's your take on this?

I more or less did the same thing. The only way anyone can listen to my improvisations now is during a live performance. That being said, I do have one unpublished semi-composed work that requires deploying a static site generator first.

[Aloysius]

I used to actually make music and make completed recordings. These days I spend more time sorting out files and watching technical videos. I wouldn't mind going back in time and backing it all up. Some of it was pretty good. I can still remember some of the tunes I made (sound-on-sound) with two tape recorders.

Keep everything!

[vurt]

It’s like they say, your possessions own you, not the other way round. Sadly…

in this room, i have toys i owned when i was 4 or 5
tbf, i had cool toys

[Bombadil]

You're lucky. I lost everything when I became homeless.

[vurt]

You're lucky. I lost everything when I became homeless.

i did lose all my xmen comics and figures in a house fire
id passed most of my star wars and stuff along by then, xmen were the holdout, and quite expensive to replace now