#214

I found the background on this album to be really interesting, especially regarding the interaction between drums and modular:

I think teletype can give you the improvisatory element if you plan ahead and write the scripts in advance. The Walk module was designed primarily for foot control of the teletype, so that might also facilitate some ‘playing’ of the teletype. You’d have to figure out a way to get the triggers into the system, but there are a lot of ways to do that.

3 Likes
#215

I have officially sold everything, UPS have just collected the last box to be shipped.

I didn’t have a huge amount of gear, but what I had ended up feeling like it had been accumulated by accident & certainly wasn’t conducive to any proper workflow.

Huge sense of relief to be able to start again with a clean slate, with a much better idea of what I want/want to achieve - and probably as importantly - what my budget is :slight_smile:

6 Likes
#216

Had 24u frac modular and loads of outboard and hardware synths in 2011. By 2012 I had no synths. :slight_smile:

In the last decade have slowly tried a few things and finally settled on a pretty minimal configuration, for recording backing tracks. One mono synth, one poly synth, one drum machine. But I’m all about the acoustic guitar these days.

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#217

wish i’d been there when you cleaned out your frac.

1 Like
#218

Chuck Feeney has ‘[given away] (nearly) everything’:

(i realize it’s not quite what the thread is referring to, but just sharing a very inspiring read here; it just feels so good when you discover people like this, “The James Bond Of Philanthropy”, are out there - admittedly, he’s still got something to live on, but damn: %375,000 of his current net-worth now given away - bless that beautiful soul :pray: :innocent:)

6 Likes
#219

I sold 85% of my guitar shit to fund modular and it was the best decision Ive ever made. Now Ive sold a lot of my euro and I’m down to a setup that can fit in a backpack if it needs to and loses practically no expressive capability.

11 Likes
#220

As of now, I am down to just Ableton and Quneo (and I don’t know how effective Quneo will be).

Every time I hear something amazing in a gear demo or a published track, I think about it then wonder if it would actually be any better than Ableton.

I have definitely given up synths in favour of Wavetable and Operator but I keep wondering about other hardware. Morphagene and Arbhar look great but I can’t deny that I could probably get similar results by playing with Simpler and Sampler.

3 Likes
#221

send audio to the live input of granualtor II, and a couple octaves of C notes to the midi device, then modulate parameters with LFOs

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#222

Although I’ve done the “sold everything” before, it hasn’t been out of a desire for minimalism but more of a periodic need to radically shake everything up. 15-ish years ago I had a bunch of hardware and got rid of all of it (including some stuff I wish I hadn’t parted with, like a Microwave XT and Sidstation) in favor of an entirely in-the box setup. I was happy with that setup until last month when I started building a eurorack system, and I’m sure that in 15 years I’ll feel the need to sell most of it and move to something else. Too little familiarity means I can’t make music easily but too much familiarity is stagnating, for me at least.

2 Likes
#223

To be fair, I never really had a TON of gear, but I have sold many things I’ve tried just for space and simplicity reasons. I’ve come to learn I like being in the box for electronic music since I don’t have much space in my apartment and I like the immediacy of writing software to pair with my MIDI Fighter Twister or 3D. Besides that, I mostly work in VCV Rack and Ableton and Max/Pd.

I have a nice Roland FP-90 that sometimes I use as a midi keyboard but often standalone. My horn (French horn) is my main acoustic instrument and I have a cheap 3/4 classical guitar and a Seagull S6 acoustic guitar for times I want to just pluck around.

Sometimes I think I’d like some new toy, but I always end up realizing the parts I’m interested in can be done on my computer. I guess I don’t mind not having a physical device so much. Luckily it keeps me from falling down the modular rabbit hole or guitar pedal hole. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#224

I find this so inspirational to make Ableton the instrument.

I’m not there with Ableton, despite having it for many years.

I feel delightfully fluid with Logic Pro. Specifically: horizontal zoom and horizontal scroll, start from selected region. I can rip around the arrangement and my thoughts are manifested.

And then when I tab into the Ableton arrangement, I feel like a moron. I feel as graceful as if my left and right arms were swapped, and I’m just flapping. I guess, I feel like a seal? That feels right.

I digress.

Ableton as the instrument. I’ll need more effort.

12 Likes
#225

i love tips like these! makes me wanna hop in ableton asap. maybe we should start an ‘ableton recipes’ thread.

one of my goto methods is to stretch the sound a ton and play with the warp modes. i especially like using transient warp to get cool glitchy stutters and repeats.

3 Likes
#226

I feel the same way (but instead of Logic, Cubase). I feel like I can work at the speed of thought in Cubase, but in Live I feel like I’m trying to grip something without thumbs.

Unless I’m missing something, I think that Live just isn’t that conducive to working fast and fluid like that. The capabilities to do so literally aren’t there.

1 Like
#227

This might be the final GAS cure until the next piece of cool kit gets released. :grinning:

#228

I’m sure there are deep Live users here that could shed some light on this.

#229

Yikes! Shots fired. I’m outta here before the Livelies start spinning circles around us.

I will actually jump over to the Ableton thread and ask if people have some examples of AbletonTubers with fast work flow.

1 Like
#230

I started modular with a limited mindset to avoid selling stuff and loosing money. I honestly dont understand the concept of 12U 1000+ hp, since it must be extremly distracting with so much stuff…

IMO you should try to sell as little as possible. That means force yourself to use equipment you dont like/put it away for later use. Has worked for me :slight_smile:

1 Like
#231

i did a thing where i “sold everything and ran off to india” but in retrospect i was still in possession of a lot of things. i still have a lot of those. but we had the fire scare here and it made me look at everything with a “what would i take” perspective. i realized most of this stuff would stay and burn. better to deal with it now and luckily there are still people buying gear. i sold three valuable-but-flawed, i’ll-get-this-fixed-someday, had-em-for-20-years mics in as many days and it’s like a game now: what can i get out of here.

3 Likes
#232

Ha, not trying to start a war. Just stating what (again, as far as I can tell) is the objective reality.

#233

“I don’t know how to do something. It must be impossible!” :laughing:

Edit:

To contribute to the topic at hand, I think it’s interesting to think about occasional purges being a part of the process of finding the tools that speak to us best as unique individuals making music. (Or that we speak through best?)

For myself, letting go of Euro entirely earlier this year was occasionally a sad, frankly, choice to make, but in hindsight it’s so clear that it is what I needed. I’ve never been more productive recording and sharing music. I’ve never felt as good about the music I make. For me, to share my music at all requires a clarity that overrides my (often overwhelming in most other areas of my life) insecurity. The purge was part of the process to get here.

And it’s worth noting that, for me at least, I couldn’t have fast-forwarded past Euro and still ended up where I am now. I learned a lot that enabled me and that was essential. It was definitely part insufficiently-checked indulgence… but also part curriculum.

11 Likes