Gear and process
I'd been accumulating modular gear over the course of the pandemic, but over the last month or so I sold the majority of my modular, including swapping my 6U 89HP case for a much smaller model, without anything in it as of yet. Instead, I'm using a lot more standalone gear.
Gear talk:
I'm using (shock, horror!) a laptop, as well as the Elektron Digitakt drum computer and Digitone polyphonic FM synthesizer. I also went from one Monome Norns Shield DIY with no input devices to two Norns Shields with a Grid and a 16n. Observe, if you want! (As an aside, I absolutely love the Monome aesthetic of raw aluminum and I've also gotten a set of faceplates and acrylic windows made for my Norns'. I kept the first two of the run, when I hadn't quite perfected the technique, so there are some blemishes; the rest went to friends.)
Interestingly, where my process tended to run up against the limitations of my gear in the past, it now seems much more constrained just by the time I am able to spend playing music each day, as I work a full time job and do most of the chores in my household.
I'd love to know how gear and process interacts for you folks, and what you do to make sure you're having fun and making music, despite the many demands on all our time.
I can so relate to this. I was a gigging musician as a hobby for several years. I moved on to get married and have a better career. The music trailed off because I moved and was no longer in musical circles in the new city. Eventually we moved across the country and my gear was sitting unused so I gave it away. I don't regret that (much) at all. It was all pretty dated, and not in great working condition.
Gear talk:
I had an Ensoniq Mirage Mk. 2 - the 8-bit version - and a janky Oberheim Matrix 6 that would flake out periodically (including while on stage once or twice!). I also had some rack-mount gear that was useful as additional stuff, but would have been pretty cheesy on its own.I started back up again in earnest about 2 years ago. We bought a digital piano. Everything else is software for me at the moment. I would like to get one more hardware synth so I have a non-weighted keyboard for some things, but with all the software options, it feels like such a waste to get a hardware synth that can't ever be changed or have bugs fixed. That's silly of course, because it's what I used for years. The bigger question is what to get?
The pandemic has been great for this for me. I can take a 10 minute break from work, swivel my chair 90° and start playing something. I can listen to stuff I wrote previously while I work if I want. And since everything except my 1 keyboard is software now, it's super easy to just sit down and start playing. Every patch of every synth is at my fingertips. No more having to juggle cartridges or floppy disks, or running out of memory for new sounds. It's all right there. I'm using Logic Pro with plug-ins from Cherry Audio and dexed.
I'm dreading going back to work, though. Truth be told, I'll probably be less inclined to write and play once I'm back in the office because I'll be tired from my commute after work, and I'll have less time to spend with the family already. It's quite frustrating.
This is a great idea. I actually used to have my workspace set up like that, but I ended up moving the music setup into the living room - maybe I should move it back!
Thank you for your insights into how using software has helped you be more productive, too. I use Bitwig Studio for recording, mixing, and post-processing, but I have yet to actually use it to make sound. Partly that's because I haven't committed to the full version yet, which includes a modular environment, and partly it's because I just like to be able to gain muscle memory on my gear. I could potentially use my 16n to control the DAW, though!