2022 Gear (& music???) Goals

[coldbrightsunlight]

Wouldn't mind a peek at just the cheat sheet friendship though the book does sound interesting too

[Eivind August]

I think I want to focus more on playing with different people and hopefully making something rad. Had a few more jams in those pre-omicron months, hope I get to do more of that.

Gearwise, I think I'm good now. The idea of replacing the Goodbye 24 for a PS-2 (again...) for simplicity's sake is still there, so might look into that. Maybe check out some other instruments? Time will tell.

Edit: Oh yeah, regarding the jams, I think I already mentioned somewhere that I might want an... overdrive. So. I might. Look. Into. That.

[goroth]

I think I want to focus more on playing with different people and hopefully making something rad. Had a few more jams in those pre-omicron months, hope I get to do more of that.

Gearwise, I think I'm good now. The idea of replacing the Goodbye 24 for a PS-2 (again...) for simplicity's sake is still there, so might look into that. Maybe check out some other instruments? Time will tell.

Edit: Oh yeah, regarding the jams, I think I already mentioned somewhere that I might want an... overdrive. So. I might. Look. Into. That.

You should check out the Oneder Drive. It is low gain and nice enough to be low gain and nice. It only has two knobs. And it sounds sick on full blast too.

[Seance]

After the complete and total creative bankruptcy of my pandemic days years, I would like to:

creativity
1. Reestablish and maintain a daily music routine, even if it's only 20 minutes a day or something--an achievable block of time that can help me get back into a groove again.

This is a good way to start. I sometimes find I can subvert the inner critic that you mention in #3 by mode-switching.

When I was young I'd often turn on the radio or TV and then play guitar along to that. I'd pick out melodies.
Sometimes I'd just put a cassette in a tape deck and hit record just in case I stumbled into something interesting.
Most times I'd just interact with the sonic fuckery of the random. It was fun. The process became its own reward.

I also find that smoothing out the ease of on-ramp helps.

A guitar in a case in your jam space/garage is a hassle. A guitar on a stand can is easier to pick up anytime.
I even bought a ukulele for the same reason—you can just leave it laying around and pick it up when the
slightest notion strikes without having to set up amps or pedals.
When the notion hits... just start making noise.

3. Drive a stake through the heart of my inner critic, then decapitate him, then set him ablaze on a funeral bier.

This one has been a life-long struggle for me. What started working for worked for me was... stopping fighting it.

My inner critic, or the force of inertia, is far greater than any power or ability I have.
It cannot be defeated. It will not die.

I once visualized my creative process as being like a troupe of hyperactive acrobats. As soon as one idea starts,
in comes a second and third saying "But what about this...!" Each new thing complicates the last and everything
gets glommed together into a complicated epic of of epic proportions. Each time I start on a song or creative project,
I start to shoehorn everything that "feels relevant". Soon the project becomes unwieldy and and too complicated to
sort through or wrangle into shape much less finish, and so out it goes onto my already overcrowded "backburner" where
its mere existence is a persistent reproach.
My inner critic (often drenched with the deadly poison of procrastination) is like a sumo wrestler. All it has to do is simply
push or pull or somehow throw things off balance a tiny bit and the complicated pyramid of acrobats come crashing
to the ground and the sumo wrester "wins".

As you can imagine, I thought about animating this internal acrobat/sumo match. But... you know... that project is on the backburner.

ANYHOW. What helped me was realizing two things:
1) No matter the outcome or reception, no matter how many years have passed or where I live or what else is going on
in my live, I've always kept making music/visuals/etc. So I just have to accept and embrace that fact.
For better or worse... that's just what I do.

2) My inner critic is always a step ahead of me. It knows all my weak points and vulnerabilities. There is no way for me to silence it.
So instead of exhausting myself trying, I borrow some sumo wrestler moves. To work on a project, all I have to do is nudge that
critical voice inside my head so that it isn't aimed directly at my weak spots, cutting my legs out from under me.

Sometimes I've even been able to redirect that critical force and hitch my project onto it and use its power to fuel a project.

Creation and destruction are intertwined. If I allow the creative impulse its say, then I can always come back later and edit
and be critical (within boundaries and constraints) and the two things that might have previously seemed like they
were warring can start to work together. It's sometimes about separating the two in time and space.

Another thing I've done is go back to pen and paper. When I write on a computer it is easy to work for two days and then delete
after one second. When you write with pen on paper, you can "cross out" but the thing is still there. Sometimes you can go back
and the thing that's interesting is the thing that "didn't work" that you were most embarrassed about.

So... outside constraints help. Set up a system.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I agree with a lot of that Seance about making things accessible!!! Having all my guitars out in one room (except the acoustic in the other room, just in case the notion strikes me there) is helpful, as is having recording stuff constantly hooked up. The biggest barrier is picking the thing up and starting playing so anything you can do to help with that is amazing.

Also love the noodling along to the radio trick. I do this while I'm watching TV, either try to play my own background music where there's no soundtrack, or figure out and play along to the soundtrack where there is one.

[Eivind August]

I think I want to focus more on playing with different people and hopefully making something rad. Had a few more jams in those pre-omicron months, hope I get to do more of that.

Gearwise, I think I'm good now. The idea of replacing the Goodbye 24 for a PS-2 (again...) for simplicity's sake is still there, so might look into that. Maybe check out some other instruments? Time will tell.

Edit: Oh yeah, regarding the jams, I think I already mentioned somewhere that I might want an... overdrive. So. I might. Look. Into. That.

You should check out the Oneder Drive. It is low gain and nice enough to be low gain and nice. It only has two knobs. And it sounds sick on full blast too.

It looks so boring.

[retinal orbita]

@seance I really enjoyed that post!

I have been trying to figure out some solutions like this. I may have mentioned I want to buy a smaller combo amp so I don’t bother my wife (she is super nice and says it’s fine but I have a have a 410 & 215 and THICC 80’s Peavey heads and I know it shakes the house) so I can jam out quietly…. she works from home and I get home from work and have some solo time between 3:30 - 5:00 pm while she’s working.

I’m also working on keeping a pedalboard at the ready rather than swapping shit out every other day. I bought a looper and have recorded a bunch of funky loops that I can just go back to if I only have 20 min to fuck around and practice my bass playing.

Also my brother and I recently relocated to the same city and talked about making some music today so when it’s safe and cases go down we may cross the “play music with other people” off my list. And if I can buy this tiny combo amp I will buy a bundle buggy so I can put my amp, bass and pedalboard on it and walk over to his place for an evening.

[goroth]

I think I want to focus more on playing with different people and hopefully making something rad. Had a few more jams in those pre-omicron months, hope I get to do more of that.

Gearwise, I think I'm good now. The idea of replacing the Goodbye 24 for a PS-2 (again...) for simplicity's sake is still there, so might look into that. Maybe check out some other instruments? Time will tell.

Edit: Oh yeah, regarding the jams, I think I already mentioned somewhere that I might want an... overdrive. So. I might. Look. Into. That.

You should check out the Oneder Drive. It is low gain and nice enough to be low gain and nice. It only has two knobs. And it sounds sick on full blast too.

It looks so boring.

Visually? Or in terms of features?

[qersty]

You could get a fuzz face. The inbetween stuff is pretty cool crackly overdrive. Rangemasters are pretty sick ODs too. Comboed they are insane

[backwardsvoyager]

I think what Eivind needs is an oscillating tubescreamer

[Eivind August]

Haha, I'm not sure I need anything boutique for this, really. Maybe some old mass produced thingy that can be had for cheap?

Did have a look at the IdiotBox Power Drive, which seems nice, but again, all I need is a little grit. I have used my Wolf Computer and just lowering my guitars volume, so I could probably just keep on doing that.

[qersty]

Haha, I'm not sure I need anything boutique for this, really. Maybe some old mass produced thingy that can be had for cheap?

Like an OD-3?

[Eivind August]

Or the OD-2r - wasn't that the one that some of you were raving about in one of the other threads?

Edit: I'm so sorry for making this into a thread about overdrives. What a way to start the year.

[qersty]

OD-2 is great also! Depends what you want. I think the 2 is a little more dependent on your base sound but it's still better than other ODs by itself. 3 is more of an amp in a box deal. It's great for going direct to get lofi 90s tones!

[Paul_C]

My current gear goals are:

Roland AE-01 Aerophone
Akai Midi Mix
E Bow

I'm pretty much sorted for pedals and guitars now, so apart from those if I want to spend money on myself it'll probably have to be on a synth or some other device I haven't discovered yet.

I did so much recording last year that I'm tempted to be a little more thoughtful about what I create and release, but there's no guarantee that will happen. I'm still listening back and enjoying what I created so I don't see any reason to steer too far away from that.

As mentioned elsewhere, I'm expecting an E Bow and an Aerophone to arrive this week thanks to the sale of a pedal.

This means that I only have one thing left to aspire to in 2022, so any alternative suggestions welcome

I've managed to think of a couple of things, one (possibly) fairly soon and one for later in the year.

Sooner - sometime around February, Squier are releasing a pink Bass VI - I wasn't certain I wanted one, but a couple of recent videos have convinced me that I ought at least give one a go.

Later - I've avoided doing this for quite a while now as it adds a layer of complexity I probably don't need, but as I own a number of stereo pedals I'm thinking of getting a second combo to try out - with the Beebos in particular I can create patches which do completely different things right and left, which might well be a huge amount of fun.

My first choice would be a second Katana 50w combo.