bapu

Zenwit
The most satisfying and productive purchase I made in all of 2012 was the Concrete Limiter for Pro Channel. 

And somebody reported a bug in it upstairs.

Awwwww man!!  I hate it when that happens! I have such a low threshold for satisfaction.   I'm going to get SERIOUS about stuff working right in 2013!!!

I'm going to try so hard, not to buy any software this year.   I've was so bamboozled by sales in 2012.  My software collection, that I had been trying to keep very small, "grew too much," and I didn't really buy things I needed, and in hindsight, I bought stuff that I really don't want bad enough to have wanted it, and I'm definitely not using all my software that I own.

Money is pretty tight here so before I make a purchase I first ask myself: Do I already have something that can do this? If not, is this gonna make my life that much easier? Then I do a cooling off period. A recent example is the guitar midi software that looks pretty awesome. After the litmus test I decided to skip it and save the funds to buy a You Rock guitar in the future.
 I also resisted the temptation to upgrade T-Racks. I did splurge for the 4-1 promo. Melodyne was almost a no brainer after wrestling with V Vocal.
I do have a pretty good selection of software and hardware. There is always something on the wish list but I've gotten a lot better at controlling my g.a.s.

Rocky

I realized that I have much more software than I can almost ever learn. This was back in Pro Audio 9 before VST's/VSTi's became all the rage. I decided that I was not going to fall into that trap. I saw it coming. Nothing but a money making scheme to constantly drain me of my money. Slowly! : )

And I made due with what I had till Sonar 5. It's been downhill from there!

But I can go both ways at times. Sometimes I don't play or practice on purpose just because I want/need to finish what I have already started. Sometimes I'm just testing software and play stuff that I really like and think "I need to get this idea recorded" Then the creative juices start flowing. And so begins the cycle again!!

bluzdog


 A recent example is the guitar midi software that looks pretty awesome. After the litmus test I decided to skip it and save the funds to buy a You Rock guitar in the future.
 

I was also going to get the YRG (ver.2), but for a $150 more, the Fishman Tripple Play looks to be a better product. Check out the Youtube videos on it...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nKhlmJ4EeI

Great documentary here on Brian Eno well worth the watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EkfGrkuEQ

Early on he states that you really only need a synth to have about a dozen sounds and you should learn the art of really programming those sounds. He says we have far too many choices these days and it can be a total hinderance rather than making you free to do anything. 

When I first started out in 1980 I only had three things, a drum machine, a monophonic synth (Korg MS20) and one polyphonic synth (Korg Delta which was basically a string machine and included a very basic single osc poly synth) I created millions of hours of incredible music with just these three things only. Used the MS20 for basses, leads, sequenced riffs and a million other things. Learned to program the poly synth to make hundreds of sounds. Used lots of effects well to cover up the fact I only had two synths and a drum machine. Used EQ really well to transform the sounds. If you listened to music you would swear I had a room full of different synths. I even used Leslie speakers to add effects, guitar effect pedals, Roland Space Echo, Roland Stereo Flanger, Mutron phase shifter you name it.

Later I got an Oberheim preset synth called a OBSX. It only had 56 patches in it and 7 knobs that allowed you to edit only 7 basic parameters of the sound. You could not store patches and had to record the parts then and there. (And had to play them by hand gads!!!) With those 56 sounds I could edit them into a billion different sounds easily and quickly, faster than finding any patch today. I could turn a wood block into an etherial pad for example in 10 seconds!

I am guilty too. I have got 6 hardware synths with billions of sounds and a lot (over 70!) of VST's as well all with massive libraries. Having large libraries is of no use if you don't know where everything is.

You are much better off restricting the number of tools you have and really learn to master just one or two of them as Eno says. We have to stop buying new VST's at some point and really get into the ones we already have. But saying that I must say Izotope IRIS is unlike anything I have ever heard and used before, Every now and then something very unusual like that comes along and then it is worth the investment. But really you only need one decent analog synth emulation, some sort of digital synth, a great sampler and you have got it all covered really.

Thanks for the link Jeff. I'm a big Eno guy. 

It reminds me of how Elton John was bemoaning technology- in the 70's they used to just bowl into the studio and get the job done- all the tooling around nowadays with audio and throwing everything onto the beat exactly and fixing tuning issues is a little bit ridiculous.

The last VST I got was the imageline Vocoder which was on sale- it's terrific. Apart from that I have all Fabfilter (yes, even the desser which is actually incredible), most of Izotope and I bought the entire Sonalksis bundle when it was 60 percent off. 

So I'm done for life or until Fabfilter brings out something new- whichever happens first.

I agree with being satisfied  but I've found in the past, I was kinda forced to upgrade.  My computers got old and the old SCSI burners were getting long in the tooth.  So was Cool Edit Pro, as recording software matured, there was some stuff it couldn't do... like MIDI at the time. ...etc, etc. etc..

Well, the thing is, back in the days, not only were the costs more prohibitive, but people usually had something they focused on, a specialty. 

If you were a guitar player, there were guitars, amps and cabs and effects. I don't think the average guitarist could discuss the merits of a Fairchild vs a 1176 vs a LA-2A. 

Similarly, back then, I could tell my drummer that I preferred his Ludwig Vistalite kit to his Tama, or tell my bass player that his new amp seemed to sound better than the old one - but that's about it. Plastic or felt beater - Say what??? LFOs and VCOs - talk to that geek behind the synth...

These days, even though I'm a guitar player and songwriter first and foremost, I've had to educate myself in an incredible variety of fields - MIDI, synths, drums, bass, sequencing as well as all the wonderful studio gear. On top of the inherent computer maintenance skills I've had to develop.

Plus, w/ the internet, it's hard to be as blissfully ignorant as we once were. Unless you were an avid reader of specialized magazines, you didn't hear about all the cool new gear unless you were directly exposed to it.

This is why I just picked up my guitar yesterday, changed amps, and played for a couple of hours. I think we all lose focus of why we are doing what we do. Maybe some don't but I do....

I just need this one more thing... and that, oh and one of those...

I played until my fingers hurt and my ears were ringing. Strat>Jordan J-100>Tech21 Comp-Tortion>Boss Bass EQ> Amp (handwired Tweed 5F1 Champ and Crate Powerblock into a 1x12 Emi Texas Heat). I bought that PB because it was cheap and hasa class D power supply) I continue to be amazed at how good it sounds. Put a POD into the loop and it absolutely KILLS a Flextone III (which isn't really saying a lot... but it does). I like modelling amos for playing around the house but sometimes I like to pulls out the Vibrolux, or Marshall and go LOUD. There is really no substitute. Then I remember why I got into this whole thing, not to get more plugs but to learn to record what I write and to program a drum track. It is fun to buy stuff though, it is like a "fix" sometimes.

J