I have experienced this a lot when working in the box. Too many plug ins to choose from, too many presets, too many effects plug ins, etc.... in the past 10 years I have gone to almost exclusive hardware, analog mixer, effects, etc.... I guess I'm wondering if anyone else suffers from this. I went way overboard on drum machines, synthesizers, etc...to the point that I find myself completely stagnant. Just too hard to choose what to use. And if I do choose, by the time I get it hooked up and working, I've lost my creativity and it just bums me out. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything close to a setup like some people, but it's too much. Seriously considering either shelving a lot of my gear and just sticking to a few things, or something else. I don't think hooking everything I own up at the same time is an option. I have 48 analog channels that I can bus into my protools rig and back, but that would be soul crushing for me to even think about doing, and it wouldn't even be enough for all my gear. I have considered patchbays, but just am not sure. Anyone else gone through this?

It's a widely recognised thing when working in a DAW, not as common with hardware.

I've seen quite a few people who have set up a main hardware rig, but also have smaller, more fun setups elsewhere. I do this myself.

Maybe sit with a list of your hardware gear and hone down what excites and inspires you, and create a rig with just that. work with it for a while and maybe swap out an item or two. We only find out what truly works by working with it.

Yep.

Loaned all my stuff out and kept SH-101, 606, Move and a laptop.

I don't do well with a heap of options and end up feeling guilty if I have a lot of gear set up.

I am much better with less options as well.

ITB - I have drum racks set up with my fave drum samples, I also try to just use a few VSTs

HW - Similarly, if I don't use something over the course of 6 or so months or it doesn't make it into finished tracks. I sell it. At this point, I have a small, but focused studio that I am very comfortable with.

Can I suggest you are overthinking things?
Keep 1-2 drum machines out
Keep 1-2 mono synths out
Keep 1-2 poly synths out

Unplug everything else and put it in the closet.

Now, get to work!

If it’s possible for you, I’d suggest trying with several smaller setups. I can’t deal with complicated setups myself, so this is my solution - one sequencer, two synths, a couple of effects, a mixer and a sampler.

I mostly use live 1-2 machines and a recorder. Don't bother with sequencing MIDI, automation, recall. Just me, machine and capturing the moment. Otherwise there's no fun for me.

amused when i saw your thread title because it ties in with what you were saying about 303/909 etc replacements

Never had this problem - I just use what happens to be plugged in or what the mouse pointer flows over. If it doesn't fit at all, however I try, I change it to something different. In the box tunes often come while testing a new (freeware) plugin, so there's basicaly one plugin = one song. Or I use just a couple of the ones I'm used to.

In hardware if I become a bit bored with a connected drum machine, then I change it to some other one or don't use drums at all (or start to use the connected one not as usual - for example making rhythms with rarely used percussion sounds). I hate to untangle and replug cables so it saves me from changing setup often. However, sometimes I want to use something which is not plugged in and stored away, but can't be bothered so use whatever I have at hand at the moment.

Choice is the enemy of creativity.

Pick just one instrument and make something that keeps you interested for 3 to 4 minutes. Only when you’ve reached that stage, you’re allowed to add another instrument.

Great exercise in forcing yourself to get the most out of your instrument. Might even change your whole perspective on composition. Wish I had tried it out twenty years before I actually did.

Yes. Sometimes, I get fixated on certain oscillators and filters. I wasted over an hour last night comparing the Ambika/Xena and its 3109 filter to other softsynths with similar filters. I wanted to like the Xena, but maybe because of the interface, I do not feel like I have much of a bond with it, compared to when I had a MicroMonsta 2 or a Minilogue XD. I should have spent that time making music, but instead, I was exploring a filters that were not only good for trance and ambient but also had sound design possibilities.

The 3109 OTA filter has a nice sweep, percussive self-oscillation, and sounds saturated and musical in a good way. Its oscillating frequencies even change with drift or pwm input! Icarus 3 has similar nuances, but the self-oscillation is not percussive. Multi/Poly has percussive self-oscillating filters, but they do not capture all of the 3109's nuances. I felt like getting a wavetable synth just for that filter was an impulse buy.

Totally get this. I use editors with hardware synths and the messing about just kills creativity. I now try to get a track started with VSTs and if a track is staying then I usually send it to hardware later. On the synth side of things there is far too much perfectionism on choosing the synth, the filter etc.

On the fx plugins I’ve gone the other way. Some well picked outboard has allowed me to tweak on the fly and give me an A/B choice of bettor or worse? Strangely this has led to me being more efficient with plugins because I then have a better idea of what I am actually trying to achieve.

Losing one’s creativity sounds like it sucks, I’m sorry that happens. I guess maybe you *don’t* have some of the things that make my brain suck though, which is a win

I think it depends on the individual. Whenever I buy something, hardware or software, I do a pretty deep analysis of it so I can get a grip on its character and features. After that, not really much consideration. I just act intuitively, or pick an instrument to use for reasons like, I just haven't used it in a while. I enjoy a bit of randomness and chaos over some perfect execution of a vision. There are times an instrument isn't working and I swap it out for something else, but I don't fuss or spend much time on this.

I think a lot of musician are very fussy and perfectionist leaning. For those types, a single example of a few types of synths is probably the best. I'm not that.

I store my gear on easy to get to shelves. That way I can just walk in and grab what I want and set it up on an empty desk. Might just be a Reface and a little 8 track. Might be several bits of gear. Whatever I'm in the mood for.

The interesting thing is that I worked out that it wasn't so much choice paralysis that hampered any creativity; it was the visual overload and the vague sense of claustrophobia with all the gear around me that fried my brain.

Same. I went though a period where I had to go ITB for a while. When I started repopulating my studio with hardware, I went crazy. I picked up every cool little instrument that seemed interesting. It ended up being awkward to use and claustrophobic. I'm sure the number is different for everyone, but for me, I seem to be comfortable with about 8 hardware synthesizers. Of course, I have many software instruments and their non-physical nature makes them immune from that issue.

Is this the First World Problem we read about occasionally?

Of course you can sell one of your items, or maybe two.
But then you have to leave GS.
Please, this is not an artists board. Its a hoarder forum. Completely different things.
Of coarse there are a few people who do both.
Its tolerated to make music with your hoarded gear as long as you dont overdo it.

Seriously, I doubt the problem is too much gear, although I dont want to rule that out either.
I believe the problem is crippled or hindered creativity. No inner voice, or too much outside noise, or both, not enough idle time ( idle time is most important ).
Too much stuff is usually only one factor, or even a symptome.

Reduction can help. But most important thing to avoid is an or any imperative to create.
Creativity is not a matter of will. On the contrary, creativity per se is the will, and the artists is the passive tool to carry out that will. Create what wants to be created, not what you want to create.
Playing around, not restricting yourself creativity wise is also important, the same coin, worded differently.

Make groups of gear.

I have a lot of gear, too, I used to have everything setup as a massive “rolling stock” base show. Not anymore. EDIT: I should add that I live between two continents and three homes. So this is spread across them.

I have setups for different moods and vibes. I a constantly making music and inspired. All of my equipment is grouped in a way that gives me a vibe. I was inspired to do this after reading an interview with Chris Lord Algae in which he said that he buys an 1176, gets a setting he loves and just leaves it. If he wants that setting, he patches to it,

I do the same with software now: Korg Gadget is all Korg Gadget. MPC 2.0 is all MPC 2.0 etc I don’t need to drag pigments or Waldorf into it. I may just start stacking the same synth as a session. All Waldorf Microwave. Or all Dune 3. Or all UVI. Etc

Octatrack#1, Peak 1 , Peak 2, Boomstar 3003.

Digitakt, AN1X, Nord rack 2, Rytm MKI and A4 MKI.

Octatrack 2 , REV2, RYTM MK2 #1, Nord 2X

MC707, Nord 4, Virus Snow

Digitone, Rytm MK2 #2, Analog Keys,

octatrack 3 , Gaia 1, Reaper with Pigments, Avenger, Sylenth, Arturia, Korg, Roland etc

rS7000, ob6, cs6X, Argon8

roland sh4d

Roland Verselab

Korg Gadget

Live 12

Bitwig

Maschine Mikro3

Mpc 2.0 with MPC Studio (soon an MPC-X).

Friction barriers bother me more. Whether I have or want to use a little or a lot, it's about how quick I can get to creating that determines the enjoyment for me.

Good point.
Having too much stuff sometimes also means not being familiar enough with your gear to work in a flow, spontanously, immediately.

There are literally countless examples of very successful and good artists saying the exact opposite, that limitations breed creativity.

But you know, believe whatever you want to.

TLDR: don't hoard GEAR, hoard SETUPS

thats neither the opposite nor a contradiction to what I wrote.

Very good points. Thank you all. I ha e a 3 bedroom house and live alone. I could definitely set up a second set up somewhere else in the house. I have a small second mixer.