I seem to have gone full-circle now. I was most productive waaaaay back when I just had a four-track cassette tape recorder, a guitar, a cheap as chips 2nd hand bass and a TR-909 drum machine (mid-late 80's). I used to bash out tunes at a phenomenal rate, admittedly they were far, far from being masterpieces, but I Got Sh!t Done (TM).
The more computer software and associated tech I've gathered over the years, the less productive I seem to have become (too much worrying about the minutiae and details, not enough broad-strokes?) I've always played/practiced but 'making music' has almost faded into non-existence. I don't like the direction (all) DAWs seem to be moving in; it's all about bundled instrument this and have a ton of loops|samples that. It *should* be about providing excellent editing and arrangement tools, intuitive interfaces, rock-solid stability, but now it's 'omfg GBs of samplz!' I think the final nail came in the form of the recent Presonus Studio One v3 release. I thought I'd found the Holy Grail of DAWs with S1 v2; clean, uncluttered interface, great workflow and functionality but then v3 comes along and shatters the illusion, for me at least.
So, full circle? On a whim I recently bought a Boss Micro BR BR-80. I sat down with it, its manual and a mug of coffee on Saturday and within 20 minutes from scratch/knowing nothing I had a finished tune. 30 mins later, I'd finished another and I was wearing a big smile. This thing is insanely cheap for what it does (£145); live stereo recorder, multi-track recorder, eBand jam/recording tool, USB interface... It's not 'pro' by any means ofc, but then again neither am I
Lastly, for those with a better memory than my own, have I shrunk dramatically over time, or was the 909 really such a behemoth?
http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/15/gian ... m-machine/
