This is what I was describing the other day. It looks like a simple chain of guitar pedals, but it took me about an hour to get it sounding close to right. The pic below is what I did today. I've decided to use some of the gear that's been locked away in the closet for years.
Every day now I get closer to something. I doubt I'll ever arrive at a place where I am happy, but it is possible with effort to be satisfied, I hope. With just the gear that's visible in the below picture, my computer, and an audio interface.... I should be able to produce again. In general I haven't enjoyed trying to make music by myself. I've always enjoyed working with other people. It is motivating to feel something come to life. There is too much second-guessing when alone. But the days pass and no one arrives. There is only me, playing the acoustic guitar in the dark. An audience of one.
Somebody once told me: Try to produce more than you consume.
That's what this is: an effort to produce.
I know that might look like a lot of gear, but it's not. In the past I have achieved the best results when I focused on only a couple pieces, or one. But the piece of gear that I focus on changes from time to time. It is best to have options, but not so many as to be overwhelmed. When it comes to making music with technology you can convince yourself of almost anything. Every machine in the picture is far more powerful than I know. There is always some new way of doing things to stumble upon. Contrary to accepted opinion it is not possible to recreate very much identically with these machines. Each time is an experiment.
What you can't see in either of these pictures is my guitar. I am hoping for the first time since I started working on music to focus more on capturing performance. In the past I have been concerned mostly with fine tuning my programming. It is not difficult at all to program the life out of everything. Many electronic producers succeed wildly in that regard. Now I wish to make a human noise - imperfect, unpolished, constructed from spare parts. An orchestra of reflections falling away from their ideals.
I am aware how boring all of this must sound to someone who doesn't care. Anything can be boring for those who don't care. It's very easy.
An example of what some of this gear has sounded like in the past:
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