Practice What You Preach

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you probably know that I am very enamored with Minimalism, especially Tech Minimalism.

I have several reasons for this, but mainly it comes down to Privacy, and Mental Clutter.

If I preach against Big Tech, but I’m still using their platforms, does that make me a hypocrite? Yeah, kind of.

Problem is, how do you get out of it once you’re in? And I’m here to tell you, it isn’t easy- by design. Continue reading “Practice What You Preach”

Comparing DAW Alternatives

As I recently wrote about, I’m looking at getting away from computer-based music production, for creativity’s sake. I’ve recognized that my brain just doesn’t come up with original ideas when I’m staring at a computer screen.

So understandably, my attention has turned to finding alternatives to making music with a PC. And I’ve discovered there are a lot of alternatives out there- which is both a blessing and a curse.

There is almost certainly a device out there that will serve anyone’s need for music production. But with so many choices, the problem becomes: which one do you choose? What style of device suits your creative workflow, when you don’t know what that is yet?

Continue reading “Comparing DAW Alternatives”

Analog Brain In a Digital World

Over the last few weeks, I’ve discovered something about myself: I have an analog brain.

By “analog” I mean that in the figurative, not literal, sense of the word. My brain functions by sending and receiving electrical signals, but those signals don’t really determine how my brain processes that information.

Interestingly, the idea of having a figuratively “analog brain” means that you think in analog patterns, and process information in very non-digital ways.

So what does that have to do with Productivity and Creativity? Everything. Continue reading “Analog Brain In a Digital World”

Reclaiming Your Technology

One of the biggest changes in technology in the last ten years is a shift from software being bought by end users to being leased by corporations. Almost everything has gone from “buying a copy” to a subscription-based model. Companies that have replaced licenses with subscriptions include:

  • Adobe
  • Microsoft
  • Apple
  • Autodesk (Fusion 360)
  • Avid Audio (ProTools)
  • etc.

Of course, there are many others. But simply put: the reason these companies have switched from purchase-based to subscription-based models is because they make more money that way.

And if companies are making more money with subscriptions, that means customers are spending more money. Continue reading “Reclaiming Your Technology”

The Deplatforming Has Begun In Earnest

Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t right about so many things. When I thought about the internet being controlled by people that hate conservative values, I wasn’t alone- there were many voices in the wilderness, calling for repentance.

Now, we’re seeing companies banning the active sitting President of the United States from every online platform they can.

This isn’t new, by any means. But what surprised me was how, immediately afterwards, all the same big tech companies started banning everyone who had posted about the 2020 Presidential election not being fair. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of people. Continue reading “The Deplatforming Has Begun In Earnest”

How Do We Make Hard Decisions?

Since I’ve been looking at all-in-one guitar things, naturally, I’ve done research and considered all the options. There are units going from $200 all the way up to $3000, and everything in between. But truth be told, even the cheaper ones are still pretty good. So what am I looking for in an all-in-one guitar/bass effect unit? How do you make a choice when there’s so many good choices?

I’m basically going to walk you through the decision making process of how to buy a piece of music gear- or anything, really. This is a lesson on how to wade through choice overload. This is a critical skill for becoming a minimalist.

What do you need?

Let’s say I’m shopping for a pedalboard upgrade. The first question I need to ask is “What am I going to be using it for?” And the second question is related: “What will this allow me to do that I can’t do now?” Because if it doesn’t do more than my current one, it’s not an upgrade, is it? Continue reading “How Do We Make Hard Decisions?”

Being Outmoded

No matter how much I try to keep up with the hectic pace of life, I always seem to end up feeling like I’m stuck in the past. And not in the “Things were better back in the day!” kind of way. More like the “I feel like I can’t move forward in time” kind of feeling. I want to be a creator, to make things- music, videos, machines, whatever- but I am constantly kneecapped by the fact that I’m not independently wealthy, I can’t afford nice cameras and lights and computers and toys, and more importantly… I feel frustrated that I actually want those things.

What if I made it “my thing” to be okay with getting by with old cheap stuff? I see videos by Vulfpeck done all grainy and old-school, and it makes me wonder: Could it be possible for me to make video content that’s not in 1080p, and it still be good content?

Continue reading “Being Outmoded”

Analog Brain

So, let’s assume that I’ve been toying around with the idea that I want to go all analog. And when I say “all analog” I mean everything. Which of course, made for a fun mental exercise.

If I were to go all analog, what are actual replacements for all the digital things in my life?

Photographs? Recipes? News articles? Contacts? Receipts? Letters? Journals? Writing snippets? Playing music? Recording music? Reading books?

If I were to go completely analog, it would require a bit of work, true. But there are still plenty of analog solutions out there:

  • Lomography sells vintage-style 110 film cameras, and film to go with them
  • Rolodex still sells card catalogs (as do other companies)
  • Index cards and holders are plentiful
  • Letters, paper, and envelopes (and pens) are all still available
  • They make small desktop-style filing cabinets for receipts and things
  • They of course still sell journal notebooks and such
  • For long-form writing, there’s still typewriters around
  • Analog music? Records are making a comeback
  • Need to get a cassette deck too, I think. Tapes are still available
  • Not sure if walkmans are still around, but they should be
  • Calendar/planners still exist
  • Board games and card games too, of course!
  • And for twitchy-games, pinball machines!

I think the biggest challenge to going all analog would be how to convert what you already have into analog format. Could probably print some of it (photographs, index cards, etc.) to get started. The problem is it’s easy to get analog into digital, but very time-consuming to convert digital to analog, by nature of the format. Can’t instantly convert music onto cassettes. Can’t import your calendar into a planner.

Continue reading “Analog Brain”

Digitech Jamman Replacing Ableton Live

Music/guitar nerd alert.

I rebuilt my guitar pedalboard a while back, and one of the things I added was a DigiTech Jamman Solo XT pedal, with a homemade 3-button remote switch.

The DigiTech Jamman Solo is a solid little looping pedal- it records input and plays it back, like a looping tape recorder. There are plenty of looping pedals out there, but I picked the Jamman for a specific reason: it has a 32 GB micro-SD card you can store about 10 hours of .wav files on.

I saw someone was using one to play ambient backing pads for a church service, and it got me thinking. I’ve been spending a lot of time researching software (like Ableton Live) that can seamlessly play backing tracks on command, including the ability to move back and forth between sections in a song, and transitions.

I immediately thought “why couldn’t I do that with the Jamman?”

So I did a little experiment. Continue reading “Digitech Jamman Replacing Ableton Live”