Poise Under Chaos @poiseunderchaos@sonomu.club

i think that's about it. if things come to us, we'll add more. <3

in addition, "b-stock" can mean anything from refurbished (including by the manufacturer) or barely used or sometimes, open boxes *as well as* something is imperfect, including "cosmetically" imperfect. it can mean giving up the full warranty for saving some money, though. (you did remember to wait a year to a year and half to see if things go wrong, yes?)

also, dealers offer 10% off regularly (or for some of them, always -- in the US, check their sites for sales, especially around holidays).

5) figuring out how to buy and sell things can be its own time suck.

this is like "smh", lol. like omg, so many ways this can go wrong. in general though:

if you're buying something new, try to get at least 10% off. 20%-25% if you can wait until something is about to be discontinued. (which is its own gamble, and can be complicated).

4) you like what you like, just make sure that you don't get misled in the process.

there's no point in discussing hardware vs. software, as a general truth. whatever works for you, works. but! there's no shortage of ways to get led into *thinking or wishing* something will work, when it won't, in ways that aren't always obvious.

also, there's a lot of hype around gear, both from manufacturers and users. don't fall for it.

based on personal experience? try not to let things get that complex. (it can sneak up on you). instead, try to do as much as with as little as possible.

it's *way* too easy to wind up in a position, in software, hardware or both, where everything becomes almost like a form of IT. "i would play right now, but *math formulas over someone's face.gif* i can't, because i don't get how things work yet". "i would write the song in my head, but the software just crashed".

3) less technicians, more musicians.

we're using musician here in its broadest sense. if you make music, you're a musician now. congratulations! make sure to drink plenty of water, and get plenty of rest.

2a) if you have the itch to get into modular, we'll keep you in our thoughts. ;p

2b) if you have an itch to get a workstation, same.

they're both things that sound great on paper, but they're also a huge time suck, and frequently, wind up posing as many problems as solutions.

releasing some high priced piece of hardware, then just abandoning it, is definitely common. it sucks, but that's captialism for you.

here's a list of things we're learned over the past several years, given the state of music production this decade. (also applicable before then, but it seems especially relevant now).

1) if you have to buy synths or keyboards that are a major purchase (anything over $500, for sure), wait a year to a year and a half, then see what has happened. if there were bugs, did they fix them? if users wanted new features, did they add them?

someone did a video talking about it and other design glitches -- we were like "really, they don't support any other time signatures?" so we checked the manual, and sure enough -- 3/4 and 4/4.

so i guess that's going to be a feature update, hopefully/presumably. "now with 5/4!"

so this new slab of parts that got us all excited (yet skeptical and blah and so on, because new product and marketing hype and capitalism and blah) has a sequencer that can only play in 3/4 and 4/4

so i guess if you play nothing but waltzes and pop music, you're set

(both of which are fine ofc, but come on)

One of the most unintentionally funny pieces of gear that we have: a gold-plated USB to MIDI cable

"Oh, the fidelity on this sequence, so pure"