JDSY Studio Blues

I ain't got no akai,
ain't got no friend
tryin to find a reason
to make music again
I don't know what to do
guess put on my workin shoe
. . .

my attempt at a poem!

Ya I am distracted from making music. At this moment I have an acoustic piano (needs a bit of a tune up), a steel string guitar (yamaha FG300) (which feels dry and unappealing), a really old cheap classical guitar with a bit of too much of a wide neck, an electric guitar which I send into a Boss DR880, for FX, which goes into my new keyboard amp. Then I have reacquired my first real sampler, the Korg ESX-1, and also a machine I've gotten work done on, the QY700- and a 90's Yamaha PSR keyboard (just using for the MIDI OUT for the QY). On top of all that I have a mixer where I can funnel sounds into my computer (no interface, just a soundblaster) and also a affordable condenser mic!

PHEW

I also just got a cheap shoebox tape player/recorder. I used to have a vintage Pioneer tape deck as well as an technics amp from that period. I also have 200 or so cassettes, all classical music, which I have sampled here and there.

I have my computer set up running FL Studio.

The problem is I don't know what to do with all this stuff. I have chronically switched gears and musical trains of thought, and I have a large amount of unfinished music. I sing (rarely) and write lyrics (very rare as well). I should probably plug away at that part. It's hard though!

I assume it might be more interesting to work with a collaborator, but I've not found one in the last few years. . .

Maybe some new strings for the FG 300 would wake it up. Maybe Earthwood phosphor bronze in a suitable gauge for that big guitar. And then back to basics. Whatever that means to you.

Sounds you lost overview over your setup and need to declutter / streamline it a bit.

Sound sources (instruments or samples), sequencer, mixer, recording device. It’s as simple as that.

What is your favourite instrument/ piece of gear? Your go to piece, the thing you grab first the get ideas going. Make sure that this piece/ instrument is a button push away from being ready. Have your other favourite instruments set up in way that they can be used with as less hooking up/ setting up mics / cabling as possible as part of your setup. Be honest to yourself here, which of your instruments help you being productive, which ones distract you and slow down your process when you try to involve them when making a song. Set aside the ones that are a distraction for now. When things are going and you have a strong foundation (in a particular project or general workflow) you can always add them later on.

Sequencing. Since you have quite some acoustic instruments I’m guessing a lot of time you record things straight into FL Studio, which is also your recording device. Why not investing in a decent interface? How accessible is your computer as a recording device? Maybe invest in a midi controller with transport buttons so recording yourself from behind the piano for instance takes no more than a press of a button.
(I have a Faderport with 10ft USB cable I used to record myself, saved me running back and forth between the computer and mic every time.)

Make templates in FL for the most common situations, so when you start a new project you don’t have to waste time adding and setting up tracks.

Hope this helped a bit cleaning things up, physically in the studio as well as your creative thought process and workflow.

I read that in Afroman's voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6kiPIvdDBg

Ain't got no job
Ain't got no friends
But whatever you need
Baby I'm gonna get
Cause I'ma hustler baby

Werd Menco! thanks for the advice. I ended up figuring a good way to not get bogged down. One is putting stuff back into cases and bags and boxes- try to forget about them for a few days. And only get them down when I'm ready for an application. Oh to answer your question- I used to use a presonus firestudio which was really good. Over the years it got aged and needed to be fixed, so I got rid of it. I have the soundblaster, a mixer (sometimes you don't even need a mixer) and I record into adobe audition, do some edits, and then bring back in to FL. I used to start everything in FL. Now I usually go to the QY if I'm I'm thinking melodic stuff...

well that's all to report now