That just might be a good idea. Scale down. Concentrate on one piece of hardware.
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I had a bit of writers block for a while.
I cured it by getting back in touch with my anger. Anger is the fuel for my creativity, which is mostly just how I express my anger. Of course you can replace anger with whichever emotion/energy works best for you.
Making music is about connecting, then projecting your emotions. Fuck gear, get yourself worked up.
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Geez, I would honestly like tips on reconnecting with that. It was a lot easier when I was a teenager and WANTED to have control over that, but now I want to make fast n 'aaaard music but my shit is too “pretty” and i overpolish. Need 50cc of punk, stat!
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You can look after my dogs for a week if you like.
That’ll get you back in touch with your anger.
Little pricks.
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Don’t try to make “music”
Or tracks. If you haven’t pull the plug selling something is drawing you back. If it ain’t owning rare obscure vintage collectors items find out what’s the main reason is you don’t wanne make space. Just fiddle around with sounds. Put on a childs mindset, explore without expectations, not even the expectation that pausing expectations may lead to making tracks ever again.
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Listening to music and getting inspiration works for me, just getting some ideas and exploring on a groovebox
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Art is an explorative process. Try stuff out, record it, throw it out, rework, revise.
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This really is the hardest but most important part of art and open vulnerability, not being jaded.
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Pants are optional.
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We may crave old habbits, even if turned against us.
Maybe dont get back into this, move on instead.
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Yes! For me, there has to be some sense of urgency.
It’s funny. Personally, being generally pent-up doesn’t necessarily result in aggro music. Often quite the contrary. Though I do love to listen to it 
As for refocusing, besides the emotional drive, for me it was:
- COVID lockdown (distractions removed)
- Finding peers, collaborating, making plans, setting deadlines, executing, finalising
The latter sometimes can sometimes get in the way of the playful, explorative aspect (which I agree is also crucial), but I’ve found that having some kind of accountability in the mix is beneficial for me. YMMV.
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Sell all your hardware and get back into DAWland.
I just did exactly that after 6+ years of hardware addiction, and am more creative and productive than I’ve ever been in my life.
Having hardware has had its perks. It’s somehow taught me how to use software in a deeper way.
No regrets for me, and the whole experience of selling all my synths that I apparently ‘couldn’t bear to part with’ has been truly empowering.
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…i’d also say, sell ur hw…might wanna keep one or two timeless classics, but basically, if ur halfway experienced in producing music and loose urself in not finishing things, the best way out is to focus on one tool that enables u to finish ideas fast, since no matter how much satisfaction u might feel along the way of creating it, the most satisfaction comes with finished results u can actually listen to, show to urself and others…
so yeah, get that push 3 controler, hook it up to ableton and get things done and finished for real…
does’nt matter what it is at first, surprise urself and stay open, but main mission remains always crossing some sort of first draft finish line…that can only happen within the option of having total access and recall…so some daw with a nice haptic controler it is…
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Cabinet making.
Screw the music. There’s too much of it already and most of it is shit.
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Have you tried taking cringe pics wearing a fedora and holding a violin?
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I also find that breaking down things into very small (~30 mins) tasks usually helps. For example, one day just set up your project in Live, then go and do something else. The next day arrange your patterns on your synths/create a draft arrangement in Live. The day after record a couple of improvised live drafts with no expectation, and so on.
If you start making those small studio sessions a fairly regular thing, you should find it eventually becomes more natural to get into it again, and then also find yourself in the studio for longer.
Although I didn’t really enjoy the author’s writing style, I found some of the tips in this book very useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Habits-Electronic-Production-Procrastination/dp/1983207330
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Single groovebox (and not push 3 standalone) I have one of those, too many options, and still haven’t made a decent track on it yet.
Syntakt is the box that always surprises me out of a studio full of gear and that can commonly becoming the seed of an idea that I actually finish.
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This really made me laugh
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Personally I think you just answered your own question, you’re an “Ableton user”, if that’s where you feel most productive then stick with it and ditch the hardware, path of least resistance and all that… the path of finding the the perfect workflow is littered with the corpse’s of rash purchases…
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I’ve approached making music lately be allowing myself to make unexpected and sometimes a bit idiotic sound and composition choices. It makes it more fun, immediate and personal and frees my mind from comparing myself to others.
It helps me to let my emotions to play a bigger role than my thoughts in that process.
Usually I start things this way and afterwards go over stuff again and make small changes and add some small elements.
Also like many have said already, a very limited setup has been super helpful.
Selling tons of unnecessary gear has made a big difference and removed lots of distraction.
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