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I'm lucky enough to have a job where I don't have to work a million hours as long as I get all of my projects done on time and nothing serious breaks during the evenings. So I'm able to have a set band practice night every week. And Saturday nights are usually for our gigs. I usually pack in one more night during the week where I'll get in a couple hours of practice. It's enough to get things done and make sure I'm in shape for our gigs.

Pretty much same boat as others have said. Work 30ish hours a week, more than full time student, kid, pregnant wife. All that doesn't leave much time for music.

Super simple rig with headphones is completely crucial. I get about an hour a week with the headphone setup, maybe two. I get to actually use my speaker cab maybe once every three weeks or so. It's lame. Especially when you're trying to make progress on anything. Like I have 4 songs structured/planned for a droney ambient deal, just can't get the time to record it, and then I'll need to talk someone into hopefully doing a little touching up to make it sound more profesh. It's never going to happen

I'm playing music when I'm not riding phat waves, taking huge bong rips or crushing wicked-hot slash.

So never.

backwardsvoyager wrote:Work less > earn less > don't spend money on anything but bare essentials > spend newly acquired free time on music

If you have money for pedals you don't have the time to use, then there's a pretty large imbalance there. I hope that doesn't sound rude but i think anyone serious about any kind of artistic outlet has to consider these things.

Nah, I get you. This is an unusual time, though, and having more money than time is a rarity (i.e., there's usually a deficit of both). I bought a delay last week because it was listed at a killer price (big box DMM for $170), not because I could afford it. I sold off almost everything last year when I realized I didn't have a chance to really make anything with it, and it became a weird kind of psychological/financial burden to have a basement full of really beautiful instruments that I don't have time to play. Especially with kids' med bills mounting.

Back to minimal setups.

Having said all that: having a modest modular setup is great fun, and can be tinkered with using only headphones, which is great when you're a dad who gets destroyed by all manner of life shit.

backwardsvoyager wrote:Work less > earn less > don't spend money on anything but bare essentials > spend newly acquired free time on music

If you have money for pedals you don't have the time to use, then there's a pretty large imbalance there. I hope that doesn't sound rude but i think anyone serious about any kind of artistic outlet has to consider these things. Doing exactly what society expects of you is probably the easiest way to drive yourself into a corner.
I'm the type of retard who would prioritise artistic outlets over any kind of relationship, social obligations or luxuries in life so take that with a grain of salt, but yknow.

This is actually something I've done. I was working 50 hours a week and making better money than I ever had before. I was finally able to start getting nice things for myself, and there were some wonderful realisations like "I don't have to settle for sub-par anymore!" but eventually that wears off and you're hit pretty hard with the dreadful feeling that you're not actually doing anything.
For a few other reasons (alcoholic, sexually inappropriate, proselytising boss) I quit that job and took something that has much more flexible hours. I make less money, enough to get by but it's definitely noticeable, but a month after quitting that job, I finally finished an album I'd been working on for the last two years, have had an abundance of time to get my musical shit in order, and feel absolutely great for it!

Sorry for the long-windedness of that, but I completely agree with this dudes opinion. I am also the type of retard who prioritises artistic outlets over most other things. Another massive thing I've found to help, is similar to what was mentioned about scheduling, but could kill two birds with one stone: rehearsal rooms. Either renting one monthly so that you have 24 hour access, or booking yourself in for a few hours. You don't have to worry about noise, so your headphone worries are gone, and you're under a time limit where you can't afford to dick around not being productive.


Editing just to include: have no kids, live in an inexpensive town in a small apartment. My expenditures are pretty low and I have very few fiscal responsibilities. Only speaking from my perspective and certainly not universally encouraging everyone to "live free, dude" because there are countless circumstances where that just isn't remotely viable.

All depends on how bad you want it.

Before I got crippled up, I worked 90+ hour weeks a lot of the time. I still found time to play. GF understood that a couple hours of me time every couple days minimum is the price it was for makign that kind of $$$. If you're working a LOT of hours, get a cheaper guitar to keep around and play it on break or when you take a little itme for yourself *at* work. If you're doing more than 40, then there's going to be a certain amount of flexibility and if they don't give it, /bye.

Then once we were more established, I stepped back and only worked as little as possible.

Realistically though if you don't own the business or a substantial part, watch your hours. Salary doesn't mean you have no soul and can't say no.

I have almost no Time. Two band practices in the week and one Hour teaching. Beside that i Play 20 minutes a week. Sucks. But this is life as a father.

As mentioned, scheduling is important. It sucks to have to *schedule* being creative, but it beats the alternative.

Sometimes I find that the lack of free time makes me more productive in the smaller slices of time that I manage to carve out.

backwardsvoyager wrote:Work less > earn less > don't spend money on anything but bare essentials > spend newly acquired free time on music

If you have money for pedals you don't have the time to use, then there's a pretty large imbalance there. I hope that doesn't sound rude but i think anyone serious about any kind of artistic outlet has to consider these things. Doing exactly what society expects of you is probably the easiest way to drive yourself into a corner.
I'm the type of retard who would prioritise artistic outlets over any kind of relationship, social obligations or luxuries in life so take that with a grain of salt, but yknow.

backwardsvoyager wrote:

D.o.S. wrote:Another thing to consider bwv is that you don't live in the GET A JOB/No Money For 'Freeloaders' hellscape that is the norm over here.

Sure, i have it much better in that regard.
But just because it's easier to do here doesn't mean it's impossible over on your end.
You can move interstate or overseas. Do any number of shady or less socially acceptable jobs that can make things work. I know that sounds like utter naivety but i think somebody has to say it, because when everybody you talk to is in that situation its much less likely that they'll be able to give you the kind of hope necessary to pull out of it.
I hate seeing nice, creative people be trodden on by obligation so I'll keep saying it. Nobody has to agree, its just food for thought.

If i ever make a similar thread one day you have a free pass to internet slap me, D.o.S.

You.you get me. I have been part time employed for the last year. It's wild. Before this last year, I would often go months or years without a real job. I found ways to make it work for a while. Realistically I am too "crazy" to hold a job. At some point, it stopped feeling worth it, the things I was doing to make money stopped feeling less awful than a real job, so that happened. But it's been a year, and I'm cracking. Medical studies are calling my name, their sweet, sweet offers of money for watching Netflix surrounded by homophobes.

Maybe I should just become an oogle again.

I have been unemployed too, for the last 9 months, so I've got nothing but time. No kids or S.O, two cats and my loft apartment is well isolated (concrete house) so I can play at a decent volume. I actually live in my grandparents' house rent-free, just help them with things whenever, so I'm lucky in that regard, I don't have a lot of expenses except power, food and gear on my meagre government check. I'm bad at scheduling stuff so I just play whenever I feel like it. Often plagued by the guilt I should do more with my time, though.. like I oughta draw more, but it's just easier to play guitar or just do nothing. Then again I play with folks at the space almost every weekend, well until the early hours because we have bedrooms right there where u can sleep it off next to a Sovtek MIG 100.

I used to work 3 14 hour shifts. It was the best. 4 days off every week!

Out of absolute desperation I got a Vanguard gamecase; it's a "suitcase" with an LCD screen and a slot to put my PS3. I use it to play Rocksmith during lunch at work. I get to do this a couple of times a week and other times I have a portable guitar and use an interface for my iPhone.

Almost never have time at home.

A cheaper version of this one: https://gaemspge.com/black-edition-vanguard.html

psychic vampire. wrote: Maybe I should just become an oogle again.

If you decide to go down that road I'll send you a box of patches for your dog's vest.

rfurtkamp wrote: I worked 90+ hour weeks a lot of the time.

I'd sleep 90 hours a week if I could. For seriously, I'm lazy and have no energy whatsover (and I'm a mere young buck of six and 20!). I blame having to work two overnight shifts a week and not being allowed a proper sleep schedule (I'm just now waking up from a 5 hour "nap").

On topic: my band has a space in a warehouse that I can access 24 hours a day. We split it with three other bands, but it's still pretty easy to get in on a whim. It's only a block and a half from my work too, so during an overnight I'll often go and smack my drums around a bit on my break.

I play way less than I should. I've got a pretty decent amount of free time. Work 8am-7pm usually, and throw in a 10-2 saturday or 2 in the mix. I've still got like, 3 hours I could be playing. Instead I'm sitting here on ILF bitching about it.