Taking out the trash

[beats me]

I’ve been working on the “If you haven’t touched it in 6 months to a year, get rid of it” belief. Some things mentally are harder than others.

I thought I would just be able to toss my CDs unseen but in practice I’ve been reviewing, ripping, and then tossing. This despite the fact that I haven’t touched or looked at them for over 5 years and probably wouldn’t indefinitely unless I was moving.

Gear and software boxes. What a mostly pointless space consuming collection to have. Started Komplete at version 5, then 6, then 9, then 9 Ultimate. Do I really need to hold on to all those boxes? No. Logic 8 box is just obnoxious. Buh bye.

Books. I don’t have a lot, but most, if not all, need to go.

The thing that ties all the above together (except physical gear) is they are all in digital form now and there’s no need to clutter up your living space with the analog version. But if you’re over the age of 30 it can be hard to wrap your head around that reality and let shit go.

[Tarekith]

Been on that trip for awhile now, makes everything so much easier. Slowly converting favorite movies over time to iTunes versions so I can just download whenever, ditto on my favorite books. Got rid of a bunch of CDs after re-ripping to AAC instead of MP3, but my absolute favorite 100 or so I still keep around.

Even old tax documents and other paper work, slowly been converting it all to PDF with Scanner Pro. It's amazing how much cubic feet of STUFF has been replaced by my iPad in the last couple years.

[H20nly]

Slowly converting favorite movies over time to iTunes versions so I can just download whenever, ditto on my favorite books.

how does that work?

also, do you really feel safe having only electronic versions of your taxes?
i'm just thinking that at least with a hard copy you know it's missing... you really have no idea who has a copy once you go digital... unless you store it on a CD or something offline, no??


in regard to the other cleaning like boxes, etc.... yeah... i've got way too much shit
i really need to get rid of a lot of it...

[beats me]

For moive ripping I use iVI Pro. iVI (not Pro) is available on the Mac App store but it doesn’t rip DVDs and Apple doesn’t allow that for obvious copyright reasons. So I got the Pro version directly from their site. Other than ripping it automatically tags the file with info, poster, and chapter information, and puts it in your iTunes library all with one click.

The old standard is handbrake which is free but as far as I know doesn’t tag anything.

Not sure if by “converting” Tarekith means buying the movies from iTunes. There currently isn’t iTunes Match for movies or TV shows, so no cloud backup or downloading if you rip a DVD. If you delete it from your library its gone. You will only have cloud backup if you buy the content from iTunes.

[Tarekith]

Yeah, I've just been buying them from the iTunes store here and there. The ones I can't find on iTunes I rip with Handbrake set to the Apple TV2 preset.

As for only having digital files of things like taxes, I don't worry about it too much. Both of my accountants said they are 100% digital now themselves and for their client work, so I switched. I have copies everywhere for safety, but always encrypted. There's a digital risk sure, but there's risks with hard copies too. Fire, natural disaster, theft, etc.

[re:dream]

But you guys are not getting rid of trash. You're just digitizing it.

[beats me]

@ Tarekith

Have you gotten audited by the IRS yet? The one and only time I claimed my music related activities as business related tax deductions I got audited. The only thing they got me on was going to see friends’ bands out of state. Not because that wasn’t a possible business trip, but because I didn’t have the proper records/receipts for that kind of deduction. Other than that all my gear and music purchases passed without question. The guy just basically thumbed through my stack of receipts. But once you’ve been audited once you are on the radar to get audited again. Since then I’ve never tried to get fancy with my taxes or claim a mostly hobby as a business venture.

@ The Finn

I’m not digitizing my gear or software boxes. They are going in the trash.

I’m also not looking forward to going through my containers of power/audio/computer cable spaghetti but it’s long overdue.

[re:dream]

I started 'going through' stuff a couple of years back. Sorting, trashing, tidying. About halfway through I realized I was keeping more than half of it, and taking hours about it.

I just got a stack of bin liners and a pick up truck and dumped everything. The entire contents of my attic and garage, everything15 years worth of papers, possessions and junk. If I was not using it right now, it went. Including my entire taped music collection, hundreds and hundreds of casettes It was pretty liberating.

[tedlogan]

It is liberating. Kinda the reverse happened to me about 2 and a half years ago - I liberated myself from my old home and took only what I used with me.

I now only own my home studio setup, some clothes, and a 42" LED TV (for movies and Curb Your Enthusiasm). Oh, and maybe 15 or so books.

[H20nly]

There's a digital risk sure, but there's risks with hard copies too. Fire, natural disaster, theft, etc.

i agree with this, but i always feel it's better to know... if i lost my information in fire or even a theft it's obvious, but with viruses and malware and such a digital copy could be compromised without even knowing it.

*shrugs* i guess it's the world we live in... or, are moving into.

But you guys are not getting rid of trash. You're just digitizing it.

my digital storage is no where near as limited as my square footage.

[Tarekith]

@ Tarekith

Have you gotten audited by the IRS yet? The one and only time I claimed my music related activities as business related tax deductions I got audited. The only thing they got me on was going to see friends’ bands out of state. Not because that wasn’t a possible business trip, but because I didn’t have the proper records/receipts for that kind of deduction. Other than that all my gear and music purchases passed without question. The guy just basically thumbed through my stack of receipts. But once you’ve been audited once you are on the radar to get audited again. Since then I’ve never tried to get fancy with my taxes or claim a mostly hobby as a business venture.

Well my the studio is a legitimate registered business and is my only form of income, I don't think that applies to me. Anything I buy music related directly supports something I'm doing to make a living, and thus can be claimed. I take this seriously, and consult with my accountant anytime I'm not sure.

Knowing what it would cost me in accountant fees if I'm audited, trying to sneak something in just for a small tax break is not really something I consider.

[beats me]

@ Tarekith

Have you gotten audited by the IRS yet? The one and only time I claimed my music related activities as business related tax deductions I got audited. The only thing they got me on was going to see friends’ bands out of state. Not because that wasn’t a possible business trip, but because I didn’t have the proper records/receipts for that kind of deduction. Other than that all my gear and music purchases passed without question. The guy just basically thumbed through my stack of receipts. But once you’ve been audited once you are on the radar to get audited again. Since then I’ve never tried to get fancy with my taxes or claim a mostly hobby as a business venture.

Well my the studio is a legitimate registered business and is my only form of income, I don't think that applies to me. Anything I buy music related directly supports something I'm doing to make a living, and thus can be claimed. I take this seriously, and consult with my accountant anytime I'm not sure.

Knowing what it would cost me in accountant fees if I'm audited, trying to sneak something in just for a small tax break is not really something I consider.

Gotcha. I actually did the write offs in year I was making a lot of money with music and at the advice of a supposed entertainment accountant a friend referred me to. The scary thing for me was also if you do something wrong even based on the advice of an accountant it’s still 100% your problem. There’s no “They told me to…..”. Personal ignorance of the law is no excuse. Blah, blah, blah.

[jestermgee]

I'm doing a lot of this right at the moment and I have a similar approach to you Beats with tracks. If its half done and has some great ideas it goes into a folder archive but if it really doesn't drum up any ideas to continue I just delete it and forget.

At the change of seasons I do a refresh of my whole studio area and clean out old product boxes, busted cables and other junk. I also pull all my power connections apart, remove all PCs and open them up and flush out dust. About once a year I also pull all cables apart and put them all back together just to reseat everything and solve any issues that crop up.

I switched all my life to digital years ago and my wife still has her DVDs physically but mine are all on the server and accessed via media centres along with all music, photos, home videos, all scanned, ripped stored and backed up.

I still find it hard to chuck out some product boxes. I keep ones mainly for gear I may sell because it seems to be able to get a better price when looked after and sold as "slightly used in box".

[Tarekith]

I always save gear boxes, they live in the attic. But not software boxes, I have a CD wallet with all the installers I need now, takes up much less space.

Those old Logic boxes, shudder...

[beats me]

Tossed a nice heavy box of books out this morning.

Because I live in an apartment it’s kind of curbed my ability to horde anything. No spare rooms, garage, attic, or yard to clutter. Also having access to multiple dumpsters means I can toss just about anything up to a medium sized piece of furniture without issue. Hell, I could most likely put a couch or bed next to the dumpsters without getting hassled.

I might have some pieces of gear to offer you fine people if you just pay shipping. I don’t feel like haggling at the used gear store or dealing with Ebay.