In keeping with today's theme... Over the years, I've collected some music equipment. Apart from my keyboard, the centerpiece of my music setup has been a Yamaha MT3X multitrack cassette recorder. I supplemented it with a pair of multi-effects processors: an Alesis MidiVerb III and an ART MultiVerb III. Because I couldn't stand the "percussion" available on SoundBlaster cards, I picked up a Korg MR-16 "MIDI Rhythm Unit" (not quite a drum machine; it's a slave unit meant to be controlled by an external sequencer). And though I rarely used it, I picked up a Gemini MX-4440 DJ mixer from a friend who was selling it to defray the cost of something else.

But once I bought Sonar, I started doing all of my recording on the computer, and used the MT3X as little more than a mixer. Since Sonar has a wide range of effects plugins, the outboard effects processors started gathering dust. I don't use percussion (and if I decided to start using it, Karen has a drum kit), and the Gemini mixer has seen very little use as long as I've owned it.

Last night, I bought a Yamaha MG12/4 mixer, mainly so I could start using condenser mics when recording the Consort (since the board we have on permanent loan from one of our former members doesn't supply phantom power). It's a nifty little board which perfectly suits our current needs (with independent subgroup outs, so I can have a separate channel for everybody), but also leaves a little room in case we add another member.

So, since the MT3X has now become wholly redundant along with the rest of that equipment, I figure I might as well put it all up on eBay for some musician(s) who could actually get some use out of it, rather than hanging on to a rack full of dust magnets. The MT3X won't go up immediately, as I want to go through all my master tapes and dump them all to my computer, just in case I ever want anything that's on there.

Though there's a part of me that wants to keep the MT3X just for æsthetic purposes, since the rack above my keyboard would look so bare with just a mixer on it. Isn't that stupid? And another part of me is whispering, "Keep the effects processors in case the Consort ever wants to add reverb during a live gig," despite the fact that we've never even used an amplifier, let alone effects. See, this is why I can never throw anything away; there's always that nagging question of what if I ever need this again?