I agree with you. One of the most common problems is having too much. Less is more.
It's easy to say, not so easy to put into practice.

@macrogmittrei It's a massive cliché, but so very true.

Good topic this - and nice to hear it's a common phenomenon and not just me. A lot of paragraphs starting with "i" to follow

I think the complexity can arise in many other forms of (particularly electronic) music production and compositon. When there are too many choices, it leads one to become blinded to what it is their actual objective. It happens to me a fair amount, and I usually step away from the computer at that point and do something different, or switch to a bit of hardware.

I do find that being able to mentally 'step away' and reduce the objective down into simple terms is the only way for me to progress. Easier said than done sometimes.

I also grapple with the identity of whether am I a musician, or a computer scientist/programmer, because I first and foremost believe that I'm on the creative end, so it's hard to rationalise creativity with maths, logic and connecting boxes. But, then I realise that the two are not mutually exclusive and can and do go hand in hand - we are merely mastering our craft. Committing, or recording work is a useful habit - to bring into a more conventional environment.

To touch on the 'going for a walk' subject raised a while back. I find that it is one of the few activities that I can figure out ideas with clarity - it's my best way to form objectives and clear my mind. Thinking too much about the detail is a deal breaker at that point. Just the idea and try to imagine the end point, and steps to reproduce it should bubble up to the surface (write it down??).

On an end note, I think I read an interview with Mark Fell of SND who is almost exclusively a MAX user. What resonated with me is that he tries to distill his patches in simplest terms - like one slider or knob that alters everything about the timing, timbre and composition. I find that highly inspiring!

The good thing about Pd is that you can really use it as software, but you can also turn it into hardware and design your own instruments.
And now that there are so many SBC's around and increasingly at better prices, it's much easier to create a dedicated instrument. You just have to learn something about GNU/Linux, maybe Arduino and basic electronics. Something you can learn in a very short time.

http://item.warp.net/interview/aphex-twin-speaks-to-tatsuya-takahashi/