It’s great having huge setups, but I’m always throughly impressed when someone produces so much music with very little gear.
A lot of guys here have spoken about downsizing to a point of contentment - so let’s see and hear them?
I wanna see compact setups, I want to hear efficient tracks. We all know Elektron boxes are great for this kinda thing, but all gear is valid!
My smallest setup was an MPC Live and a Digitone but it has since grown!
I have TOO many machines. I want to downsize my studio and be more creative and focused. Interested in this topic 
I used to be the same when I was a photographer.
What really helped was taking a bunch of stuff, boxing it up and just keeping out a specific set of gear to focus on.
It helped me be faster, because I had less to choose from, more focused because I knew what I could and couldn’t do with the gear, and it helped me better learn each peice I had out.
As a result of this i went from 4 cameras and about 12 lenses to 2 cameras and 3 lenses and that didn’t change until i stopped being a full time photographer.
So yeah. Try that. Pick a few boxes and pack the rest away for a month, then swap some boxes around.
If you don’t miss it, you don’t need it.
I have downsized!
From: digitone, analog rytm, rev2, squid, T1, minitaur, Typhon, subharmonicon, analog heat, an iPad and some some external effects.
To: analog rytm, rev2, squid, t1 and an iPad (as an effects unit) and a bluebox.
For me it so much simpler to understand things, how to focus on sound design on just 2 sound sources and work within those limits - getting the most out of the machines. As @RustyRoses has said, I simply don’t miss any of the stuff I’ve taken away really (apart from the digitone I guess) so I don’t need them.
One of the best things is not having to develop naming conventions for settings when saving a project across loads of machines (I still have to a little bit).
this pic is dated, but the idea is clear enough.
i’ve added RK-006, Launchpad Mini (as dedicated clip/scene launcher for 101), and Axoloti (as external arpeggiator / MIDI processor for both).
1 combined drum track (101) + 4 dedicated drum tracks (Circuit Tracks) + 5 synth tracks (in total) is enough to play pretty complex stuff.
I’m a hobbist and my tunes are recorded just for my own fun. Not pretending to please an audience I don’t pretend to offer useful setup examples, so I speak only about my personal preference.
I love to play just a machine. Two is too much for my workflow, three or more is simply impossible for me.
So: currently I have fun alternating a modular system (multitimbral and polyphonic) and a DT. Never togheter.
I think such powerful multitimbral devices are enough to produce interesting patterns and hopefully tracks.
I’ve done most of my best work on very limited setups. But I do all my work live, so don’t really have the option of running loads of shit all at once, I lack the coordination.
Thanks for creating this thread!
Keeping setups to a minimum have been a permanent preoccupation for me. This implies using fewer machines that can do a lot.
My limit is that my setup should be transportable on a plane trip, with no extra luggage, and leave sufficient space in my suitcase for my clothes and all. Ideally, everything should fit into a hand luggage.
At the moment, the 1010music boxes (Blue and Black) are really helpful to achieve this!
My current setup is essentially a Norand Mono paired with the Blackbox as a looper. I prepare patterns on the Norand, mess up with them and then pile them up (or “arrange” them) on the Blackbox. I also use two Eventide FX boxes (Space and TimeFactor) that are routed through the BlueBox and… yep, it already too much and I’m going to downsize.
After a few years of accumulating gear and getting “option paralysis” way too often, I’ve started downsizing in the last couple of years and I’ve amazed myself several times with how much you can do with just one piece of year.
I’m currently using the Synthstrom Deluge, but I’ve done several full tracks with just the Digitone and a couple with the Digitakt.
Here are some examples with each of those:
Digitone:
Digitakt (the Typhon is only used for the final lead):
Deluge:
Elektron devices are aces for downsizing setups. I mean: with A4+AR it’s in theory possibile to record tons of albums. Or DT+DN if you prefer…
Currently I have a reduced version of my live set that I could play using just one Blackbox.
Provided the venue is able to give me 3 line channels on their main DJ mixer.
I had a dedicated room with a lot of fun stuff (OT, A4, AR, Nord Lead A1, Moog Little Phatty, Minitaur, Microkorg, etc.) a few years ago and really struggled to get things done. I spent more time having a setup that works than having something I actually make music with.
Since two years, I just have a table in my living room and focus only on one or 2 machines at a time, or let’s say 8 to 10 tracks, and things tend to work way more smoothly
I released 3 EP last year just with my OT and I think that’s one of the tracks I’m the most proud of.
All my tracks that I finish currently are done only on maschine mk3, or only Octatrack.
My other gear is more for jamming
Find a synth you love the sound of more than life and a sampler that you gel with.
All ya need!
I’ve got quite a few bits, but never use it all at once, most of the time it would be a single “groovebox” or boutiques and other synths sequenced from Pyramid. The nice thing is being able to sync everything up to do a jam, using the gear in a similar way to DJing, so that is one of the reasons I have it all set up all of the time. I also like to sample from gear into other gear, and process gear through other gear too.
Sometimes I do find it a bit too much mental overhead though, and kind of envy minimal focussed set ups, but I like options as much as I like limitations, so my current set up caters quite well to this.
I think for me the key is having a nice balance of gear, some deep stuff and some hands on sweet spot stuff, then combine it into a kind of instrument as a whole.
I guess the most minimal setup is a single box.
Anybody here tries to do everything on a single box? Presumable a groovebox.
I’m still searching for one that strikes a good balance between hardware controls/beat features/melody features/fun sequencer, etc.
Before everybody tells me to get an OctaTrack or an MPC, I’m not friend with samples (find them a pain to manage). So not a sample-based one.
I already tried:
MD = ultimate drum machine IMHO, but is a bit tedious to use for melodies and pads
MnM = excellent for everything but beat: I found the BBox engine definitely hadn’t the character I wanted
Rytm = Limited sound design and meh sound to my ears
Digitone looks like a serious contender but I’m not sure about the amount of physical controls. It might be a bit too menu-divy :-/
(Maybe I should create a separate thread for that. I’m surprised there’s not any on this specific topic already - If there is, I missed it)
I had a lot of fun just using a Model:Cycles.
Also Polyend Tracker, but that’s samples mostly.
Digitone is good, menus not really a problem, but I found it worked best paired with a Digitakt to sample it with, as trying to squeeze everything into four tracks gets a bit tiresome after a while.
This is where something from FaderFox can help practically everything can be CCed
Plus a Digitone and a Digitakt are practically the size of an MPC Live or OT
This EP was made on the Octatrack and A4
It was a great and focused setup, but I’ve always found that two or more Elektron sequencers really gives me bad vibes… it becomes to much of a chore to make music, so I ended up selling A4 even though it’s extremly capable (I just love OT too much)
