Right-Sizing The Setup?

The Lounge General Discussion
#44

Well, you gotta have a ton of stuff.

I’d say:

  • Synths that you midi from daw (soundmodules) all the time -> shelf beside the walls if it has remote possibilities: do them up or down. Those you only can program: sitting, standing range.
  • Think about getting a patch field for your Mixer, so you can plug whatever you want from that wall
  • patch field for din midi too
  • 1 table for noodle synths (semimodulars, akai - has cv outs, and beatboxes in general, the dawless setup… outs from it patchable too - for stuff you really often play
  • 1 table spare with audio, midi, power - for ad hoc stuff, synths that you might not play every month, and that are stored away.
  • beside your daw: midi controllers, your synth or midi keyboard with the very best keys!

I reduced to: one small studio table (19" slots) keyboard drawer (opsix, computer mouse keyboard, monitor, scarlet that big one audio interface), opsix - i need to saw of the keyboard and buy a proper midi controller with good keys…), microfreak, lxr-02, norand mono. Sidetable: depends. deluge, octatrack, mc707, akai force, polyend tracker, mb33, pedals, whatever.

I use renoise with Midi Hardware Sampler Helper | Renoise
and make sample instruments in it and fiddle there with fx & co. Rendering out Patterns and stuff is with additional help of The Deliverer | Renoise for the other boxes (force, 707, octatrack mainly) easy enough.

If I would start again after an atomic megablast zombie apocalyptic pest:

1x digital poly synth opsix
1x analog poly (atm i don’t want to buy, but yeah…) with good keys. perhaps deepmind 12
renoise

#46

I try to avoid collecting stuff. I feel like you’re too far into that rabbit hole already :sweat_smile:

If I don’t love a piece of gear I sell it and move on. If something doesn’t get used for long enough then I’ll consider swapping it out.

I don’t introduce redundancy. I have a sequencer, a set of mono voices in my eurorack, a poly synth, something for drums and something to mix them on. If I wanted a new polysynth I’d be looking to sell the one I have. I don’t need 2.

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#48

Something I’m going to try myself that might be useful here;

Instead of just putting away or storing gear that is not in use, I’m going to make an effort to properly box it up as if I’m having to ship it out.
When I store it, I’m going to leave a post-it sticker on top with a date 4 months in the future.
If I don’t go for the gear in that time, it’s gone… and because it’s ready packed it’ll make the process of selling it that much easier.

I’m beginning it this weekend.

9 Likes
#49

I noticed that I do less if I have too much, kind of paralysis.

I’ve got a Xone 96 and that limits the amount of gear I can fit with it.

Another thing I noticed is that I enjoy gear when it brings joy quickly and have a hard time dealing with things that I feel make me work too hard to get something. For me the Digitone is like that <respect for those who love it) for example. I’ve settled on the following:

  • Xone 96
  • OB6
  • SUB37
  • Digitakt
  • Nord drum 3p
  • Syntrx
  • SP404 MKII
  • M8
  • MAM MB33
  • Eventide Space and H9
  • Doctor A

Plus a few utilities… I don’t crave for anything. I don’t have too much time/energy to make music and that’s more than I could dream of.

3 Likes
#50

first i took „sizing“ literally, so my answer is simple — it should fit a backpack (DJ backpack is ok, but city backpack is better).

regarding reducing setup to its essentials:

  • using only a few boxes at once. i have a full closet of gear – but using only 2–4 grooveboxes/synths/drum machnies at once (effects not counted). some people might say that even 4 looks like overkilll — but this is not always true when it comes to mono synths.

  • another good practice is using a small mixer and limiting the setup to its number of inputs – for instance, i use Zoom LiveTrak L-8, so limiting the setup to 8 outputs in total.

  • grooveboxes rock. some people might say that grooveboxes don’t sound characterful enough — but hey, a mix doesn’t work like that. you don’t need everything in the mix sounding that bright/phat, because when everything is emphasized — nothing is actually emphasized. so pairing a groovebox with a characterful synth (or two) is really cool recipe.

3 Likes
#51

I’ve been working to slim my setup in a way where I have specific gear for specific purposes. It’s made things more organized and smoother.

Digitone - FM synth
Micromonsta2 - VA synth
Syntakt - Drum/FX/Perc/Etc synth
Digitakt - Oneshots and drum samples
Octatrack - Mixer/mangler/looper
Neutron/0Ctrl/0Coast - Semi-modular analog

I’d like an analog poly at some point, but overall, I think much more than this and I’d get overwhelmed and never get anything done.

2 Likes
#52

My process is to wait until I haven’t used something in ages them I put it on eBay.

Then, wait about a month and I’ll get an idea that really needs the bit of kit that I just got rid of…

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#53

I like the idea of one piece of gear per purpose. I’m trying to get there…
OT MK2 = Sampler/arranger/looper/general mayhem
A4 mk1 = Analog mono/drums
DN = FM synth
MC707 = Sound module, sampler, looper
DSI Rev 2 = Analog poly, studio synth
NLA1 = Digital poly/wavetable, live play synth

I occasionally get GAS for an MPC, but then I look at my setup and realize that it’s functions (sampler/looper/sound module) are already covered. If it’s coming in, then the 707 has to go.

I think that’s what “right sizing” is about: having the right tool for the job without too much overlap/duplicate gear. The OP’s arsenal would give me anxiety because there’s no way I could work with all that stuff, but everyone is different…

#54

…if u rent out ur studio to others…let it be a museum of sonic tools…the more, the better…
…if ur studio is UR workspace only…narrow it down to the most possible sonic focus…

always have a fixed setup…aaaaand a mobile setup…

limitation unlocks creativity…aaaand uniqueness…

1 Like
#55

Nope. I see nothing that‘s not needed. Just a setup of the very essentials. Except maybe for Logic which could be exchanged for Ableton 11 and Push 2 - but since you insist :innocent::wink:

#56

I remodel my basement just to have a room with a door for my studio. Have a desk, the mixers all wired up and ready to go. Yet, I’m out on the couch with these two.

This is the right size for now. Tomorrow it’ll probably be something different. No need to force it.

Whatever makes you smile, life’s too short not to.

image
image1512×2016 1.8 MB

12 Likes
#57

This.

2 Likes
#58

yeah I don’t see any need to “right size” my setup. unless I need to for space or financial reasons. I use what I want to when I want to. sometimes things go unused for months at a time. that’s fine. when I use 'em again, I still love 'em (or if not, they get sold). you don’t have to use everything all of the time.

8 Likes
#59

We bought LaserCubes Shop the LaserCube WiFi and LaserCube Pro for use by our Creative Computation students at the university where I work. Good solid 2.5W lasers, easy to use and integrates easily with MadMapper.

#60

This is precisely how I’ve boxed up my stuff on the occasions I do. It helps tremendously.

2 Likes
#61

YES!!! I’ve had my eye on these for a bit!
Thanks for reminding me

#62

Make sure to start with the purpose, rather than the gear, otherwise you can justify anything :slight_smile:

@fertelmeyster -> 3 synth techno setups

2 Likes
#63

Haha I’ll take the spicy moniker of “Gassy Hoarder” lol if that’s what my setup indicates, but I think it’s tough as a relative newcomer to electronic music (being focused on guitar, piano, voice for 15 years) and there’s a combination of needing to learn the components of setups broadly that can only really be done by trial and error in my experience, and unfortunately the most significant differentiators between HW options rarely emerge on paper the way they do in your hands, but the trade off is then having to manage the inertia of “okay so now I have these and not all of them are perfect for me, what to do” so, yeah :rofl:

#64

Indeed, good advice! I realized I don’t like making drums, so I don’t need a dedicated drum machine, even with the affordable 60809 clones/emulations floating around. I’d much rather chop up some loops and be done with it. If I feel the need to program drums, I’ve got some grooveboxes that can pull double duty. Though I always have to remind myself of that after watching Rytm videos :upside_down_face:

#65

Looking at your setup, I see the aK is positioned to possibly be the setup’s controller as well, but aside from that what about the ak do you like so much better than the a4? I have an ak and I too love it, I’m just interested.

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