Yesterday I was trying to find out why my Launchpad X wasn’t working with my MRCC, while testing I discovered that my RK-005 had died, also my Force stopped receiving incoming MIDI and there is some noise in the output that is hard to troubleshoot because there are so many things in my studio.
All this frustration led me to realizing that I spend more time setting up stuff and troubleshooting than actually playing music. Don’t get me wrong, my studio is a bottomless source of fun, but it’s also a bottomless source of pain, sometimes literally (can’t count the times I pulled a muscle laying cables). Plus right now I don’t have much time, and it’s going to get worse in the next few months, so I’d rather have a more limited setup that works straight out of the box.
So I’m thinking of downsizing the studio and maybe even switching to a hybrid workflow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving up on the dream of having a truckload of synths all wired up and making bleep bloops, plus a bunch of pedals and stuff. But that can wait until I have space and money to set up my dream studio, including a 24x24 (or bigger) interface because nothing hurts as much as dealing with limited inputs and sends (ugh, patchbays).
My idea is to cut it down to the Force, an iPad as a multi-track fx processor, and probably a Lyra with a few pedals on the audio side, plus an Oxi One, a couple launchpads and one or two MIDI controllers on the MIDI side. Everything will be routed into the XR18 which will be connected to a laptop with Bitwig (I happen to have an old license, so we’re talking a $129 purchase here). Maybe later I can add a used iConnectMIDI4+ ($200 for a used one) for direct digital sends to/from the iPad instead of the 4x4 interface I’m going to use with it now. My previous forays into ITB workflow weren’t that successful, but in this case most of the work would be done out of the box and the computer would mostly be for recording, mixing and experimenting with modular stuff (the Grid looks cool, though probably nothing I’ll make with it will find way into actual finished tracks). Or who knows, maybe I’ll finally start enjoying working ITB.
Can’t comment of the specific setup, but I do this a lot.
I kinda enjoy the restriction of picking a few bits of gear to mix together, and packing up the other stuff for a bit.
Really helps me to learn gear in more depths, and discover things that work (or don’t) nicely together. And stops me going too crazy with cabling and power.
I’ve only got a tiny space for music, so it’s partly forced by that too of course…
I have lot’s of old 80’s vintage equipment and never run into issues. I did, however with modern equipment. Perhaps consider buying old dinosaurs? (Avoid the 106, though). Or stick with Elektron as they seem to be solid
Can you set up a card table in some nook outside of the studio? Bring a couple pieces of gear, and focus on them for a bit, then switch out for other pieces. Might give you the space to have fun, refocus.
I think I’ll leave at least some of the gear on its place, and I won’t remove the cables. Just label them and keep them there. This way I can return stuff to the setup when I really want it.
Too late, I already have one. With busted voices, of course, and no time or money to fix it.
I have a few dinosaurs that are not in the diagram. Honestly my plan is to post most of them for trade. The ones I can buy are all too big. Even the Alpha Juno (which took a lot of repairs as well) is a behemoth compared to the rest of my setup.
I’m using an OP-Z for that, going to a cafe to write music like a proper TE customer. Ordered a line module a couple months ago, one day I’ll receive it and then I can take something else to use with the OP-Z at a cafe.
Almost all my tracks are actually made on the OP-Z.
I find having everything plugged in and “ready to go” to be less productive. Instead I just start small and if needed add more.
I think the “ready to go” mentality is a leftover from traditional studio consoles where it is needed due to the amount of artists/bands coming in and out.
Some people have specific instruments for specific tasks or stems. Much like having a template in your computer DAW. It is not a “mentality”, instead for those it is practical
Only thing fixed in my patchbay are mixer inputs. Other than that its whatever lands on the table. It’s like 30 seconds more work, but greatly improves focus as I’m not faced with many options.
I also don’t use DAW templates cause it tells my brain I should use everything and then it leads to bad tracks.
I’m a simple man, get most out of one machine, move to next and continue till I’m happy.
I find that the effort of adding more, however miniscule, is preventing me from actually doing so. I like @johnbitwig’s DAW template metaphor, like I don’t have to use everything on a track, but if I want to use it, all I have to do is to send MIDI.
When I want to cook a steak I don’t empty my fridge and put everything out there just because I have it.
Instead I just take what I need and work with it. I have the other things if needed, but don’t need them laying around in sight based on a slight chance I might want to add something later.
Whether or not it is historically accurate, I think it’s a good point.
There is somewhat of a consensus about what a studio should be and it’s easy to get caught up in the endless cycle of setting up and fettling with gear instead of using it.
When stuck in this mindset it can be useful to hear other perspectives and that other ways of using your gear can be productive.
There’s a lot of trial and error in finding a productive and inspiring setup, some of us never really manage it and some of us maybe like all the procrastination a little more than we’d like to admit. But anything that gets people thinking about things differently is probably useful.
Ultimately though, what works is very subjective and down to each of us to largely figure out for ourselves.
Yep, I know a few people with a large 50+ synth collection that switched from everything connected at all times to just having their mixer always ready to go instead of having all synths plugged in at all times.
