What's in your studio? + The gear you use most + Why?

[John Koch-Northrup]

I can't believe we haven't started a "what you own" thread until now. What gear do you have in your studio? What do you use to play live (if you do)? What gear do you use the most?

And most importantly... WHY is the gear you use the gear you use?

Don't be shy - the absolutely great thing about musicians is it's really not about the gear... it's how someone uses the gear. But, hey, it's fun to talk about the gear!

Someone may be writing the most utterly brilliant music and getting really decent master recordings - and recording on cheap software with minimal equipment... or someone may have an entire roomful of gear and use every bit of it. And of course - there are a few who have a ton of gear and most of it sits there for sentimental reasons but rarely gets touched anymore.

[sympathetic | DIVISION]

Alright!!!! Looks like I maybe the first cab off the rank!!!!

My set-up is pretty minimal really, much like my music. I use this stuff mainly due to lack of money, I'd love to have tons & tons of synths, but the reality is I have to make do with what I got! In the end it doesn't bother me too much, although at the moment I'm REALLY wanting a modular synth...anyone got a spare $6,000?
Seriously though, I find being limited with equipment is a very good thing, it makes me think more about just what I can do with the small amount of gear I have. In the end I'm still discovering new things with what I have!

I use-
imac duo core 2 (Getting a bit old now)
Korg MicroKorg (Busted! Does anyone know how to fix a buggered power connector inside a synth?)
M-Audio Axiom-49 Midi-Keyboard
Technics Monitor Headphones

Cubase 4
Ableton Live
Garageband
Traktion
Mulab

Absynth 4
FM8
Massive
Korg Legacy Cell 2007 Edition (MonoPoly/MS-20/Polysix)
Pro-53
Crystal

[Mark Mahoney]

For my last live show I used a Voyager for my leads. I had a PC laptop running Ableton Live for my rhythm loops, and finally I used a Waldorf Q rack for pads, sequences, and arps. I use an Akai MPK 49 keyboard controller for the laptop and Waldorf. For FX I use a Lexicon MPX550 and a Line 6 EchoPro rack module.

For my next performance I am going to add a Korg Electribe ESX1, and I will swap out the Waldorf Q for my Microwave XT.

[John Koch-Northrup]

Well, first thing to mention is I've taken a 5+ year break from recording... so I'll mention what I'm planning to use as I get things rolling again and also some of the old things I used to rely on.

I primarily have worked with hardware in the past - and have mostly used the pc as a 'big giant tape deck'. I gradually started loving using drum machines within the pc... specifically Rebirth and Fruity Loops 3.0. I mainly used Vegas 2.0 to multi-track and an earlier version of Sound Forge to tweak individual tracks or mutilate/mangle/sweeten/compress/etc... I had a Win98 machine built back in 1999 that was fully scsi - which was great at the time for recording audio. Had an Aardvark Aark24 8 in / 8 out sound card - I could record a live setup of 4 stereo tracks in and have it sound amazing. So that recording system lasted me until about 2004 when first the power supply failed, and then the drive failed...

Fast forward to 2009... I've been doing AtmoWorks for over a year now as an owner and working with all the artists - it's finally time for me to start recording my own music again. Since I had three Window's machines that were all in various levels of not working...

*** Computer ***

I switched to a 24" iMac this spring. I just bought Logic Studio - so that will now be my main multi-track software going forward. Logic also has a literal ton of softsynths and has Ultrabeat for drums. Audio recording, midi, loops, etc... It'll be a long time before I have this fully explored.

I picked up a Presonus Firestudio Project last year - which gives me the same 8 in / 8 out I loved with my previous card.

*** Synths ***

Korg DSS-1 - this has been my main synth since about 1988. I know it inside and out - I love it. It has it's faults. It was originally meant to be a sampler - but it really shined as a synth. It's freaking huge and I try very hard to never need to move it... ;-)

Roland Juno 106 - my 2nd most used synth I've had since maybe 1989 or 1990. I love this beast. It can slice through a mix - or mellow out and be a nice drone.

Sequential Prophet 600 - used and very abused... it's gritty, dirty, goes out of tune, midi only sort of works on it - the knob pots are dirty so it'll make scratchy grindy noise through the audio... it's fat, analog, ugly, and wonderful.

Yamaha TG33 - I bought this used fm digital vector synth around 2001 or so and for an intensive purposes have ignored it. I've used it a couple of times as the 3rd or 4th synth in a midi stack - but nothing truly front and center.

Synthesizers.com 22 space modular analog synth - my new pride and joy! I bought this during my 5 year break from recording so it's never been recorded yet. I've played with it - I love it. Knobs knobs knobs knobs knobs... and a whole freaking lot of patch cables. For mono sounds - and sound filtering/mangling - this is so inspirational.

*** Effects ***

Korg SDD-1200 - dual digital delay - I bought this around 1988 or so - and it's my main go to effect in many situations. Heck - it's been in just about every song I've written since I bought it. Most of my feedback start with this unit. It has no presets - all knobs - and I usually patch the delays in a feedback loop (which then are patched into the mixer in a controlled feedback loop.).

Lexicon Vortex - picked this up used in the early 2000's. Interesting nifty unit - lots of weird chorus and modulation effects - a lot of things I can mangle my SDD-1200 into doing and many that the Vortex seems to only do.

Boss ME-8B - bass multi effects unit - from the mid-1990's. Mostly used on my bass - but I also have it hooked in for synth work.

Alesis Wedge - reverb.

*** Mixer / Monitors ***

Mackie 1402 mixer - I bought this back in 1999 - it's nice and clean and has a small footprint.

Mackie 1604 mixer - I had this out for quite a while, bought used... I've decided to put it in storage and switched back to using the smaller 1402. Yes, this means that using the 1402 I can't have everything hooked up at all times...

Mackie HR-824 monitors - I bought these around 2002 because I'd heard them in Vir Unis' studio so many times and loved them. Everybody loves a different pair of monitors and that's totally cool. I personally love these - I was recommened them by about 10 people in ambient music that have home studio's... and well there you go. I had to save up for several years to buy them - and I've never regretted waiting to get them.

I have a great pair of AKG studio phones - I don't remember the exact model number off hand. All my mixing was done on these prior to the Mackie purchase.

*** Bass and Other Stuff ***

G&L L1000 Bass Guitar - I love this bass and bought it from a friend in maybe 1991 or so. It's so heavy you'd swear it's made of concrete.

Gibson Grabber Bass - on the other end of the weight spectrum - this feels like it's made of balsa wood... Very different sound from my G&L and not nearly as good of a bass - but I like the sound once in a while - and the feel of the neck is so different - and it doesn't rip my shoulder off.. ;-)

Ampeg B2R head / 15" cab / 2 x 10" + horn cab - When my original bass amp died on me I bought a fantastic SWR tube combo amp - I loved that amazing tube sound... but I was in a band at the time with a very loud drummer and it just couldn't compete - so I got the Ampeg stack... it'll push the sound. It's not quite the silky smoothness of the SWR - but it cuts through and has a sound all of it's own. I've almost parted with it several times because it's so massive and my house is small - but I never quite pull the trigger and get rid of it. Probably never will.

King Trumpet - my original 5th grade trumpet is still with me... yeah - it's a student model - yeah - it's beat up and very old... but it's mine - and it sounds like me.

Yamaha Piano - I was very fortunate to have my old boss at the music store call me up in the early 90's and tell me to get in and look at a piano he'd just taken in on trade. Gorgeous sound - gloss piano black finish... This is simply the absolute best thing in my entire studio.

[hyper-k]

I'm from the analog era; rooms filled with hardware, lights and knobs and mixing tables the size of royal diningtables. And over the years I discovered that creativity among all I worked with including myself were dispropotional to the access of equipment. In other words; the more equipment; keyboards, amps, mixing facillity, effects,sound booth, saunas, nice views over the english countryside the more lousy the creativity. On the other hand; with a minimal equipment, JUST so that the recordings meet standard we have achieved amasing results. I'm talking about inicial recording, later you can take that recording to a studio that have all the "porno" hardware you need to polish the sound.

In 2004 I took it a step further. The 2 old studios was dead, a new had to be assembelt. I had the money to buy what I wanted, money wasn't an issue. I seach the marked, and came to what I now will refer to as a cubical. A small unit that can be taken anywere for recording, BUT good enough to do the mixing, mastering and live (dj or musician). On top of that, it must be a video editing tool and a web-publishing tool. The FULL package.

This is my solution:

-M-AUDIO Firewire 1814 external sound card (PC), 18 channel in, 14 channel out. It's cheap to buy and it's a workhorse. When it's time to replace it, the choice has come to M-Audio ProFire 2626 Pro Tools. £370 and you'll be amazed!.

I use Ableton Live 7 as my Master program and Reason 3 to support the
keyboard side.
I have tried to work on most of the software out there, but Ableton 7 is by far the best companion a sound creator can have, both when it comes to capturing sound and to delivering that sound elsewhere. It has 6 inbuilt synths, tons of drums........and on and on.......
I use Reason 3 because i'm a keyboard guy, in Reason I can control as many keyboards as I want to. And combined with Ableton, you have the perfect dj platform with keyboard access OR as a keyboard player in a band. With Reson I have access to 1000s og sampled instruments and my own uniqe ones of course.

I use M-AUDIO Keystation pro 88 keyboard, becourse it has heavy piano keys (me thinks that's nice), it has 88 knob and faders on top of it that can be assigned to anything in Reason AND Ableton at the same time. With the Combinator in Reason I can play as many keyboards live as I want to. Nice tool, big knobs instead of small mixers in dark rooms.....

M-AUDIO Trigger Finger for recording drums to track OR trigger "events both video and sound" on stage.

I have 2 microfones for song or guitar: 1 Røde NT1-A, and 1 Studio Projects B1.

For sentimental reason; a Yamaha DX7 from the first batch ever. I bought it used and I have had it for 30 years, and guess what: it works!!

[Ari Porki]

Keep it simple:

Pc and laptop
Tascam analog-tape portastudio
PreSonus Audiobox
Roland E-15 as midi-keyboard
M-Audio KeyRig25
Korg Nano Pad
Samson monitors, Sennheiser headphones
2 small usb-mixers...to keep things on them!
few cheap cond.mics

Cubase 4
Samplitude 10
Ableton Live 6

- several vst-synths; favourites are perhaps Atmosphere, Sylenth, Wusikstation, Absynth and KeyRig
- several guitars: ESP-50, Headbell, Ibanez 12-strings, 6-strings acoustics Yamaha and Fender and cheap toy Harley Benton, jazzbass and small amps for all of them; Line6 15w, Roland 10 w, Samson 40 w, Behringer 60 w, pedals etc. I like very much Line6 P.O.D 2.0!

And sugar on the bottom: great freeware Audacity!

[hyper-k]

That's right, keep it simple.

[Ari Porki]

Very interesting to hear! I have no previous history of live shows as electronic musician and I have always wondered how to handlle the live performance, as there will be on september.

Mark Mahoney said:

For my last live show I used a Voyager for my leads. I had a PC laptop running Ableton Live for my rhythm loops, and finally I used a Waldorf Q rack for pads, sequences, and arps. I use an Akai MPK 49 keyboard controller for the laptop and Waldorf. For FX I use a Lexicon MPX550 and a Line 6 EchoPro rack module.

For my next performance I am going to add a Korg Electribe ESX1, and I will swap out the Waldorf Q for my Microwave XT.

[Mark Mahoney]

When performing live, I find a simple setup to be the best. Usually you don't have a lot of time to setup and breakdown, and it is a pain to move everything. When there is a lot of gear, there are a lot of connections. It's easy to connect things wrong when nervous or under a time restraint.

Ari Porki said:

Very interesting to hear! I have no previous history of live shows as electronic musician and I have always wondered how to handlle the live performance, as there will be on september.

Mark Mahoney said:

For my last live show I used a Voyager for my leads. I had a PC laptop running Ableton Live for my rhythm loops, and finally I used a Waldorf Q rack for pads, sequences, and arps. I use an Akai MPK 49 keyboard controller for the laptop and Waldorf. For FX I use a Lexicon MPX550 and a Line 6 EchoPro rack module.

For my next performance I am going to add a Korg Electribe ESX1, and I will swap out the Waldorf Q for my Microwave XT.

[John Koch-Northrup]

Agreed! For live shows absolutely keep it simple - use the gear you *really* know well - as in the gear you know how to work with in the dark... Less is definitely more. And always take good power strips and extension cords with you. :-)

Another thing is to do a couple of dry runs - set up in a different room of your house or somewhere else and make sure you have everything... especially if you don't do live shows on a frequent basis.

[Jones Gloomy]

Ari Porki said:

Korg Nano Pad

How is Nano Pad? Thought about purchasing one. Seems nice and small.

I use:

Macbook, pc
Mackie onyx satellite
Tascam m-2516

Ensoniq eps16+
Novation xiosynth
Edirol pcr-m50

Reaper http://reaper.fm/ for recording/mixing (amazing, cheap DAW app).
Lots of vst/au: Massive, Crystal, Eve 2, Wusikstation...

[Ari Porki]

Korg Nano Pad was a great suprise. It's not expensive but amazing thing, small and light. You can, of course, control drums but I found it's very handsome with pads, sometimes even more than keyboards. Light touch is enough.


Jones Gloomy said:

Ari Porki said:

Korg Nano Pad

How is Nano Pad? Thought about purchasing one. Seems nice and small.

I use:

Macbook, pc
Mackie onyx satellite
Tascam m-2516

Ensoniq eps16+
Novation xiosynth
Edirol pcr-m50

Reaper http://reaper.fm/ for recording/mixing (amazing, cheap DAW app).
Lots of vst/au: Massive, Crystal, Eve 2, Wusikstation...

[Seren]

Seren said:

The piece of equipment I use the most is my drummers stool, I'm sitting on it whatever I'm doing!

Most of my equipment is listed on my page but recent additions are 2 AKG c3000b mics, home made sound deflectors, Samson phantom power supply and an Alesis 16 track mixer for live performances in the future.