Studios are sexy. Of course, the pile of gear is always evolving, changing, never staying still for more than a few days. Something's alway on it's way in or out, gear gets traded or loaned - keeps it fresh, I guess. of the earth, somewhere in East Vancouver...
Erin took some updated shots of my studio this week, showcasing the current iteration. Frankly, not that much has changed in the last year - the studio remains my favourite place in the world to hang out, chill, listen to and create music.
I can't believe it's already 2007 - the world just keeps whipping past, faster and faster every year.
Well, the studio is settling into a productive configuration. Much has changed, though much stays the same. :)
In the first pic, the workstation hasn't really changed much in the past six months, other than adding an arm for whatever synth I happen to be working with at the time. Currently it's the Roland JP-8080, but more often that space is occupied by the Waldorf Pulse Plus. There's a five-string bass in the background; my friend Jason Stormchild moved to Japan a few months ago, and left that, a microphone, and his Tannoy studio sub for me to store for him while he's away. I don't actually play the bass (tho I do play guitar, so I can *kind* of get by on the bass), but I'm hoping to find someone who does.
The second pic shows the evolution of the live rig - the Pulse is actually in this pic, at the bottom of the rack, but it's not actually getting used live these days. Also, the SH-101 is missing from this pic, as it's on the workbench having a few cold solder joints fixed. The new rig features the MPC running the master clock, drum sample sequencing, and MIDI sequencing of the Nord Modular and SH-101. The laptop is slaved to the MPC, and runs Ableton Live for basslines, longer samples and percussive loops, as well as acting as the main mixer and EQ, via the rackmounted MOTU 828mkII soundcard. Also in the rack are a DBX 166XL processing the kick and bassline, and a BBE Sonic Maximizer for adding balls to the SH-101 and Nord. The x0xb0x provides the traditional TB-303 riffs, and the SH-101 can be switched live between being sequenced via MIDI by the MPC and being sequenced by CV/Gate from the x0xb0x. :)
The third and fourth pics show the mighty DRUMCLOSET, where I've got three badass old analogue drumsynths being sequenced by two x0x-style drum machines. All the outputs are going into a 16-channel mixer, with a bunch of FX bussed in, and the main outs go through a Behringer ADA-8000 into my desktop at 24bit, 48khz. Being able to walk up to the closet, hit play, and sequence out strange new drumloops is a blast - and with Live, I can capture those loops and keep them forever with a couple of mouseclicks.
The last pic shows the ghetto cable management solution as well as my two non-electronic instruments, an Alvarez Dana electric and my new baby, a Fender 'Concert Series' electric-accoustic. :)
Whew, it's been a long time since I last posted pictures! A lot has happened - I'm now engaged to Erin, we've purchased and renovated a house together, and I've finally finished putting together my basement studio. The first pic is a view down the north wall of the studio, where all the synths reside... the crowd poster is for inspiration while I rehearse my live act. ;)
The second pic is a shot of the tabletop of the live rig, with the latest addition being the x0xb0x, which I built myself from the kit. Mine is #12 of the initial run of 100 - it sounds fantastic, but it sounds even better sequencing the SH-101. :) The rack on the floor holds a RackRider power conditioner, BBE Sonic Maximizer, the mighty Waldorf Pulse, and the Ensoniq DP/4+ effects rack.
The next shot is a pic of the closet - I had to cut another 8cm or so off the tubes to get the rack to fit into the ex-closet - it's a snug fit, but it works well. New addition: a Kenton Pro-DCB MIDI-DCB converter, finally! The closet isn't fully hooked up yet, only the Juno-60 is actually useful in this shot... I need to sort out a way to get audio from the Simmons boxes easily over to the computer for sampling. I'm thinking it may be time to invest in some patchbays and snake cable.
And lastly, a shot of my workstation - I tried to migrate over to using a mac, using Erin's old G4 PowerBook, but Ableton Live just *crawled* on it. I really, really wanted to have separate computers for work and studio, though, so when my office gave me a new ThinkPad, I jumped at the chance and moved my dual-purpose work/studio desktop computer into the studio for good, and removed all trace of work from it. The ugly wall of velvet is made from the ugly curtains that adorned the house when we first moved in; it prevents slapback sound reflections, which should help my mixing. They're hung about a foot from the back wall, with foam and moving blankets hung behind them to create a "dead end" to the studio. The leather couch was donated to the cause by Trent, and much thanks indeed.
Some more pics, prior to the Feb 25th show at the Caprice. The first pic is taken from up above - if you look carefully at the top left, on the top right hand corner or the yellow rack is a small silver box - this is a green laser that Erin bought me for my birthday! She is so cool. At night, I turn on the lasers (shining through the rotating starball thing) and the blacklights and jam. People wonder why I don't bother going out to clubs much anymore!
The second pic is the tabletop of the live rig - notice that the Alesis MMT-8 sequencer has been faded, as has the Yamaha SU-10 sampler - both were replaced just after Christmas, when my new Akai MPC-1000 (also a gift from Erin, she spoils me terribly) arrived. I'm completely in love with the MPC - it is the logical upgrade to the older gear on so many levels. My set has already grown leaps and bounds as a result. ALSO - notice the three shiny parts sticking up at the back? Those are the new strobelights - modified by me with some help from Lyle the Junglist Electronics Guy, they are shells from el-cheapo strobelights from the rave store in the mall, gutted, with everything inside replaced - new custom circuitboards and no more xenon strobe tubes - these babies are using six ultra-bright white LED's each, and are triggered using 5ms 5v trigger pulses from the SDS-800! I can sequence them from Logic Audio, or from the MPC - loads of fun!
The last pic shows my desktop workstation, and cable management center. Though it's not visible in the pic, the 10' 1/4" patchcords are draped over a $3.99 plastic water hose hanger; sharp bends in cables lower their lifespan a LOT. I'm comfortably situated between two skylights, which, on sunny days, puts the sun directly in my eyes from about 9:00am-9:30am and again at 4:00-4:30pm. Way to put your secret underground laboratory in an ATTIC, Drew. Dork.
Sheesh. And people ask why I don't own a car at age 28.
So I took a couple of pics just for fun, for desktop backgrounds on my PC (1280x1024) and my laptops (1024x768). :)
The first pic is the desktop background image. It shows the back of the modified Simmons SDS-800 - clearly visible are the MIDI jacks, one of which is in an expanded hole that used to house the (attached, ick) power cord, and the other was drilled new. The new power connector is a standard PC type (Why doesn't all gear use these? You hear me, Roland? What were you thinking?!?) mounted in what used to be the power switch. You can also see the orange "MIDI activity" oversize LED mounted in what used to be a headphone jack, and over on the right you can see the silver 1/4" jacks, four new trigger-outs. :)
The next pic is the laptop background - an overhead shot showing the Simmons, Alesis MMT-8 MIDI sequencer, and some FX pedals.
The third and last pic shows my Roland (er, *cough*, Mazda) SH-101, newly fitted with the Synhouse MIDIJACK. I'm pretty happy with the performance - it would be nice if it could do legato glides, a la TB-303, but I can do those manually, so no big problem. Certainly a big improvement over sequencing the SH-101 using CV/Gate from the Waldorf Pulse Plus!
