Benefits of Small Studio/Music Space

[@krazywabbit]

Could not agree more! With more stuff, at some point, it becomes decoration vs creation.

[@Andrew-rz7qt]

So love what you just said there and totally agree with you. I have started limiting what I use and tried to get the most out of that one synth now.

[@glenesis]

Happy New Year Todd :)

[@dsremixes1992]

Happy New Year Todd, loving the Channel 💯

[@markslandingsandaviationvi3123]

I take my Korg Minilogue XD into my living room. It felt so inspiring!! It makes the difference because I thought I knew my gear, but taking them apart one by one, made the difference🥳😄☺️

[@jjlaceyofficial]

in my space i have... sonicware texture lab and the ambient 0, a micro freak, a korg kaos quad, roland jdxi, korg emx sd, korg micro x, roland p-6, s-1 and j-6, korg e2 and es2, roland br 8, (as an aux for its effects), a focusrite 2i4, a bhringer xenyx 2442 and two midiman 4x4. two x i mac's . i like to keep it all compact and ready to use on a desk with slide out levels. it takes up a small part of my room space. i had to think long and hard about it but achieved it.

[@toddsmithmusic3172]

Nice setup my friend !

[@SemtêxČØŴv2.0]

Exactly, I’ve put away the daws, and most the gear. Got the circuit twins out, and at times just the iPad and launchpad as a controller. Rock on dude ✌️.

[@justinchauvin8167]

Another thing is not being too eager to get to a finished product. I had that problem and had to make effort to get out of it. It was totally worth it.

[@shambien]

I do have a couple of synths but I do most of my composition on an Android tablet 😅

[@derlio2086]

Cool, may I ask which app you use?

[@shambien]

@@derlio2086 G-Stomper Studio, mostly, which looks and feels a lot like a groovebox more than a PC DAW. I also use RemixLive as a "companion" and for some of my tracks and to include longer loops/recordings, but it does not handle MIDI clock so it needs to be synced with G-Stomper thru the Ableton Link protocol, which adds extra requirements (i.e. network) to use the whole lot altogether. But both - even if very different - have proven many times to be a fun way to just get a groove started without having to connect everything, just on one tablet (i.e. I composed music while on a camping in my tent...). HTH,

[@heliotron8042]

I started out with pedals for my guitar, learning about compression, modulation, ambience in stereo, etc. Then I bought a Minilogue OG, an excellent way of learning subtractive synthesis! But with 3 octaves and 4 voices, I limited my keyboard learning to small chords in the right hand and one finger in the left hand. I was very tempted to buy a Prologue, but as well as being much more expensive, I couldn't get one with 220v in my area. So I bought a Casio XW-G1 (Sampler and Groove Maker), and sold the Korg and some pedals to buy the JDXA. Today I have these two keyboards connected to the RC 505 MKII that goes to my little Yamaha MG-06 desk (mixer), and it also receives my guitar chain and pedals in stereo with its own loop (RC-3), all going out to JBL 305P monitors, and monitored on the other output to the Zoom H5 recorder. Of all of them, the Casio took the longest to learn how to split keyboard parts into samples, among other bureaucratic features, and the RC 505 MKII. Faced with these two, the JDXA is a marvel to set up lol. I thought about swapping the Casio for a TR-8S or Circuit Tracks, but now that I've got the hang of it, I don't think it's worth the price, for all that the also forgotten Casio XW-G1 is capable of offering. And its 5 octaves allow me to use traditional Midi pins, so the next step will be to experiment with syncs, side chains, etc... After I bought my Rack to unify them all on one side of the “studio”, the instigation is different! Cheers!

[@christopherfarrell-artist3557]

I found the same with the MC-101. I was suck in a house ( long story - just house sitting ) but it gave me time to really get into it. I treated myself to a JD-08 last week.....that's my next deep dive.

[@Slowlyburnedelectronics]

Very true what you said! My current setup is a tr8, octatrack, analog four, OB6 and a korg arp odyssey and I am trying to minimize it even further. After many experimentations, I think one of each category is best for speed and not bery mind boggling workflow. It is my hobby and between this and day work and family there is not much time left for complicated stuff.

[@christhedemocrat]

I started my synth journey as an admirer of the Wurlitzer and the Fender Rhodes in particular. I would only research and seek out synthesizers that can emulate those sounds properly. It became an obsession Fast forward I actually have two Rhodes (Suitcase $250 and the Stage $659) and a Wurlitzer 200A I currently have my desert island synthesizer which is actually a Korg M50 My second favorite scent is my Roland fa-06, I have a Korg wave station, a Roland JV 1010, a Yamaha sy77, Yamaha tg55 I have a Yamaha SO3, I have a Roland jdxi, I have a Korg Poly 800, I have a Roland gokeys and I have a Yamaha DX7 that i just bought as a birthday gift. You absolutely correct 😊 I know a lot about all of my synthesizers but I have not done a deep because im too overwhelmed But i love it. I don't plan on down sizing ever. Right now I'm doing a deep dive in my Akai MPC One. It's the one that keeps focused and the creativity just pours out of me none stop

[@chriscopeman8820]

Your wise words apply to how I feel about Ableton. All the possibilities in there can overwhelm me and it’s soooo easy to get more soft synths.

[@kryticaldepth5220]

Todd Smith is LL Cool J's real name.. Fyi.. trivia...

[@toddsmithmusic3172]

My name is Todd Jamie Smith. His name is Todd James Smith. Pretty close. 😂

[@kryticaldepth5220]

@@toddsmithmusic3172 This is gonna take me some time for me to process... Do you have an LL acronym ?? Ladies Love, Long and Lean is some of the attributes he put to LL...

[@Infamous-s6d]

I've had thousands of dollars of gear but really less is more I regret the gear I sold but my creative has grown with out it, back to the basics

[@Andrew-rz7qt]

Limitations can make you think about what you are creating. Too much choice can hinder you flow

[@hyprz]

Do you still have all your old gear? Is it in storage or you sold it? Whats the story of the new room?

[@toddsmithmusic3172]

I’ve got pretty much all the gear. I’ll have a bigger room in around 4-6 months. I have to make do till then my friend.

[@derlio2086]

Guess I would use midi keyboard and laptop with uhe or arturia collection. Great point you made, getting rid of stuff might good for me too. - And then comes reality with demos of something like Behringer PPG. Wish me luck...

[@toddsmithmusic3172]

I kept most of my gear, it’s in storage till I get a larger place. That should be 4-6 months. Sometimes gutting down the setup can help the process.

[@jamesmacleod671]

I agree, too much makes you lazy and you just skim over the machines and you don't do the most important thing and that's producing songs or tunes. I've got the Roland JD-XA, system 8, Nord lead 3, dave smith Pro 2, Akai Force/MPCX, Elektron analog 4, Korg Wavestate/Modwave, yes i know too much stuff. Thankfully ive got a spare empty room to keep it all, but all this gear with it's sometimes steep learning curve can be overwhelming. And if i am on one machine trying to learn it after a while i can easily be distracted by the others and end up getting nowhere. So yes it can be a benefit (plenty of sounds) but also a hindrance having a lot of gear. When you think about it a lot of the great songs that used synthesizers back in the 70s and 80s only had a few top of the range synthesizers to choose from compared to today, we really are spoilt for choice with very powerful machines now compared to ones made back then, and reviewers still nitpick "it should have this, why does it not have that" People will just never be satisfied. LOL