1010 Music-Based DIY Portable Electronic Music Studio

This video shows how to build a small, relatively inexpensive portable electronic music studio using modules from 1010 Music and others, a metal briefcase from Harbor Freight, and some good old-fashioned elbow grease. The goal was to create a composition and performance station that is small, quick and easy to set up and tear down, can fit nicely in an overhead compartment on a plane, and that sounds great.
Under the Big Tree is Nicolas Peck's KZbin channel, focused on esoteric electronic music, modular and vintage synthesizers, sound design equipment and techniques, and the composition, production and performance of music.
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[@seanhenriques808]

Love my 1010 boxes. Great video. Like your tone and delivery. Very much at ease and informative. You’re a pro! Subscribing now.

[@MikeGano]

Thanks for sharing your portable setup. I’m continually refining mine and always love hearing how others go about it.

[@UndertheBigTree]

Thanks, Mike! I'm also just at the beginning - about to investigate using Numerology on the Mac instead of Reaper/Megababy. Might be a great fit, and faster to work with.

[@QuincasMoreira]

This was increible!

[@Le100piment]

Very smart design :)

[@UndertheBigTree]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@EricTetz]

I _get_ the appeal of modular synthesis (though I don't do it myself), because exposing the guts of a traditional synthesizer allows you to wire things up in creative and unorthodox ways. But... I don't get this. We have a "sampler/sequencer" (already in the DAW), a "mixer/recorder" (already in the DAW), a "wavetable synthesizer" (in the DAW), and a subtractive synth (in the DAW). They're all digital, all IO done via MIDI or stereo audio. There's no control voltage or other interesting wiring possible. With an analog synth or module you (1) could perhaps convince yourself that it sounds better or (2) you have a knob-per-function, so it's more hands-on. In this case, it's 4 external computers, each running an anemic version of software you could just run in the DAW. The knobs are there to control that computer, so the UI is much worse than if that software was just running on the laptop. It's basically just using a DAW, but 4 of the VSTs are running on external computers, providing a shittier interface and reduced control. You don't gain any creative or sonic advantage. I just don't see the point. **shrug**

[@azzaipdivad]

One could make the case that using external hardware offloads DSP from the main computer, but that doesn't apply here as the tasks the hardware is chosen to fulfill hardly require any power to begin with. And as a recording setup rather than a performance one, the requirements in real-time computation should be met by a modern laptop.

[@UndertheBigTree]

It's very simple, Eric. I have been working with computers for 45 years. I have to work with them every day for the commercial side of my life. When I do art music, I want to stay as far away from computers as I can. I'm using the Mac as a MIDI sequencer only, and perhaps will replace it with a Vector from Five12.

[@UndertheBigTree]

No question. But it is a question of what inspires you creatively. You could use a software synth emulation of the Buchla Music Easel, but the experience is utterly watered down.

[@EricTetz]

​ @Under the Big Tree Right. My point is that for this particular build, you've just put a bunch of computers in a box. They're just anemic computers running limited software with worse human-machine interfaces than you'd get with a desktop/tablet. It doesn't either of the primary advantage of other non-desktop music making devices: (1) more immediate interfaces (e.g. knob per function) or (2) better sound.

[@EricTetz]

@@UndertheBigTree "You could use a software synth emulation of the Buchla Music Easel, but the experience is utterly watered down." Exactly. The music Easel: 1. Is analog, so at least in principle could sound different than what you can do on a computer (in practice, probably not so much). 2. (CRUCIALLY) Has a rich, custom, hands-on, tactile user interface, with a knob-per-function, which is one of the big advantages of outboard gear vs in-the-box, and a primary advantage in this context, where the goal is fluid creativity. You don't get either of these with this setup, because it's a collection of computers with tiny screens where the knobs are for navigating menus, so it's *worse* in terms of fluid creativity than a desktop/tablet.