How Does SYNTHWERK Make Music Effectively while Mobile? A Quick Look Behind the Scenes
Music Production in a Hotel Room - For Two Years
What do you do when you can't bring your home studio with you, 600 miles away from home for over two years, and living out of a hotel? You pack a "tough box" with the necessities.
In this post (a bit of a long one), I will cover my "loadout" for my current mobile music production setup, and I will try to dig into why I chose what I now consider my "mobile kit." I'll also cover some of the things I have attempted to work into my kit and briefly mention why I didn't like them.
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Defining Success & Constraints
One of my few “hotel studio” setups in 2021.
For nearly three years, I have been working towards the goal of producing music. While writing this blog, it occurred to me that I have been living out of a hotel room for two of these three years due to my job. You could say that I started my "career" in music in a hotel room. While I do have a "home studio" at my apartment in North Carolina, I have not yet utilized it for anything more than a hobby or interest because that's what I left it as when I left for New York.
Despite this challenge, I released my first single (currently remixing, so stay tuned) and started a handful of new music projects. I also started streaming my music production work on Twitch.
💡 I won't be covering any of my Twitch streaming efforts here (perhaps in a later post), but please give my channel a follow! I just started streaming again and would love to see you all there.
So, as someone that had little knowledge about making music, to begin with, I had to learn the fundamentals while "on the go" with, at the time, no end date in sight. I wanted as many options as I could muster on this journey - merely to encourage musical discovery.
Things That I Needed
With the limitations of working "on the go," I think it is necessary to define what is important to me in this situation and some of the hurdles I had to overcome.
Portability - Due to space constraints, I gave myself one "tough box" and my production bag to carry anything I may want. I wanted to keep my footprint as small as possible because I was on the move frequently for about a year on the mission.
Ease of Setup / Breakdown - While my kit needed to be portable, it also had to be quick and easy to set up and break down. The fewer wires and cables, the better! I like to keep things very organized and as simple as possible. Keeping things simple dramatically reduces stress and, by proxy, promotes creativity.
Sound Quality - As a music producer, the quality of sound that you work with is paramount. The ability to reproduce sound in any given environment accurately is critical. Because of this, I invested a fair amount of money in excellent headphones and small monitors.
Sound / Instrument Diversity - I wanted to be able to experiment. As someone still trying to find "my sound," I wanted things that would provide me with a wide range of sounds and sound manipulation options. This was almost certainly the most challenging requirement.
Critical Limitations:
Noise - I work in a hotel room, so blasting monitors or an amp is a hard "no-go."
Confined Space - Working in a confined space brings its challenges. You are greatly limited to the amount of equipment you can work with and the physical size of the equipment.
Power Availability - While seemingly not a huge issue when in a hotel room, I had to keep in mind what I could bring that could work off battery power. Carrying around a few extension cords and power strips to power a small synth stack and other gear quickly became impractical.
Things That Didn't Work - Trial & Error
My first stab at creating music on the go was using Ableton Live 10 (I dabbled with FL Studio, too, at one point) and my 2012 MacBook Pro. At the time, I wasn't quite sure how to bridge the gap between DAW and physical, electronic instruments. I was also learning how to use a DAW, so I didn't want to get too into the weeds and make things overly complicated.
This worked for all of about two months. I am very much a "hands-on" type of person in the studio, and I found myself yearning for hardware synthesizers, drum machines, and effects pedals. Adding to the complexity, the MacBook Pro was heavily underpowered for what I was experimenting with.
To "fix" this problem, during one of my few trips back to North Carolina for a short break from work, I packed a "mobile studio." Over the last two years, each time I made a trip home, I would swap out gear that wasn't working for me. Below are a few notable mentions that I tried to work into my kit but eventually brought them back to the home studio.
Solid State Logic SSL2+ USB Audio Interface
I love this audio interface. However, for "on the go" use, I wanted an interface that offered me near-zero-latency audio processing for Twitch streaming - processing audio on the same machine I was using for streaming was too CPU intensive. If you do not need an interface that supports any onboard digital signal processing (DSP), the SSL2+ interface is fantastic on the road. The interface is solidly built, has excellent pre-amps, supports MIDI, is lightweight, and is incredibly user-friendly. Plus, the level knob goes to 11!
My beautiful Mono Station.
Novation Circuit Mono Station
The more I work with this synth, the more I feel that it is pretty limited in terms of its diversity in sound. That doesn't make it a lousy synth, though. I am a massive fan of the sub-oscillator and filter textures. However, the user interface is not super friendly (at least for me), and I needed something more than what feels like a synth and groove box smashed together (pretty sure that was the intent, though). I love my Mono Station, and I don't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon, but it isn't suitable for long-term "on-the-road" use. I find it better served for tinkering in the studio as an alternative to the few other synths I have. Though, I am interested in hearing what other people may think of this machine and how it's worked into their creative workflows.
Akai MPK 225
I believe AKAI's MIDI controllers are an excellent entry point for many musicians and producers. The primary "issues" I have with their MIDI controllers boil down to the feel of the key bed and the build quality of their products. They aren't bad, but it isn't a premium product. It's not priced as a premium product either. But, I know plenty of people who use their AKAI controllers every day and love them. Everything comes down to personal preference at the end of the day. I saw Elderbrook last year in Brooklyn, NY, and he had an AKAI on stage. I am not sure if that was a personal choice or just what was available when I saw him performing - but I honestly don't know how he does it if that is road gear. I sold my AKAI keyboard soon after purchasing it simply because it was too big and bulky, and I was pretty unhappy with the feel of the keys. I won't complain too much about the other issues I had with it because I feel like they are just symptomatic of the price point - i.e., don't buy a Kia and expect a Ferrari.
I love this synth, and perhaps if I were a bit more experienced with sound design, this would have served me better at the time. But, not having the ability to run MIDI (limitation of my audio interface - I didn't have the SSL2+ with me) and the limits of my PC (lag time), this synth wasn't working for me. I won't say that I may not choose to bring this with me in the future, but it wasn't an excellent fit for this "season" of my music-making venture. The Arturia MicroFreak is an outstanding synthesizer. I can't summarize the number of things you can do with this synth in a paragraph. If you don't know anything about it, go check out this video.
Arturia KeyStep Pro
Arturia MIDI controllers are fantastic. The KeyStep Pro is absolutely my favorite MIDI controller to date. The KeyStep Pro is a beast when working with outboard MIDI-controlled instruments and frankly does more than I will ever use it for in the future. However, the controller wasn't working well for me on the road because of its size. I needed something more compact and less feature-packed (as odd as that sounds). As much as I love my KeyStep Pro, I needed something a smaller controller with a solid build quality that had great feeling keys and that I could fit in my production bag.
MOOG Semi-Modular Setup
I am confident that every synth nerd has versions of a semi-modular system, but mine is relatively simple right now. While I was on this music venture, I had with me at one point my Mother-32, DFAM, Subharmonicon, and a couple of effects modules in one tower. This tower was amazing to have at my disposal, but it takes up way too much space. I was also paranoid that something would break every time I had to move it. Further, having to tote around three or four "wall warts" (power supplies), extension cords, and power strips was too much to deal with every time I moved.
Things That Did Work - Maximizing Space & Creativity
After just over a year and a half of testing seemingly random things to find what works for me, this is ultimately what I have been using and have been pretty happy with. Granted, you aren’t going to take this stuff and work on an airplane, but if you plan to sit tight in a location for a few months, this list could be a good start.
Laptop: Let’s talk about the hub of any producer’s setup - the computer. No, I don’t use a Mac (although those new M1 MacBook Pro systems are calling my name), but the PC laptop I have does alright.
Currently, I am using a Legion Y740 15” PC (discontinued). It is outfitted with:
Intel Core i7 9750H @ 2.60GHz
64.0 GB RAM
4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q Graphics Card
4TB Samsung 870 QVO SSD (data storage)
1TB Western Digital NVMe Drive (Operating System)
Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
It does the job... for now. I am currently saving for a 16” M1 Max MacBook Pro. The M1 Max is certainly overkill for pure music production, but with me getting ready to launch my YouTube channel, this system will be a massive upgrade from what I am using now.
Audio Interface: Secondary to the computer is the need for a great audio interface. I, like many people, started out with a Focusrite 2i2 and this worked, but I wanted something a bit nicer, mostly for the purposes of doing some simple acoustic and vocal recording and handling any needs related to my Twitch streaming efforts. In short, I wanted onboard DSP in my interface. This would offload some of the work that my already underpowered PC was dealing with and offer me a wide range of flexibility while learning the ropes of music production. I really wanted an Apollo Twin, but the price point was just too high for me to justify the expense at the time (and honestly still is). Then I came across Antelope Audio and their Zen Go interface. While I have not done a shoot-out test between the Apollo Twin and the Zen Go, from my research I have found this interface to be incredibly comparable to the Apollo Twin. It just works. The support team is great, they offer a wide range of compressors, amps, effects, and even Antares Auto-Tune, all of which run onboard the interface with “zero-latency” processing. I only put this in quotes because nothing is truly zero-latency. However, I have noticed no issues even when stacking five or six effects on one channel.
Audio Monitors: My current set of audio monitors is a set of Focal Shape 40 4-inch near-field monitors. I picked up two demo models from Sweetwater Sound about 6-months ago to save a penny or two (they are not cheap), and I could not be happier. With a quick room calibration from Sonarworks, I was blown away by the clarity and low-end response on a speaker so small. I know these will be great to have as secondary monitors to a larger 8” system even in the home studio. I can’t say enough good things about them.
Headphones: I carry two sets of headphones with me. The Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro’s for my open-back mixing cans and a pair of Focal Listen Pro’s for my closed-back passive listening and reference cans. Notably, whenever I use headphones, I use Sonarworks SoundID Reference software to clean up the response for either set. Both pairs of headphones are incredibly comfortable to wear for long periods and offer a great solution for “on-the-go” use. Albeit you probably don’t want to damage a set of DT 1990’s - they can be a bit pricey. If budget is an issue, definitely go with the Focal Listen Pro’s - you won’t be disappointed.
Microphone: Shure SM7B. Need I say more? This thing is an industry standard and covers an incredibly wide range of needs. It sounds great for Podcasting, streaming, on male vocals, and even recording my acoustic guitars. It is incredibly well built and for the quality of sound, at a great price point. I have a relatively inexpensive microphone arm that clamps to the side of a desk for hotel use. This was the most practical solution because
Secondary Monitor: Most probably don’t need a secondary monitor. But trust me, it comes in handy when you are streaming online or multitasking. The best “bang-for-buck” when it comes to portability in my opinion is the ASUS ROG Strix 17.3" portable gaming monitor. Is this overkill? Probably. Can you find something cheaper? Absolutely. Would I buy this again? 110%.
This “little” monitor breaks down to the same size as your laptop and can fit in any large laptop bag or case without issue. As a bonus, the USB-C and Micro-HDMI ports provide an incredibly versatile option for connectivity with things like your smartphones, iPads, game consoles, cameras... whatever you can throw at it. It is also battery-powered, so if you need some extra screen real estate while you are on the move, you aren’t hindered by the need for an extension cord - ASUS advertises 3-hours of battery life but I have yet to push it that far. The whole setup comes complete with its own bag, tripod, and all necessary cables to get you started.
For the gamers out there, it supports 240Hz and 144Hz refresh rates on battery power and is super bright! My only “con” to this monitor is that the color grading seems a bit flat.Ableton Push 2: Bottom line up front, I love this thing and it is an absolute must have in my “on the go” kit. This being said, I have used every version of the Ableton Launchpad that existed and I just couldn’t get them into my workflow. I truly believe this is was purely because I was unwilling to read the manual for those devices. I wanted something that just worked and I didn’t have to overthink. The Push 2 is that. I never read the manual (probably should) - I just started twisting knobs and it was incredibly intuitive to figure out.
Arturia MiniLab MkII: Whenever the Ableton Push 2 is not fitting, the Arturia MiniLab MkII is my go to portable MIDI controller. It is well built, decently lightweight, the keys feel amazing for the price point, and it offers great flexibility in terms of custom MIDI assignments (for knobs, pads, etc). Not to mention, as an avid user of Arturia’s suite of Plugins (FX Collection, Analog Lab, V Collection, etc. - pretty sure I own everything they have available at this point), it seamlessly integrates and is already mapped to a number of controls for their plugins.
Wrap Up
My Current “Home Studio”
There are certainly more things I could add to this post - but it is already long as heck so I will refrain. The last two years have really taught me a lot in terms of the importance of researching equipment utility and purpose.
Consider this before you buy any gear. What it is that you are really trying to accomplish? Are you just buying the “new shiny thing” because it “sounds cool?” Fair enough, we’ve all been there. But if not, what gaps are you trying to fill in your creative process? Perhaps more importantly, do you even have a process? Once you can answer these questions - establish some basic requirements that stem from the identified gaps in your process. Consider what your limitations/constraints are through this process. Figure out how necessary those requirements are - prioritize them in order of need. Are any of the requirements absolute deal-breakers or just “nice to have?” Write them down and keep them in mind when you are researching.
Gear acquisition can be incredibly rewarding. Don’t spend your hard-earned cash without really digging into what you are trying to do. There is a lot of great stuff out there and marketing can reel you in before you knew what happened. And before you know it, you will end up with four MIDI controllers that don’t quite hit the mark (like me!).
I hope that at least some of the information here is valuable for you all! Feel free to reach out to me anytime and I will answer whatever questions or feedback you may have.
Cheers,
Chris
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