I never intended to document a running history of my studio (um, before 2002), so the pictures I'm using are whatever I had on hand. Therefore, you'll have to forgive the fact that myself, or a friend, or a cat seems to be the subject of the photo.
Cambridge, Sept 2003
My attention span and gear turnover dictates that I must reorganize my studio about every year. Gear turnover means 'rack rot' where removing and adding gear ultimately turns your nicely assembled rack into a non-optimal configuration.
The whole thing only takes up a few square feet of floor space now.
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Detail of the computer
rack and modular.
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Simplicity and space are the goals of this restructuring. I've replaced a K2500 with the MachFive software sampler. The CD players are gone in favor of my computer's CD drive. Not an improvement, but it saves space. The mixer and patchbays have been replaced with CueMix DSP/PCI-424. As Steve Jobs says, I'm eating my own dog food.
The PCI-424 is both a mixer and an audio interface. When I used an analog mixer for monitoring, I'd have to use the patchbay whenever I wanted to record something. Now I just record-enable the track. Less cable and more convenient.
Other seldom used gear has been placed in semi-retirement. All this means I've slimmed down to one rack.
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Detail of keyboard rack
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I used to have two keyboard stands in addition the metro rack for my computer and master keyboard. The computer got its own small, mobile metro rack and all the keyboards are now in one place. The playing arrangement is not optimal, but I sacrificed this for space. I don't need to play everything at the same time so this is not an issue. The Prophet I can play sitting on the floor and the Memorymoog standing up. The A frame was not much better than this anyway. The nice thing is all this analog stuff is next to the modular for easy patching. Previously, if I wanted to patch the filter CV input of the Prophet, they would be long cables draped across the floor.
The Genelecs are woefully under utilized. If my son is awake, I'm with him. If my son is asleep, I can't use the speakers.
The 2408mk3 is strictly a monitor level control. It has a single AudioWire cable leading to my computer. If all you have is a hammer...
Cambridge, June 2003
Not a total re-org - just added a new keyboard stand and tried to find a place for the Voyager.
left side with new a-frame rack supporting the memorymoog, prophet 5 and VG8.
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computer and master A50 keyboard
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right side racks
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voyager, fat controllers, and evolver
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Nov 4, 2002
Cambridge - Fall 2002
Moved my studio up one floor to make space for Davidson v2.0. The new space is slightly larger than the previous location.
I've added a rack of Blacet modules and swapped one DP/4+ for a Waldorf Pulse. Added an Oxygen 8 keyboard on a sliding rack shelf to help the sound design process. Added a cantilevered shelf to the metro rack to eliminate the need for a keyboard stand.
In the top photo you can see the Fat Controllers and Prophet sitting on a apex stand on the right side of the photo.
I've changed back to the Genelec 1037s as I was getting a lot of subwoofer grief from the 1030/1029 system. My new mantra is "I will never put the 1037s back in the closet. I will never put the 1037s back in the closet. I will never put the 1037s back in the closet."
Below are pictures that detail the assembly process. If you're interested in the nuts & bolts of wiring a rack check out this web page.
Cambridge 2002
I made some changes to my workspace to more accurately reflect my current methods of operation.
Keeping a signal digital is only a priority for me when I need an exact clone, such as archival or transferring data from a DAT or ADAT. The headaches of clock sourcing a digital signal from a synth or signal processor is not worth it and most of my gear does not have a word clock input. Furthermore, with a patch bay, I find myself massaging signals in the analog domain before input so - I don't need a digital patchbay/308. The 896 will handle everything I need so I removed all the PCI audio interfaces.
This made room for the Doepfer (aka Moe) inside the racks. All non essential items were moved out of the studio to reduce clutter.
Moe resides at the bottom of my rack which may seem like an odd ergonomic choice. I prefer sitting on the floor and there is no reason for me to use a chair (ie: sustain pedal access, typing on a computer keyboard), when using the modular so I happily patch away in this position.
I have found that hands on signal processing is a rewarding technique for me, so I expanded the patchbay and re-arranged modules to maximize this technique. I upgraded my MW II to an xt and this provides another analog input for processing and more hands on control.
Switched to Genelec 1030/1092 combo for main near field monitors. The 1037s were simply too big for the room. This also opened up the room a bit. Attempted to move the cat pillow to another location. That idea did not go over very well with the cat.
Not visible is the Prophet 5 and Memorymoog+
There have been some minor changes since these photos, but before the end of 2002, I'll need to relocate everything to the top floor of the house, and I'll take new photos then.
Nice rack.
Thanks. These are Slim 5 43-space racks from Middle Atlantic. They can be expanded by ganging them together and many options are available such as wood side panels, doors and locking casters. I suspect they would also make a cost effective coffin. These can be purchased from Lashen.com.
1999 – Cambridge, MA
This is the state of my studio during the production of the Earthtones. Bought a house, yet the floor space had not improved from my previous residence.
Upgraded to a Powermac G4. The last remnants of my Opcode system was swept away with the ugprade. I was forced to change to USB MIDI interfaces, so I replaced the Opcode Studio4s with a pair of MOTU MIDI Express XTs. The MOTU audio interface complement grew. Replaced my Z*Sys digital patchbay with a MOTU 308. The ADATs are largely unused by this point, although I did employ them to exchange audio data with others via mail.
I accumulated a roster of corporate clients so I added an Access Virus and Waldorf Microwave II to help me quickly create the sounds they were looking for.
Set up the Genelec 1037s again. Still too big for the room, but I missed them.
The analog receptors in my head got switched to the ‘on’ position. Tracked down a Prophet 5 and Memorymoog+. Don't subscribe to analogue heaven unless you enjoy irrational, expensive purchases.
1998 – Boston, MA
Substantial ergonomic changes. Things had improved considerably by getting rid of the large 8-bus mixer and replacing it with a Mackie line mixer. Because I was mixing inside the computer and recording with out board mic pres, an old school console did not fit in with my current methods of operation. Space is far more important.
The odd collection of racks were replaced by a pair of 43 space mid Atlantic racks. Suddenly all of my gear occupied a very small footprint.
My studio was simplified further by replacing the Pro Tools system with a MOTU 2408. To my surprise, my computer was more stable and I was getting more tracks and more effects without the Pro Tools hardware.
1997 – Boston, MA
Moved from the expansive space in New Hampshire to a one bedroom apartment in Boston shared by me, my wife and my two cats. Attempted to squeeze a lot of gear into a much smaller area. In an effort to save space, I'm using the smaller Genelec 1030s monitors. This was a very uncomfortable and claustrophobic setup which caused me to seriously consider an alternative method of arranging my workspace.
Thus began my tenure at MOTU. Logically, I switched to Digital Performer for all audio and MIDI work.
1995 – Meriden, NH
This is the studio as it appeared during the production of Blue Forest Mass. Sixteen tracks of ADAT mixed through a Mackie 8-bus analog mixer. Using a Macintosh 8500 with ProTools III and a Digidesign ADAT interface. Studio Vision did not recognize the ADAT interface, only ProTools did, so if you wanted to transfer ADAT tapes, you had to power everything down and reconfigure the wiring of the ProTools I/O. I eventually gave up an ran a horrific combination of Vision for MIDI tracks synchronized to ProTools for audio editing. Recalling a project using this system was a minor nightmare.
I was using a Kyma Capybara 66 system at this time as well. Blue Forest Mass has quite a bit of Kyma in it if you are curious what it sounds like.
The best thing about this studio was the addition of Genelec 1037 monitors. Words are inadequate to describe what these sound like. Another thing I liked about this arrangement was I had space for a futon where I could relax, listen to music and hang out with my cat.
I managed to find a Yamaha TX316 which I added to the 516 to make a complete TX816.
The house in which the studio was located was 200 years old and had a slight downward grade. If you sat in a studio chair without planting your feet on the floor, eventually the chair would swivel so you would point South. If it weren't for sustain pedals and touchstyle instruments, I would position all my gear directly on the floor and sit crosslegged.
1994 – Mystic, CT
Worked at a music store with the intent of leveraging my paycheck, spiffs, and salesman accommodation pricing into a digital studio.
I picked up a Prophet 2002 for a meager amount. This was a major step up from the Mirage with longer sample times and 12-bit resolution. The Prophet 2002 also supported the MIDI sample dump standard.
At the bottom is a TX516 rack - I planned to track down additional TF1 modules later.
Working at a music store had a variety of perks such as getting gear on loan from manufacturers. At the time of this photo I see that the ART rep descended with a truck load of gear including three signal processors and a mixer.
I had worked as a contractor wiring a studio for Sony which gave me the pick of some old parts that were being thrown away from the old studio. That is where the two patchbays came from.
I was using real studio monitors at this point - Yamaha NS10Ms powered by a used Alesis RA100.
While living in Mystic, I managed to upgrade myself through three mixers. I started with the Tascam MM1. After I bought my first ADAT, I also needed a recording mixer to augment the line mixer. I decided I would buy a small Soundcraft as a stop gap measure until I could afford a Mackie 8-bus. By the time I left Mystic, I had two Alesis ADATs, a Mackie 8-bus and an Audio Technica 4033 mic. With this arsenal, I felt I was ready to tackle a more ambitious musical project.
1993 – Austin, TX
Graduate studies in music composition. No photos of this time period. I upgraded my Alesis HR-16 to an Alesis D4. Somewhere along the line I had upgraded my MIDI interface to an Opcode Studio4. My intensive Max development the previous year prompted me to go all Opcode which included switching to Vision 2.0.
1992 – Somerville, MA
Final year of school. Shared a house with several friends. I had a small room on the top floor dedicated to my workspace. At that time I was using a Roland U-20 on loan from a friend in addition to my D-50. The user interface was quite gnarly, but I loved the piano sound.
I picked up a Tascam Porta 05 at some point and this was my first very own multi track audio recorder. The ultimate drool machine at that time was a Tascam 238 8-track cassette. One of my roommates had a Tascam 688 which was like a massive portastudio and digitally controlled patchbay built around a Tascam 238. Truly an impressive machine. It was difficult to stay away from it. Multitracking was addictive.
A promise was made to myself: no more keyboards. If I
needed a MIDI sound source, it had to be a module. I had added some additional cheap MIDI instruments to my arsenal such as Yamaha TX81Z, a Kawai K5m and Kawai K3m. I had also exchanged my Mirage DSK for a DSM, painted it flat black (including the buttons) and affixed a ProTools sticker to the bottom corner. I had a cool Mac program that would read a Mirage waveform, resynthesize it and send the harmonic data to the K5m. The Mirage may be gone, but I still use the tea cup in the photo daily.
With the addition of all these MIDI instruments, it was also time to upgrade to a larger (rack mounted) line mixer. The choices at this time were pretty slim: there was the Roland M160, but I opted for the newer Tascam MM1 which featured MIDI controlled muting of audio channels. The dismal signal to noise ratio of this mixer was brought to sharp relief when my Dad brought a Sony DAT recorder back from Singapore for me.
The studio was powered by a PDP11 power supply which a friend gave me. I rigged up a real Frankenstein-type knife switch that controlled the remote relays in the power supply so I could dramatically power on the studio.
By this time I had upgraded to a Macintosh IIsi (a poor-man's IIci) with a greyscale portrait display. Extravagant. Luxurious.
1990 – Boston, MA
My first apartment. My room mate Jody Elff was a music synth major and it seemed logical at the time that we would merge our collections into one unholy system. I've never since done such a thing with another person, but I recall it working out well. It served us well through our middle years at school and was used to complete many assignments and projects.
It looks as though we each had a HR-16 drum machine. I kept a pair of outputs plugged directly into Jody’s Microverb II. I can't believe it took Alesis until the DMPro to figure out that built-in digital effects in a drum machine is a good idea. The Polysix and DX100 were Jody’s and the Rhodes, Mirage and Yamaha DD5 (cheap MIDI drum controller!) were mine. I missed having the Polysix around and to this day I regret selling the Rhodes. It was in mint condition and I purchased it for $150. In fact, all of the instruments I bought during this time were in the $150-$200 range because that was all I could afford. I sold it when I graduated because I simply could not move to Texas with it. Now that I have a house, I'd really like to have it again.
Jody had a cool habit of keeping a small cassette recorder with built in mic handy with a blank tape loaded so you could quickly document something happening without breaking your concentration. That is the small box next to the DX100.
1988 – Boston, MA
This is the earliest photo I could find. Pictured here is my dorm room studio. The computer is a 4-year old, heavily modified original Macintosh upgraded to 512K and Mac Plus ROM running Performer and ConcertWare+MIDI. Connected to the serial port was an Opcode 'MIDI Translator' MIDI interface. The mixer was a small Yamaha KM602(?) which I remember as having a slightly noisy, but useful built in chorus. On the Apex stand are my Roland D-50 and Casio CZ-101. I still miss the CZ. Got a VZ-10m later, but it was totally different.
The drum machine is an Alesis HR-16 which was a huge improvement over the TR-505 it replaced. The four outputs allowed me to process some signals separately and I had a broader range of tunable drum samples to choose from. I thought I'd never get tired of that box. I also used the tape sync on the HR-16 and slaved Performer from it when borrowing a 4-track recorder - which were fairly plentiful on the 8th floor of the Berklee dorms.
In retrospect, I never asked my Dad if I could take the computer to Boston with me. It was really his but it was so critical to what I was doing that it never occurred to me that it might inconvenience him.
The beginning - somewhere at the intersection of I-35 and I-80
Composing music had been an interest for as long as I remember, but a transformation occurred during high school. The advent of MIDI coupled with personal computers allowed me to experiment and document my compositions. In 1984, Using my 128K Mac, I ran MusicWorks software which allowed me to drag notes onto a score and play back up to four voices using the internal Macintosh synthesizer. From there I upgraded to Studio Session software which allowed me to sample my own instruments with a crude black box A/D converter attached to the serial port. This system also functioned as a spectrum analyzer and digital delay.
Eventually I bought my first MIDI synthesizer - a Casio CZ-101 which I researched relentlessly. For $200 I was able to purchase a polyphonic, multitimberal, real synth with MIDI. This keyboard with ConcertWare+MIDI served as the core of a system which would evolve to include a small mixer, a Roland D-50 and Roland TR-505 drum machine. Using these instruments, and a friend's Fostex X-15 4-track, I managed to obtain a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. |
