Gear Therapy

Sometimes new gear can you take somewhere unplanned and that’s ok.

In fact, maybe we need to as artists - need to be pushed out of our comfort zones and even forced to relearn ourselves and our changed world - separately from gear.

I know, I know - meta stuff but it does tie in, I promise.

As pictured above, this all lives on my desk now and is designed around recording since Covid/remote/isolation/etc. I briefly did not want to make music, the world seemed on fire and I had to do for others more than myself.

The need for music was undeniable and slowly, my mind needed an outlet in the form of a new toy to learn. That toy needed some other toys, of course - that’s how gearheads operate after all.

This time was different for me, I had a new sound and a new goal in mind. I also wanted to be my own artist, not a bandmate but my own boss as it were and this adventure felt tangible. Empowering with the technology that seemed designed for people who think and work like I do.

Pictured above and now considered indispensable for my writing and sound design:

-Elektron Digitakt

-Elektron Digitone

-Akai MPC One

-Bored Brain Terminal

-Empress Effects ZOIA

-Poly Effects Beebo

-Hologram Effects Microcosm

-Arturia KeyStep37

-12-channel USB Audio mixer

-DSM & Humboldt Simplifier

-DJ Tech Tools Midi Fighter Twister

-Midi Solutions Midi Merger Box

This recording set up, for now, allows me to make tracks and work out songs in my DAW but also let me live jam and bring in external gear/instruments/pedalboards easily into this ecosystem.

All this electronic learning in the last year has made me love playing guitar even more than I had in recent years.

It’s just good to create again and so much more to come.