Gearwhore No More

Let’s take stock, shall we? Its been almost 10 years since I bought my first piece of kit, so lets take a restrospective look at all this stuff. This will also help folks playing along at home to know whether they’re in a similar position to me or not.

Here’s what I have lying around in my home studio:

• A laptop (Macbook Pro)
• An audio interface (Mackie Onyx Satellite)
• A MIDI controller (M-Audio Axiom 25)
• Synthesizers and sound modules
  • Alesis Andromeda
  • Alesis QS8
  • TB-303 with a CV retrofit
  • JoMoX Airbase99
  • Novation SBR-1 SuperBassStation
• Behringer DDX3216 Mixer
• MOTU Micro Express midi interface
• Kenton Pro-2000 MIDI to CV converter
• Miscellaneous
  • Lots of Hosa audio cables and snakes
  • Lots of MIDI cables
  • 2 Hosa PHB-350 patchbays
  • several 1U power conditioners
  • KRK V8 powered studio monitors
  • Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones

Don’t assume that I actually recommend all these devices. You can certainly become a productive music creator without all this (remember, I am a gear junkie!). Several of these items were actually bad purchases, and I’m not sure I’ll end up using them. The mixer has automated faders, but the motor that powers them makes a horrible noise whenever the unit is powered on, so I can’t really use it. I should probably get it fixed, but its likely that I’ll be using software to mix down from now on. The MIDI interface seems like overkill for me right now, since I can simply route MIDI out of my Axiom 25. Besides, it predates USB (which tells you how long I’ve been hoarding this stuff). And the headphones are a lot worse than my previous pair of Sennheisers that I wore completely out.

On the other hand, I have some real gems here. The Andromeda is the most powerful analog synth ever made. And the TB-303 is a classic. The Jomox is a great analog synthesizing drum machine from Germany that no one’s ever heard of. And the macbook is 6 months old, running OS X 10.5 and loaded with great apps. I’ve got Logic Studio 8, Reason 3, Rebirth 1 & 2, Recycle, Garageband 08, and Traction.

So really, the only thing stopping me from putting all this together is time, effort, and knowledge.