OT: Responding to Linear Lineman - my studio set up

Svetlovska

I thought about doing this as a PM in response to a query from @LinearLineman, but at his suggestion I’m doing it as an OT instead, as I suppose it may be of some interest to others.

As mentioned elsewhere, my, ahem ‘studio’ is a collection of old synths and noisemakers acquired over time, plus a few new and secondhand toys purchased as a retirement gift to myself a couple of years back, pictured here:

The main aim was to put all the key bits within reach from the chair. Some cheap DJ kit stands and a 19” desk rack helped me here.

(The Korg MS10, which along with the MC202 I’ve had since the mid 80S (!), is currently boxed up to be sent for repair, otherwise this is everything except a couple of guitars).

It’s taken me ages to get things set up the way I want it, physically in the house, and technically with the gear, and this is still a work in progress. I am fortunate enough to have a spare attic room in my house which following a recent decorating frenzy now doubles as guest bedroom in non COVID times, and studio all the time.

Like @LinearLineman, I do a lot (I’d say my best) creating away from the gadgets, just on the iPad, in bed usually, first thing in the morning. Between 6 am and 8 am I usually end up with 8 channels in AUM and a shedload of effects going full tilt, and the need then is to thin down and structure the racket. The idea is to transfer my iPad jam onto Ableton to permit of a more organised timeline and clip based arrangement. I tried doing it in Cubasis and found it too much of a faff, plus the launchpad and Ableton Clip view let me play with arrangements much more easily.

I initially liked the idea of the AudioConnect Audio4+ as a master hub for the set up. It is the only thing out there I am aware of combining both audio and midi, across iPad and DAW - the new Iconnect stuff is MIDI only.

And I am getting there with it - but I am also increasingly coming round to the view that for my particular workflow, I might be better just recording everything to wavs inside AUM then airdropping them over.

As a recording ignoramus, I find the Iconnect pretty complex to navigate, and still have yet to crack a setup in the companion Iconfig app which will get both Audio and MiDI to come across from AUM on 8 individual channels each into Ableton simultaneously. Others on this forum obviously have made it all work, and I can only envy them...

I take heart from the thought that once the new Atom is released I should be able to Airdrop both Audio and MIDI from an AUM jam, and then, as I am very much not a real time performer, the necessity for the Iconnect will be pretty much gone.

I do still want to record my hardware and musical instrument toys into Ableton of course, but the Soundcraft desk is also a digital interface and has a fine selection of Hi Z, line and Phantom power options so pretty much any kit I want to record into Ableton I can through the desk alone.

The key bits that make it all work currently are the Launchpad Pro and LaunchControl XL which together give me immediate hands on control of Ableton for mixing and for clip launching; (I love the way they just automatically reflect the onscreen display); the BeatStep Pro - playing the pads live for my minimal live percussion needs (normally a doomy bass drum hit supplementing clanks and bangs from the likes of Fractal Beats and Skiid), or using it as a sequencer, randomly twisting the BeatSteps’ knobs for pitches with a pattern running until something interesting emerges.

As I am not a keyboard player, this on the Beatstep, and the launchpad Pros scale mode, both constrained to a scale to avoid duff notes, lets me ‘play’ in a musically coherent way without, you know, actually knowing any music. The SQ10 sequencer gets used similarly with the Behringer Neutron.

I do have the Keystep too though, and use that when entering conventional notes is called for. I cheat very readily, using a third party Max For Live device called Scale O Mat to autocorrect any miskeying. There are autoscalers in Ableton Live Suite already, but this offers more choice and flexibility. For the same reason I’ll be getting Scaler 2 soon to help with suitable chord progressions.

Connection wise, I discovered that both the Launch Control XL and the Launchpad Pro both needed direct connection to my secondhand 2012 MacBook Pro to do their neat ‘auto configure’ trick on boooting up Live. The MBP lacked sufficient USB ports, but fortunately the Apple Cinema Display I recently got to give me more real estate for my timeline view connects directly to the MBP via the now obsolete Thunderbolt 1 port, and has three USB ports of it’s own.

Connecting the Launchpad and Control XL to these was like connecting direct to the MBP, and both immediately showed the current Ableton state on boot up. Meanwhile the Keystep and Beatstep, Microfreak and MonoStation all work fine into Ableton going via a cheapo powered 8 way usb hub currently hanging off the Iconnect’s Host port.

This setup is almost right now. I just need a few more things... (what do you mean, I’ve been saying that since 1983?)

...And that’s about it.

senhorlampada

Wow! This is amazing... Thanks for letting us in your studio and your head

MS10, get well soon, buddy

noob

that place looks like heaven get well from us here
edit;mc202!! drool

senhorlampada

@Svetlovska said:
or using it as a sequencer, randomly twisting the BeatSteps’ knobs for pitches with a pattern running until something interesting emerges.

As I am not a keyboard player, this on the Beatstep, and the launchpad Pros scale mode, both constrained to a scale to avoid duff notes, lets me ‘play’ in a musically coherent way without, you know, actually knowing any music. The SQ10 sequencer gets used similarly with the Behringer Neutron.

Regarding this, and knowing your work...
do you try to settle for a chord progression, or just set a root and scale and improvise from there and listen to what fits?
This is a part I always struggle. Maybe i'm overthinking it

Edward_Alexander

Thanks for the walkthrough! I like your desk/cubical/cubby thing you have there. Did you build it?

RUST( i )K

@Svetlovska said:
I thought about doing this as a PM in response to a query from @LinearLineman, but at his suggestion I’m doing it as an OT instead, as I suppose it may be of some interest to others.

As mentioned elsewhere, my, ahem ‘studio’ is a collection of old synths and noisemakers acquired over time, plus a few new and secondhand toys purchased as a retirement gift to myself a couple of years back, pictured here:

The main aim was to put all the key bits within reach from the chair. Some cheap DJ kit stands and a 19” desk rack helped me here.

(The Korg MS10, which along with the MC202 I’ve had since the mid 80S (!), is currently boxed up to be sent for repair, otherwise this is everything except a couple of guitars).

It’s taken me ages to get things set up the way I want it, physically in the house, and technically with the gear, and this is still a work in progress. I am fortunate enough to have a spare attic room in my house which following a recent decorating frenzy now doubles as guest bedroom in non COVID times, and studio all the time.

Like @LinearLineman, I do a lot (I’d say my best) creating away from the gadgets, just on the iPad, in bed usually, first thing in the morning. Between 6 am and 8 am I usually end up with 8 channels in AUM and a shedload of effects going full tilt, and the need then is to thin down and structure the racket. The idea is to transfer my iPad jam onto Ableton to permit of a more organised timeline and clip based arrangement. I tried doing it in Cubasis and found it too much of a faff, plus the launchpad and Ableton Clip view let me play with arrangements much more easily.

I initially liked the idea of the AudioConnect Audio4+ as a master hub for the set up. It is the only thing out there I am aware of combining both audio and midi, across iPad and DAW - the new Iconnect stuff is MIDI only.

And I am getting there with it - but I am also increasingly coming round to the view that for my particular workflow, I might be better just recording everything to wavs inside AUM then airdropping them over.

As a recording ignoramus, I find the Iconnect pretty complex to navigate, and still have yet to crack a setup in the companion Iconfig app which will get both Audio and MiDI to come across from AUM on 8 individual channels each into Ableton simultaneously. Others on this forum obviously have made it all work, and I can only envy them...

I take heart from the thought that once the new Atom is released I should be able to Airdrop both Audio and MIDI from an AUM jam, and then, as I am very much not a real time performer, the necessity for the Iconnect will be pretty much gone.

I do still want to record my hardware and musical instrument toys into Ableton of course, but the Soundcraft desk is also a digital interface and has a fine selection of Hi Z, line and Phantom power options so pretty much any kit I want to record into Ableton I can through the desk alone.

The key bits that make it all work currently are the Launchpad Pro and LaunchControl XL which together give me immediate hands on control of Ableton for mixing and for clip launching; (I love the way they just automatically reflect the onscreen display); the BeatStep Pro - playing the pads live for my minimal live percussion needs (normally a doomy bass drum hit supplementing clanks and bangs from the likes of Fractal Beats and Skiid), or using it as a sequencer, randomly twisting the BeatSteps’ knobs for pitches with a pattern running until something interesting emerges.

As I am not a keyboard player, this on the Beatstep, and the launchpad Pros scale mode, both constrained to a scale to avoid duff notes, lets me ‘play’ in a musically coherent way without, you know, actually knowing any music. The SQ10 sequencer gets used similarly with the Behringer Neutron.

I do have the Keystep too though, and use that when entering conventional notes is called for. I cheat very readily, using a third party Max For Live device called Scale O Mat to autocorrect any miskeying. There are autoscalers in Ableton Live Suite already, but this offers more choice and flexibility. For the same reason I’ll be getting Scaler 2 soon to help with suitable chord progressions.

Connection wise, I discovered that both the Launch Control XL and the Launchpad Pro both needed direct connection to my secondhand 2012 MacBook Pro to do their neat ‘auto configure’ trick on boooting up Live. The MBP lacked sufficient USB ports, but fortunately the Apple Cinema Display I recently got to give me more real estate for my timeline view connects directly to the MBP via the now obsolete Thunderbolt 1 port, and has three USB ports of it’s own.

Connecting the Launchpad and Control XL to these was like connecting direct to the MBP, and both immediately showed the current Ableton state on boot up. Meanwhile the Keystep and Beatstep, Microfreak and MonoStation all work fine into Ableton going via a cheapo powered 8 way usb hub currently hanging off the Iconnect’s Host port.

This setup is almost right now. I just need a few more things... (what do you mean, I’ve been saying that since 1983?)

...And that’s about it.

Are you using powered USB hub to connect LCont/pad to Mac? Have you tried both ports? Stupid question..but..just want to ask.

Have you tried a diff brand usb hub?

The cheapest easiest way to connect midi usb to both iOS and MAC is with a Novation AudioHub or the new Arturia Fuse.

Just a thought

Great set up

LinearLineman

Thanks, @Svetlovska. You’re brave to attempt all that!

royor

@Svetlovska Thanks for sharing your setup.. looks like a great creative playground.. I really like that you use Ableton in step with the iPad.. I’ve realized that this environment is ideal for me too.. you get the best of both worlds.. It always comes down to the connections between the two.. what’s easiest/best/quickest etc.. always helpful to see/hear how others accomplish this..
also, thanks for the tip about Scale O Mat (M4L).. 👍 I’ll be checking that out on my next Ableton session..

Svetlovska

@senhorlampada : the MS10 thanks you for those kind words

Chord progression wise - a lot of my stuff starts off in Cykle which has a lane for progressions which I often use to give movement. Generally I fix on a root note and scale, and make sure everything I’m using is set to that (‘Dm Aeolian’, most often, for some reason - I think mainly because I assume almost everything most other people do will be in C Major, and someone once told me that minor keys sound sad... ). Rozeta Scaler can be laid on anything that doesn’t have a scale function built in to keep it honest. I’ll be using Aphelian and/or Cality, and/or Quantichord and/or MIDILFOs and/or Probability Gates, and probably a few other things besides, to parse the single original Cykle sequence across several other instrument channels.

One thing I’ve been doing a lot of lately is using instances of midiSTEPs to record from the originating track, whether it be Cykle, or Autony, or Polyphase, or whatever, then double or half time this little bite of the main sequence and loop it under or over everything else, driving yet another instrument voice.

When everything is chugging along unaided in an evolving, musically interesting kind of way with no more input from me, it’s done.

Using Ableton as an extension of this process is very new to me, as in, I’ve only had everything up and running meaningfully together for about a week, and there is much I don’t yet know about Ableton.

The story so far is, if I’m going to use hardware into Ableton, I’ll set it to the same scale on device or fix it in the mix using the Max For Live add-in Scale O Mat.

Both the MonoStation and the Launchpad Scale modes were a revelation to me, as it means I can just jam across the octaves with the playback and there won’t be any bum notes.

Then I tend to use the Launchpad to build up consecutive rows of the resultant clips, starting with Clip 1, then Clip 1 and 2, 1,2, & 3, and so on, and into different combos thereof, and try them out using the launchpad to trigger a whole ‘Scene’ at a time, seeing what works, where what I believe the young people call ‘the drop’ should go, and so on, to orchestrate the ebb and flow across a piece.

Once I’ve used Clip launching to hash out a sort-of arrangement, I’ll switch to the timeline view, and trigger the various ‘scenes’ as and when. Since I don’t make conventional songs, there’s no verse and chorus and bridge, this is all iterative and back and forth, until a sort of structure emerges.

There is still a lot I need to learn about directly manipulating the clips in the timeline so I can move parts about smoothly, cross fade things and the like. A work in progress...

@RUST( i )K : yep, tried two different powered hubs, not an issue for me now that I have the Cinema Display. I take your point about the Arturia Fuse, I would love one of those, but it ain’t cheap! And the other Novation thing is no longer available, I think?

@Intrepolicious : no, the attic room used to belong to the former owners teenage son, and they built a whole MDF extravaganza in black for him under the eaves. I painted it all a much more tasteful grey , swapped in some supporting legs as part of redecorating the whole attic, got a guest bed cum settee in there, nice rug, hung guitars on the wall to make it look like I know what I’m doing, lined out the cubby with acoustic foam and led strip lighting and hey presto, instant studio.

@LinearLineman : you say brave. I say foolhardy...

Svetlovska

@royor: interested to hear your own process, how you get stuff across? Also - the Scale O Mat is a 12 Euro third party purchase, from here: https://www.soundmanufacture.net/scaleomat/, though there are other Scaler devices built into the Suite version of Ableton too.

senhorlampada

Wow... thanks again for this whole write-up
Gonna document this into my inspirations notebook

It's nice to visit someone else's mind palace