The first song Star and I made was made with Soundtrap, and it’s currently featured! Sweet!

Lounge Studio.

Gearing up!

My Komplete Audio 6 interface.

KRK monitor speakers.

So this is my lounge room studio set-up! I’ve geared up pretty quick, but I think I’ve got all of the basics covered.

The first thing I bought was an audio interface to plug guitars and microphones into (it sits between the instruments and the computer, and also sends sound to my monitor speakers. Garth gave me the heads up on the Komplete Audio 6. It’s a small little metal box, with a massive metal volume knob to control volume of my monitor speakers. I’ve always wanted monitor speakers! Now I’ve got a set of KRK ROKIT 5’s and they’re awesome! I’m in love! The TRS cables I bought to connect them to the interface are too short so I’ll have to buy longer ones.

I also bought a Rode NT1-A condenser microphone, which came with a cage and pop filter. It all looks and feels a bit cheap and nasty, but the reviews out there say they function well. I figured I’d try to keep the mic on the lounge table so I bought a Rode desktop microphone stand and it blows. With the mic set-up as is it’s so front heavy it wants to topple over. I’ll have to look into buying a proper mic stand next spending spree.

I’ve bought some Samson SR850 headphones for mixing down tracks. Great reviews out there, easy on the wallet too. I’ve also got a little Belkin headphone splitter so 2 people can listen in whilst recording.

Last of all I have my Arturia MiniLab controller/keyboard. It comes with software that makes many amazing sounds, but the software isn’t compatible with Garageband, which is what I’m using now, so I’ve just been using it with Garageband’s built in instruments for now (check The Piano Song the post before!).

Track #2! Had a lot of fun with this one! I used the Arturia midi keyboard to record the emo piano bits in Ved’s cave, and finished the rest of it off at my place in Garageband. I’m hooked!

The perfect “BEFORE” shot. Pretty sure this is gonna change over time!

My first controller, a Korg nanoPAD2.

I was kinda hoping I’d get back into painting this year, but noooo. Looks like the music bug has bitten pretty hard. I’ve been meaning to write music again, ever since the band broke up all those years ago. Having a stab at electronic music with Star has me in a spin!

It’s so easy, which makes me feel so guilty. Unlike being in a rock band, you’ve not got to worry about timing, the synching and note/pitch editing and tuning makes it all so ridiculously fun!!!

I was looking around for a midi keyboard and found the Korg nanoPAD2 for $80 at JB Hi-Fi. Ved and I dropped in to Leichhardt to buy it but no, not in stock, Ved then remembered a much larger music section in Paramatta JB so we made the hike out and nope, not in stock! We dropped into another JB, no luck, then Allans Billy Hyde and still no luck, but Ved was on a mission, and when he gets that way… LOL, it’s a force to behold!

There was one more shop to try; Drum Factory. The shop was above the Guitar Factory, a dark jungle of cables and racks of blinking gear. This older guy in a Korg T-Shirt appeared out of the mist and when Ved showed him a photo of what we were looking for he vanished again only to come out with one in hand. A fair bit more expensive than JB, but hey I’m happy to support the smaller shops AND have it in my hands to play with!

PS: I’m laughing at my minimalist “set-up”. So far; my MacBook Pro (it’s a good start actually), the Korg nanoPAD2 and some Sennheiser HD 471i closed headphones. I’m laughing because I’m sure I’ll acquiring much more gear (it’s inevitable!!!).