Now this is where my money disappears to... I have a small home studio in
our smallest bedroom. It's also where I do desktop publishing, artwork, etc; so
it isn't entirely devoted to music. One of my big aims has always been to
make it ergonomically efficient so that it's easy to use; and in general I feel I've
succeeded.
Actually, this serves mainly as a control room: most audio recording (vocals,
clarinet, etc) is done in the neighbouring bedroom, because it's quieter and
roomier.
Larger version of this picture (104k)
Here's the equipment list:
 Korg Wavestation EX synthesizer
This machine's gorgeous! I confess I haven't programmed it much
due to the lack of a librarian program, but it's still my primary
instrument. It serves as the master keyboard for all my synthesizers... which kinda makes
sense because all the others are rack-mount units!
I managed to get the EX upgrade kit cheaply from the States, and installed
it myself (sweat, sweat, pass the soldering-iron!). The Wavestation's
musical strengths are wonderful pad sounds, and excellent sound quality.
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Yamaha MU100R rack-mount synthesizer
I've recently bought this second-hand. It's currently Yamaha's top-of-the-range XG
synthesizer (OK, there's the MU128, but that doesn't have the VL and VH cards installed
like this one does). It's the only synthesizer I've got that's heard of General MIDI;
and then some. Those cards I mentioned? The VL card is a monophonic virtual acoustic
synthesizer, which models the sounds of tubes, strings, reeds, etc, mathematically; and
the VH card is a real-time vocal harmonizer, accessed via the synth's analogue inputs -
it takes some effort to make it sound good, but when it does...!
Another nice feature of this synth is that I have got it connected directly to the
computer, and not via the MIDI interface. Then, with Opcode's free OMS software on the Mac
treating the synth as a 3-port MIDI interface in its own right, I have got two
ports (32 MIDI channels) driving the MU100R, while the third port (another 16
channels) appears on the MU100R's MIDI Thru port! Along with the Mac Syncman I've
got, I have a total of 64 live MIDI channels, which gives me plenty of room for
future expansion.
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Yamaha TG55 rack-mount synthesizer
Surprisingly useful for an ageing 12-bit multi-timbral module. It's got some
good lead sounds, and some, er, interesting pads.
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Kawai K1r rack-mount synthesizer
A rather dated 8-bit multi-timbral module that was very good in its day.
Most of its sounds aren't up to much; but its Jazz Harp it soooo gorgeous
that I can't bring myself to get rid of this unit! So, it's become a one-sound
synth for me... but what a sound!
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Cheetah MD16REX rack-mount drum machine
This box produces some very good percussion sounds, and is
actually a really powerful drum machine, but its user-interface is so
obscure that I only use it as an out-board source of drum sounds driven
by my sequencer. Cheetah stopped making music gear a few
years ago, so I got this really cheap.
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Apple Power Macintosh G3/266 DT
computer
I run Emagic Logic Gold 4.1 on this, with Opcode's OMS freeware for MIDI studio management.
More details here.
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MIDIMAN Delta 44 4-in/4-out audio card
I've just bought this card, which provides 4 ins and 4 outs at up to 24-bit
at 96kHz (though I'll use 16-bit at 44.1kHz most of the time, I reckon). It
has a smart little breakout box which sits neatly on my mixing desk. I use
it with Logic Audio Gold 4.1. In theory, it'll make my Fostex R8 obsolete,
and my Mac will become my hard-disk recorder.
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MIDIMAN Mac Syncman MIDI interface
This little unit provides two 16-channel MIDI circuits, one for each
of the serial ports on the Mac (printer & modem). It also provides
SMPTE/MTC syncronisation between my R8 tape machine and Logic.
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Behringer MX2442 mixing desk
Zander Nyrond's tape Wassaliens was just too complex for my
cascaded pair of Mackie 1202's, so I went and bought a second-hand
MX2442 (very similar to the MX2442A pictured here). It's just wonderful
to have all those knobs and buttons! It's got 24 input channels (on
20 strips: 16 mono, 4 stereo) and four busses; six aux sends, etc. I had
to contact Behringer before I bought it to find out if it would fit
in my studio. It does, with about 5mm to spare!
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Mackie 1202 mixer
I used to have two of these little mixers in a cascaded configuration,
which just about sufficed for my 8-track recording needs. Now that
I've got the Behringer desk, I've sold one of them; and I use the remaining
one as a sub-mixer for my two-track sources. I'm only a little bit miffed
that I haven't got the later VLZ model (pictured)... honest!
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Fostex R8 reel-to-reel 8-track tape recorder
This is a great machine, especially when sync'd to the sequencer
via SMPTE/MTC. I used it heavily for Lavender Wine,
FanTom Voices and Wassaliens.
One day, however, (finances permitting!)
I intend to replace it with a decent multi-channel audio card for my Mac.
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AKG C3000 large-diaphragm microphone (two of them)
For a home studio, these microphones are really nice. I can't
imagine I'd ever need anything more expensive. Having a pair of them
allows me to record groups of singers, etc, in a single stereo take; or
two individual musicians simultaneously.
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AKG D65S hand-held dynamic microphone (two of them)
Just a couple of cheap and cheerful microphones. My children really enjoy
playing with them, especially if I hook them up and turn on echo or pitch-shifting!
Having extra mics will be useful if I have to record several people at once.
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Boss SE50 multi-effects unit
This is a useful and verstile little unit, offering reverb, chorus,
pitch-shift, vocoder, flange, etc. Nothing special, but I use it all
the time. It's a bit noisy if you crank it up.
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Alesis Microverb II reverb unit
Cheap and cheerful box devoted to reverb only. I don't use it much, but
it's handy for putting gated reverb on percussion while the SE-50 applies
normal reverb to the whole mix, and other such schemes.
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Alesis 3630 dual compressor
I'm really pleased with this compressor. It's the ideal complement for
the microphone and the DAT recorder. It works very nicely, and looks
really pretty in my rack! The biggest problem is tuning the gates so
they don't bounce (an awful sound).
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Samson 150 power amplifier
Not too powerful, but plenty for my little set-up.
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Tannoy System 2 monitor speakers
These speakers were second-hand, so I got them quite cheap. They're
quite nice, but they resonate a bit on low C, which is a bit annoying.
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Sony DTC-P7 audio DAT recorder
This DAT recorder is a really odd bit of equipment. It's actually
a "midi" hi-fi component, so it's not rack-mountable or anything. It
works OK most of the time, but the transport is really noisy:
the tape makes a sound like a rope creaking. Somehow, it's not a very
confidence-inspiring device. But it serves my purposes. The
audio sound is fine.
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Sony MDS-S38 audio Minidisc recorder
I use the minidisc recorder as my primary mastering machine, with
the DAT being needed when building a production master tape. The minidisc
player sounds great, is robust and easy to use, and (best of all), it
allows me to cut and paste sections of music, with an accuracy of
60msec. I like it.
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Rotel RD-865 cassette deck
Does what it's supposed to, fairly well. I remember reading a review
of it that said it was one of the best budget decks of the time, but
that the transport mechanism was rather "agricultural" <clunk>.
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Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs monitoring headphones
Very very nice. I'd been promising myself some decent cans for a long
time, and these fit the bill perfectly. The problem is that they're a
lot more sensitive than my old headphones (Sennheisers), so that if I've
got both plugged into my desk, they're at quite different volumes because
I can't control each separately. Maybe I need a multi-channel headphone
amp. Maybe.
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Home-made patch-bay
Every good studio has a patch-bay. Most, however, go out and buy their's.
Mine is home-designed and home-made, and is one of the most useful things
in the studio. It makes it so easy to route signals through the compressors,
the reverb, etc; and more importantly, it makes it easy to change
the rountings. But don't aske me to make another one - it took a lot
of hole-punching and soldering!
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