The Creative Chaos Corner

Shown here in its standard appearance (=coated with a layer of stuff that doesn't belong), this is the mighty studio in its entirety. Sorry, say mighty? Midget might be more appropriate!

Now, if not all the actual sound-generating instruments had been inside the computer, this picture would have shown a whole basement's worth of floor space littered with exciting electronic and electro-acoustic furniture. This is considerably less impressive, but also very, very much cheaper and more convenient.

Until recently, there was a Mackie mixer permanently installed here which made things look a bit more scientific. However, the recent purchase of a FocusRite Sapphire LE audio interface meant I could retire it for use in special circumstances only. The little FocusRite beast contains preamp and mixing power enough for all my daily needs. Unfortunately, it is an unassuming little gadget (just visible to the right of the computer monitor) that does very little for the "wow" factor...

The Piano Rig

This is where I actually play some piano music, the traditional way, from time to time. An ancient (relatively speaking) Fatar SL-880 piano-action keyboard faces Tapco S-5 monitor speakers, propped up to proper ear-level listening height.

With recent developments in virtual piano instruments, things have come to the point where you can actually emulate each and every part of the piano in software. In order to keep up with these developments, the most recent addition to the setup is the CME GPP-3 foot pedal rig. Replacing the boring old sustain pedal, it contains the full complement of grand piano pedals: (Gradual) sustain, sostenuto and una corda.

The Organ/Synth Rig

Sometimes, you need something a bit different from an ordinary piano keyboard. This home-made rack containing 2 cheapish Evolution/M-Audio synth keyboards allow me to play things two-manual organ style. In addition, there's an evolution UC-33 MIDI controller on top, containing 46 knobs, sliders and buttons for controlling software synths on the fly, and a Behringer FCB1010 foot pedal rig beneath for volume and expression controller input.

This is also the primary rig for gigs: The metal trestle has folding legs and a handle, and is very practical for travelling. On stage, I just hook a wall-mount TV stand onto one side, and my laptop computer goes on top of that.

Mics!

If someone wants to make an air-born noise, you still need these... The main set consists of three large diaphragm condenser microphones from Studio Projects: Two cardoid-pattern B-1, and one multi-pattern B-3.

Apart from making it possible to capture three vocalists at the same time with some consistency, this combination of mics also allows me to use all sorts of different techniques in stereo recordings: Left/Right, X/Y, Mid/Side...

A Real Live Instrument??

Well, what with already having purchased a guitar-style foot pedal rig, and plenty of guitar effects software -- the logical last step was, of course, to finally acquire a working guitar. I've had some before: A Duke electric guitar so bad it defies description (and probably solely responsible for putting me off electric guitars for more than twenty years), and then of course my string-chewing monster of a nylon guitar still lurking in a closet somewhere.

This Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus, however, is considerably more classy, and the first electric guitar I have ever used that you can actually tune!

Usually, this thing gets hooked into the computer audio interface and Native Instrument's Guitar Rig 2 software, but for practice I have the amazingly competent and versatile Roland Micro Cube amp shown in the picture.