Visit my Home Studio!
I'm excited to share my setup as we start this new academic year. I'm constantly adjusting my setup, and everyone has unique studio preferences. This has been years of collecting and upgrading. I am certainly going to continue to upgrade as I can.
When searching for a desk, I couldn't find one that fit my needs. So, I ended up using a kitchen table from a furniture store as my workspace, and it's been perfect.
In the past, I had several interconnected computers through cloud services, but managing that was quite demanding. I've simplified everything to a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 chip with 2 TB of storage, and a 2 TB external SSD hard drive. This setup lets me work from anywhere - in the classroom, at school, during gigs, at residencies, or home.
At home, I've added a CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock and a nice AOC gaming monitor to give me more room for my creative projects. Even though technology is a big part of my process, I still rely on pen and paper or an iPad with GoodNotes and an Apple pencil at my piano to keep my creativity unbiased.
I've got a couple of MIDI controllers - the LAUNCHKEY MINI for note input and control in Ableton, and the Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88 with weighted keys. For recording, I use a Shure SM7dB microphone with a cloudlifter and Scarlett 2i2. The audio goes through an older Denon Surround System, which I'm planning to upgrade soon.
In terms of software, I mainly use Dorico and occasionally Finale. I'm in the process of transitioning my older compositions from Finale to Dorico after fully embracing it in the summer of 2021. I also work with Logic Pro and Ableton 12 as my main Digital Audio Workstations, and I use Goodnotes to keep my handwritten compositions organized and synced via the cloud.
I also have a small couch where I can get away from the screen and listen a bit. Just above that couch is one of my favorite art pieces in the house, which was created by my friend Pyro Lugo-Allen.
That's all for now! I look forward to a future post to see how this setup evolves. In the meantime, I'd love to hear about the essential components of your home setup. What are the items that are vital to your creative work?
