The Ultimate Portable Music Production Setup
Studios are a luxury. Cosy creative spaces where one can resist daylight, procrastinate over mood lighting and do sonic battle with the neighbours. If you graduate out of the spare room you can add rent and business rates into the mix to further erode your flowjo.
Who needs all of that anyway when you can simply rock up by the pool with just a laptop and a pair of headphones?
Something the Covid pandemic taught us was that the office 9-5 model is outdated and in fact many of us can work productively from home, or anywhere with an internet connection for that matter. However, writing and producing music away from home or studio poses some challenges.
In 2022 I worked and travelled extensively around Europe and the UK in my converted old skool minibus. From producing in Portugal, composing in Croatia to arranging in the Albanian Alps I was able to create in some cool places.
This guide offers some practical advice on going audio mobile and the best kit that I have found to enable you to break out of the four walls and go make beats on the beach.
Setup 1.
Editing and Arranging
Macbook running Ableton, Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones, Logitech wireless mouse.
At a basic level all you need is a descent laptop running your preferred DAW and a good pair of headphones. Add a wireless mouse and you’re good to go.
Whilst travelling around Europe through 2022 this was the setup I used for much of my work. Editing and arranging audio for clients from wherever I was.
Headphones can make or break your day. The many different options of headphones available depending on your budget is a post for another time, but having used a few brands over the years my ears have come to love the ATH-M50x from Audio Technica.
They sound great and deliver a well balanced audio experience for writing and recording at an affordable price. Above all they’re extremely comfortable so I can wear them for hours without my ears going numb. Very important.
Setup 2.
Compact Composing
Macbook running Ableton, Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones, RockJam laptop stand, Logitech wireless mouse and keypad, Native Instruments Komplete Control A25 midi keyboard.
The next piece of kit to add if you want to start making melodies of course is a compact keyboard.
I am a big fan of Native Instruments gear and software and the Komplete Kontrol A25 works seamlessly not only with my NI Komplete plugins, but it allows me to preview and control parameters on tonnes of other third party VSTs via the Komplete Kontrol software.
95% of what I do is done ‘in the box’. I use Ableton Live as my main DAW and occasionally Pro Tools or Logic. I’ve got Maschine onboard and the full suite of NI Komplete software plugins, along with Omnisphere, Waves and a bunch of other soft tools and effects.
The A25 works with Maschine and as a basic midi controller for Ableton. So if you are just starting out, or you wanna keep it super simple by popping your laptop and keyboard in a bag and heading off, this is a great setup for scribbling ideas.
The unit is also made of pretty tough stuff. I can’t tell you how many times this keyboard has fallen from a great height where it bounced off the shelf in my van as I’ve travelled along bumpy roads. And it still works!
I’ve also added the addition of a laptop stand and a Logitech wireless keypad to improve my posture when sat at a table. Spending hours hunched over staring at a laptop screen is really not good for your spine in the long run, so raising your screen to eye level makes things much more comfortable.
Setup 3.
The Neat Beat
Production Suite
Macbook running Ableton, Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones, RockJam laptop stand, Logitech wireless mouse and keypad, Native Instruments Komplete Control A25 keyboard and Maschine Mk3.
Now we’re making some serious noise. Another member of the Native Instruments family of products, Maschine has been my go to beat suite since 2014. I’m using a Maschine MK3 but you could get even more compact and go for a Maschine Mikro. Check out my introduction tutorial to the Maschine Mikro here.
There are many options in the beat production hardware market from Roland, Novation, Akai and Ableton Push. Products such as the Roland TR-8S and the Akai MPC can operate as standalone units without the need for a laptop. A space which Native Instruments have now moved into with Maschine +.
The Maschine system is actually a hybrid of hardware and the Maschine software, which functions much like a DAW in itself with some major sampling and live performance features. The ever growing library of Maschine sound packs is enormous. So if making beats and jamming is your vibe this could be the only bit of kit you ever need.
Another of the many great features of the Maschine MK3 is that it has a built in audio interface, offering some inputs and outputs and better monitoring than the headphone out on a laptop.
Going from being a long-time Ableton user (since version 4!) it took me a while to get my head around the workflow of Maschine. And when it comes to recording and arranging it does have some limitations. Which is why I run Maschine as a plugin in Ableton.
At this stage you might be wondering about power? Well up to this point everything is bus powered giving you ultimate freedom to create off-grid for as long as your laptop battery will last. The Maschine MK3 can also be plugged into the mains, which will extend your session considerably.
Setup 4.
Mobile Recording Rig F
or The Road
Macbook running Ableton, Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones, RockJam laptop stand, Logitech wireless mouse and keypad, Native Instruments Komplete Control A25 keyboard and Maschine Mk3. Focusrite 8i6 audio interface, AKG C414 condenser microphone, Minirig stereo pair with Minirig sub.
The ultimate mobile setup for recording and production. The audio interface is upgraded to a Focusrite Scarlett 8i6, which gives you 2 mic pre-amps for recording vocals or live acoustics and 2 instrument inputs. It also features 6 line inputs for recording external hardware, 4 line outs and 2 headphone outs for extra monitoring capability.
This allows me to plug in one of my favourite microphones the AKG C414.
Granted this is not a cheap piece of kit, in fact it cost me more than some of the cars I’ve driven. But for one do it all recording microphone it has been worth every penny. There are tonnes of in depth articles about this mic so I won’t go into detail here, but it sounds great on everything from piano and acoustic guitar to vocals and percussion.
A very close second to this mic for me is the Sennheiser HD421. One of the worlds best known microphones it been in production for decades and for good reason. It’s another brilliant all rounder and is particularly good for vocal dialogue in radio and podcasting. It’s also a dynamic mic so it doesn’t need phantom power, whereas the C414 does.
At some point when your ears get tired of cans it’s nice to hear things from a different perspective. The acclaimed Minirg series offers a range of super cool, rechargeable mini speaker systems that can be linked up in various combinations via Bluetooth or wired connection.
A pair can be programmed to run in stereo mode via the Minirig app and can produce an amazingly full sound when connected to the Minirig sub.
I find that they tend to enhance the midrange detail quite a lot to make them acceptable for home use, so I wouldn’t rely on them to complete a final mix. But when you need a portable set of speakers that are flexible enough to give you some sense of stereo width I haven’t found anything else that comes close. You can even use them to charge your phone and other devices.
Staying connected
So you’ve been working hard on your tan smashing out beats by the pool, or you’ve produced an experimental Earthcore EP from bird sounds you recorded in the forest. Eventually you need internet to upload your content.
If you’re mainly a city tripper passing through airports, staying at hotels or Airbnb, wifi is readily fast and available. If you plan on exploring a little more off the beaten track however you will need a mobile internet solution.
70% of my trip I was either parking up in aires or wild camping. The rest of the time I was staying at campsites where the wifi was either very weak or non-existent.
I had a Netgear MR1100 mobile router with me and a sim only deal from EE, which kept me connected in some surprisingly remote places. Unfortunately though since the UK left the European Union roaming data has become a lot more expensive, so I had to use it wisely. Most of the time I waited until I visited a town or city to find some wifi and transfer any large files.
If you are visiting a non-EU country head straight to the nearest phone shop to pick up a data sim that will connect you to the local network. Not only is it way cheaper but a lot faster.
Power
Possibly the biggest challenge depending on how wild you want to create and for how long. It’s the one thing that really holds us back from going off-grid.
As I mentioned earlier the A25 keyboard and Maschine are both bus powered, but you’re going to get a limited amount of time running them off your laptop on battery power alone.
The Focusrite 8i6 needs mains as does the laptop charger.
Throughout my travels I have been fortunate to run off a solar system in my van, but the market is constantly evolving with portable battery banks and solar systems that could produce a reliable portable power supply to run everything for longer.
What are the Alternatives?
Of course you don’t need an all singing and dancing laptop with peripherals to make music, just a good idea without all the gear.
A simple tablet or phone setup with headphones and battery pack will give you hours of creative freedom. There is a whole universe of ios apps for composing and beat making that don’t involve mains power or lugging stuff around.
Focusrite offer a fantastic range of audio interfaces for ios and along with their sister company Ampify, have developed some of the most innovative music making apps on the market.
Ultimately it’s what you do with the tools you have that counts. A few years ago the son of a friend of mine came to me with a whole album he wrote in Garageband on his iphone. Every sound was either recorded via the phones inbuilt microphone or played from his bass guitar with effects on it. I simply imported the Garageband files into Logic Pro and mixed it.
I am passionate about working off-grid, solar power and portable audio solutions. So if you are using any cool kit as a travelling musician please get in touch, i would love to hear from you.