This episode archive includes gear deep-dives, synth setups, MIDI puzzles, wiring disasters, and the occasional small victory. Each year is organized into a season. Click any title to watch the episode and download companion PDFs when available.
Control Surfaces, Hardware, and Letting Go of the Faders In my original software-based studio—before the shift to hardware—I was completely fascinated by control surfaces. Looking back, I can trace that fascination to the big SSL mixing consoles with motorized...
When a Small Decision Changes Everything In a previous post, I talked about managing space in a small studio and how creative—or sometimes unconventional—solutions are often required. This post isn’t really about a clever hack as much as it’s about an obvious...
Organization, Trial and Error, and Finding What Works In several recent posts, I’ve touched on working in a home studio with limited space and making the most of the real estate you have. I’ve also talked about how small changes can sometimes make a surprisingly...
A Small Modification, Done Just Right One of the studio modifications I’m still rather proud of is the construction—if you can call it that—of the computer keyboard tray attached to my second production desk. On paper, it sounded simple. In reality, it turned into...
From Perfect Plans to Practical Compromises In a previous post, I talked about how many different configurations my old software-based studio went through before I finally found something that worked. One detail I mentioned in passing was just how many bookcases...
When Planning Stops Working and You Just Start Cutting Building the extension for my 19-inch rack unit was one of those moments where planning something out on paper simply wasn’t going to work for me. I could have measured everything, written down heights and...
When You Get the Rare Chance to Do It All Again It’s not often you get the chance to redo your studio.Or maybe it is—for some people. For me, converting my studio from a software-based setup to a hardware-focused one felt like a one-time opportunity. I was starting...
Sometimes You Just Have to Buy the Thing You Wanted I remember the first time I saw the ART MX822 line mixer back in 2021. I was in a music store looking at keyboards, and that little mixer was what they were using to connect everything together. I already had a...
Choosing a Direction: Why Our Studios Become What They Become I’m not certain of the exact release date, but the Klark Teknik EQP-KT seemed to appear sometime around 2017. I remember seeing them and immediately wanting a pair. The problem wasn’t interest—it was...
First Steps Into Outboard Gear: Choices, Constraints, and Learning as You Go If your home studio includes outboard gear, it’s worth asking: how did you decide what to bring in? When I started building a shopping list for outboard gear, my goal wasn’t to chase...
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