I have a metric ton of music gadgets that I've collected over the years. I finally built a shelf system to display them all properly, and now they sit above my computer desk. The funny thing is, I forget they’re even there! Which is ironic because the main reason I bought them was to get me away from my computer.
When I'm working on music, I usually open up Logic or Ableton and spend most of my time playing around with plugins, using a Midi keyboard to play synthesizers and make drum beats. It's all inside the computer, which means I'm sitting at my desk for hours on end.
I got all these little gadgets so I could step away from the screen for a bit. Since they’re battery-operated, I can take them on walks, to a cafe, or even to Panera. I can just sit, have lunch, and make some music with headphones on.
I also like using them because they're very tactile. There are buttons and knobs and all these things I can move, manipulate, and play with—things that aren't a computer mouse! When you're making music on a computer, you're usually using your mouse to turn on these virtual knobs and dials. It just feels cooler to do it for real.
My Go-To Gadget: The Zoom PS-02
One of my go-to gadgets is this old Zoom PS-02, which stands for Pocket Studio. It's basically a little four-track studio where you can sketch out song ideas quickly. It has a built-in, very simplified drum and bass machine, and then you have three tracks of audio, which I can use for fun little harmony parts.
My favorite thing to do is use the delay effect as a short phrase looper. I can make a sound and have it repeat, then add to it and build up a fun little rhythm or drum part. Then I can add little harmony lines, and things build up pretty quickly.
It's a pretty noisy device, but one of the things I like about the delay effect is that it actually trails off after a certain amount of time. There's a decay on it. So if I start with some kind of beat, eventually, after like a minute, that beat will kind of decay into the background, and I get to reinforce it with a new beat. It's all very silly and experimental and fun.
I do it mostly as an exercise, a way of warming up or coming up with ideas. But the machine is so noisy that I'm not often able to use anything I make with it in an actual song. I can clean it up a little bit with some noise reduction software, but it's still not great.
Finding Balance
There are times when I need to sit down at the computer and really work on a song properly. I need the precision that editing with a mouse gives me, being able to move things around that way. And I need the control and robustness of a full digital audio workstation.
But sometimes I just want to play with sounds and make some noise. And that's why I love having access to all these little gadgets.
The Zoom PS-02 is a perfect example of a gadget that lets me embrace the limitations and make something from nothing. I have to be creative and resourceful, and the results are always surprising.
It's a good reminder that making music doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Sometimes the simplest tools can be the most inspiring.