|
Viewed 2048 times. 2 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
-->
I'm thinking about money issues and what the best way to progress is, and its not pleasant, especially when you're a full-time student and your excuse for a job involves putting groceries on shelves.
Basically my idea is to build an entirely battery powered rig... (and hopefully a car-battery powered stereo to go with it too, if it works out being feasible at any half-decent volume).
There was some discussion about this on livePA.org a while ago, but it seems to have faded and nobody really got around to doing anything.
Two options for me are software or hardware:
A laptop-based setup will own in terms of portability, but at the same time - you've got all your eggs in one basket. Laptops are simply more likely to break down, due to the fact that they're ALOT more complex than any individual piece of audio hardware.
Another pro for me for a laptop is that I could really do with one for uni next year, so that I could produce tracks while I'm sitting in boring lectures... ;)
The final problem, however, is this....
A laptop will set me back AU$2000 (for something capable)
A fast hard drive will set me back about AU$200
An audio interface will set me back anywhere from AU$500 to AU$1000
A midi controller will set me back another couple hundred
Ableton will cost me ~AU$800
all up thats about AU$3800 ~ Holy hand-grenades batman! - And who the hell wants to take this much gear out into public places? (I'm not talking in clubs/parties. . just random spots)
Then theres hardware, its a little bulkier, it requires a mess of cables, its not as easy to write music on, but it comes in being alot cheaper.. and more bulk makes it less likely to be run off with by some bum.
Being limited to battery powered hardware also makes things harder. . I've got some wall-powered gear already (which I'll probably end up selling to pay for either laptop gear or battery powered hardware)
Now .. options for hardware seem to be:
MPC500 - great in terms of it being a sequencer and a sampler in one... not so great in that they *apparently* just arent very "live" in terms of sequencing as far as I've heard. . and theyre new so still cost quite a bit.
Another piece of kit which costs around the same (although is a bit older, so can be picked up for less 2nd hand) is the Electribe SX. This one's a little chunky, but thanks to the electribes using wall-warts for power, its not that hard to mod them to run off RC car batteries (apparently).
In terms of synths, it looks like a microkorg will be the only viable option, cos its small, has keys (which I definitely want), and runs off battery.
Anyways.. . I'm not even quite sure why I want to build such a setup, I just feel like there isnt enough strange activity going on around the streets of my city, hopefully can mess a few people's heads up.
This ramble was longer than the last one I think! wow :p
Anyway what do you lot think? about the idea? the setup?
anyone got any ideas on other hardware?
anyone who uses an MPC live that can give me a run down on just what can be achieved without hitting stop?
anyone got ideas about car-battery stereos, how long it might last etc?
| |
Comments
edited: Jan 02 2007
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
everamzah
u edit, i edit ;)
01/02/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Logo
I'm sure there are a lot of nice solutions (all of which I'm too lazy to think of)...
For some inspiration check out link ... He is incredible.
edited: Jan 02 2007
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
mux
car batteries won't last very long... car batteries are designed to provide a lot of current for a very short amount of time. if you want to power a soundsystem or something, you need a "deep cycle" battery. deep cycle means consistant power for longer times, but it also means bigger and heavier, like lead acid kinda thing.
I played a show on the skytrain (vancouver public transit) last fall, the soundsystem was a pair of PA speakers with a small amp, powered by one of these: link
it powered my rig and the PA just fine, tho they said that if the bass was turned up it dramatically reduced the total time the soundsystem would run.
01/02/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
cartesia
thanks for the info to all. . and yeah the title is a bit silly. . I was actually planning on writing a blog on a slightly different topic.. oh well.
01/02/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
GrapeApe
i've played a couple battery powered sets at a park i live next to: mc-202, sh-101, tb-303, tr-606, kpr-77, microkorg, sp-202, sk-1 going into a Behringer UBB1002 mixer out to a cheap boom box.
minus the 101 and 303, that's about US$700-800 worth of gear.
acid busking!
01/02/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
quip
there was a rumour that a few were going to do a gig somewhere in manchester using porta kit - it never happened. you just reminded me, cheers!
the yamaha qy series of portable sequencers are cheap and battery powered.
my friend runs a portable pa on tank batteries and solar panels - a van load of batteries go all night. he uses 12 volt car amps, cd decks and home made speakers.
01/02/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
bla
burglar alarm batteries can do the trick
dont modify any hardware or buy only battery powered stuff- just use normal hardware and get a stack of batteries to output normal household voltage
i dont know the details myself but a friend of mine does it all the time
01/03/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
dach
I have a lo-fi portable rig. I use a car battery and a 2x20watt amplifier, with two old hi-fi speakers. It's not mad loud and it's not very nice sounding, but it doesn't cost shit and there's little danger of anyone stealing it. Drop the lot into a supermarket trolley with a few six packs of beer and it's ready to go. Oh, for sound sources.. CD-walkmen, tapes and a tiny DIY mixer... ultra ghetto setup but if i get tired and don't want to wheel it home, I can just push it into the river.
01/24/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
cartesia
lol@ dach! nice idea,
I've recently been given a car cd player/head unit & a pair of 6" speakers with it for nothing, so I might hook that up to a battery see what its like then decide on how much stereo power I can have to work with
"get a stack of batteries to output normal household voltage" - only problem is I'm in australia where voltage is 240 rather than 110 in US I think? so I would need . . . 20 car batteries! a little on the heavy side....
I'm going
06/04/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
drewzle
i've been thinking similar things man, i have a strong desire to be able to play in random places and would love to run everything off batteries.
the cost is also a issue for me. i already have an external soundcard, but laptop etc is huge money, and i constantly ask myself 'do i really want to take all this gear out with me, and will i enjoy the experience if this expensive gear is at such risk?'
i currently use a sp404 (runs on batteries as standard) and is very expressive an portable. that could be a better option than the mini-MPC
check this forum for info on the 404 link
Register / login
|
^
EM411 is Copyright 2001-2008 EM411.com
All rights reserved. | Contact | RSS
|
