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I think this topic and problem is an evergreen, so yes, I’m bumping it to the top. I just learnt there’s a fairly recent (?) book about this written by Brandon Stosuy.

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I’ve been creating something visual and something auditory every day for the past month. Some days I spend 1-2 minutes on each, some days hours… “Showing up” has been a powerful experience for me and that discipline has started spilling over into other areas of my life. I hope it doesn’t end.

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Greetings. If this has been covered, feel free to refer me to the right threads. I tried searching but I found surprisingly little about mise en place, which makes me think the locals are using another term for this because I can’t imagine this smart and discursive bunch hasn’t talked about this issue.

So, in case you don’t know it and don’t want to google it, mise en place the idea of having all your tools and ingredients ready before you start cooking.

In music, I take this to mean your instruments are hooked up, channels are set, and patches are made (if your music isn’t about live patching) so you can get to making music.

I am trying to get there with my synthesizer practice but I am not there. I would like to hear how others have their setups ready to go with the flip of a switch or two. Ideally, I’d like a setup where I can jam and record at the same time. This isn’t a gear post – I very likely have everything I need; I just need to figure out how to best set it up.

You can read the rest if you want to hear about where I’m at, or you can stop here and just tell me how you do it.

–

For me the issue is that I often have little 10-15 minutes slots where I could do something if everything was ready to go. My music space is also my work space, and I am working from home because of the pandemic (pre-pandemic I’d work from home a couple days a week, so it will be useful no matter what). My desk is mostly full of work stuff – papers, books, etc.

I also play a guitar. I have my guitar on a stand, near to my desk, plugged into an amp. Flip the amp on, start playing. There’s a metronome there so I can practice if I want, and I have a couple pedals permanently in the effects loop. There’s a clip on tuner on the headstock, but it stays in tune pretty well so I don’t usually need it. That’s mise en place. (though I would also like to be set up to record it)

Synths have been a lot harder for me to figure out. What I want are some synths ready to go, where I can record them. The smartest move would be to hook things into the computer, since that’s where it’ll all end up for mixing anyway and I want to be able to record my jams with minimal fuss.

But the problem with doing that is my computer is my work space. it lives on a desk full of papers and books, though the desk also has my studio monitors and is positioned in the room for mixing (being ready to mix is not my problem!).

So if I have a little break in my work day and want to do a jam, I’ve got to open up other apps and move stuff onto my desk.

I’ve got a synth table near the desk (not right next to it – I’d be blocking window access) and can flip stuff on and listen to it, but it’s far from my computer. So maybe I need to set up a mixer and a recorder permanently installed over there? Or maybe I need a small wheeled “trolley” with a synth sitting on it that I can wheel over to my desk. But then, I still have to plug it in, turn on the recording software, etc.

I have enough inputs on my interface that I could run sound from the synth desk to the main desk, but there’s still the question of being ready to record with minimal effort.

I am agnostic on the question of whether or not to record into the computer. I’ll be mixing in it regardless, so I’m fine doing it. But I could also record into a portable recorder or something and then move it over.

Another important factor for me is that I suffer from regular fatigue as a side effect of a treatment for chronic illness, so sometimes just a little extra effort will stop me from doing something. For instance, I have gone from loving my Eurorack setup to being annoyed with constantly having to move cables out of the way of panels to access controls. Even a semi-permanent patch with thin cables gets annoying this way. It also means that I’m not a huge “put away your toys” kind of person. Our kitchen is set up for mise en place, but it’s often also a bit cluttered, so I know these things can coexist.

To tag one semi-random user, I think I saw a post where @Starthief posted that they use the same computer for work and music making; given how much they have reflected on process over the years, perhaps they (you) have written about this issue somewhere?

But I would be grateful for thoughts from anyone and everyone: what’s your “ready to go and record at a moment’s notice” setup?

Thanks in advance. I can draw a picture if that helps.

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Ahh, this makes me nostalgic for my Good Ol’ Days when I had space to do just this!

Nowadays, in this shoebox of a flat, I don’t have that luxury so everything stays in its boxes (take that, Boxes - Why? thread! :smiley: ). I do miss having everything set up and ready to roll, but on the other hand, knowing that I’m going to have to ‘patch from scratch’ every time means I think a little more carefully before I start. Great for focus but tends to do away with time spent just noodlin’, trying stuff out. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.

Interestingly, it also means I tend to gravitate to instruments that are physically smaller and simpler to set up - and, now I think about it, that may well be another reason why my music-making nowadays tends to be focused on my Norns Shield - unpack one thing, plug in the power supply & headphones, and we’re up and running!

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I have found that whenever my setup requires plugging into a computer to do recording, I not only do way less recording, but also make less music. I think for me, the computer is too “tainted” with other activities to be a place where I can really focus on making music. There’s also something inherently fiddly (I think) about even starting up your DAW and fiddling about with file names. Because of this, I’ve tried to have a set up where recording isn’t done with the computer at all.

I use a modular synth and I’ve gone through a bunch of different iterations with this, all with the intention of making recording incredibly easy, to make the switch from practicing to recording almost unnoticeable to my conscious self. One approach that worked pretty well for me was to use my iPhone, a simple stereo interface, and the memos app. There’s essentially no controls other than “record” so there’s very little friction, and the recordings just stack up with date/time stamps on them. However, and the best approach for me has been to have a disting mk4 at the very end of my signal chain, permanently, set up with the stereo wav recorder ready to go. Then I literally just turn the dial to start recording and turn it back to stop. With a decent SD card in there, you can record many many hours without ever having to think about it. It’s part of the rack, so it’s already there. That means that the mise en scene is really just the modular rack and some headphones. I can move it from room to room quite easily if I need space, or even just put it on the living room floor and it will always be ready to record.

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That was my goal for a long time too and I achieved it for a while. But eventually what suits me better is to have a concept, prepare the gear necessary for the concept and have them ready to go at all times while the rest of my studio is tidy and clean.

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For me, the answer is, no matter how pre patched things are, almost always more gear means more setup. I have found just working with norns to be I credibly immediate for this reason. Switch it on, open a script, off we go.
For bigger setups, I have found having everything set up and pre plugged in on my work desk, and then permenantly have my pure data patch open that mixes and records my music helps massively. I also have fatigue issues, and have the same thing of a little effort being a big barrier.
perhaps having your space prioritise music making, and have it being a work space as a secondary function? That sounds like it would result in a space that reflects what’s important to you, as opposed to prioritising a think of capitalism encroaching on your home. I know making my computer less accessible and my modular more accessible massively boosted my music making.
(Edited because posted too early)

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I get easily overwhelmed by both musical possibilities and technical annoyances, so I’m only really productive when I have a handful of pieces of equipment set up to make one particular genre/record/thing.

I don’t do well with things like patch bays that allow for different configurations, I usually find the wiring of my studio is basically set and forget for a particular set of tracks.

In the past my hardware setup has been things like an octatrack, virus, fx unit and basic 12-16 channel mixer. Much more stuff than that and I’m lost, and figuring out why things don’t work instead of sitting down and making music.

When my setup isn’t permanent, even if it’s well defined, I’m lost too. Taking stuff out of the closet every time I want to produce music never works for me. I think taking an idea from live performers, with a big DJ case or pedalboard that’s already wired up, might work better.

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I seem to recall another discussion about mise en place, though that may have been a different forum.

Anyway, I keep my modular, Microfreak and Minibrute 2S plugged in and ready – all I have to do is throw off the dust covers, flip some power switches (in a handy 1U power distribution unit) and launch Bitwig. The modular case has an Optx and a Mazzatron Mult+PassThru that are already wired up so I patch inputs/outputs directly within the case.

My other instruments just don’t get used as much. Partly because they aren’t really my primary instruments, but partly because they’re not just ready to grab and play. A Model:Cycles, Thingamagoop 3000, electric kalimba and a ukelele all within reach of my chair; a Wavedrum and a theremin in the front room, some folk instruments (with a lot of percussion) and a fretless bass upstairs… all mostly idle or in some cases, not touched in years. (I know, of course I haven’t touched the theremin… :laughing: )

I’ve kind of been contemplating a bass tagelharpa, but I suspect it’d also sit around mostly unused. There just isn’t room to have things on a stand ready to grab and play, and yet safe from the dogs and getting randomly knocked around.

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Agree with @nonverbalpoetry - less gear is the way, and with @SimonKirby - computer inhibits productivity.

Computer can be very productive, if I am not using any hardware. Needing a laptop+interface just to record is just not ideal for recording small ideas. Updates, plug-in fiddling, and oh yeah, the internet.

A couple hardware items that don’t involve too much thinking, a recorder, and some headphones is pretty ideal for getting in a flow state. Having the stuff ready to go in advance is important too, but when setup time is slim to none it doesn’t really matter as much.

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Something that’s been a game-changer for my playing but not so much my recording, is having my interface set up so that the sound coming in from the Norns and the modular (the two things I have space in my little bedroom desk to have hooked up) goes right to my speakers. This means I don’t have to have my laptop involved to make noise! This is a huge boon for my practicing, precisely because it makes it so that all I have to do is ensure my interface, Norns and/or modular are on to start making music.

My desk is also my workspace when I work from home (like you, a couple of times per week even pre-Covid, although I’ve moved since Covid), and so to transition from one to the other, I change my modular from standing on its bottom edge to balanced on the little “feet” that slide out (it’s an Intellijel case). I don’t have a chronic condition to blame, but I too notice that even doing that small adjustment can be an annoyingly large hurdle in order to make music or use the space for working.

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right now it’s opz, op1 and norns because all are battery powered (finding psu for a synth or pedal has killed many sessions) and give me flexibility to sequence samples, play various synthesized sounds, loop and mangle while recording the sessions

i’d be remiss if i didn’t add my laptop too because i now enjoy recording percussion straight into ableton using my opz as a usb-mic (when i need to capture an acoustic idea quickly)

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One useful tip I read somewhere is view setup separately from the creative session. So spend time to setup then later at a prearranged time create. I have got myself exhausted before from setup and also ran out of time to create because of setup, frustrating as hell. So this view is useful to me.

If your workspace is also your music space it’s difficult but the tip of using small stuff is a good one. So for me that’s Norn’s , Kastle, Korg nts-1, Koma field kit and similar. I have an audio interface on the desk so it’s pretty quick to get to DAW and recording. For larger setups away from the desk I use a Zoom H6 to get recording quickly.

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Wow – lots of great replies. Thank you one and all and please keep them coming. I have used mise en place in other threads in other forums so it’s entirely possible that deja vu is actually deja vu. Anyway, I seem to have achieved this in other areas of my life, including as a musician who plays in a couple bands. But so far it has eluded in composing electronic music.

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Something that’s been a game-changer for my playing but not so much my recording, is having my interface set up so that the sound coming in from the Norns and the modular (the two things I have space in my little bedroom desk to have hooked up) goes right to my speakers. This means I don’t have to have my laptop involved to make noise! This is a huge boon for my practicing, precisely because it makes it so that all I have to do is ensure my interface, Norns and/or modular are on to start making music.

+1 to this. A MOTU Ultralite mk3 interface (sub $200 used!) was the best addition to my home studio. It’s tiny and operates as an 8 in / 8 out mixer without a computer, so all I need to do is turn on my speakers, instruments, interface and I’m good to go. Everything is permanently plugged in so it’s all of five seconds to start playing :slight_smile:

Additionally it can multitrack all of those inputs at once so I just need to grab my computer and launch Ableton if I want to do that. (And it has DC coupled outputs! Ok, I need to cool it with the corporate schilling :joy:).

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I find it kind of important to not have a separate “playing” and “recording” setup for my main stuff. If I want to monitor my modular, it has to go through the DAW.

My Model:Cycles has its own battery pack and headphones plugged in, but I don’t pull it out to play with it as much as I did when it was new to me. If it had dedicated interface inputs and a “permanent” place to sit I would be likely to use it more… the “place to sit” is the main problem though :slight_smile:

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I work from home & personally just opted out on a work place in favor of a dedicated a studio desk but I get there are a number of factors there (laptop at the kitchen table is about all I need to get websites made, so that helps).

another thing that can help with using the same device for music & work is making yourself two user accounts - that way you can keep both your work life & art life “set up” in computer world and just switch accounts when it’s time. then setup might be just hooking up the audio interface which isn’t * too* bad

but yea as someone else will probably say, less laptop dependency is kinda nice for having the ingredients ready, especially if it’s a shared thing. any old handheld recorder or a phone interface is fine for capturing a session in my experience.

a couple artists I like will just kind keep synths running for days or weeks and refine a patch over multiple sessions, that’s pretty hard to do with a laptop setup (but also it is kind of lame to miss out on the great things a laptop can do, especially if that’s your thing).

oh yea +1 to this - I’m gonna keep trying but my brain just maxes out with either the DAW open or a bunch of cables strung together, yeesh.

I have a lot of success doing quick sessions on hardware then editing them together with just the laptop in front of me.

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Right, mis en place. I never grow tired of the food-music metaphor. It works on so many levels. :blush:

Just as there is GAS, I’ve often found myself in som kind of “W.A.S” – workflow “acquisition” syndrome. Imagining that if I just solved my workflow problem everything would fall into place and unlock an endless stream of musical output as well as greatness. I believe I have googled “workflow” almost as much as gear.

So far, I’ve never found a solution that stays satisfying over time. Making changes is often a good thing. Inspiring for a while, but just like Sisyphos sooner or later I find myself at the bottom again. Realizing that work is work. I respect fatigue, and there are lots of things that can cause it. In my case, not the least near endless possibilities. As Mr Eno famously said, the best thing might be to get rid of a few before you begin.

I too have tried to arrive at “mis en place”. I have a studio with some racked stuff, a patchbay with “clever” normalling channel strips, an interface with multiple ins/outs. I have a guitar amp that is always mic:ed and connected to my pedal board, reamp-box, a Mackie mixer with some “clever” Alt-3/4 routing through various “boxes”, samplers, kaoss pad etc.

While in theory it’s all great, it might be too clever for me. I’ve often found that my “cockpit” with all its knobs might be too advanced for the amount of flight hours (old thread I started) I’m capable of putting in. It’s like it’s demanding too much mental processing power, when it might be more rewarding/less strain to simplify my setup and develop “reflexes” – working intuitively, fast and reckless.

Looking back on the year so far I’ve been in my happiest and most productive phases when I have focused on one or two pieces of gear at the time.

Regarding fatigue I think it’s worth to remember that as lone creators we are trying to wear an awful lot of hats – not just being creative innovators, but also project managers, janitors, engineers, repairmen/women. Etc. Just speaking from my own standpoint - to myself - I think I should recognize that I’m a much better “creative” as a team member at my dayjob, than as a one-man-band.

I might have written stuff you didn’t ask for, and I hope nothing comes off as patronizing. If there’s anyone I’d like to patronize it’s myself. And I need to clean up my space so I can think, or not have to.

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This is familiar to me, trying to unlock the “trick” of something as if it’s a simple recipe. I suspect that creativity is a mindset more than it is a set of external conditions. and I believe that “creativity on tap” is possible but it is a lot of hard work - some times too much for just being a hobby. Perhaps it must become a lifestyle where you get to a level where you are driven enough to break through obstacles and make things work no matter the circumstances. This to me is an inspiration in the same sense as mystics or warriors in the mythical sense spend their life. I aspire to it but not in a perfectionist way.

In a more practical sense this means playing live and having no time to fiddle around with things but just get on with it no matter what happens, for example. And if things go wrong, chaulk it up to experience and find yourself a little wiser for the next time.

For me, this is an opportunity to “rotate” my creativity. I think there might have been a thread about it somewhere recenty? Maybe that was about something else. If I’m not in a mood to program Max, I might just mess around with a piece of hardware to learn it better and end up recording a jam. Or just tidy up.:wink: I try not to get too attached to any one idea or concept (and that includes myself - telling myself what I’m good at, or not) but stay a bit flexible as to where the fickle and sometimes devious creativity wants to go next. I could end up doing a long jam just for my own pleasure, not recording anything.

That’s if I’m in a good mood and rested. If not, things usually don’t work that well for me. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’m compelled to rotate, due to: tiny urban dwelling.

  • If I know I have The Larger Space free along with discretionary time, I can set up the road-cased 5U modular, a small mixing board, effects. Spread out on the floor, get comfortable.
  • If I have discretionary time, but in The Sleeping Space, then I can put out a large, literal bread board and place a desktop synth on that, with an effects skiff that has a headphone module, or the MixPre6 if needed.
  • Sometimes, it’s just gonna be Max or Live on the laptop, and those sessions can get surprising and fruitful, too.

In conclusion, I guess mise en place only applies chez nous when I’m cooking food in the Food Room. :man_cook:

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