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I've struggled for some time to create a place to compose music in my tiny home; limited space and budget have made it a challenge. I think the result is quite nice, however. The key thought was to prioritize activities and do the simplest possible thing to achieve activity level. Here were my top musical priorities:

1. Just make music. This meant connecting speakers (Yamaha) to the keyboard (Roland SD-700SX). 2 1/4" patch cables, 3 ordinary power cables, and a small plug multiplier. Easy.

2. Record MIDI. This meant adding a computer to the mix (Thinkpad X41 Tablet P-M 1.5GHz 1.5G RAM named "Quirky") , installing software (Ableton Live 7), and attaching the keyboard to the computer (via USB). Worked great.. However once I plugged the laptop into wall power the speakers got very noisy. This was because of a cheaply constructed third-party power supply - by replacing it with the official Thinkpad power supply the noise disappeared. (This would have been difficult to diagnose if I had put everything together all at once, I think.) One small innovation: flipping the screen around but keeping it at an angle, to serve as a kind of touchscreen music stand; reminds me of the Korg OASYS.

3. Record audio. This took some experimentation to get right. I felt compelled to test the tablet's native sound abilities even though I was pretty sure it wouldn't sound good. The tablet has a "mic in" which, sure enough, testing showed it to be of very poor quality for accepting audio from the keyboard (primarily a strange warble). So I purchased an MBox (M-Audio Fast Track Pro) and attached it to the computer (USB), and connected the keyboard (2 XLR cables). Now it sounds very good. I was glad to see that a modest computer can do well at audio. I thought it would.

4. Playing virtual instruments. Now I was getting frisky - it was straightforward to get this working (just have to setup MIDI correctly and remember to 'arm' recording in Live). However at this stage I decided to "break" the solution to #2 by removing the direct keyboard USB/MIDI and using the MBox for MIDI. Required 2 MIDI cables and eliminated 1 USB cable. The benefit is that the tablet has fewer cables going into it.

5. Applying virtual effects. Again, works well and sounds great. Surprisingly low latency (I can just barely hear it).

6. Monitoring PC audio. Headphones in the MBox work great. Using speakers turned out to be surprisingly complicated. First, I was loath to abandon the simple solution to #1. I realized that if I plugged the speakers into the MBox I wouldn't be able to "just play" without a computer attached, which from experience I know I don't like being tethered to a PC to make music. Luckily the MBox can be powered separately, although it required the purchase of a wall wart. I also needed a couple of extra cables (XLR) - easily fixed (I do wish the MBox had 1/4" inputs as well as XLR inputs, though). One other annoyance: the MBox pops, badly, when it's turned off with speakers still attached. This is not as much of an issue when the MBox is seperately powered, as unplugging the computer no longer causes the MBox to power down. (Essentially it turns out the MBox is serving as a simple line mixer for keyboard and pc audio.)

For a finishing touch, I draped the (semi soft) travel case over and behind the keyboard. This is not only a great place to store a very bulky item, but it also serves to cushion the tablet and protect the keyboard. I also plugged everything into a power strip so the whole shebang can be turned on and off with one switch (which saves power and avoids pops). I sort of miss using the Roland's power switch, though - it's a really nice switch. Very wide and solid and with a pleasant curve to it.

I actually believe there is a market for a simple standalone MIDI sequencer, even if this solution works for me. To have a small hand-held device that I could attach to the keyboard, play into, then take to a computer for editing might be quite nice, especially if you are prone to long solo jamming, like I am.

At the Poplar grove Plantation Wednesday market we were entertained by Mermaid Morrigan (aka Cindy Rhodes) and her hammered dulcimer "Persephone". Every Wednesday morning she will enchant and delight with her ethereal sounds inspired by the waters surrounding Topsail Island, NC.

Cindy performs her original music on "Persephone", an instrument with it's Assyrian/Persian roots from 2000 years ago. The hammered dulcimer was and still IS called a "SANTUR".

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