For taking analog on the road, MeeBlip's incredibly practical BlipCase contains a set of four Korg Volcas: Volca Beats (drums), Volca Bass (three discrete analog oscillators), Volca Keys (3-voice analog paraphonic), and the Volca Mix for gluing the three units together and adding an input for the iPad or MixerFace. These form the core of my on-the-go performance rig, with the iPad running Moog's Animoog app for soloing. I got that idea after seeing Suzanne Ciani perform live with her Buchla 200e and Animoog at Ableton Loop 2016. The Volcas may not be a Buchla, but on the road, they're far more practical (and affordable).
Surprisingly, monitoring in the van isn't too tricky. In addition to my 20-year-old Sony MDR-7506 headphones (indestructible, affordable, and surprisingly flat), I use Vmoda Zn earbuds which sound fantastic and are quite sturdy. As for sound moving though air, I use the Doss Touch Bluetooth speaker, connected via cable to the iPad headphone output. It covers the basics and sounds full enough to compose bass lines. The Doss has an integrated SD card reader in addition to its analog jack, making it useful for reviewing field recordings from the R-07. I've even plugged the Volca rig into the Eurovan's stereo for additional referencing.
If I'm doing a preset project for desktop software I'll bring my laptop, but I generally prefer doing design work in the studio for optimal monitoring. The above rig has met my needs on every trip—and when I'm traveling light, it's just the iPad, NanoKey, R-07, Doss speaker, and Vmoda earbuds.
And if you've made it this far, follow the journey on Instagram.
