7 things you NEED to know before Building a DAWLESS synthesizer setup

Gear mentioned / Good starter stuff for a dawless synth setup (links are affiliate links)

Circuit Tracks (synth + sequencer)

Minilogue XD (polysynth)

Cre8Audio East Beast (monosynth)

Utility stuff

Budget mixer

Midi thru box (splits midi signal to multiple synths)

Zoom recorder for recording your jams

1010music bluebox mixer/recorder

Sequencer
Keystep Pro

OXI One
Squarp Hapax

Workstations (synth, sampler and sequencer all in one)
Maschine+
MPC Keyz (One+ for a non keyboard version)

Stands
Jaspers:

Eurorack

CONTENT
00:00 Intro
00:20 Where to start?
01:46 More synths mean more STUFF
04:24 This is what DAWLESS is about
07:01 Cables... You always need one more
07:33 Ergonomics is important!
09:00 Don't go modular...
10:03 Hybrid setups are cool too!

PRESETS & SAMPLES

SOCIAL MEDIA

COMMUNITY

GEAR I USE (affiliate)

BUSINESS INQUIRY

[BoBeats]

Gear mentioned / Good starter stuff for a dawless synth setup (links are affiliate links)

Circuit Tracks (synth + sequencer)

Minilogue XD (polysynth)

Cre8Audio East Beast (monosynth)

Utility stuff

Budget mixer

Midi thru box (splits midi signal to multiple synths)

Zoom recorder for recording your jams

1010music bluebox mixer/recorder

Sequencer
Keystep Pro

OXI One
Squarp Hapax

Workstations (synth, sampler and sequencer all in one)
Maschine+
MPC Keyz (One+ for a non keyboard version)

Stands
Jaspers:

Eurorack

[MIssSarahKB]

Yes, love the comment about remembering to enjoy playing music. Until yesterday I hadn’t recorded anything for almost 6 months, despite jamming two or three times a week. And yesterday’s piece was just a 97 second Taiko drumming track. 😂 I aimed for a hybrid setup from the start 3 years ago. I have some super sequencers on my iPad that I wanted to use with hardware synths, through my DAW of choice. Anyway, that’s all unnecessary detail, the thing I really came to say was that whatever set up you have, make sure you can switch it all on really quickly! Then, when the urge to jam arrives you can be playing music really quickly instead of faffing about with getting stuff working. It’s taken me a long time to learn how to set things up to do this with my setup, but now I can get 10 hardware synths, four midi sequencers, two iPads, a mixer, some pedals, and a DAW all going and interconnected in about 30 seconds. And then it’s all the fun of jamming! 😊

[TangoDelta]

Amazing video as always! I'm not all the way through yet, but I especially LOVE that you mention numerous times that it's about Having FUN! Too many people are too harsh on themselves and others!

[TheJanda]

Shout out for mentioning ergonomics! That and heat management are not mentioned much when considering setups. These rooms can get hot and really sap your productivity.

[VocalChainsStudio]

Always appreciate your positive takes on gear, BB.

As far as DAWLESS goes, I don't buy the premise -- it aint about the gear -- but I like the people. Keep jamming, everybody. I'll be checking out as many jams as possible and trying to appreciate the flavor and variety of our greater synth community.🖖

[geminidefect]

dawless jamming is awesome because there doesn't have to be a goal. just go with the flow, enjoy the moment and when you're done, you're done. making music for yourself is the most rewarding experience. when the hair raises on my arms, I know i'm where i want to be. I did buy a macbook pro for music, but never once have i used it with my bad gear (yes, its a Florian shoutout!) Good advice, Bo

[yeet_za]

Great Video. Some points from a performing/touring DAWLESS musician.

+1 on Circuit Tracks (I own one myself, it's a fun little toy, but it's also really powerful if you just want to use it as a Midi sequencer / CC's, considering each Synth/Drum page has it's own rotary encoders per page, it allows you to have pages of rotary encoders with their individual midi CC values, which gives you enough rotary encoders to do many things.

Get a 2nd hand MPC One, get a 2nd hand Beatstep Pro. This is all you need to start out. Nothing more. No external synths or hardware. Stereo Output. Start with the basics. Start with Sequencing Externally, Clocking Internally/Externally and mapping your midi appropriately. Make some beats, make some loops, have some fun.

Yes, the MPC One will have an initial setup with a lot of menu diving and such, but once that template is setup, it's JAM Time!

Map the beatstep pro to internal synths and samples / drum programs. Create send FX (Delays / Reverbs / Granulator) on the Drum Program / Any other internal Synths you want to use. Make some beats, make some loops, have some fun.

Run your Midi over USB via a Powered USB Hub from the MPC. It can sync all of your Synths / USB Compliant devices via the MPC.


Don't money-pit your DAWLESS/Laptop-less setup. It's recursive, you're going to end up back here.

When you realise, you are in the deep money-pit and you now need to go deeper into a much deeper money-pit, you go onto ModularGrid and you start building yourself a massive synth machine.

Only do this, if you honestly, have a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of passion for music. That's the only pay off. (Other than having a TON OF FUN)

Keep it simple stupid and manageable and transportable! Lightweight. Possibly, try and build your whole setup into a case / multiple cases where everything is pre-wired up and you only have to turn the power on for everything to function.

You want to be able to fit everything you use in a case that you can fly around / travel with to play shows, perform and show the rest of the world your talent and your creations.

If you want to be 90s Daft Punk, please, go ahead, I will not stop you. Please let me know when and where you are playing so I can see you perform.

Otherwise, you're just making beats in your bedroom like the rest of us and the only people who will ever see you perform are people who go on the internet frequently enough to find "your niche genre", if you even choose to release it, if you even choose to finish that project called "dkagsdfkjahsdgfkasjhdf.als" you started a couple of weeks ago ;)

Have a wonderful day Bo.

[MattPerrin]

Two things I wish I had bought sooner was a patchbay and rainbow color-coded snake cables instead of individual cables. Both help me be experimental with where I route my synths to (pedals, vintage rack gear) without overwhelming me with cables. Oh, and buying a high quality 2 channel audio interface with a mixer handling inputs is WAY cheaper & flexible compared to buying a multi-channerl interface that might not be as nice.

[dankeplace]

I can't go 100% dawless because of my workflow, whilst I only use hardware, I do some mixing in post as I find I get the best out of my hardware when I do my so called sets.
I play all my gear live and they have their own outs recorded so then I can do some post.
I use internal FX where I can so I don't use in post.
So whilst a hybrid approach, it still allows me to print my objective as I know the sounds I am making, but clean up any issues that I may encounter in DAW.
Either way, I still have fun doing it and that's how I approach my work flow.

Thx for the upload Bo.

[sRetroVibes]

Love this. Just jamming and having fun is how I use my synths. For anyone else with a couple of larger heavier keyboards, I picked up a relatively inexpensive motorized "stand-up desk". That whole desk can raise and lower at the touch of a button, and holds a keyboard, the mixer, speakers, and other synth modules. I then have a single-synth stand with wheels that holds my other keyboard, and I can raise the desk to the perfect height so that keyboard can roll under the desk nicely aligned with the keyboard that sits on the desk. It's just high enough that the desk and other stand fit vertically, but I can still sit. It's a perfect setup with everything in front me at arm's reach. Btw, I love that you use a simple Zoom recorder to record your jams. I have a little Zoom R4 connected to my mixer for the same purpose, and it works great. Thanks for all the awesome content!

[Jornu]

Man, it hurt so much when you said sell your Circuit Tracks. I love it so much. But you are totally right

[evilsock]

My first setup was a Circuit Tracks, Opsix and a microkorg.
Great starter setup and enough to get me hooked into the gear u have now.

[jlmartin]

«The journey itself». That's the point!

[navarredr]

Heyo, Bo! I'm learning a lot lately from your channel, new & old. I recently purchased a 'Jaspers 170-4-120B' rack, per your recommendation, and couldn't be happier! I'm going for a hybrid setup that lets me play with my PC off and also let's me record everything into Ableton once I'm inspired and ready to lay down a track. I'm already 500% more productive, creatively. Cheers!

[TheMorningIWokeUpDead]

very good video, trying to build a studio setup and have been researching a lot of stuff over the years and came to same exact conclusions as this video. this is a really good resource!

[Cloud_Brn]

Don't forget about the Synthstrom Deluge! It's a synth, sequencer, drum machine, effects unit and more, all in one!!

It also just got community software development, and is being updated and pushed further everyday!

[pablowentscobar]

I'm pretty new to synths, I was really into Sludge/Doom metal all my life, Big amps, lot's of distortion etc, and just fell in love with synthesis in the last couple years, You're 100% right about jamming, being in the moment and having fun is the most important part. A lot of times mistakes turn into new ideas. Experimentation is really important, twist the knobs, slide the faders, try new connections etc. In that mess of bizarre sounds you will find some gold. Great video Bo.

[damelos]

One of your BEST videos. I'm not dawless. I like using Ableton to finish/polish tracks from the dawless gear. I only recently started down this journey. BUT, I can quickly see the need for a mixer and more cables! Ugh!

[zenithjcoke]

Great to bring up ergonomics. I'm using an Akai Force as my sequencer/production studio, but the lack of tiltable screen was a big issue. Bought a larger Jaspers stand that now holds all music gear (so far...) And tilts everything any angle and height. Traded my Minilogue XD keys for the desktop model too solely on the basis of improved ergonomics as I never used the keys and they only made the knobs harder to reach. I find I spend much more time actually producing when I don't get back and neck pain from slumping over gear laid flat on a table.

Tack för en bra video!

[nanocyde_artist]

I use a big cheap Mackie mixer with inserts, a couple patchbays, and a two-channel audio interface in my dawless setup. Works great with guitar pedals, monolithic synths, semimodulars, and eurorack. I still use my PC and reel-to-reels to record everything.