Initial arrangement of The Altar, a mobile computer music workstation I'm working on that you kneel at.

This entire setup can collapse into two suitcases, with the expensive bits managing to fit in a Tortuga backpack weighing in at around 25 pounds.

I put a lot of work into making sure the height of the table was ergonomically positioned for typing. My dad made new legs for it out of wood.

The monitors are the iLoud micro monitors. In an ideal scenario, I'd want them a bit higher, but the foldable step stools they are on were the best I could find. I do have yoga blocks I could prop them on, but that takes up precious volume.

The brain of it all is the GPD pocket 2. It's a tiny laptop that can fold 180 degrees and sit on a tablet stand like a computer monitor. I then drive it with a planck keyboard and trackpad.

Monome Arc and Grid are my main music peripherals, so I made space for those.

Barely visible is a minirig mini speaker which I like using most of the time for more casual listening. I also have a collection of mini attenuator knobs for volume control and some switches which allow me to A/B the speakers and inputs to the speakers.

Show thread

I forgot to mention my mechanical tools for time keeping: a kitchen timer and wind up pocket watch. I prop these up on cellphone stands.

Show thread

The really expensive stuff can be awkwardly crammed into a foldable daypack. This is (was?) sometimes necessary on domestic flights where they make you gate check carry on luggage due to lack of overhead space. In those dire situations, this acts as an escape pod.

Show thread

In those situations, I also usually carry one of those portable "ball bags" for shopping and dump things in there too. That and the daypack usually covers most of the electronics.

When I first had to do all this, it was totally improvised and I was just about to board. I was completely caught off guard.

Sign in to participate in the conversation
