tools

arturia microfreak

very fun synth that can make a lot of strange noises. i like the weird conductive keyboard a lot. very good for anything cold and digital, pretty difficult for anything that needs a "fuller" sound

korg r3

a nearly 20 year old synth (which definitely shows through the yellowed keys), but still sounds reeeaal good. fairly small number of built-in presets, and a good amount of menu diving for any customization, but very enjoyable to use regardless.

novation circuit tracks

groovebox with a sequencing workflow that feels significantly better than any other sequencer i've tried so far. very much capable of producing entire songs (which i've done several times), but has just enough limitations to feel like it's held back from being truly great. especially when it comes to pattern chaining and sampling

roland jv 1080

acquired fairly recently, so haven't gotten a ton of use out of it yet. has loads of presets that sound absolutely wonderful

zoom g1x four

an affordable effects pedal that has a ton of really nice built-in effects, an expression pedal, a looper, and some low-quality drum samples. works really well with guitars and synths alike

misc instruments

• roland fp10 piano
  • full sized piano with weighted keys that feels nice to play. i mostly use it as midi input into my computer or another synth. has some built-in sounds and other features locked behind a bluetooth app
• simmons titan 50 drums
  • really nice electric drum kit i took from a sibling who didn't want it anymore. i haven't spent much time using it but it's pretty cool regardless
• monoprice indio guitar/glarry electric bass
  • i got both of these mostly because they were cheap and i didn't know if i wanted to invest in a more expensive option at the time. there is nothing remarkable about either one, they do the trick just fine. they certainly do not stand the test of time however, as they both seem to be falling apart after ~5 years of occasional use