Caleb's Playground

The mad scientist at work

A profile in Technology

I met with my friend Caleb Haines this week to check out his latest "hobby", making and recording music in his makeshift home studio.

Have you ever met or known a younger person who you feel has an "old soul"? I've had the pleasure of being friends with Caleb for over 15 years and am constantly amazed at his energy and expanding skillset with his "hobbies". When I first met him, he was working for an older gentleman for an appliance repair company. Within a year or two of getting to know Caleb, he began working with me at LVHN. He quickly gained a reputation as a quick study for new technologies. His easy-going manner made him both an outstanding team player and the go to guy for hospital staff tech problems.

I've seen his entrepreneurial spirit through a number of projects and events that started as hobbies - playing guitar, a small sensory deprivation tank business, his love for motorized paragliding, his hobby of finding and collecting artifacts found with his metal detector as well as biking, snowboarding and I'm certain other skills that only he knows. He and his wife, Rebecca, enjoy travel as well as live shows and concerts.

When COVID hit in 2020, the live music and shows were few and far between. Caleb decided to use the spare time he had to build a home studio and hone his musical talent into learning about the equipment musicians use to make and record music. Over time, as his equipment knowledge expanded, so did his studio. He migrated from a KORG volca keys analog loop synthesizer with 27 keys that produced up to 8 recording patterns, 16 steps sequencer and a multi touch keyboard.

His latest setup (pictured above and below) includes:

• Tascam Model 12 - All-in-One 12 track digital multitracking/mixing and recording studio, Mixer, USB Audio Interface and DAW controller

• Novation Circuit Tracks Groovebox sequencer with synth engines, MIDI control and drum patterns

• Novation Circuit Rhythm sampler box

• Sequential Take 5 Compact Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer Keyboard

• Arturia KeyStep 37 MIDI Keyboard Controller and Sequencer

• Behringer Edge Semi-modular Analog Percussion Synthesizer

• Typhon Analog Synthesizer

• Cre8audio West Pest Semi-modular Analog Synthesizer

• Casio CT-S1 61-key Portable Keyboard with 61 tones, effects, recorder and onboard speakers

• KRK 5-inch quality studio monitor speakers that are acoustically angled with sound deadening panels to avoid bounce back.

• Orange Micro Terror 20-watt Amplifier Head

If words like DAW, EQ, phantom, fade, I/O, MIDI, multi-track, transport, sequencing, step, arpeggiator, attack, decay and sustain sound as foreign to you as they did to me, you can begin to understand the complexity and depth of knowledge that goes into Caleb's world and his love for this technology.

He buys/sells equipment through different online marketplaces where "used" equipment is as good as new and searches for deals and upgrades for that next latest, greatest sound. Everything in his lineup has a purpose; everything is carefully researched as he plans out his recording empire.

Surprisingly, he prefers using analog or hybrid analog/digital recording equipment in his setup rather than going fully digital. Analog recording tends to feel more alive and richer than a full digital recording. Additionally, it provides better dynamic range for recordings. Furthermore, analog equipment can be recorded at any volume, which provides a significant advantage for certain genres of music like jazz, funk and R&B, where the natural flow of sound is desired over something canned or artificial. Because analog recordings are "physical" in nature, there adds a layer of protection against accidental deletion or erasure. Caleb says it "feels like wizardry to know that the diodes, transistors, etc. inside the box are actually making the sound, and not just a computer emulator/software synth."

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/4a5216_14a06018fdb340eda94d8cedb60b3374/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Sample from Caleb's Board

Caleb sometimes reminds me of a young Ben Franklin or in more modern times, perhaps Bill Gates, building his first PC in his garage and wonder if we're going to see more of his ingenuity in future projects?