(VIDEO) MOBILE RECORDING STUDIO IN VAN CONVERSION

This week, we've broken down the details of our van conversion mobile studio. Equipped with a pair of Yamaha monitors, Universal Audio interface, and Beyerdynamic headphones, our mobile studio allows us to create and record music on the road with the conveniences of being at home.

One very important feature that our tiny home on wheels needed to have was a good work space. Most of our work is done from a laptop.

With music being a large part of our background, we knew we'd need a good space for being able to write and record song ideas on the road. Now it's easier than ever to have a quality mobile recording setup on the go- in our case it’s in our moving tiny home.

First things first, our mobile recording studio setup ​​is based around a couple key pieces of gear - my MacBook Pro and Universal Audio Apollo Twin audio interface.

Both of these serve as essential tools needed to record music digitally. Paired with software such as Pro Tools or Logic X, the Apollo Twin interface communicates with the computer to record sound from a mic or instrument and convert the analog signal to a digital file... and it does the job well. 

There are several reasons why having a good audio interface is important. The two most important factors involve having high quality preamps and clean analog/digital conversion.

Next, we come to sound monitoring. I incorporated a pair of Yamaha HS-5 speakers in the design of the van build. I use these alongside my Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones to have what I consider a pretty great monitoring system in the van. 

My typical workflow consists of starting out a song using the DT 770s, then switching over to the HS-5s depending on what I'm trying to accomplish (writing, tracking, mixing, etc...)

This workflow is what I prefer when I'm working, and now I have the luxury of having that in our tiny home on wheels.

When it comes to audio creation, a factor that plays into overall sound quality is power. Clean power is a must.

For our studio setup, I have everything routed to a Goal Zero Yeti 1000W power station. This offers a clean, interference-free power solution because it's not daisy chained to our van's house batteries. ​

When it comes to recording audio, I have two microphones that I bring with us in the van.

​The first is an Audio Technica 4033a condenser mic. I use this for most things... and that's the reason why I bring this particular mic with us. Recording vocals? It's solid. Laying down a shaker or tambourine track? Works great for both. Acoustic guitar? Yep. 

The second is a Blue Encore 100i instrument mic. I use this guy much less. Although it can be used for many applications, I use it mostly as a second mic when recording acoustic guitar.

Completing my mobile recording setup,​ I have an iRig Keys Pro, a 37-key MIDI controller. Like any MIDI controller, this allows me to record virtual instruments (piano, synthesizer, string instruments, drums, etc...) all with this one piece of gear. It essentially acts as a controller for any virtual instrument available via software on a computer.

This allows us to create song ideas with all the parts that we would typically record in a studio... except we're doing it in a van. In a nutshell, it's pretty magical.

This setup gives us the ability to create wherever we are. I believe the need to create is instilled in all of humanity. We should all do more of it.

THANKS for checking out our mobile recording studio in our tiny home on wheels. We're excited to have music coming your way in 2018! Feel free to give this post a share!

BY THE WAY ​- We have a new video series coming soon! Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for more on that!

ALSO - Hang with us on Instagram!

Are you living on the road? Is that your dream? What would you include in your van conversion? Let us know in the comments below!

Mars Fite

Mars is a full-time vanlifer with his wife, toddler and pup. Entrepreneur, musician, and people-lover, he prefers the outdoors and lives to question the brules and challenge the norm. He steers the ship (errr van) and is always on the hunt for the best locally-roasted cup of joe.