Mobile Production/Studio

From Ash:

Ash Toshiro Produtions is run out of my apartment, so to adapt to this environment, I have built my "studio" build around being as mobile as possible. This means an easy and portable interface system, neat and organized cable management, lightweight/rolling amps, and a creative microphone setup for tracking live drums, amps, and/or vocals.

Because my setup is different than what most artists may be used to, I pride myself on creativity, adaptability, and as I work on more and more projects, I hope to add quality to this list. Below, are links and images to a lot of the gear that I use for my studio/mobile studio setup!

Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 4th Gen

I use the widely popular Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 4th Gen that a lot of bedroom artists use, mainly for guitar and vocals. The two-input allows me to have two mics on an amp, where I will typically capture high to mid frequencies with one mic and lower frequencies with another.

Focusrite.com

Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 4th Gen

I use a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 4th Gen in a portable/lightweight rack mount for doing live drums. It has 8 inputs that allows me to have a nearly full mic setup, even though recently I have only been using 4-5 of the 8 inputs.

Focusrite.com

Shure SM57 (x2)

My favorite mic out of all of the mics I have - the Shure SM57. For a lot of my scratch tracking, I will use an SM57 for EVERYTHING and sometimes a lot of what I track with the SM57 ends up staying in the master. They are very, very durable and great sounding mics, especially for guitar amps.

I often use an SM57 as a drum overhear behind the players shoulder, along with an SM57 in the sweet spot of a snare; having both in a mix keeps the overhead mids sounding crisp but not too bright.

Shure.com

AKG D112

The AKG D112 is one of my newer mics, but I have used it just as creatively as I have my SM57's. The D112 is mostly used for kick drum, which is what I use it for on a kit. I will also use the D112 for tracking live bass rather than solely DI bass, since it really lets a live amp's feeling pull through.

The latest idea I've had is to use it to gather the low end of my guitar amps as the secondary mic alongside an SM57. Having the SM57+D112 pair gives the guitar tracks a nice thickness.

AKG.com

Audio-Technica AT2040

While it is technically a podcast mic, I use an AT2040 for all of my vocals. Depending on the song, I may pair an SM57 with it for harsher vocals, but for the most part, the AT2040 does a surprising job with both cleans and harsh vocals.

Audio-Technica.com

Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

The Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb is currently my favorite amp and my personal-use amp. Paired with a Telecaster or Jazzmaster, it is a perfect twinkle-riff machine!

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