I'm one hardcore laptopian. It goes everywhere with me, as inseparable as my heartbeat. I write this weblog, communicate with the world, design and disseminate from from the high-wire platform of my PowerBook. While I ultimately end up in the studio for the final steps of the process, and often enter it to record hardware synths to disk, I work on musical tracks everywhere.

Ideas may start:

• in the studio
• in the laptop
• in a conversation on a Financial District street corner as a single rasped syllable opens a dimensional window through which comes flying an entire composition
• in a dream and into life in the middle of the night

Once the song-writing process meant being surrounded by dozens of keyboards, samplers and drum machines. These days, I can bring songs to just short of the final mix and master wherever I am. With the recent acquisition of a tiny Edirol controller I am rigged for immediate musical endeavor.

The studio is the world is the studio. My mobile rig, aka What's In My Bag:

• Apple PowerBook 17" loaded with Live, Digital Performer, custom Max/MSP/Jitter apps, patches and plug-ins, plus a slew of other audio frying tools
• Edirol PCR-M1 USB controller with integrated MIDI interface
• Logitech Dual Action Gamepad (for controlling some of those custom Max/MSP/Jitter apps)
• 80GB Firewire 800 drive for extended recording, dumps of raw tracks and regular rsyncx backups
• Sony MiniDisc recorder with Core-sound stealth mics
• Original Nintendo GameBoy running Nanoloop cartridge
• Droid-3 using custom audio/midi control interface written in Max/MSP

I bring audio from the MiniDisc, Nanoloop and Droid-3 in via the PowerBook's on-board line-in jack. From there it goes through edits, processing, conversion and all ends up in Live where the groove is gotten on.

• iPod (lots of tunes, scratch and demo tracks, extra hard drive in a pinch)
• Headphones and earbuds of the moment
• Moleskine pocket notebook (grid, 9 x 14 cm) and a couple mechanical pencils
• 1GB jump drive on my keychain (sneaker net forever!)
• Canon PowerShot
• Various audio and MIDI cables so it all interconnects and also connects to everything else
• 15' extension power cable, PSUs for everything
• The bag itself is a Tom Bihn Smart Alec with an added snap-in Monolith case for the PowerBook. Comfortable to carry, spacious yet sleek, waterproof (even the zipper!) and tough. This is, by far, the absolute best laptop carrier I've ever used.

Any time, any place, my groove and I are one.

Related: V(m)KB?