Jamming on a plane with a Syntakt

Elektron Gear Syntakt
#1

I’ve got a flight UK to Australia in February which is 18hours each way, and I’m having a think about bringing some music gear to write some ideas on the plane. Has anyone used any Elektron machines on a flight?

I’m flying with Qantas, and looks like they have both mains electrics and usb power on the seats.

I do have a custom cable from ripcord that can power the syntakt/analogFour from a decent powerbank but makes me nervous maybe using that on the flight.

Otherwise, I guess I could take a laptop/phone/iPad or my old QY70 even as an alternative

Anyone tried playing with digis actually on a flight?

#2

I haven’t but I imagine the clicky buttons might drive other people nuts…

Edit: maybe Blackbox or similar would work?

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#3

Oh good point re buttons! Totally hadn’t considered that! Back to the drawing board…

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#4

have you tried doing anything while sat in one of those tiny chairs on a plane…
unless you are in 1st class i’d seriously either use an ipad or watch movies.

all the seats ive ever had on a plane were very cramped, just trying to get out the seat with headphones/ a drink on the tray etc was difficult.

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#5

… Circuit Tracks and Circuit Rhythm can be much quieter than a laptop, if that’s a concern …

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#6

I bring my octatrack all the time. It’s great and the white noise very much overpowers the sound of the buttons.

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#7

If the flight is an A380, try to get a window seat in the back of the plane on the upper deck. Check the seat maps to be sure, but the seat I got had a large storage bin between the window and seat that had room for several laptops.

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#8

I’d have thought the button clicking would be fine, most plane have a loud droning noise anyway and nearly everyone has headphones on… so get a digitakt and sample the plane drone.

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#9

I often take my digitakt to starbucks (gasp) but they pump their shitty music so loud you can’t hear the buttons click and half the time I can’t even hear what I’m doing.

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#10

Do you have good closed headphones with low impedance ?

I still have my QY100 !:content:

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#11

I usually make music and mix tracks on my laptop. Bringing gear on a plane feels akin to the guy who shows up at a coffee shop with an MPC. Probably pleasant, but kind of cringey and embarrassing. Then again 18 hours is a long ass flight, so…maybe I’d make that the exception :airplane:

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#12

:raising_hand_man:

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#13

I just got off a 4-hour flight where another passenger was reading manga, on a laptop, in english. Synths are way less embarassing.

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#14

The buttons aren’t an issue. As others have said, the ambient noise in-flight is more than loud enough to mask their sound.

I’ve flown with a DN and with an OT and it was great. Just make sure you have a decent case and preferably a Decksaver as well. Also, headphones or in-ears that block a substantial amount of outside noise or are noise-canceling are essential.

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#15

Yeah, I’ve tried a deluge and even an OP-1 can feel cramped on a plane. Best thing I’ve used is probably the M8 for this.

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#16

I’ve flew with a bad case of giardia once. I’m sure my seatmate would of gladly paid to trade seats to be next to someone bashing on an MPC while playing a kazoo.

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#17

Ah! I forgot I made a diy teensy M8 with an open source gameboy clone in the summer I haven’t explored much, that might be the one.
Probably a bit more subtle using that or an iPad rather than a modular synth or something on my lap that looks like a bomb!

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#18

Yeap totally get this. Years ago I tried using the op-1 when I was commuting in London on the underground and it’s hard to tune out of someone watching you. It feels attention seeking. I normally use an iPad for train commutes or whatever now as they’re so light to carry and don’t grab attention. But man, 18hours on this flight is loooooong, plus I’m sitting next to my wife who is used to me playing with techno boxes whilst she’s watching some crap on telly!

#19

I would try, pressing the buttons down real slow might help. I do that sometimes late at night…it doesn’t wake my partner that way but you can at times double trig or triple tap, deleting the trig and resetting it with a new one.

You might want to kill 18hrs with scotch and kava…

Also…Straya…:australia:

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#20

I can’t promise slow button pressing when I’m in the zone!

The real reason I’m trying to figure this out, is I took my 16” MBP last time I visited Aus, and it’s too big for plane or train tables really. I did actually try drinking on the plane, but that resulted in me not being able to sleep so, factoring in the transfer times with end and stuff, it was actually torture being that awake for so long.
I just want some happy place time, away from shite movies. I just thought being put in a chair for that length of time is good to really spend time and learn a bit of gear, it’s quite confrontational.

I’ve put together a shortlist looking around the studio and should prob just spend a bit of time with each before I go and see what works/doesn’t.

Laptop/ableton
iPhone/iPad- koala/ableton note/Drambo
Syntakt with powerbank
Analog four with powerbank
M8 (diy gameboy clone)
Yamaha QY70
Plinky with powerbank
Op-1 (though my keyboard is broken so prob won’t get that fixed in time)
PO tonic/speech

1 Like