Having relocated to a new apartment, I thought it was time to set up a new music studio. My previous studio was essentially a keyboard in my home office.

Now, I’ve got some new instruments. Most notably, a set of drums, which I’ve been wanting to get since forever.

My current arsenal consists of 3 instruments:

• Drum kit: I got the Roland TD-07DMK e-drum kit. It’s on the pricey side, but the mesh drum heads make it feel just like an acoustic kit which is great. I get the sound and feel of an acoustic drum kit, while not driving my neighbors crazy. Also, it comes with a built-in metronome, and Bluetooth for playing music from my phone, making practice sessions seamless and fun.

• Electronic keyboard: After playing the Casio CDP-S100 for the first time at an acquaintance’s place a few months ago, I decided to get one. He recommended the upgrade version, the CDP-S110, so that’s what I got. It definitely doesn’t have the best sound in the world, but it’s a full-size keyboard (88 keys) with weighted keys and a small footprint. And the sound quality is an upgrade from my previous board, the Yamaha PSR-E453.

• Bass guitar: I got the cheapest bass I could find on Amazon (RockJam RJBG01-SK-BK). I started learning to play the bass many years ago but I didn’t get very far so I’m going to be continuing that journey now. While it doesn’t have the prettiest sound, it’s a standard 4-string full-size bass which I believe is a good platform for learning. It also came with a number of accessories like a mini combo, capo, tuner and extra strings which is nice.

I would like to get an acoustic and maybe an electric guitar at some point in the future, but these instruments will keep me very busy for quite a while.

I’ve set up my studio with recording in mind. There’s lots of songs I want to learn to play and remix. And I’d like to make more of my own music — less by sitting in front of a computer and more by playing an instrument. So in addition to the instruments, I’ve also purchased video and audio recording equipment, like a video capture card and audio interface. I’ll be publishing an article on my video recording workflow for song covers, so keep your eyes peeled for that.