Steve Walters needs little in the way of introduction. This former pupil of bass-playing jazz legend Jaco Pastorious has established a reputation as something of a new-generation musical legend himself with the likes of George Michael, Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck – even The Pet Shop Boys – making him their first port of call when it comes to handling low frequency embellishments. Indeed, those Pet Shop Boys had never used a bassist before Walters, but thought it would be interesting to see what he could come up with on the more guitar-based tracks peppering their well-received 2002 album Release.

When not in the studio this in-demand bass player spends a considerable amount of time on the road, so he naturally turned his attention to making music during downtime. “My setup revolves around my MacBook Pro, and the main audio software platform I write with is Pro Tools M-Powered, which I ReWire into [Propellerhead] Reason 4.”

M-Audio plays a considerable part in Walters’ mobile studio. “I bought an M-Audio ProjectMix I/O [control surface and audio interface] from a friend of mine when I was doing the first leg of George Michael’s 25 Live Tour back in 2006. Basically I wanted to be more hands-on in the mixing stage of creating a song,” Walters continues.

“I remember how difficult it was when I was using a computer mouse to mix the songs that I had written. Being on the road at the time, my main concern was to have the essential equipment to create songs with, ensuring the whole setup was light enough to comply with the new flying regulations that restrict luggage weight to 20Kg per passenger.”

Walters soon set about creating his dream travel setup, and needless to say M-Audio stepped up to the plate. “A soundcard’s the most important part of my setup, so I chose two options – the standalone FireWire 1814, with its dual FireWire, MIDI, and ADAT support, plus a small Axiom 25 keyboard. The second option is an Ozonic keyboard with built-in soundcard, also powered by FireWire.”

Pro Tools satisfied Walters’ audio software department when recording on his own, while Ableton Live worked best when recording two or more instruments at a time. “I’ve worked with Reason since version 1.0 and grew up with it through its metamorphosis, so choosing real instrument samples that were REX compatible was an easy choice to make.”

“Next I focused on getting audio into the system and then monitoring it on the way out. I chose the Sputnik microphone for the warmth it imparts when recording voices and acoustic instruments, which takes care of getting audio in, while a pair of Studiophile Q40 headphones were perfect for monitoring. Those headphones are light, too, which is essential for keeping my luggage weight down.”

Today Walters’ M-Audio-centric mobile setup also includes an NRV10 [audio interface and 8 x 2 analogue mixer with effects], among other select items. “After the steep learning curve of working out how best to use the newly-acquired software and hardware, the gear has revolutionised the way I create music,” declares Walters. “My creative workflow has improved far beyond my expectations due to having the best gear available. The NRV10 allows me to be in a band situation and record the performance without intruding on the way a band rehearses.”

“And I recently acquired an X-Tempo POK, a footswitch designed for controlling DAWs that allows me to program up to 16 functions, leaving my hands free to play with the rest of the band and keep the session organic – just as a rehearsal performance should be. The ProjectMix is great at the mixing stage, helping a track to feel more organic. I love the way it allows me to control plug-ins in a mouse-free way, feeling the mix under my fingers, and controlling where I play or loop a track from.”

A fluid example of musician and machines working in perfect harmony – just the way it should be. Yet Walters clearly remains a performing musician at heart, as is evident in his revealing conclusion. “I’m forming a band to perform my songs acoustically and truly test how they stand up on their own. My songs have only lived inside a computer or a stereo, under the cover of loops, effects, and samples – until now!”