Gear
Gear musicians and stand-ups actually use.
Curated picks by use case — what goes in your gig bag, what survives a festival, what actually records a usable take. Links go to Amazon search, so they never break when a product is discontinued.
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🎷 For the jam
What goes in your gig bag for a jazz, blues, or funk jam. The mic and tuner are the two things venues most often have wrong.
Shure SM58 vocal mic
The default jam-night vocal mic. Survives anything.
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Boss TU-3 chromatic tuner
Pedal tuner that works in any room.
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Spare cable
Bring your own — venue cables fail mid-set.
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Practice mute
For warming up backstage without annoying the band.
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🎤 For the open mic
You'll get two songs and three minutes to set up. Bring everything you need with one strap and one bag.
🎭 For the comedy room
Stand-ups don't need much — a notebook, a recorder, and one good book on the craft. Set notebooks fill up fast.
Set notebook
Where every working comic stores material.
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Voice recorder
Record every set, then watch it back tomorrow.
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Born Standing Up — Steve Martin
The clearest book ever written on the craft.
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Shure SM58 vocal mic
If you ever run a room — this is the mic.
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🎙️ For the working comedian
If you do this for real money: record every set, transcribe the laughs, read the people who came before you.
🎪 For the festival
Edinburgh in August, Glastonbury in June, Just for Laughs in July — same problems every time. Solve them once.
Festival walking shoes
You'll walk 12+ miles a day. Wear it in beforehand.
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Anker power bank
Festival WiFi is always rubbish. Don't run flat at midnight.
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Packable rain jacket
Edinburgh in August. Trust us.
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Filtered earplugs
Save your hearing without losing the music.
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🎚️ For the studio
A starter kit that has actually shipped real records. Spend money on the interface and headphones first.
Behringer UMC22 audio interface
Cheap, clean, gets the signal in.
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Audio-Technica ATH-M40x
Honest closed-backs that punch above their price.
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Reflection filter
Treats untreated rooms — saves the take.
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Pop filter
Cheapest fix for plosives anywhere.
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🎼 For the teacher
What sits on the shelf next to a working music teacher. Built to last, not flashy.
Korg MA-2 metronome
Reliable, loud, runs forever on a battery.
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Manhasset music stand
The standard teaching-studio stand. Built for life.
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Staff-paper notebook
Old school, still the fastest way to sketch ideas.
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Bluetooth speaker
Loud enough for a small studio room.
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Got a piece of gear that's saved your life? Tell us — we'll add it to the list.
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