One of the challenges of traveling as a music producer is finding a way to create music when you’re on the go and can’t bring an instrument or even your laptop. A couple of years ago, I bought Polyend’s Tracker Mini so I could get immersed in music-making while traveling, particularly on the plane or moments of downtime. A tracker is software or gear that allows you to compose music in a way that is kind of like a chronoligical spreadsheet.

When I go on trips, I tend to challenge myself to finish a full track, using my Tracker Mini. It doesn’t always happen. But sometimes it does, and it’s really fun to try. I recently got back from a trip to Madison, Wisconsin, where my wife is from. On this trip, I finished a full track before getting home. Here it is below. It’s a bit of an upbeat chiptune suitable for a video game, I guess. You definitely won’t get sad listening to it. I composed and mixed all the tracks in the tracker. But, I did bring it into Studio One to throw a couple of mastering plugins on, as well as compress the drums a bit.

I’ve decided to keep an ongoing album of all of the Tracker Mini songs that I create. I’ll start it with this track. Here’s the album. I got a trip coming up next week. Maybe there’ll be a new track soon!