Sad13 is the electropop alter ego of Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz, and she told us about her love for her Logitech Lift...
Sad13: In the studio—whether at my own space or working out of someone else’s—I like to approach gear selection with a combination of novelty-seeking and long-term comfort; weird new pedals or plugins are just as important as my tried-and-true mics and amps. But the gear that really got me over the finish line with 1331 (and was unique to this mixtape) was a new vertical mouse.
I’d seen another producer friend post about the Logitech Lift and, as someone with longterm chronic pain that was ramped up by a bike accident and surgeries, I was curious about finding a solution to help me record more comfortably. Ball mouses have never felt intuitive to me, but the Lift was an easy adaptation; I use it in my right hand with DAW-specific gestures and clicks programmed in, and use a separate track pad in my left hand for certain kinds of scrolling and swiping. I have a lot of new and more natural options for track automation and quick edits in mixing, and it's also been helpful for the music-adjacent things I have to do—like video and photo editing or website maintenance.
I know a mouse isn’t a glamorous answer and there are plenty of pedals and amps and mics I could, and usually do, shout out. But as someone who’s spent the last twenty years of their recording and gigging life acquiring interesting or unusual equipment, but had put almost zero attention into the functionality of my computer's accessories, I’m hoping I’ll inspire someone else to interrogate and upgrade their setup to take care of their body (alongside their amplifiers). We need both!
Sad13's 1331 is out now.
Photo credit: Matthew John Lawrence
