Category Archives: music studio

Controlling your DAW from iPad

touchosc

 

Here’s a pretty cool tool that I bumped into. Might just be the justification I need to buy an iPad , that and the fact that I want to do iOS / RubyMotion development targetting iPad.

Here’s a video showing how its used with Logic Pro. BTW, you can also not only use it with a number of DAWs but also virtual synths and just about anything midi. It does though come as a official Logic Pro control surface i..e it will just work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzjnVTqjblY&feature=player_embedded#at=15

 

 

Automating Music Training

automator example

My personal philosophy as far as to my music journey is that one has to put in the time in a consistent manner basically every day to get better. It follows that time is precious and since most of us don’t have much time it follows that every second count. So time fuddling around for sheet music and other learning resources is a waste of time. Sure if you are just working on one piece of repertoire or one aspect of your music self this is less of an issue. However, I have at least 6 burners on between the different styles of music I want to be able to cop, composing and sound engineering.

I use technology as much as possible to keep everything I need at my fingertips. Recently I decided to adopt that strategy to the use of music training dvds. I wanted to quickly be able to get any specific dvd up and running bypassing going back to my closet where I store my learning materials. On the mac I accomplished expediting this by using too utilities :

  1. Disk Utility
  2. Automator

Disk Utility allows me to create a .dmg file from the DVD media which I can then mount later. In other words the mounted dmg will behave just as if it was running from the DVD drive.

Automator then allows me to define a set of steps to mount and start the DVD player. I also have a Automator script for stopping and un-mounting the DVD.

So I now can easily and quickly use Spotlight to put on any of my music training DVDs. Of course, this all is stored on the Mac’s hard drive which means that  you can take along anywhere i.e. on your Mac notebook or Mac Mini.

Windows has similar third party excellent tools for accomplishing as much. Check out AutoHotKey for automation and Daemon Tools for virtualizing the DVD media. Of course , I should also mention the very excellent Launchy which works just as well as Spotlight on the Mac.

Ignite Your Music

Ignte_AxiomAIRMini32I’m always looking for something to help me manage my music creative workflow better. Today I found a new product called Ignite that suggests that they are in tune with the music creative process as opposed to the music capture process i.e a recording based one which is what every other DAW is about i.e. that I know of.

Here’s a feature run down which can be found on their site:

    • Creative Workflow
      • Capture your ideas quickly and make music – without getting bogged down with technical jargon and complicated steps.
      • Individual musical ideas are captured as phrases and are placed in the Arranger. The Arranger is an organic “stage” where you can organize your music ideas and phrases in whatever way make sense to you.
      • Clips can be any length, and don’t have to be aligned into a pre-determined structure (such as tracks and lanes). Multiple clips can be played back together, or even grouped to create more complex phrases and song sections.
    • Instant M-Audio Keyboard Integration
      • Ignite will instantly recognize any current generation M-Audio keyboard controller once it is connected to your computer.
      • Key parameters will be automatically assigned, or mapped, to the front panel controllers. The on-screen image labels the controllers with their current parameters, providing visual reminders.
    • Superior AIR Instrument Sounds
      • Included with Ignite are over 275 remarkable instrument sounds developed by AIR Music Technology. This international team also created the acclaimed Hybrid, Strike, Transfer, Structure, and Velvet instruments for Pro Tools – the industry-standard professional music and audio workstation.
      • Instruments include keyboards, drums, percussion, basses, guitars, synths, strings, brass, and woodwinds.
    • Creative Kick-starters
      • Smart MIDI technology provides both a Chord Player and a Phrase Player.
      • The Chord Player plays a chord pattern using either simple or advanced voicings.
      • The Phrase Player can be used to deliver a single-voice melodic phrase, or even a drum pattern depending on the instrument selected.
      • The arpeggiator plays notes individually, either as a musical flourish or in a rhythmic pattern.
    • Collaborate, Send, and Share
      • Share your musical ideas and songs with other musicians through SoundCloud.
      • Export WAV, MP3 and MIDI files, and import them into any DAW recording software – including Pro Tools.

Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro 9

logic pro - new dayI recently started getting up to speed on Logic Pro. I’m no strangers to DAWs. I have Cubase on my Windows Desktop , have used CakeWalk, and Reaper and actually used Logic before it was purchased by Apple. Anyhow, I thought I get re-acquainted the best way I know how and so I downloaded the Logic Pro book to my kindle on my Mac Mini and dived into through chapter 1.

Chapter 1 takes one through a tour that touches on most of the day to day interfaces by building a song via loops, then putting a quick mix and finally bouncing to a stereo mix as a mp3 file.

Here are the goals for Lesson 1 i.e. as taken from the book:

Goals

  1. Browse, preview, and use loops
  2. Edit regions and create an arrangement
  3. Navigate and zoom in the
  4. Arrange area
  5. Use effect and software instrument plug-ins
  6. Mix down and export to MP3

Here’s that mix:

Are you a Studio Pack Rat?

I plead guilty. I’m also a gear junkie and the combination can be deadly. A pack rat is annoying but in the studio it can be counter productive. The more my setup goes virtual in the studio the more I see gear becoming irrelevant I also recently decided to condense my guitar/ synth setup around the newly released next evolution of Roland’s VG line namely the VG-99.

Here is a list of gear that I am getting rid of:

  1. Roland GR-20s
  2. Line 6 PodXT
  3. DBX 163X Compressor
  4. Zoom RT-323 Drum machine
  5. Alesis Microverb III
  6. Rocktron Intelliflex LTD
  7. Alesis Midiverb III
  8. MOTU MicroExpress MIDI interface
  9. MOTU 2408 mII Firewire Audio Interface
  10. AKG 330 BT Cardiod Microphone

The GR-20s and the PodXT are being replaced by the VG-99. Mind you I do have a Sansamp PSA-1 and that I will always keep. I also have a couple very handy , portable Korg Pandora’s for the acoustic guitars, electric and bass.

The DBX 163x is a great soft knee compressor but last year I purchased a Focusrite Trakmaster Pro which is just more versatile.

The Zoom drum machine again great drum machine but I decided to go virtual with the drums. I’m using the BFD virtual drum kit and to play live into I will be purchasing an M-Audio Trigger Finger.

The Rocktron Intelliflex is a great guitar effects processor i.e. its just effects but very high quality but again the VG-99 has all of that. The other effects units basically replaced by the fact that most of my needs are handled by virtual plugins. No , I am not gigging but I suspect that if I was that the VG-99 should do me well.

The MOTU are legacy units from the days I was running a MAC although they do have drivers for Windows. However, I had decided to go with Edirol, a subsidiary of Roland and which is a company that targets Windows. Specifically my DAC is a firewire Edirol FA-101, great unit, very portable at a half rack size. It provides for 10 in and 10 outs , certainly more than I project I will ever need.

The AKG Mic is really more of a live mic than a recording mic. For recording I’m using a Rode NT-1 omni condenser mic. So far very good results in recording my Ovation’s “presence” in my studio.

Every piece of gear represents a knowledge skill set that must be obtained and maintained. Fine tuning your studio gear to do what you need to do helps focus and therefore productivity.

I started a thread on my forum on the importance of one’s studio setup, so if you care please join our group and let us know what you think. Here is the link to the thread:

http://www.monteirosfusion.com/forum/index.php?topic=23.0