Almost Enough Reason To Buy An iPad

[Vito]

The Alesis iO Dock looks like a way cool gizmo...almost enough reason to buy an iPad.

But only almost...

:joker:

 

[MisterE]

It'd be very handy to have something like that for practice or whatever. There are a lot of recording projects that I'd love to do that I'm just not equipped for here at home.

I used a Minidisc player for years but the thing finally broke. Maybe time to look into it. :bounce:

Thanks for putting that up Veet.

 

[Vito]

MisterE:

You're welcome, amigo. If I were still the mobile kind of guy I used to be (I could easily travel a couple hundred miles per day when I was a consulting engineer/scientist), I'd snap up an iPad and one of those Alesis iO Docks in a New York nanosecond. And I'm sure I'd find a lot more uses for it than just recording my musical and other ideas.

But I work at home now, and I'm quite content to seldom go anywhere...except hiking in the wilderness area behind our home, or the occasional family outing, which requires no iAnything. For those occasions when I do want to capture something when I'm on the go, I use a Zoom H4n...a handy little 4-track device:

I used to use GarageBand to record ideas and work up rough tracks, but I finally broke myself of that nasty 16-bit habit. I do everything at 24-bit in Logic Pro now. Spoiled rotten, and loving it. :mrgreen:

:joker:

 

[MisterE]

I almost got one of the Zooms last summer. That actually seems like a wonderful compromise and quite reasonable. It's portability is a plus as well. Can you edit on the device itself or only on a computer?

The Logic Pro seems like an awesome tool, but alas, me's a PC dude not a Mac daddy, lol.

I've been wanting to record entire etude books for my students as a pedagogical resource. Also to do some unaccompanied works that are virtually impossible for me to do in straight takes. :affraid:

 

[Vito]

I took the plunge on the Zoom H4n because I got tired of transferring my ideas from analog (tape). Transferring the audio from the Zoom is quick (via USB), and there are none of the pitch or timing problems that afflict portable tape recorders.

There's no ability to edit audio on the Zoom H4n. Its strengths are in its ability to make high-quality digital stereo recordings (the built-in mics are excellent), and to do multitrack recordings with the tracks in sync (up to 4 tracks). The latter feature is great for a one-man band (like me), where I record the parts one track at a time. And of course, it can all be transferred to a digital audio workstation, in sync, in pitch, and noise-free.

But for editing, you need digital audio software. The days when the Mac platform had the best digital audio tools are long gone. Maybe one could argue that there aren't any better tools for the PC, but the playing field is pretty level these days. There are cross-platform freeware and shareware audio tools that work well, as long as you don't have to handle a lot of tracks. Audacity is a pretty good cross-platform open source app.

If you need serious multitrack editing tools, you'll need something like Steinberg's Cubase 6...and I can even recommend Pro Tools 10 (now that Avid no longer requires Pro Tools hardware to run the software).

I've used Pro Tools. I was an early adopter of the Sound Tools digital audio system (1990) and the original Pro Tools 4-track system (1991), which I used in conjunction with the (then) state of the art integrated digital audio-MIDI sequencing software, Opcode's Studio Vision Pro. It seems to me that Pro Tools' origins as a hardware-based system always had it running a bit behind the best software-based systems, feature-wise. But I think it caught on as something of an industry standard because it was (and still is) cross-platform. A lot of folks use it. I've done projects with guys who run Pro Tools on a PC. We've had no difficulty swapping multitrack audio files back and forth.

I'm sure the same is true of Cubase. I don't have any direct experience with it, but I know some folks who use it and love it. If I weren't using Logic, I'd probably be using Cubase. Like Pro Tools, it has comes in different levels, depending on what features you want; Cubase 6 ($500) is the full-blown version; Cubase Artist 6 ($250) has a reduced feature set; and Cubase Elements 6 ($100) gives you the basics. (Street prices are lower.)

If you're a composer and producer (I am), the software tools available today are a godsend. Anyone with a computer, a good set of monitors, and a brain full of good ideas can create great sounding music without any of the limitations that used to afflict the craft.

:joker:

 

[MisterE]

I think the H4n with a modest editing program on the PC would cover just about all I need to do for this little project. I imagine that once I get a taste for it the ideas will expand and thus more cababilities will be needed. 8)

If you're a composer and producer (I am), the software tools available today are a godsend. Anyone with a computer, a good set of monitors, and a brain full of good ideas can create great sounding music without any of the limitations that used to afflict the craft.

Personal or collaborative projects can be hard to sustain as many of my colleagues are simply too busy. The idea of doing things for fun/posterity/personal improvement usually loses out to a paying gig, which is completely understandable. I've been there, and surely will be again at some point.

I had a small brass group a few years back and we never were able to get there because there were just too many other things which took priority. We managed to do one disc and a few live performances and that was it. I can be disappointing because it's the personal creative projects, not the paid re-creative ones that really keep you going artistically IMHO. The ideal it to have your own creative project sustain you both musically and finacially but until then, I got the Philharmonic, LOL.

 

[PipeLeisure]

wow that thing is awesome!

 

[Vito]

...I had a small brass group a few years back and we never were able to get there because there were just too many other things which took priority. We managed to do one disc and a few live performances and that was it.

Yep...been there, done that. It's especially difficult when you have a family, and you take that responsibility seriously. Plus, there's the difficulty of the multi-body problem. Working with others is a great motivator, but it has its own unique kinds of problems...and the more people are involved, the more difficult it is to keep it all together. For me, the solution was to go back to working on my own, with occasional one-off recording projects with other artists.

...The ideal it to have your own creative project sustain you both musically and financially...

Right...but even then it's a challenge to keep it fresh, spontaneous, and creative, especially when the very real practical considerations of being a producer (I mean in the most general, functional sense) of musical products that your fellow humanoids consume impose all sorts of demands on your time to treat your craft as though it were a business...which it has to be if it's going to support you.

Of course, when you're making enough to hire a business manager, that relieves some of that interference with your creative side...but that has its own problems... :roll:

I think in some respects the best time—the most creative time—is before you become "successful", when you're still hungry, and you still have The Burn<img class="emojione" alt="" title=":tm:" title=":tm:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/2122.png?v=2.2.7"/>. It's easier when you're young and unattached, but it can happen any time if The Burn<img class="emojione" alt="" title=":tm:" title=":tm:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/2122.png?v=2.2.7"/> is hot enough.

:joker:

 

[MisterE]

Oh my, we're definitely talkin' the same language dude.

"The Burn" is something that constantly needs to be rekindled for me. Early in my career the job itself was enough to keep it going. My first time through the literature and the the confidence/hubris to take a stab at anything with no expectations other than positive. Career advancement/success/next audition and other externalized goals can carry you a long way too. But eventually it comes back to: I just like doing this. What do I want to sound like and play?

Over time the focal area of my "inspiration" has become more introspective. In essence, remaining a "student of the instrument" at a core level. Honestly, a free day practicing on my own is far more satisfying now than playing a Mahler symphony in the orchestra. Yes, I'm truly fortunate to be able to do that for a living, but, as you know, the factors beyond your control often diminish the musical experience. That's why I call it re-creative. Too often you spend your time trying to fullfill someone else's (conductors mostly) vision of what it should sound like. Musically stifling after a few decades. Constant accountability for a supposedly creative endeavor, lol. Now, I treat the orchestra more as a "job" and find my musical fulfillment elsewere. That's not to say it's not fun ever. Once in a while it'll be great, and you learn to appreciate that when it happens because it isn't that often.

Anyhow, your post has gotten me thinking again about some of these projects that have been on the shelf for too long! Bravo! :cheers:

 

[Josjor]

I use the H4's little brother, the H2, a lot. When our band practices, I set it up to record the practice and then we all review it to listen to areas we can improve upon.

When I do contract sound for different bands I'll set it up and record the performance and then burn the band a CD for their own use.

I also use it to record our churches radio program. I import the sermon audio CD, edit it for time, and add an intro and announcements using the H2 and Audacity software. Works great and the sound out of those little stereo mics is pretty danged impressive for the price.

I'm about to take the plunge and buy a Presonus 24.4.2 digital console. We've got one at church and the thing works like a charm. In addition to working as a great console it also hase 24 track recording via firewire. Currently I use a Crest 32 channel X-4 mixer for my for-hire work and it's a great console, but having all the outboard processing on the Presonus would be a real blessing.

 

[Vito]

...Anyhow, your post has gotten me thinking again about some of these projects that have been on the shelf for too long! Bravo! :cheers:

Glad to have helped in some small way, amigo!

:joker:

...having all the outboard processing on the Presonus would be a real blessing.

Josjor: Vito has received a confuse. Don't you mean "...having all the onboard processing..."? I mean, the Presonus gives you, per-channel:

• High-pass filter
• Tunable gate
• Compressor with threshold, ratio, attack, release, and make-up gain (28 dB)
• 4-band, parametric EQ, w/selectable shelf on bands 1 and 4
• 48V phantom power
• Save and recall of all settings

…plus two 32-bit DSP engines for effects, 4 submasters, 10 aux sends, a 31-band graphic EQ on the master...what outboard processing do you need? A final stereo limiter...maybe?

Anyhow, the Presonus looks like one bitchinly awesome piece o’ gear. That much flexibility in such a small 30-pound package, plus Firewire for recording, all for ~$3.3K…sheesh. If I were doing live audio any more, I’d snap up one o’ those puppies in a heartbeat. :twisted:

:joker: