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I don't think I agree.

For one thing, MP3 hardware came along fairly late in the game. I mean, what company in their right mind is going to develop hardware for a codec that isn't yet a de facto standard. Answer: none. MP3 players like the Rio came along well after everyone was already using MP3. The MP3-playing boomboxes and car stereos have only been around for the past couple of years, while I clearly remember swapping MP3s on FTP sites in '96. (And I am by no means an early adopter.)

As far as audio quality goes, I am not a fan of MP3 or any other lossless codec for that matter. I've been using an analog sythesizer program called ReBirth. Some of the songs you can download and play on this synth are just awesome. I decided I'd like to save some of the songs to MP3 but on the first run, the file sounded like absolute shit.

So I thought to myself, okay I'll get LAME. I read some webpages about options to LAME that will supposedly give you a "CD-quality MP3". Tried those options and the MP3 still sounded like shit. Even at the highest frequency and bitrate, MP3 was not up to the challenge of encoding a complex mix of analog waveforms and drum machine samples.

Next I decided to try Ogg. Slashbots seem to like it, but when I went looking for the actual software all I could find were a binary Win32 encoder and Winamp plugin. So much for being a great open standard. Maybe people aren't using it because there isn't any software available for it...

My last resort was some kind of lossless audio compression being developed in Linux. Can't remember the name. It took an eon to encode an 11-minute song and only resulted in about 40% compression. That's better than what bzip2 would give, but still too high to keep around on a hard disk.

I ended up burning the ReBirth songs to CD. They sound great.

Get Pro Tools free from Digidesign. Musicians like Beck, Bjork and Aerosmith use it. Of course, they use the version that's tens of thousands of dollars. Basically, the difference is the more money you spend, the more hardware (and thereby processing power) you get.

The best way to learn is to just start doing it. If you have a sound card and Pro Tools free, you should be able to just start laying down tracks with the mic that came with your computer. Experiment with EQ settings. It's all about training your ear to recognise what sounds good and what doesn't. After you've recorded an album's worth of material, you'll find you're able to make much better sounding songs, though you won't be sure how you got there.

If you don't have a sound card, get one that has at least a stereo input and output. Before you get it, make sure it's supported by whatever software program you're using. If you don't have a firewire port, think about getting one. Firewire is useful in so many ways.

If you want to get some higher fidelity, you'll need to get a decent mic. Pick up a Shure SM57 if you're recording mostly instruments or 58 if it's mostly vocals ($80-100). These mics are workhorses of the industry and will remain useful even after you become a famous rock star. You might be able to find a XLR -> 1/8" adapter to plug the mic into the back of the computer, but I recommend either buying a cheap mixer and going mic -> mixer -> soundcard, or getting Digidesign's mBox ($450), a firewire-based audio input system. The good thing about the mBox is you get a more robust version of the software along with it.

Pro Tools isn't the only way to go, though I think it's the only way that's free. Kruder & Dorfmeister use Cubase, and Thievery Corporation use Cakewalk. I've heard lots of great things about Cubase, but the Cakewalk seems to be more amateurish. Thievery has a crapload of hardware, and I think Cakewalk is just a small part of their studio.

If you're broke, you can always pirate plug-in's from p2p networks, but audio programmers are generally non-rich really cool people, so if you ever wind up making decent money off of your music, you should buy the software you use frequently.

If you're into programming, check out MAX/MSP. Autechre uses it.

Also, check out Propellerheads Software:
Reason- Berklee is using this to teach recording concepts.
Rebirth- 303, 808, 909. Kicks ass.

For a reference, my stuff was recorded using Pro Tools with the Audiomedia III sound card (it's pretty old), a Neumann TLM103 mic and a Roland xp-60 synth, both going into a mackie 1202 mixer. I'm completely self-taught.

http://www.propellerheads.se/

see

http://www.propellerheads.se/

It's fully OSX native and has two more instruments over and above Reason 1; a new graintable synth and an advanced sampler. The OSX drivers for my Roland UM1 midi interface are also in beta now and can be downloaded here.

Um, Berklee, one of the nation's most respected music schools, opted to use Reason as the tool of choice to teach electronic music. Maybe you're using some other definition of "powerful" that I was previously unaware of.

from Propellerheads site:
"Berklee has chosen Reason's virtual on-screen equipment to teach signal flow, routing, mixing, synthesis, sampling, and sequencing. Never before has one software application been able to provide students with virtual "hands on" experience using so many different pieces of electronic music gear."

Do yourself a favor and get Reason from Propellerhead for the loops. Reason is basically a loop studio in a box, and a whole lot more. It's cheap and very versatile. Oh yeah, and I would highly recomend win2k for the OS. A year ago I would not have said that, but things seem to be much better now. Not crashing during a recording session will save you much grief. Get an audigy and use the ASIO drivers, 4ms latency is wonderfull.

Please see the Tascam US-428 for a USB- connecting MIDI and Audio (Analog and Digital, XLR, half-inch jacks) In and Out- Box.

It has knobs and sliders, pre- configured for Cubase, which you assign as you please.

Personally, I use it for Reason, where I like to tweak those filter sweeps physically.

Latency? No problem for me - try it out, it's faster than MIDI.

The Soundblaster thing might be great adding surround to my system, but dunno about it's Mac- friendliness. They make a card for the Mac, but who knows - when it doesn't state any platforms, it's bound to be Windows- only...

The Tascam, of course, works perfectly with any USB- Mac.

Judge_Fire

Whether you have a Mac or a PC, and assuming you are making techno/electro, you may want to take a look at Propellerheads' Reason. Another cheaper alternative is Fruity Loop.

Whether you have a Mac or a PC, and assuming you are making techno/electro, you may want to take a look at Propellerheads' Reason. Another cheaper alternative is Fruity Loop.

Hi!

I use the DM2 in my DJing. First off, the DM2 software sucks. Studio Pro 4.5 is it for me. I use it mostly for remixing in the studio, though I have been known to bring it to the booth with me on occasion.

As far as the ability to use your own tracks with it, this is absolutely supported. There's a certain amount of monkeying required, but you can do it with the Studio Pro. One-shots are easy as pie. Just load in the WAV. For loops it's not quite so easy... you can do it the hard way (requires a good WAV editor, and a bit of time monkeying... e-mail me if you want details) or the easy way with a software program called Recycle.

It's made by the propellerheads (they did the Spy Hunter mix from The Matrix)... it takes WAV files and manipulates them into TRK files which contain metadata, allowing any supporting player to smoothly loop it, as well as change the tempo, pitch, and lots of other effects that would be hard without the metadata.

Blatant self-promotion: I just posted my first track on MP3.com... made entirely with the DM2. Check it out if you want to hear the capabilities.

Buzz is free (as in beer) and Reason is free (as in it doesn't have full functionality) both downloads are well worth the time.

Besides, not needing windows to run Reason would truly rule!

As a huge fan of electronic music and occasional dabbler in writing it with my Mac and MIDI gear, I hearby announce that if Linux and Free software can replace a Mac running Cubase with VST plugins, Reaktor, Reason, the new Absynth, and other staples of electronic music, with MIDI and low latency, I will SHIT MYSELF LIKE AN INFANT IN DIAPERS!!

i.e., I would really be impressed and would install it straight away. :-)

Get yourself some audio software and make your own techno and upload it--you don't even need a microphone!

It may not be OSS, but it's cool..

Reason


Your Working Boy,

I know of Open Sound System's, "a set of device drivers that provide a uniform API across all the major UNIX architectures," answer to ReBirth: Gsyn. It's a good start but more needs to be done before we get to the professional level.

I know of Open Sound System's, "a set of device drivers that provide a uniform API across all the major UNIX architectures," answer to ReBirth: Gsyn. It's a good start but more needs to be done before we get to the professional level.

I know of Open Sound System's, "a set of device drivers that provide a uniform API across all the major UNIX architectures," answer to ReBirth: Gsyn. It's a good start but more needs to be done before we get to the professional level.

I know of Open Sound System's, "a set of device drivers that provide a uniform API across all the major UNIX architectures," answer to ReBirth: Gsyn. It's a good start but more needs to be done before we get to the professional level.