The Digidesign Digi 003 is a strong value if you need this much mixing and I/O facility. But is it overkill for our reader Lynn?

Gear isn’t everything — but getting geared up is the one hurdle that can hold up beginners. In the Ask CDM series, we’ll be answering at random some of the questions we regularly get in our inbox. First up, Lynn Morgan, who’s ready to make the jump to digital. Lynn writes:

My questions will quickly [make it] apparent that I’m from the old “tape” school of recording. But nonetheless, I do understand sound recording to some degree, having recorded 5 long-play projects in “Guitar City”.

I want to set up a home studio where I can record my own tunes. I’ll use guitar, guitar synth, bass and some keyboards and, of course, my vocals. I want the sound to be totally professional and I want the ability to interface with other users of Pro Tools, for possibly background vocals or drums, etc.

My question is this, What do I really need for equipment? The 003 Digidesign looks impressive but what would I need beyond that?

It turns out Lynn isn’t currently a Pro Tools user, but she added this when pressed:

I want to set up a recording system that will not be outdated in 6 months and sound quality to equal the best out there. The transition from “tape” to digital they say has its advantages and disadvantages. I’m just not sure what I need in the “digital” world to make it all happen.

Good questions — and ones I expect will spur some reader comment, too. But let’s divide this up into some smaller questions and look at it that way. I did intend to answer just this sort of question with my book Real World Digital Audio, but there are some specifics I didn’t get into there, so we’ll look at the specific questions.

This wound up being a huge answer, but I know it’s a very Frequently Asked Question.

What do you need?

I think the best way to begin is to think through what you need to do and work backwards from there. With audio hardware, you’ll want to think literally to inputs and outputs and how much you’ll be recording at a time.

Aud is either a “Music Industy insider with a finger on the pulse of more than BPM” or “consummate psuedonisticmusictechnophilosoph” or both. I got hip to his music through a friend who may soon be publicly identified, and have heard some really terrific productions (some not yet on the MySpace page yet). But I bring Aud to everyone’s attention in this case for his run-on rant poetry about the relative value of certain technological acheivements. If you could condense everything you feel about music technology into a 60-second speech in the local pub, it might come out something like this.

audnoyz - 36 - Male - UK [MySpace.com]

I submit in this age of “in the box” for some, where all is manipulatable and nothing is beyond reproach, the same holds true for noise found or contrived. All is art, all is beauty. ode to aud :-/ More Musings: The pub landlord rules! -Pro Tools: the mix bus sounds great through my Neve -Steinberg: what the fuck happened to you? -Sonar: time has been good to you -Live: awesome, awesome, awesome -DP: don’t get the respect it deserves- -Props for props- -Dangerous: now that’s some good noise- -Korg: CHAOS rules! -Adams: the best!- -Saxonia: German precision- Go SPL before play with your big knob- Liquid channel:too much- Duende:the sound is classic the UI could use some modernization- -RME: worth the extra quid- -64bit don’t mean shit on the dance floor- -Wavelab rules- Focusrite: RED!- TOFT: great stuff- Apogee:little brittle w/o nuts- Benchmark:solid-*** Wedlock is like a dongle*** +Mac still got it over PC+ Macbooks awesome, and you can you warm your tea on them too–Windows: why can’t you remember I already installed via that USB port already!- Mac towers: what you say I did not catch that, the fan is ON…- Robin Trower deserves more!- Jobs: Brilliant! Create a culture that hates Gates, that pays a premium for superior technology? while YOU profit from the biggest proprietary scheme ever devised…. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my mac, I just hate Apple!– Ipod: freepass on this one… wait a minute, I got rid of my vinal for cassette because it was better, then to CD cuz it sounds better, now you want me to drop my CDs for inferior sound quality… BRILLIANT!

“Wedlock is like a dongle”, appearing on a t-shirt near you. (Perhaps for some it’s more like challenge-response authorization. Well, unless you pirated your significant other.)

As if we’re not normally fantasizing about strange gear, electronics, t-shirts, software, and general oddities throughout most of the year, now is a special time when our thoughts turn to even more intricate rationalizations for buying great stuff for ourselves and our loved ones. If you’re looking for a last-minute gift, or just waiting until after various holidays to expand your studio, here are a few ideas. They read not only as a gift guide, but as a "Really Wonderful Things We’re Into" guide. And naturally, we don’t believe in throwaway consumption — readers on this site still avidly use Commodore 64s, after all. We’ve asked our contributors to come up with stuff they’ll treasure forever. Here are their favorites

Mike Una

Michael Una is an informant and writer for CDM on bent circuits, sound art, and electronic goodness; check out his interview last week with Beatrix*Jar and the results of the Circuit Bending Challenge.

Hip fashion for music geeks:

Moogs Not Missiles T-shirt, $20 from Etsy.com (above)

Synthi Blue Green T-shirt, $21.99 from Gear Addict @ Cafe Press

Bootsy Collins T-Shirts, $20.99 from rocktshirtspunk.com

One of the reasons to look beyond conventional controllers for music (like the ubiquitous, piano-style black-and-white keyboard) is that these controllers have a certain range of expression. But these constraints also impact people with different physical abilities. The piano assumes a certain kind of physical facility, and even as it makes playing easy for people with that facility, it prevents others from being expressive.

Case in point: reader Niels Schuddeboom has been looking for alternative controllers or software that would allow him to overcome cerebral palsy:

I am looking for a solution to make it easier for me to play complex compositions…Due to my disability I can’t use my fingers all together.

I have cerebral palsy, from a musical perspective, this means that I have very stiff movement of my fingers and wrists. That makes it very difficult to play scales, Chords, loops - in other words, it is very hard to play a complex melodies and completions. When I move one or two fingers, naturally the others go with them.
Of course, there are several alternatives. One of them would be to use the mouse or to use BIAB-like software. Problem with the first solution is that you quickly lose the big picture, the second solution, BIAB like software would in my opinion, kill the nature of musical expression.

About the music I like to play: I actually have a very wide taste, from abient to jazz. Not too technical. But I have to say I haven’t played for a very long time because my mind could think of many things but physically it became a frustration. 2 companies were interested in helping me out, but either their custom solutions were way above my budget or they didn’t get back to me.

Okay, readers: got any advice, even for a place to begin researching? Have any of you had to find a way to adapt musical playing to overcome a physical disability? (I certainly know pianists who have had to redevelop their keyboard technique after an injury — either an accident or repetitive stress.)

It absolutely provides an added impetus to think more broadly about how we play music, in terms of hardware and software. Look forward to hearing what you think.

Photo by talented Flickerer Patrish. Nope, not a digital instrument — but, isn’t that funny, notice the uncanny resemblance to the primary interface on virtually all synths?

Apple has made a minor upgrade to its MacBook line — same price, same lineup, but improved offerings. The $1099 white model is actually a pretty great deal now: 2.0GHz / 1 GB RAM / 80 GB HD means you get a pretty solid model out of the box. Upgrade to 1.5 or 2 GB RAM, and I think you’d be very happy, even running relatively intensive audio processing. As always, consider an external FireWire drive if you’re doing any significant multitracking. (Spend extra if you need DVD burning or, you know, the color black.) This could mean the previous revision could get some bargain prices. Honestly, if you look at standard equipment, I find the MacBook extremely price-competitive with Windows. Add in superior MIDI and audio support in Mac OS X over XP/Vista, and I know many PC users eyeing this as their next laptop.

The problem I have is with the MacBook Pro. It’s a terrific machine, but there’s not much middle ground between the $1099 MacBook and the $1999 MBP. The MBP’s ATI X1600 is a terrific video card — and a lot of PCs include lesser cards on their 15″ models — but that’s a big premium to pay if that’s the only draw for you. Apple advises Final Cut Studio users to use only the Pro model, but Logic Pro is totally happy on a plain MacBook — as are Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, and [insert your favorite audio app] the lot. (The MBP has additional features, like its FW800 port and ExpressCard slot and bigger display. But I really like the MacBook’s tiny size. I’d almost rather have two MacBooks than one MacBook Pro. As always, it depends on needs. But there’s not the same PC-switcher-magnet on the Pro line — yet.) It’s a great machine, but I wouldn’t rule out its smaller sibling before making the call.

For bargain hunters, I think the MacBook is ripe for the picking. For performance lovers, I’m interested on both the PC and Mac side with what happens with some upcoming laptop architectures. There’s some juicy stuff in store for both the CPU and (CDMotion types) GPU.

Lest you think I’m being Mac-biased here, by the way, I’ve been playing lately with a one-Mac, one-PC setup and thoroughly enjoying it. I’ve got a Toshiba and MacBook packed in the same backpack at the moment.

What’s your take? Looking to pick up a new laptop? Need some advice? Say something in comments, as right now I’m jet lagged in San Francisco and running on hotel room coffee. If specs for an Amiga 4000 slipped in there, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Getting good gigs is a challenge for all genres, and it touches even more issues when computers are involved. So, as we’d hoped, Liz’s tips for getting booked has generated a lot of discussion. In addition to comments here on CDM:

The wonderful community at EM411 has some discussion, including a great tip: bring VHS tapes or books to prop your computer atop the booth turntable.

LivePA, a great blog dedicated to these topics, takes issue with the “no dead air” advice. I’ll defend it, though: “dead air” might not mean the same thing if you’re not doing dance music, but it’s still essential to keep some connection with the audience. (And silence, I think, is not the same thing as dead air. I’ve had performances where I created each. Greatly prefer the former to the latter.)

I somehow missed it in the chaos of my RSS reader, but LivePA also has a beginner guide of its own. Whereas Liz focused on the practical, LivePA covers some of the questions to ask yourself about what music you’re making. It’s an ideal complement to Liz’s take:
My personal “Getting Started” for LivePA

There’s far too much for one comment thread or article, so I’ve also set up a new sticky discussion in the Create Digital Noise “Share Your Work” thread:

Getting good music/visual gigs — let’s share advice

Take the poll to let us know how you’re feeling, and let’s start sharing tips on (and challenges with) breaking into the scene, from Canberra to Arkansas City.

You can be making incredible music, but if no one knows about it you probably won’t be making it for very long. Having a good project name is the first step to getting publicity and having your music heard by a large amount of people.

Don’t be difficult. It has to be easy to pronounce and say over the phone. Try to avoid using numbers for letters (leet speak) since it will confuse people. Yes, there are exceptions like “!!!,” μ-siq, and whatnot, but the object is to make it easy for the press to write about you and for people to talk about you. While you’re welcome to choose a difficult name, it’s only going to make the rest of your publicity efforts that much harder.

Steer clear of profanity. While James Fucking Friedman has a somewhat high profile, whenever he gets listed in local papers that don’t allow profanity they star out either the entire middle word or just use stars after the F. People will get confused–”Did they star out ‘Faggot,’ ‘Fucking,’ or ‘Fellatio’? Should I Google for James Star Star Star?” Also profanity limits the types of publications that will feature you. While XLR8R and URB are magazines that are pretty laid back about their language, you might one day discover that your music has an interesting crossover audience (be it mountain climbers or acoustic engineers) and you want to make it easy for those types of journalists to approach you and write about you and your music.

It sounds good. Pick three of your favorite names. Say them out loud. Ask some friends what they think and notice how they respond. Do they laugh out loud when you’re aiming for a super serious image (”Abfahrt Hinwil” might cause some giggling)? It may sound obvious, but electronic musicians who tend to work alone and communicate through their computers could use some IRL human feedback once in a while.

Most musicians will be waiting some time before running Vista, so if you can’t upgrade to a new OS, upgrade the OS you’ve got. Our friend Brad, aka Internet indie singer-songwriter star Brad Sucks, is getting into laptop performance and wants some tips for tuning Windows XP. He writes:

I’d be interested in asking your readers how they set up their laptops for live performance OS-wise. I’ve been giving some thought to doing a dual boot WinXP install. So I can have one install as my desktop, mail, etc. And another one with say XPlite or nLite with Live set up, audio drivers and everything ready to go for rock steady live performance. Wondering if anyone has experience with doing this, if it’s worthwhile, what their favorite tools are, etc.”

Both of those items sound like great advice to me. Setting up multiple accounts works well on both Windows and Mac OS X, in fact, though generally it’s been XP where I’ve most wished I had done this. (Thank you, annoying pop-up balloons and rampaging Logitech webcam drivers.) I also like the idea of using nLite for a custom OS install in emergencies, though nLite is also good at cleaning out settings and tweaking Windows to your liking.

But, Windows mavens, any further tips? (And I imagine a lot of this — like the multi-install — would work just as well on Vista.)

I’m excited to be hosting a new event at Macworld Expo called the Music and Technology Symposium. It’s a day-long intensive event during which top Mac musicians will share their creative secrets and talk about all areas and all levels of music production. The confirmed lineup includes a broad range of people, from producer COUNT (DJ Shadow, Radiohead, Halou) to guitarist Joe Gore (Tom Waits, PJ Harvey), producer/composer Walt Szalva of Planet-3 Studios (Neil Young, Paul McCartney), and musician, circuit bender, and writer Chachi Jones (Robotspeak, TapeOp). We’ll cover the basics of setting up music production techniques that work, for beginners and advanced users alike, and also talk about musical issues and how to unstop your creative process and work in a way that’s personally satisfying. Most of the panel (myself included) write about technology as well as use it in our music, and the day will be filled with demos and mini-performances. (Yes, I am on vacation, but this was too important not to share … more on the artists soon, as it’s getting to be an interesting lineup!)

The event runs all day (9-4) Friday, January 12, 2007 at Macworld in San Francisco:

Musicians and Technology Market Symposium [Macworld Conference & Expo Site]
Registration Details (Use code D-CDM; details below)

If you’re in the San Francisco area or thinking about Macworld, we have a special discount which you can apply to the symposium a la carte or to a whole exposition registration (several of which also include the music symposium). In addition to the symposium, Berklee College of Music and MusicPlayer network (Keyboard, GuitarPlayer, EQ, and so on) will be staging workshops on the show floor, I’ll be chatting about my book at the Peachpit Press booth and presenting a workshop on interactive visuals, and there will be the usual workshops on Logic, GarageBand, and more. It should be a fantastic show for musicians.

You do need to register soon, though, to take advantage of the discount: