I just got my hands on the new version of AAS’ VST, Strum GS-2, and I’m in love! I love how it makes playing realistic acoustic guitar sounds so easy! Read on for my impressions.
[Read the rest!]If you can’t read Japanese, and you’re still interested in free plugins for your DAW, then have a look at the March issue of Computer Music Magazine. They’re also doing a big issue on free VSTs and samples. Also, if you have the Alchemy player, it’s also a good way to play those SFZ format samples I talked about a few posts back.
[Read the rest!]The March issue of DTM Magazine, a Japanese electronic music magazine, boasts 122 free VSTs. They do a good job breaking them down by 32/64-bit, plugin type, and OS. BUT! You need to know how to read Japanese. If you can do that, click on to the rest of the article.
[Read the rest!]There’s a really good Intro to Ableton Live course going on right now on Coursera, taught by Erin Barra of the Berklee College of Music. It’s only three weeks long, but it’s a good way to meet a bunch of different people who are into Live, make some music, and pick up some tips.
[Read the rest!]Here are some links to some free samples and sample players using the SFZ format. I was primarily interested in Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra to expand my symphonic sound pallette. (And I don’t have $2,000 to burn on orchestral samples!)
[Read the rest!]Paying full price is for Suckers. Ouch, that’s harsh, isn’t it? But it’s true. When it comes to music production software and hardware, just about everything software (and some hardware) goes on sale 2-3 times a year. There are a few products that never go on sale, but those products are a minority. A small
[Read the rest!]In Part Two, you’ll get a lot of links to useful info about free (or very cheap) software synths, effects plugins, and a couple of good sources for low-cost batches of demos and samples. And the best free drum library ever. EVER!
[Read the rest!]Time to start learning real stuff– let’s get a starter DAW, and talk about hardware a little bit. (But we’re still going to keep it cheap!)
[Read the rest!]I’m finally putting out my Cheap Guide to Making Music. I’m aiming this at the vast army of people who keep asking the same question over and over, “How do I get into production for cheap?” Part 0 starts with getting your mind set right, and finding some knowledge.
[Read the rest!]Thanks to a $15/month deal, I signed up for MacProVideo’s monthly service. It’s been good so far. I like the mix of audio and video oriented tutorials. Very useful for someone like me, who works in both areas!
[Read the rest!]As I’m waiting for a ton of snow to fall, I figured I might as well summarize what’s going on these days. I’m taking more music classes at Coursera; Bitwig Studio is coming out in a couple of months; I found an easy way to ReWire the Yamaha Vocaloid Editor into Live and Cubase; Piapro Studio now accepts non-Crypton voicebanks; the monitor stand works; and finally, my slide duplicating project is taking off as soon as some parts show up.
[Read the rest!]It snowed enough to cancel my piano class, but it never stuck.
[Read the rest!]I love Prof. Hornstein’s lectures. If you’re interested in Environmental Law, he’s teaching on Coursera right now. I’m also taking a music composition class there that follows the rules in Mozart’s time. Also, Paddy may be one of the coolest Lightroom plugins, ever!
[Read the rest!]I went ahead and upgraded to Ableton Live Suite while it was still on sale. I did a bunch of Reaktor tutorials on building synthesizers in Reaktor while I downloaded Live. Also, my Intuos 2 finally died, so I had to get a new graphics tablet. I went with an Intuos Pro. It’s a nice tablet.
[Read the rest!]I finished the monitor stand! It took a few days to get the finish right, but it looks smashing. Now it’s off-gassing in the garage for a few days, so the fumes don’t kill me.
[Read the rest!]Push, I choose you! I chose it over Maschine because I think it’ll work better with the way I like to write music. Maschine has a lot of strong points, too. I lost track of the majority of a day messing around with Live and Push. It’s fun stuff. Also, the monitor stand is almost done! It just needs finishing.
[Read the rest!]I’m turning the corner on the cold. My Reason book showed up. It’s awesome~! I’m also agonizing over getting Push or Maschine.
[Read the rest!]Ableton Push looks damn sexy as a composition tool. I love how scales are laid out on the device. I need to do more research to make sure. Also, I’m headed to the mountains for Christmas. I’m going early to help the folks out a bit.
[Read the rest!]Komplete showed up today. Installing took a while, but just skimming the surface, it looks like a ton of fun. I also picked up SynthMaster and Chromaphone, which are also on sale, as well as a second monitor for photo and audio editing work.
[Read the rest!]We had a nice Thanksgiving. Then I went deal hunting on Friday, all while getting ready for the N1 on Sunday. I’m leaving for DC on Saturday.
[Read the rest!]I finished my second musical doodle the other day. I’m also starting to scope out some potential deals coming up next weekend. It’s a great time to pick up audio-related software. (And a lot of other things.)
[Read the rest!]I got to see what all the fuss about Google Glass was about. It’s pretty cool. I’m also cramming like crazy for part one of my A+ certification test next Friday.
[Read the rest!]Tenso delivers my software in one piece. The new Miku v3 software installs/runs just fine. The new computer is up and running. I upgraded to Cubase 7.0 full version, and Google Glass is coming to Durham on Saturday. I’ll check it out.
[Read the rest!]The hunt for good ambient sounds/music never seems to end. I heard from Tenso that my Vocaloid software showed up safely. I may use them more often for shipping stuff from Japan. Also, my desktop is dying, so it’s time to build a new one: one with the best airflow ever. (And an SSD!)
[Read the rest!]Crypton announced a great deal for people who own previous version of one of their Vocaloid sound banks, but getting it at that attractive price took a few extra steps. Still, it’s a great deal, and using a forwarding service, it’s pretty easy to get. (If you know Japanese!)
[Read the rest!]I’m dumping tons of new content into Anki now, which I’ve finally upgraded to 2.0. The upgrade wasn’t that bad. And I’ll need it for the N1 and A+ exams. Greenshot and e.Typist are making my exam prep a lot easier, too, helping me OCR stuff and dump it into Anki. Also, the piano class is a lot of fun.
[Read the rest!]This fall is going to be hectic. I’m going to take a couple of music classes at UNC’s new Community Music School. I’ll also be preparing for the N1, and getting ready for the Boston Career Forum by getting my A+ certification. Somewhere in there, I’m going to need time to breathe!
[Read the rest!]I bring up a lot of ideas for personal projects… so what’s going on with them? Well, some are moving forward, and some are on the shelf for now. GTD helps me figure out what I have the energy and time to work on, and what I don’t.
[Read the rest!]I finished the Berklee intro to music production class on Coursera. It was educational and fun. I wish they had more free offerings that went into more depth, but that’s all we get.
[Read the rest!]The sound design class on Coursera is over, and it went well. Now I’m starting up an introduction to music production class being taught by a guy from the Berklee College of Music. Should be fun!
[Read the rest!]My copy of “FM Theory and Applications by Musicians for Musicians” showed up at the library today. I’m hoping it will give me better insights into how FM synthesis works. Also, I’m really enjoying the Sound Design Class on Coursera so far.
[Read the rest!]I’m trying out an Intro to Sound Design class in Coursera. It looks pretty interesting. I’m really getting more and more into music production (as a hobby for now), and I want to learn more how to do it. Having a MOOC teach it makes it easier than wading through thousands of YouTube videos. Also, my Edirol MIDI controller finally gave up, so I replaced it with a Nektar Panorama P4. I love it.
[Read the rest!]In one of my stranger ideas, I’m thinking about writing “Grammar Rock” style songs using Vocaloids to help me remember Japanese grammar. You know, writing this out makes it sound even weirder.
[Read the rest!]I dug out my old Edirol keyboard yesterday, and surprise, surprise, a large number of keys didn’t work. Apparently over time, the contacts will lose the graphite they need to make the keys work properly, and according to this video, you can just fix it with a mechanical pencil and a 2H (not 2B) lead.
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