Cool, thanks for your help.
On Dec 2, 2007, at 2:21 PM, Scott Chesworth wrote:
Yeah I have, but usually its just a salesman describing a decent
spec hard drive in a fan assisted caddy with a price tag to make a
man wince. Don't get me wrong there are some really nice drives out
there I'm sure, but for what your son's doing I doubt you'd notice
an advantage. If unsure, get them to give you a full rundown of the
drive specifications and then do some comparing with ones that don't
have the specifically for recording myth slapped on them, you might
save some money.
Scott
----- Original Message ----- From: "VaShaun Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
llc.com>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS
X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: Question for a Audio guru
Thanks for this bit of information. The reference to the hard
drive was in regards to the ones sold in music stores that sell
recording equipment. They told me there drives are specifically for
recording. I was asking have you heard such a thing?
On Dec 2, 2007, at 12:55 PM, Scott Chesworth wrote:
Well if it turns out most of the work will be done onboard
whatever keyboard he chooses, then true, the computer doesn't need
to be anywhere near the price of a macbook pro. If its not going
to be the backbone of the whole setup, any mac will do the job to
have around for backups, run a plugin now and then, and maybe
edit things here and there. I'd still say go intell based if you
can afford it, but there's no need to go overboard cost-wise.
If he does get into working with vocals seriously, and we're
talking multitracking and a lot of editing/processing being done,
then yeah I'd recommend either the pro tools or logic route. Out
of the two, I found the learning curve way easier with pro tools,
but there's demos of both he could tinker with and see what he
prefers. If its just gonna be the odd bit of vocals now and
then, then its nothing a copy of sound studio or something
similar and a soundcard with a decent mic preamp couldn't handle.
As far as hard drives go, their are a few specs that play nice
when you're recording. Basically when you're looking at the
specifications of the drive, you want one that runs no slower
than 7200 RPM, and you want as much cache as you can get for the
money you've got. I paid a bit extra to have a 7200 drive in my
macbook pro, seems to do a good job so far with multitracking,
but a cheaper alternative would be to work on an external drive.
I've always run sessions off of either firewire or USB2 drives up
until I got the MBP, and it served me well.
What I can't tell you is how good the onboard sequencer is on the
Triton series, but thats definitely worth looking into. Anybody
else got any recommendations for this bit?
Hope that helps
Scott
----- Original Message ----- From: "VaShaun Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
llc.com>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac
OS X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 2:48 PM
Subject: Re: Question for a Audio guru
No he can see so no software needed other than maybe a editing
program or something. I think he will get into voices and if he
does this is what you recommend only if he deals with voice. I
understand where you are going but what purpose will the
computer serve if he doesn't need Pro Tools or something? Also
does he need a music hard drive? I called a store and they told
me they only had a couple of hard drives that was pretty
expensive and when I asked why they said they was for recording.
This is how I know they have separate uses maybe. I say maybe
because some people may not know that much about hard drives and
they charge a premium for the ignorance. Can you let me know
your thoughts?
On Dec 2, 2007, at 6:32 AM, Scott Chesworth wrote:
Hi again,
Well, now I know more about the situation, forget everything I
said before haha. Pro tools and logic would be overkill if he
wasn't ever going to touch vocals. True, logic has some
serious advanced midi stuff, but the onboard sequencers in
most keyboards nowadays are decent, and unless he was really
ever going to need more than that the learning curve of Logic
just wouldn't be worth the time or effort I don't think. The
one function that might be handy for him would be to load up
3rd party synth plugins from time to time if he needs a sound
or affect that the Triton doesn't have, but do a bit of
research, and you'll find a load of VST hosts that will load
these plugins without spending anywhere near as much. You'll
also be wanting to look into the process of backup for his
work on the Triton - the ability to archive all his work so
that if he needs to reload a song and tweak a few things a few
weeks or months later for the client is essential. That's one
of the beauties of working computer-based, but I'm sure that
nowadays keyboards have jumped on that wagon.
Just one other thought, I don't know if your son can see or
not? If he can't, maybe the Triton isn't the series for him in
terms of access. I recall a Triton model with touch screen
and maddeningly deep menues, but again there's probably others
on list that can offer way more insight to this which is why I
kept it on list. If it turns out that he can't see, there's a
list I can point you towards that's full of blind guys/gals
doing similar things to what he'll need, so just shout if you
want that.
Cheers...
Scott
----- Original Message ----- From: "VaShaun Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
llc.com>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of
Mac OS X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 10:53 AM
Subject: Re: Question for a Audio guru
Scott that makes sence. I have a MBP, but he will not get his
fat fingers on it. He will buy his own. Most people said the
Mac Book Pro was overkill for me just moving to the Mac and I
found that to be not true at all when you are running 14
programs at a time. I want to know what Pro Tools and the
other software you mentioned actually do for studio
production. He plays for a few churches in the Atlanta area
and his studio will have all the equipment with the exception
of a sound room for voice because he just does the tracks. If
he knows nothing about the software and I can't help him is
the software really worth it? He says the Triton Studio Pro
keyboard does everything you would need from the keyboard. I
don't know if this is completely true or if it is easier to
use software assuming that it is the same as the software in
keyboards. Maybe we can talk off line because I don't want
him to spend unnecessary money, but I want him to have the
best.
On Dec 2, 2007, at 1:45 AM, Scott Chesworth wrote:
Hi - some of this will be vague no doubt, but without
knowing more about your Son's setup its difficult to be
specific.
So, as far as the notebook goes, i'd say macbook pro if he can
afford it. It used to be the case that the architecture was
faster in the power books than the iBooks, and at a guess
that still will be the case in the pro's over the macbooks,
because the systems always feel more responsive to me. Plus
the machines just feel like they'll last longer, and in a
studio environment the thing will no doubt take some abuse.
Whilst everything he'll need would still run on a power
book, i'd say spend the extra cash and pick up something
intell based, because Apple and other companies won't be
putting out universal binaries forever. Also, i'd say go
intell in the event that you need to do a session, because
it gives you the option of restarting into xp with bootcamp
and using a recording package on the windows side that may
be more accessible for you.
Software-wise, if I walk in to a studio here I usually expect
to find either Pro Tools from Digidesign or Logic from Apple
at the centre of things. There's advantages and disadvantages
to both software as far as usability goes, but that's just
personal preference, because in terms of what they can
actually do its swings and roundabouts as the saying goes.
You'll find that the majority of software plugins and synths
and whatnot will work with either package. Logic gives you
a wider choice of hardware interfaces to work with for your
inputs and outputs, but all of the interfaces pro tools is
compatible with are decent, and you're probably less likely
to run into any teething troubles taking something that
comes recommended.
Of course, for you, neither of these packages are accessible.
Others on the list will know more about the current chances of
things changing, but unless someone corrects me I'd say you're
chances are higher with Logic being the 1st out of the 2 to be
accessible, given that Logic 8 is partly readable. I don't
have a copy to test it, but I've been wondering if it would
be possible to do Sessions with logic these days with a few
session templates to work from and a controller... anyone
tried? I don't know enough about soundtrack studio to know
if you could use it for bigger projects, but even if the
software is advanced enough, the tricky part would be
finding the balance to appease clients. What I mean by that
is, I've spent some time on both sides of the glass, so I
realise that whatever software the engineer/producer is
using, its just a tool. How your session sounds is far more
down to the players, the instruments, the hardware used to
capture it, and then the ears and mind of your recordist...
software is the last consideration. Trouble is, a lot of
musicians don't realise that, they think that pro tools does
all the work... if only. My point is that if I walked into
a studio and saw a package i'd never encountered, as long as
the engineer seemed to know what he was doing using it and
the session sounded ok it wouldn't concern me at all, but
most musicians you'll encounter will be far more swayed by
the unexpected.
I'm not sure that actually answers your question, but take a
look into pro tools, logic, some interfaces, and that might
do. Hopefully there's other listers who can tell you more
about the accessible route too.
Cheers...
Scott
----- Original Message ----- From: "VaShaun Jones"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] llc.com>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of
Mac OS X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 11:16 PM
Subject: Question for a Audio guru
Hello and good day,
My son is sighted and plays the keys, piano and organ. He
will be opening a studio in the summer and I will be
assisting with the computer and software where I can. I
wanted to know what is the best Mac notebook for audio
production as well as software? The software doesn't have to
be fully accessible because I will have lots of help, but I
do want any professional suggestions. Please include why you
recommend what you suggest. Thanks
