… or questions about music and how I make it. I apologize I can't reply to all messages individually, and even in some cases, I'd rather broadcast answers openly because the same info will also useful to many fellow people. (So, yay, those are genuinely awesome questions.)
I may have to congeal this into a more visible FAQ later, but for the record:
What musical equipment do you use and recommend?
The perennial "it's not just what you use but how you use it" rears its head. This is often a question sans context and I should've lived your life to understand. If you have the exact same needs as mine (or close enough), I'm currently a fan of:
- Ableton Live – Sequencer, DAW-thing. Elegant and except for odd crashes, pretty nice,
- Native Instruments Kore 2 + Komplete 5 – Varied synth + sampling powerhouses. Thousands of sounds at a good price, incl. the modified Pro-53 lead that made its way into this.
- M-Audio Keystation 88es – Cheapest (sub-US$200) 88-key, semi-weighted controller. Handling my thrashing well so far.
- Kore nanoKONTROL – Cheap knobs & sliders.
- Novation Nocturn – More cheap knobs.
- Zoom H4n – Sweet mobile recorder. I use it to record my voice on all my Mac videos.
Also search my blog (see right) for stuff I've reviewed before, I like sound libraries like Matt Stedeford's Braunschweig Upright and Acoustic Refractions.
I can't fully recommend some stuff like the Logitech Vision Pro, which is an overpriced Mac webcam which works "OK" but periodically gets dark (I have to replug it) and doesn't come with any explanatory way to get the highest 1600×1200 resolution. Shame on such lacking support.
I have other stuff like Logic Studio I don't really use. In my old house, I had many more hardware synths (Alesis QS8, Access Virus Rack, etc.) but I've simplified and prefer a more elegant path. I do miss my breath controller and may get another in the future.
No, I'm not interested in long gear lists. Yes, I'm intrigued by how specific stuff is used.
Do you recommend I buy an acoustic piano or synthesizer?
Unless you possess excess moneybags and hate exploring a diverse ecosystem of sounds, I'd almost always go with the latter. Learn more why in "Pianos cost too much? Get a synth!" I wrote for Wise Bread.
Can you recommend a music app that does [X]?
Maybe, if I just blogged about it or have been using it! Else, WINNERS READ Synthtopia and Rekkerd daily, they know more about the gamut than me. Check the usuals like Harmony-Central and KVR Audio, and if you mean iPhone app, well, Apple's App Store is the apply place to be.
Also, Google. Relentlessly.
Will you collaborate with me?
I heart hearing about your musical/other adventures! Alas, I (1) likely don't have enough free time to collab and… well, there's no #2. Only a prerequisite that I must have a colorful dream wherein we're rocking out together. I can't force those.
Still, ask, and show me your stuff. Like a job match, has to be right for both of us.
I have a dream that I do video game music. It reallyreally has to appeal to my aesthetic sense.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Torley, I have to say you are Awesome and so one. I'm trying to better myself at piano, I never had lessons so I search the net for pointers. Any ol who, I have a KORG TRITON STUDIO and dont know how to use it, do you have any advice ?
@Daniel Pardon, I've never owned a Korg Triton and can't give firsthand advice on it. But it's still a fairly capable workstation — what have you already tried, aside from reading the manual?
I bought it from ebay and got a really good deal. It didnt come with any of the manuals and is also missing sample memory, I guess that's why it was sold for so little (HA). I can produce songs in the sequencer but I have to re-sample said recordings in order to burn them to an audio cd.