theshaggyfreak

If you don't feel that your current set up limits you in your work, then you're not out dated.

That's what I'm actually running now. I bought Reaper a little while back to replace Pro Tools and so that I could use a small handful of VSTi that I like. It's actually a damn nice program for the price.

Just put this up on Ebay if anyone is interested: http://www.ebay.com/itm/300608487510 ***UPDATE*** Well, that was quick. As of 11pm EST, someone grabbed it with 'buy now'.

These days, their are really only two big factors that one would stay away from Reason: 1: The interface is set up more like a piece of real world hardware. In other words, you can do some seriously cool stuff with patching various pieces together. It's quite modular in that respect but some find it cumbersome. I personally find this a lot more comfortable than looking at a screen filled with just numbers but I'm kind of old school. 2: You have a deep love for your VST and VSTi plugins. Granted, you can always Rewire Reason to another DAW to use plugins or use one of the various programs that our out there to route things in your computer. I for one like sticking to one program, though. Things like Rewire tend to break my own personal work flow. If any of those two things are of a concern to you, then go with FL Studio.

I'd personally look at KRK monitors and you'll find something of theirs in your budget. I find that they tend to have a better representation on the low end compared to the lower end Avid stuff. You can get a pair of 6in KRKs for about $400 and 5in for $300. I personally have a pair of the Rokit 6 (6in) and i've been more than pleased with them and they'll last you quite a while.

I personally stay away from any system where you have to 'pay' someone money up front to get you a job. Too many of those type of things are scams and give you little if anything in return. It's not like they're going to act as your manager and pimp you out for jobs. Maybe I'm just old fashion but I'm just not comfortable with these sort of things.

I've been involved with music since I was fairly young. At the age of 8, my parents got me started with band at school and I learned to play clarinet. I kept up with music in various forms from middle school to high school. I eventually picked up trumpet for the typical band stuff and bass guitar the high school jazz band. When I started college (1992), I concentrated most of my musical efforts on playing bass and I started to play in various bands. My uncle had given me this old 4-track reel to reel deck and I spent quite a bit of time using that to record demos with the bands I played in. Listening to those old tapes is kind of painful now but I still have that deck. All I had was that deck and a few crappy Radio Shack mics that I'd borrow from friends. Around 1999/2000, I got interested in digital recording when a friend of mine showed me the studio that he worked at. They had Pro Tools as well as some ADAT gear and I got pretty interested in all of that. Unfortunately, it was still fairly expensive to get into setting up a home studio at that point. So, I didn't start buying any sort of recording gear until a couple years later. I started out with a really crappy Lexicon interface and various DAWs that were out at the time. FL and Cool Edit are the two I remembered using most. I didn't have a huge interest in VGM at that point and I was just starting to grasp what synths could do. Prior to all of that, I was just your typical rock n roll guy. I wasn't until I started using Reason that a lot of things clicked for me. So, I've been working on recording various types of music in my project studio since then. Most of the stuff I've done has just been my own originals but I've recorded some other bands as well. I certainly have collected my share of gear over the past 10 years but it's fun to have all those toys to play with. One of these days I really need to sit down and attempt doing something for OCR.

And I'm glad that they never will. What you like will depend on your work flow. I was mainly an FL user quite a few years ago and I had plenty of plugins that I loved quite a bit. Since then, I've worked with Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Reaper, Nuendo, Tracktion, N-track and a few others. I eventually settled on Reason since it now has everything that I need and it fits perfectly with how I think in respect to production. Reason ends up being used about 95% of the time in my project studio but I occasionally pull out Reaper for a few plugins that I like. Reason is certainly one of those DAWs, though, that you really need at least two monitors for. I do find it sometimes cumbersome when using it with just my laptop but I think I'm getting over it.

It's a giant music box! I for one find it quite cool! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/8481926.stm Here's one of my favorite artists doing a couple of cover songs with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzIcv3aeTlg It's got quite a haunting sound and I'd love to have some samples of it.

While this isn't material to listen to, many consider this book one of the best resources for understand the mastering process. I need to pick this up myself at some point: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-Science-Bob-Katz/dp/0240805453 I often will refer to albums that I personally like the sound of. I then spend a lot of time listening to it on the same speakers that I plan on mixing/mastering with. That usually gets my mind in the direction I want to go in.

The biggest problem with Pro Tools right now is Avid's support of it. During the past couple years, they have become quite slow to fix various issues. This fact has been doubled for Mac users with every major release of OSX since it seems to be taking them much longer to get a stable version of Pro Tools to work with each upgrade. I'm actually selling my Digi 002R with Pro Tools LE 8 since I've moved on to other DAWs about a year ago. While I know i can use the 002R with software other than Pro Tools, I felt it was time to move on to something else.

I used Pro Tools for handful of years and it's still considered an industry standard in recording studios. If you're just working with audio, it's a great DAW but MIDI production isn't really its strong point. If you are looking to work in a recording studio, it's definitely worth learning.

While this setup has worked out for me for quite some time, I'm moving on to something else. I honestly don't use Pro Tools anymore since I've been more than satisfied with Reason/Record as well as Reaper. I'm selling a Digi 002R along with a license for Pro Tools LE 8. I'm asking for $250 plus shipping. I'd rather to sell it to someone who's near Northern Virginia if I can but I'm willing to ship it since I do still have the original box (yes, I keep these things). I also have the original manuals and installation discs for Pro Tools LE 8. I even have DVDs with all the current updates ready to go so you don't have to download them. You don't have to use the 002R with Pro Tools since it'll work with just about any other DAW but the Pro Tools license comes with it just the same. There's no transfer fees. Since I'm selling my Pro Tools rig, I have a handful of RTAS plugins that I'll no longer be able to use. I have Smack! and DNR (noise reduction) which require an ilok. If you want them, you just need an ilok and pay the transfer fee which is $25 per plugin and give me $15 for each plugin. That's cheaper than it sells for on Ebay (about $50) and MUCH cheaper than buying it from a retailer. I also have a couple plugins by Massey which are the CT4 compressor and the L2007 Mastering Limiter. CT4 costs $69 from Massey's site but I'll sell it for $30. The L2007 Mastering Limiter sells for $89 but I'll give it to you for $40. There's no transfer frees. Let me know if you're interested. I'll take Paypal or cash for anything you might want. Oh, for those who are interested, I decided to go with a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. I'm giving OCR the first crack at what I have for sale. After that it's Craigslist or Ebay.

Someone posted this on the Props forums the other day. It's a really nice piano sample set and it sounds great. It's about a 900mb download and it looks like each key is sampled at various volume levels. https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/showthread.php?t=144403 Same guy also posted a set of orchestral samples https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/showthread.php?t=144530

Not much longer left on this (half a day) but you can get 50% off on a $30 or $50 gift certificate for Banjo Center...er Guitar Center which can be used in the online store. I needed some guitar strings anyway. https://livingsocial.com/deals/100335?ref=conf-jp&rpi=23013341

All my music stuff is on the comic site as well. http://www.bsodcomic.net/media/music/ I need to get back to working on the album I'm in the midst of. My summer got stupid crazy and things are just starting to get back to normal again.

I have to say that I agree with this guy quite a bit. It takes a lot of talent to create music that fits a certain mold but I'm totally fascinated by people who really explore what sound can do and make it work musically. I have to say, this video makes me want to get some sort of field recording device more than I already do.

Good stuff, man! I threw up a little review on my website as well to help push some traffic your way. http://www.bsodcomic.net/2011/08/17/meteocrity-volume-1/

You can get a pair of KRK Rokit 6's for $400. I've been using them for about a year and they're great. IMHO, active monitors are much easier to deal with than passive.

I have a Macbook Pro with the same specs running 8gb of RAM right now. I upgraded it not too long ago and it's working out rather nicely.

While I can't say much right now about things because I'm under a non-disclosure agreement, the new devices in R6 are really game changers and extremely fun to use.

While I haven't done this myself, I'm pretty sure there is a way to set it up with a Combinator. There are some other Reason gurus who would know for sure.

Aside from stability issues, my biggest problem with VSTs is having to keep up with upgrading them. Not only do you have to keep track of what version you have installed, you often have to throw more money into the pot when a major update comes out. I have no problems paying for the software I use but sometimes it can get out of hand. With Reason, I know things are always going to be stable and I'm spending money once a year at most to upgrade the software. My main audio computer is only a Intel Core 2 duo 2ghz with 3GB of RAM (the oldest machine in the house) and I really don't max it out. So, I'm having to upgrade that particular computer less often. If I was getting paid more to write orchestral stuff, I may think a little differently, though. While the Miroslav stuff for Reason sounds great, it doesn't really hold up to what is currently considered 'industry standards'. Still, I am personally happy with the sound that I get from what I have.

That was awesome! love the Star Wars spoof too. Very cool.

I doubt we'll see a sampler in Reason that reads a multitude of formats. For the most part, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Since other major samplers like Kontakt have such a different way of working with scripting and such, all Reason might be able to do use read the raw samples themselves. There are a number of software packages out there that can convert samples libraries so that they can be read by other programs. The NN-XT just needs more things like key switching. You can somewhat pull it off with using a combinator but it's as bit of a pain in the ass.