theshaggyfreak

It really helps to have an EQ with a built in spectrum analyzer. Of course, using your ears is always best but an analyzer sure can help figure out where the annoying frequencies are poking out at. Learning how to go through this process will always be better than any setting.

Do a Google search on the basics of mastering. You'll find several articles that should help you out. It's a process that takes some practice but it's quite doable once you get the ear for it. I generally never mix louder than -6db. My mixes come out of my DAW somewhere between -12db and -6db. I then master it using Wavelab Elements (you can do this in just about anything, though) using a parametric EQ, a compressor, and a limiter. After that's done, my song will peek out at 0db but I make sure not to squash things so much that the dynamics are lost. I'm mostly using plugins from Melda to do all of that work. If you want a really in depth read on mastering, Mastering Audio by Bob Katz is the book to get. I learned a lot from it and still use it as a reference.

I'm using it almost daily and I have yet to make it crash. Sure, it has a few annoying little bugs here and there but most DAWs do. Apple has been putting out updates on a fairly frequent basis since it's release and I think most of the major show stopping bugs are gone.

Another way to think about is very simple. Imagine recording a band through a mixer which feeds into a good ol cassette deck. The mixer has multiple channels but you're mixing it down into the stereo cassette. If you mute the drummer, his track won't get to the tape despite playing his heart out. It's not much different with plugins in a DAW in most cases. It makes sense to me.

I would say with most DAWs that I've used, the answer would be no. Muted tracks will not be any larger or have any degradation compared to if you just deleted said tracks. Leave those tracks there may still hit your CPU if they have a hungry plugin but that's about it.

Yeah, I learned a lot of various things that you can do with bands from my PT. The guide that these come with actually show most of the ones I already know which is good. The bands are probably the most fun piece of exercise equipment that I know of that's effective. They're also quite portable for when you're traveling and such too!

Since I can't really afford to see my PT for a while, I decided to branch out a bit on the equipment I have at home. My PT recommended these to me and they came in today. I used resistance bands like this during his workouts and this set really is nice for doing most of that at home. http://www.blackmountainproducts.com/p-1-stackable-resistance-band-set.aspx I also picked up a set of pushup bars which makes doing them more comfortable and you use more of your back. http://goo.gl/utKtkz All in all, this wasn't very costly for me to dive into and it adds to the kettle bell and dumb bell stuff I can do. They also don't take up a ton of room when not being used. Just some food for thought if you're looking to broaden what you can do at home in a small space.

Sonatina has one: http://sso.mattiaswestlund.net/

From listening to a lot of the examples, they're still using a fairly dated library of sounds. Some are good and quite usable while others sound worse than some of the free sound fonts out there. I don't think Sampletank itself is the problem but more the libraries that come with it. With that being said, I have a couple premium Sampletank libraries that I use now and again that sound pretty decent. They just really need to do something about the stock sounds it comes with.

Thanks to Zircon for pointing this one out. Right now Musicians Friend has Revalver III.V for $30. Grab it before they sell out! http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid?icid=205528

Having used quite a few DAWS over the years, I have to say that Logic gives quite a bit of quality right out of the box. More so than anything I've experienced before. With that being said, Logic helps remove some of the tyranny of choice. Sure, there's a ton of free stuff out there on the internet but much of it isn't worth the time to even download it. One often ends up spending more time fiddling around with this stuff than making music. Having a decent core of stuff from the get go lets you hit the ground running.

Reason ($399) will cost you more then Logic ($199) right off. I think Logic will give you all the basics you need right out of the box and you create a wide variety of music with a decent set of basic samples. If you go with Logic, I highly suggest you pick up the Apple Training book by David Nahmani (http://goo.gl/ewIuQp). I have the Kindle version and he takes you step by step through everything that you need to know. Once you're ready to move on from the sample libraries that come with logic, there are plenty of options out there for you to look into depending on the style of music you want to concentrate on. Reason is great for synths but the sample libraries that come with it are fairly old. The NN-XT sample player is also antiquated and lacks a lot of modern features. I'm a huge Reason fan but I mostly use it as a big modular synth system. I think after you get the hang of Logic and want to expand, getting Komplete would be a good purchase.

Despite the name of the website, this freebie (Eventide Ultra Channel) is for Pro Tools as well as VST and AU formats. No iLok is required. Grab it while you can! http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2014/6/9/free-eventide-ultra-channel-plug-in-until-july-8th-with-code.html

One thing that I found that really helps is to genuinely get excited about someones game project. Try to not just be the composer. I think showing my attempt at wanting to be a team player has helped me a lot more than skill. Also, remember that there's a lot of cool stuff to do out there than just video games. Like Neblix said, build relationships.

I've had the most luck with the classifieds at gamedev.net. Posting your own doesn't seem to be very helpful (or it hasn't been for me) but responding to various ads has scored me some gigs.

Being a Mac guy myself, I'm mostly using Reason and Logic now. I was using Reaper for a few years but there were a few big reasons I moved over to Logic. For me, I really value having notation software built into my DAW. It's a workflow thing that really matters to me. So, I tend to use Logic when I need to work with more 'realistic' sounding instruments or if I'm recording audio. Anything electronic in nature is handled in Reason. I've been a Reason user for about 10 years. The ability to interconnect modules via CV is an amazing tool and there isn't another DAW that does it so well.

The SoundOnSound set of articles is a good read. There's a lot to digest, though, and I suggest taking your time with it. Other than those articles, I recommend the books by Fred Welsh. His synth cookbooks are great for study and reference. They've been around for a long time but that sort of information will always carry on to just about any synth that has some basis in subtractive synthesis.

I admit that I was really confused by the new favicon. It just doesn't seem to fit in with everything else.

There are a lot of amazingly creative things that you can do with loops. I found that the Bastion soundtrack to be one of those cases where this was done. In a lot of ways, I feel that it's no different than stealing a couple of bars from Bach of Beethoven. For decades people have been using the building blocks of their predecessors. You may not realize it but you most likely do so unconsciously or without knowing it all the time. People really need to get over the subject and just move on with making tunes.

For classic chip type effects, look no further than Plogue's Chipsounds. Since it does a great job of emulating old consoles and arcade machines, you can make some great classic FX sounds with it. It comes with a number of patches that mimics some of the classic ones but it's not too difficult to come up with your own. It's worth the $100 that it costs.

I moved from the Rokit 6's to the Yamaha HS80m monitors and found it to be a good upgrade. They've very flat and are pretty easy to mix with. I liked the KRK monitors but I had a series of build quality issues that made me want to move over to Yamaha. Flexstyle, I do have quite a bit of stuff in this little room. You're not even seeing the wall that's behind me in that picture. I have another desk with an iMac that I use for doing graphic design stuff. There's also a little CRT and a stack of classic consoles for gaming. It's a good room to spend hours in.

I pretty much deal with Sweetwater any time I need to order something online. I've been dealing with the same sales guy for a number of years and he always treats me right.

Here's a newer pano of the studio space:

I'm a fan of stuff like Jaco Pastorious and the like.

Speaking of Jazz, for those that might to get some learning in, this free course started this week: https://class.coursera.org/improvisation-005