88 thoughts on “General Hardware”

  1. Hi folks. I’ve really enjoyed the “back and forth” of this conversation. I understand both points but realize that the artistic side without the monetary rewards is only okay if one is independently wealthy… LOL! Just to introduce myself, I am a lowly songwriter who also composes and attempts to sing my own material. About 95% of the stuff I do is oriented toward the vocal side of the music biz…. and believe me, it’s tough out there these days.

    I’m attempting to follow the model of attracting better singers to do “covers” of my songs… but it has been an uphill climb. The prospect of being able to use some of my material (and I also do instrumental material) via the music library scenario is most attractive to me. Especially since my 401k took a nose dive in the recent financial downspiral.

    Glad to be able to participate here. Thanks, Art… for your obvious foresight, inventiveness and ton of hard work on our collective behalf.

  3. Yes copyright everything….you never know. And secondly to cut down on latency you need to access the hardware drivers control panel from your card and lower the buffer size. 512k is a decent setting but the lower you go the less inherent latency you will perceive. Remember to use a larger size input buffer when you are mixing etc.

    Hope this helps.

    • Thanks for the feedback and different opinions. I will reconsider the copyright issue and experiment with the sequencers.

      As far as hardware, I did use a desktop until my lifestyle changed to traveling all the time. I did have problems with the digital crackle thing with the usb, or too much noise with the generic mono mic input on the laptop. But I also had the slight crackle problem with the desktop soundcard audio input until I used the SPDIF instead – the reason was the impure quality of the guitar processor audio output vs its SPDIF, which is very clean.

      The crackle reminds me of grit on a vinyl record, but you have to have monitor headphones with clear high ends to detect it. The slight pops are there too. Annoying – it would take frequency space editing via the Adobe audition software to clear the crap. I have to re-do the tunes. Wish there was a freeware, or linux software that could do frequency space editing.

      I had used a simple U control usb intrface tby Behringer, and now am aiming for the full usb soundcard. But I don’t think the external soundcard’s monitoring will sync the midi with the multitrack software. The MIDI is based on an external controller for vstis in the laptop, but is heard from the signal bouncing back to the soundcard from the USB – I could be wrong. I do need to examine buffer issues….

  4. Hardware question – does anyone know about overcoming MIDI vsti latency with a usb external soundcard that has built-in monitoring? I’m a guitar player and occasionally dabble with keyboards via vsti”s. But the MIDI lag is bad for playing in time in my experience. I use a cheap midi keyboard as the controller.

    Do some of the musicians who use samples alot use more of a cut and paste approach with software sequencers than actually using keyboards – what would they recommend for budget samples and sequencers? I note there’s alot of free stuff.

    Finally, does everyone copyright EVERYTHING before they submit to libraries?

    • Hi Mike, hope youre well.

      You dont mention which hardware platform your system is built on NOR wether you have a laptop or desktop. Laptops have some USB ports bussed to the motherboard, and some are directly connected. This can make a significant difference to various things, such as latency and AUDIO QUALITY – the crackle pop hiss problem- too.

      regards

      Shekhar Raj Dhain

    • Copyrighting everything is really a waste of time and money. If you are just making stuff for music libraries, the chances of your music being stolen are slim to none. Copyrighting should be done when the music is going to be released on a record label, basically for large distribution.

      I know some of you are thinking “OMG, he doesn’t copyright all of his songs? How can he do something so crazy?!?” I usually send off what I have and send in a copyright when I have 80 minutes worth of music to put on the disc. I make way too many songs to be sending off $50 to the Library of Congress every week. Besides, once a song is on a CD, it is technically copywritten.

      As far as a controller, I only use software to arrange and compose. I do not know how to play the piano and I am not really interested in learning at this point. I have the melodies in my head and I know the basic chords to use for most piano work. I guess my methods are simple. But I do not like to take out a lot of time to make a song. I like to start and finish a song within 3 days. Sometimes this may only mean that a song is 30 seconds long. But this works when composing for libraries.

      • “If you are just making stuff for music libraries, the chances of your music being stolen are slim to none. ”

        I’m not following your logic here – how can that be true? If you’re making music for libraries, that means you make quality music and it could just as easily be pilfered like anything else on the internet.

        There are computer programs that can record streams of audio and video from the internet in the same quality you see on your screen and protecting their music is the priority of many folks.

        “Sometimes this may only mean that a song is 30 seconds long. But this works when composing for libraries.”

        And I’ve found this to be true only about 20% of the time. Many libraries that I’ve submitted my music to have not accepted anything under 1:00 – and I’m likely to believe that the majority of libraries are in this boat. There is a place for bumpers, stingers, and transitions in some collections, but not in the bulk of most libraries, so let’s keep the cards on the table here.

  5. lol

    Making music is a tireless joy, simply cause its so rewarding on many levels. But to quote Hugh Cornwell “art for art’s sake is just masturbation”. There’s always some underlying reason OTHER THAN SELF FULLFILMENT, particularly if youre pursuing your muse day after day for years on end, otherwise why is this conversation even taking place here?

    an audience, at the very least , is what gives VALIDAITON to your art. If that brings in the bacon, then you’re on the right track. Id like to believe most people here are pursuing rewards of a fiscal nature for their creativity, hence they want to be paid for their time, passion, joy, and work, which is what it also is at times. Otherwise how much music can you make simply for your OWN pleasure?

    Forgive me for sounding a tad pragmatic, but that IS what this site is all about…finding ways to monetize your passion.

    Kind regards

    S R DHAIN
    JUICY AUDIO PRODUCTIONS

  6. Just wondering Yadgyu…

    Do you enjoy the process of composing and producing music or is it just a chore to you?

    To me creating music is the essence of my existence. It’s my purpose in life. It’s my life’s work; my profession. It’s what I live for.

    Money is an appreciated and necessary by-product of work. But making money for the sake of making money seems like such a shallow existence to me.

    • Music is a lovely and splendid thing.

      Yes, I do like composing music. It gives me a sense of satisfaction. But it is definitely not the purpose of my life. I would have committed suicide many years ago if this were true.

      The money is just the ultimate form of validation and appreciation to me. I do not know any higher reward that can be given to a person than a huge sum of money. I do not worship money, but it just makes life so much easier.

      I have seen so many people suffer simply because they did not have enough money. They had family, friends, faith, and love. But they were unhappy because they were poor. They never said it but I could tell from their actions and reactions to others who had money.

      Who in the heck wants to be a faceless and destitute producer forever?

      Why work that hard and accomplish nothing?

      Is being shallow and superficial really that bad?

      • “Music is a lovely and splendid thing.”[……]”But it is definitely not the purpose of my life. I would have committed suicide many years ago if this were true. ”

        ….LOL…….

        If your main concern is to make millions quickly, you should buy lottery tickets; you’d have a better chance of reaching your goal that way.

        Then, after you win a few million, you could move out to LA, start up your publishing company, and start networking with the industry big-wigs at fancy parties and make your business connections.

  7. Yeah, I give Yadgyu a hard time too. He seems to have more passion for making money than for making music. Maybe I should think of the money side more often. Nah, that wouldn’t work for me.

    • Money is not a bad thing. I just do not see the point of submitting music to companies if one is not interested in making money. It takes a great deal of time and energy to categorize, edit, re-edit, and contact companies.

      If you are making music just to please yourself or friends & family, good. But I do not understand why someone would spend so much time buying equipment, paying for studio time, making music and sending it to companies without getting money.

      I enjoy making music and I love money. I am not afraid to admit it. I want to make millions of dollars from making music. I may not want to do music for the rest of my life, but I want to make more money from my songs than I would make at a 9 to 5. I do not think this makes me bad or insincere.

      Ultimately, I would like to own my own publishing company and have a staff to help me make money. I believe that the money generated from music can be wonderful.

      • That really doesn’t make sense to me. Why have a destination if the journey is more important?

        If wandering around and discovering things is what is important, why make a plan to end up in a certain spot or position? The destination greatly exceeds the journey for me. I do not care about the journey. I just want to end up at the top.

        But to each his own. I hope that you guys here find whatever it is that you seek.

  8. Now we’re on the same page Fullbird. Yeah, I play everything from the keys (in real time).

    Also, it never hurts to add “real” instruments. I’d love to hire real string players to add to my MIDI strings, but it’s just too expensive.

    I am adding the new East West “Hollywood Strings” to my arsenal this week though.

    Anyway, the more options instrument-wise the better.

    • Yeah man! Dude, I could never hire real players. They would be much too expensive, but I was trying to give Yadgyu a hard time since he talks cash-money shi*t most of the time 🙂

      I wish I could play keys! I’m a guitar player for the last 20 years or so, and I think there are many keys players that wish they could play the guitar, so I think it’s just a case of “the grass is greener!”

      Do you have a website? Cheers!

  9. Hmm… I don’t know Fullbird, but I’ve heard some pretty amazing tracks with just Logic Pro and the EWQL orchestra samples.

    As far as samples go, they’re just as “real” to me as “real” instruments. Just part of the broad spectrum of sound.

    • Yes, absolutely! I only meant to imply simple instrumentation such as guitars or basses and not a DB or Vln. I don’t use those. Especially not in an orchestral setting.
      But some sort of analog instrument is surely in the cards for most prolific composers, right? Like actually playing the keys (which I don’t, incidentally! 🙂 ) or a guitar.

  10. I am surprised no one has posted in this section. I think it is interesting to see what people are using out there. I myself only use my PC for hardware. Everything else is software-based. I just like the strictly digital setup because it allows me to save things easier and to be portable. Being confined to just my own studio is not appealing at all

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

X

Forgot Password?

Join Us