my piece of the world: Live Music & Recording Gear

I have a home recording studio and am starting to play live again. I've amassed a lot of gear over the years and here is what I'm using. HARDWARE RECORDERS

Boss BR1600CD

I researched recorders and though this one was a lot more expensive than the others, it has everything I need to record without the need for any external equipment or a computer. It has COSM effects, phantom power, drum machine, bass lines, looping capabilities, 8 recordable inputs, and mastering functions. I'm amazed that everyone doesn't use these. If you buy a cheaper recorder and then add effects, compressors, drum machine, etc you will actually spend more than this recorder costs so to me it is absolutely worth it. I bought the DVD for this and it was so much easier than reading through the manual. There were some areas in the DVD where I had to rewind or pause to do what the instructor was saying to do. The DVD doesn't go into detail for the more obscure features, but certainly showed me how to use a majority of the feature of the recorder. I can't say enough about the Boss BR series.

Boss BR600

I had this prior to getting the BR1600CD. It is a great portable solution especially for guitarist. It has built in drum machine and effects. The on board mics are very good. This is great as a scratch pad. The BR600 is very thin and about the size of portable DVD player. It is small enough to fit in my purse or the front packet of a gig bag. Excellent choice for a portable scratch pad or a first recorder.

Tascam DR-1

This little thing has some great mics. It is a little more potable than the BR600 and I carry it with me all the time just in case I'm inspired. This is also geared toward guitarist as it has 1/4" input, a built-in tuner, vocal canceling feature, and variable play back speed. It is kinda pricey, but a very good choice for a portable recorder. I have been using it to write the first song I've written in a long time. The audio quality is nice. The controls are NOT intuitive, but after you know where everything is it is easy to use.

COMPUTERS & RECORDING INTERFACES

Macbook

I got the macbook with no intention of doing recording with it. I probably would have gotten the Macbook Pro if that was my intention, but after doing some research I found out my Macbook can handle what I'm throwing at it. The price difference between the Macbook and Macbook Pro is significant enough to warrant some research if you are trying to make a choice between the two.

MOTU Ultralite

Wow, what can I say about the Ultralite. This has to be the best, compact, firewire audio interface. I previously used a Tascam US428 and that thing never worked right. I was using it with Cakewalk and Tascam wasn't really doing a good job with the drivers back then. I swore off computer DAWs because of that experience, until I found the Ultralite. I knew I was not going to get another USB device. USB is just not fast enough for reliable audio recording. That is only my opinion from my experience. The Ultralite has 8 analog inputs, two of which have phantom power. It can act as a mixer albeit difficult when not connected to the computer the Cue Mix and Audio desk software that is included are both usable and Audio Desk is a robust lite version of Digital Performer without the midi capabilities. While the price is still high for the Ultralite it is a stable and very portable piece of equipment.

Samson G-Track GMU1

This is one of the few electronic items that actually comes with EVERYTHNG you'll need to use it. It is a mic and an audio interface. You can use it to record stereo signals like those coming from a keyboard, or record the mic and you playing the guitar, or just the mic or just the guitar. All the cables for these are included. The 1/4" cable for the guitar and the cable for the stereo signal go down to a 1/8" and into the G-Track. You can monitor what you are recording. It even comes with a small stand. It is awesome. I had a hardtime getting the sound to be clear on the Mac, but it worked perfectly on Windows. Others have had perfect success on the Mac. I did buy one thing for it and that was a shockmount. It is a handy USB interface and quit useful for someone on a budget.

M-Audio JamLab

Not sure why I needed this, but I bought it. It works as advertised. Nothing spectacular to say about this except that I haven't had any trouble with it. I purchased the quite cute and white Behringer Guitar Link and the input was too soft. I wrote Behringer and they said that it was set for this and that and nothing was wrong with it. I returned it and got the JamLab and haven't had one problem yet.

SOFTWARE

Logic Express

I bought Logic Express 8 because of the price drop and the feature set. I already has the JamPacks I was using with Garageband. I wanted somethig a little more robust than Garageband and something that could record more than one input at a time. Logic Express is quite complicated to me which is why I like to record with my BR1600CD. Since I'm trying to be a studio engineer I thought I should get up on some studio software. I know that Pro Tools is what many people use, but I thought Logic Express was in my price range and I use a Macbook so I thought that would be a perfect match. I've used Cakewalk before and find Logic Express ridiculously difficult in comparison. Setting up midi device was too painful. I can't say I hate Logic Express because I haven't taken the time to learn it, but nothing and I mean NOTHING is intuitive. I have a subscription to Lynda.com and I am going through the Logic Express tutorial so I can become friends with my software.

Reason

I am mostly and acoustic artist, but I like to create beats and mess around and wanted to become more proficient at it. I thought about the MPC hardware, but decided to go for the software instead. I also wanted to have it available for other artist that might use my studio. I'm learning this at Lynda.com too (I love lynda.com)

Ableton Live

I got this for the ability to uses loops live. I got a great upgrade deal. I had the lite version with my purchase of the M-Audio Axiom 61. Live is a much simpler interface than Logic albeit too simple for real studio tweaking, but I really love it. My one issue is that interface took some getting used to. It is weird looking, like a 2-d contemporary art project.

GarageBand

I really like the simplicity of this program. I went through the tutorial for this and it is a wonderful application. It can't record more than one or maybe it is two inputs at a time. Not a whole lot of tweaking available but a very good end-to-end sound application. I hardly use this anymore since I got Live.

SAMPLES/LOOPS

Big Fish Audio Hit Factory Bundle

Discrete Drums (included wit BR1600CD)

Apple Jam Packs

KEYBOARDS

Alesis QS8.2

I bought this in the early 2000s to replace a real piano. I was moving and I wasn't taking the piano with me. I was learning piano at the time so I bought this 88-key keyboard with weighted keys so it would fell like a real piano. Alesis is not know for the best keyboard, but it has served my purpose. It doesn't get much use now though. I keep it cause I can't really get any money for selling it and what if this great keyboard player comes by and there is no keyboard.

Yamaha DJX

I got this a long time ago, maybe back in the 90s before my cousins kid came to visit me. I had to have something to do with him and creating a little music was what we did. Me, my roommate, and the kid all created our own raps using beats from the keyboard. I was wonderful. Before I moved away I gave the keyboard to a teen-aged boy at my church. I really liked the keyboard and so I found it again on Craig's List many years later. This keyboard is pretty cool at a party through a PA. Nice house, rap, and hip-hop beats. It's just a lot of fun.

Yamaha QY100

The first thing I think of when I look at this sound module/sequencer is that it is extremely expensive. I really is the only thing of it's kind though. It is a great tool for many things. A back up band, songwriter's sketch pad. It comes with a bunch of built in chord progressions and styles. You can use it as a sound module and sequence songs. It is a swiss army knife. The biggest problem I have with it is that Yamaha stopped developing it. It the same as when they first released it. Still uses SmartCard (bet you've never heard that format) only connects to computer through midi with only limited functions. It is an awesome idea that Yamaha should have kept developing, but because they didn't have any competition they didn't have to.

MIDI CONTROLLERS

Novation ReMOTE 25 SL

I got this to go a long with Reason and since it easily configurable I can use it with my other apps too. I don't have enough room on my desk or in my one-room studio so I got a small keyboard interface. If I need to record something that requires more key I can use the DJX or the QS8.2.

M-Audio Axiom 61 (selling)

This was my first interface but it was just too big for my space. To use a keyboard as an all-in-one interface it has to be able to sit on your desk. I had this on my desk, but then I got the BigKnob and needed some place to put it. I really like the smaller keyboard too for portability. So I'm trying to sell the Axiom to recoupe the ridiculous cost of the Novation.