[Macworld]

Post your comments for How to set up a home recording studio here

[fastlanephil]

Laptops work fine for those who are mostly recording live audio and adding some virtual instruments to the mix. This is probably the vast majority of home studio users.

If your interested in creating demos, mock ups or actually soundtracks with some of the more demanding virtual instrument libraries then a stock newer iMac with a 7200 rpm internal hard drive or a PC desktop with also a 7200 rpm hard drive is pretty much the minimum for this sort of work . A separate fast hard drive for storing the instrument libraries and one for recording to are also recommended.

[blecch]

Dell Inspiron, really? Isn't this supposed to be MACworld? ;-p

How can you talk about FL Studio, which currently only runs on Windows, while ignoring Apple's outstanding Logic Pro, which is Mac-only and $199 in the App Store?

And what about Live, Reason, DP, Cubase, etc.?

Please bring back Jim Dalrymple - he has years of experience making music on Macs and really knows the territory !!

[Chris Breen]

blecch, on 07 January 2013 - 11:11 AM, said:

Dell Inspiron, really? Isn't this supposed to be MACworld? ;-p

How can you talk about FL Studio, which currently only runs on Windows, while ignoring Apple's outstanding Logic Pro, which is Mac-only and $199 in the App Store?

And what about Live, Reason, DP, Cubase, etc.?

Please bring back Jim Dalrymple - he has years of experience making music on Macs and really knows the territory !!

This is a TechHive story, which is a cross-platform site. I agree, however, that Logic and the other music applications you mentioned were worth mentioning (particularly as nearly all of them are cross-platform).

[blecch]

A few more comments on software: there is a vast array of amazing and inexpensive music software for iOS. An iPad or iPhone becomes an instant synthesizer when you fire up great instruments like *Animoog, Sunrizer, Magellan or Cassini* (or many, many others!) Or an instant drum machine with DM-1, Finger, Funkbox, GarageBand, etc.. You can record up to *48 tracks on Auria*, or you can build up songs organically with software like *Beatmaker, iMaschine, or iMPC* - drum machines that encroach into DAW territory, or various loop players like *Looptastic or Loopy*. The iPad becomes classic virtual hardware when you boot up Korg's excellent *iMS-20, iPolysix, iElectribe or iKaossilator apps*. Xewton, mentioned in the article, seems to be the basis for "FL Studio Mobile," for what it's worth. The iPad becomes an amazing control surface with software like *Lemur or TouchOSC* (and many iPad synths offer polyphonic aftertouch - a feature rarely seen in modern keyboards.) But for my money one of the best values (besides Garageband) is the excellent *Nanostudio*, which is the closest thing to Reason 1.0 on the iPad (although *Rhythmbox, Xenon, Tabletop* and Propellerheads' own *Figure and ReBirth* are all relatives I would say.)

[Chris Breen]

blecch, on 07 January 2013 - 11:34 AM, said:

A few more comments on software: there is a vast array of amazing and inexpensive music software for iOS. An iPad or iPhone becomes an instant synthesizer when you fire up great instruments like *Animoog, Sunrizer, Magellan or Cassini* (or many, many others!) Or an instant drum machine with DM-1, Finger, Funkbox, GarageBand, etc.. You can record up to *48 tracks on Auria*, or you can build up songs organically with software like *Beatmaker, iMaschine, or iMPC* - drum machines that encroach into DAW territory, or various loop players like *Looptastic or Loopy*. The iPad becomes classic virtual hardware when you boot up Korg's excellent *iMS-20, iPolysix, iElectribe or iKaossilator apps*. Xewton, mentioned in the article, seems to be the basis for "FL Studio Mobile," for what it's worth. The iPad becomes an amazing control surface with software like *Lemur or TouchOSC* (and many iPad synths offer polyphonic aftertouch - a feature rarely seen in modern keyboards.) But for my money one of the best values (besides Garageband) is the excellent *Nanostudio*, which is the closest thing to Reason 1.0 on the iPad (although *Rhythmbox, Xenon, Tabletop* and Propellerheads' own *Figure and ReBirth* are all relatives I would say.)

I'd love to see Ableton do something on iOS. And a solid and flexible notation app would also be welcome.

[blecch]

Minor correction: Finger's drum machine is actually called *Modrum*. But I have to say: the iPad is the best musical investment I've made in years! And the iPhone/iPod runs many of these apps as well and is also awesome with *ThumbJam, BeBot*, etc.. The list just goes on and on.

[zeroquag]

"Digital audio recording is all about having the right tools—that, and a great sound."

You do need a basic set of gear just to get music into your computer (and of course musical ability), but beyond that, it's 95% skill, rather than gear/software. Not that it's impossible to learn, but just buying an interface and mics isn't enough for a great sounding recording. You'll need to understand signal path and gain staging, EQ, compression, just for starters.

[blecch]

Quote

I'd love to see Ableton do something on iOS. And a solid and flexible notation app would also be welcome.

On the Live clone front, *Electrify* seemed to be a contender, but I think it hasn't been updated lately. I think I have *Notion* and have seen a few other notation apps, but none that have inspired me to create sheet music with the iPad itself. I typically make PDFs from a desktop app and then put them on the iPad as an extensive and very portable sheet music library. I could swear that I saw an app which used the microphone to detect where you were in a piece and automatically turn pages at the right moment, but perhaps that was just a dream I had...

This post has been edited by blecch: 07 January 2013 - 11:58 AM

[blecch]

zeroquag, on 07 January 2013 - 11:42 AM, said:

"Digital audio recording is all about having the right tools—that, and a great sound."

You do need a basic set of gear just to get music into your computer (and of course musical ability), but beyond that, it's 95% skill, rather than gear/software. Not that it's impossible to learn, but just buying an interface and mics isn't enough for a great sounding recording. You'll need to understand signal path and gain staging, EQ, compression, just for starters.

I agree completely. It's almost embarrassing how much amazing, cheap technology we have at our disposal today - but there is still a lot of lousy music that is poorly recorded (typically so that it sounds "louder" though not really "better.")

George Martin was able to record "Sgt. Pepper" using 4-track analog tape decks, after all... ;-)

[blecch]

Another nifty workflow capability is starting a project on the iPad using GarageBand (or the new Cubasis) for iOS and later importing it into the Mac version of GarageBand/Logic (or Cubase in the case of Cubasis).

[blecch]

p.s. I had almost forgotten that esteemed Macworld editor Chris Breen is also an experienced musician - I would be very interested in hearing what you (Chris) have to say on how to make the most of a Mac or iOS device in a home studio or other musical context!! Actually my dream would be a special Macworld issue focusing on music, but maybe a superguide or special print edition? ;-)

[donmalouf]

Can't wait to try these tips!

[blecch]

And I realize I've probably written longer comments than the text of the original article, but I should mention one other nice recording option for iOS: Studio.HD - up to 24 tracks, and a nice user interface, from the folks who created Looptastic. Hasn't been updated in a while though - and I'd really like to see all of the iOS DAWs support audiobus, which is iOS's answer to ReWire.