Gearwhore No More

My first post detailed my current assets with respect to equipment. But I also have spent a ton of time learning about pro-audio production. I know a thing or two about the following topics:

• MIDI - I don’t think there’s much I don’t know about it at this point.
• Audio signal routing - the difference between TRS balanced and unbalanced TS cables, etc
• Signal processing from a technical point of view. I was an electrical engineering student in college before switching to computer science. So I am comfortable with concepts like Nyquist’s Theorem, aliasing, Fourier transforms, spectral analysis, etc.
• Computers - I’ve been playing with them since I was in 5th grade, I’ve got a Bachelor of Science in computer science, and I’ve worked in the computer industry for the last decade.
• Synthesis techniques - I have a fair bit of book knowledge here, such as knowing what a VCO is, what a low-pass filter does and how subtractive synthesis works. But I don’t have very much hand-on experience.
• I am well-versed in the various styles of electronic music: DnB, Trance, Synthpop, Grime, Glitch, Hardcore, Acid House, Minimal House, etc.

What I don’t know:

• How best to approach creating a song. Should I start with the drums first, or the main hook? In electronic music, so much of the arrangement has to do with effects and production, so does that mean that those things should be given love early on in the creation of the track, or all at the end?
• How to use Logic, Reason, or my Andromeda.
• How best to physically set up my studio. I have some ideas here, but by no means am I confident about my approach.
• How to properly do a final stereo mix-down, or master a track. Or even if I should master a track myself vs getting a pro to do it.

Let’s take stock, shall we? Its been almost 10 years since I bought my first piece of kit, so lets take a restrospective look at all this stuff. This will also help folks playing along at home to know whether they’re in a similar position to me or not.

Here’s what I have lying around in my home studio:

• A laptop (Macbook Pro)
• An audio interface (Mackie Onyx Satellite)
• A MIDI controller (M-Audio Axiom 25)
• Synthesizers and sound modules
  • Alesis Andromeda
  • Alesis QS8
  • TB-303 with a CV retrofit
  • JoMoX Airbase99
  • Novation SBR-1 SuperBassStation
• Behringer DDX3216 Mixer
• MOTU Micro Express midi interface
• Kenton Pro-2000 MIDI to CV converter
• Miscellaneous
  • Lots of Hosa audio cables and snakes
  • Lots of MIDI cables
  • 2 Hosa PHB-350 patchbays
  • several 1U power conditioners
  • KRK V8 powered studio monitors
  • Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones

Don’t assume that I actually recommend all these devices. You can certainly become a productive music creator without all this (remember, I am a gear junkie!). Several of these items were actually bad purchases, and I’m not sure I’ll end up using them. The mixer has automated faders, but the motor that powers them makes a horrible noise whenever the unit is powered on, so I can’t really use it. I should probably get it fixed, but its likely that I’ll be using software to mix down from now on. The MIDI interface seems like overkill for me right now, since I can simply route MIDI out of my Axiom 25. Besides, it predates USB (which tells you how long I’ve been hoarding this stuff). And the headphones are a lot worse than my previous pair of Sennheisers that I wore completely out.

On the other hand, I have some real gems here. The Andromeda is the most powerful analog synth ever made. And the TB-303 is a classic. The Jomox is a great analog synthesizing drum machine from Germany that no one’s ever heard of. And the macbook is 6 months old, running OS X 10.5 and loaded with great apps. I’ve got Logic Studio 8, Reason 3, Rebirth 1 & 2, Recycle, Garageband 08, and Traction.

So really, the only thing stopping me from putting all this together is time, effort, and knowledge.