What equipment do you use?

[orest]

Hi! I just felt to start a thread about this topic. What kind of software/hardware do you use? I use this: *Mac Pro quadra 2.8*Motu ultralite*Alto s16*Logic pro 8.1*Halion symphonic library*Miroslav Symphonic*Toontrack EZdrummer*Moog*Akoustik piano*Korg sp200*J&D bass*Ludwig drums and Zildjian/Istanbul zymbals*Eagle guitars*WT clocksI think Logic is a great program, and the soundcard has no latency. That's a must I think, Latency is crap! I'm very satisfied with Halion symphonic, but if I won some money, I would definitely buy Vienna Symphonic library!

[t4mh]

Hello OrestI am going back and forth on the symphonic library. I can't decide between Vienna or EWQL. But I intend to purchase one or the other before too long. I have Halion but not the symphonic library. As a long time guitar player I have quite a few of these, 19 at the moment. Most notable of my collection are a 1958 Les Paul Custom and a 1952 Fender Broadcaster. I also have played keyboards over the years and right now I have a Yamaha Motif XS-8 and and old Alesis QS8.1. I have tons of samples and patches for both of these. I have a refurbished 1884 7' Broadwood Grand Piano which I am in the process of sampling. I think I'll have to have it tuned again before I can continue. I have a number of drum machines by various manufacturers all of which are collecting dust at the moment because like you I am using EZD for most of my stuff. I would like to upgrade to Superior 2.0. I use an Alienware Area-51 m9750 laptop running Sonar 8.0 Producer. Another work horse of my studio is a Roland VS2480 Hard-disk Recorder. At the moment my studio is undergoing some DIY acoustic treatments as I am on a quest to come closer to "Broadcast Quality".As you can see my approach to music is somewhat different than yours as defined by our different hardware/software. I guess it takes all kinds to make a world!Keith

[jonathanm]

Fairly beefy PC.Sonar ProducerPreSonus FirestudioAKG C414B-XLIISM-57Ibanez AcousticSuper-slick old Fender P-bass with modded active pickupsOld Fender Squire Bullet (on loan from a real guitar player) running through Amplitube LEAlesis QS8.1 (88-key, weighted)Session Drummer 2, plus tons of rex loopsSome extremely mediocre (oxymoron, I know) monitorsWhat I need (most, in order):Better production chopsBetter guitar chops

[mewman]

imac 20" 2.0 gig intel duo core with 2gigs RAMRME Fireface 400LaCie 500 Gig backup external hard driveGlyph GTO50Q external firewire drive for audio backup and audio streamingLogic 7.2Roland A-80 Keyboard controllerM-Audio BX5a monitorsAKG C-300EWQLSO Gold BundleEWQL Gypsyvariety of Giga samplesAlvarez acoustic guitarold Kay contrebasswide variety of percussionLava LampTaxi membershipMewman

[timbehrens]

HardwareA not so beefy PC with two 500 GB external drives for backupsPresonus FireStudio ProjectA little Behringer 4-channel mixer for headphone mixesPresonus Vocal Pre-amp (on loan from a friend)A couple of MXL Condenser micsTechnics 3500 Keyboard - midi controllerAdam A7 monitors and an old stereo for 2nd opinionsLine 6 Pod XT LiveSoftware:Cubase 4.5EWQLSO Composers Bundle (Symphonic Gold, Ra, Colossus, Storm Drum, Symphonic Choirs)Stylus RMXEZ Drummer and a few of the expansion packsTons of freeware synths that I've found at kvraudio.comOzoneInstruments:a Martin acoustic (my baby)Fender Guild acousticFender 12-stringFender StratocasterIbanez bassVarious percussion instrumentsNext on my Wish List:Akai Ewi USB Midi Controllerthe Guage ECM-87 that folks keep talking aboutCubase 5Omnisphereany number of sound proofing things to pay someone to set up my guitars

[orest]

Well, it's interesting to read about your equipment! How is Sonar working, is it an easy to use program? The thing I like about Logic is the capability to mix surround sound, and add movies. I forgot to mention my LaCie 500 gig external hard drive and my Taxi membership Oh, I live Fender P-bass, a great bass guitar!! I actually had an Alesis QS6.1, but I sold it. I only use software nowadays and my Korg electric piano. I need to buy a midi keyboard though to get the pitch bend function. They are cheap to buy, so that's no money to talk about.

[mazz]

My list is here:http://www.johnmazzei.com/news scroll down a bit.Even though I'm a gear hound, I still believe that "it's not the gear, it's the ear". I started out bouncing from a reel to reel to cassette and back when I was in high school a few decades ago. I experienced the PortaStudio revolution and MIDI on a Commodore 64 and so forth (I also walked 15 miles to school through the snow, uphill both ways! ). The burning desire to make music and record is the most important factor in your studio. If you know your tools well, you can make great sounding music (as long as your music is great, of course!). LIke many of us, I certainly can get caught up in the gear obsession, but the music is still the most important thing!Cheers!Mazz

[timbehrens]

Hey there Mazz,I absolutely agree. I really do love my toys and have worked hard to put them together over the last five years, but it's the sounds they make that make me happy... I really just love to play and write music. The only thing I have noticed though is that gear can open new doors. Without my midi interface, I'd have never gotten into orchestration and, though I'm still incredibly new to it, it makes me so excited... a whole new world of possibilities. Having a nice pair of monitors has also led me to a point where I can hear how horrible my mixes have been over the last two years. I really think that has made a difference and led to me getting my first forward the other day.I know for me, my gear can only grow sporadically and one piece at a time, but that it's a good challenge to learn how to make the most out of what you do have and not fixate too much on what you don't.... Best wishes,Tim

[timbehrens]

Having said all that, I just took a look at your list, mazz. Wow! That is an impressive collection.

[davekershaw]

Quote:Without my midi interface, I'd have never gotten into orchestration and, though I'm still incredibly new to it, it makes me so excited... a whole new world of possibilities.That's for sure!I wrote songs years ago, and could then only dream of how they'd sound with strings.Now I'm able to dig them out and attempt to realise that dream.It is, like you say, a very exciting new world.