COMPOSER

I recently acquired an iPhone 3G. Before I had my hands on one, I had heard about and seen videos of things like apps that control Protools or others DAWs and thought; that's a gadget, why would anyone want to do use their phone as a control surface? So, when I received the iPhone , I did not have any expectations of using it as a music tool. I have been pleasantly surprised! One of the first tools I bought was Cleartune . This is an excellent tuner that has a transposition feature, temperament options and selectable pitch-pipe wave forms. It has been super handy to have a tuner in my pocket. Another app along the same lines is SPL Meter by Studio Six Digital. I like the analogue style VU on this one. It has response and weighting options as well calibration and can use an external mic as well. An app that has really surprised me is Ocarina. If you are a musician and have not seen this one, I am just gonna say "check it out". Either on youtube or download. Another bi

Sometimes a flash of brilliance pops into our collective heads and when that happens, the person that remembers it and uses it in a creation....wins. What happens alot is that we hear the idea, and we think "Oh, that's a good one. I am going to remember that!" But alas, moments later, not only is the idea gone, the recollection of even having the idea is gone! But worse (for me) is playing an idea it or humming it or whatever and then booting up the software, setting the input, pressing record and then uh...oh wait the input is not plugged in...OK, now press record and VOILA-- the idea is gone. So, I started looking for an instantly available recorder for my music computer that would with one stroke, be ready to record. Some of you are smarter than me and may have a dedicated mini recorder sitting next to your piano (or guitar or violin, synth etc..) I keep one of those in my car and I have another (a Zoom H2) that is sometimes sitting on the piano and ends up in differe

I had a blast hanging out with Eddie Kramer this week. He is on a small tour sponsored by Waves and Logic. He is a super nice guy with amazing stories to tell. It is always interesting to hear how different people get the "big break". He said that when Hendrix was to come to the studio where he worked,(then unknown) the manager said "oh, you do all that weird music, you do the session", and a legendary team was born. Some of photos we saw of him with Jimmy Page at the console and members of the Stones etc..were super cool. Eddie also did something really neat; he brought in a recent Logic session from a band he recorded at Abby Road. (BTW, he records to Analog and then transfers to Logic) He walked us through virtually every track and talked about the mics and plugins he used, talked about why he used them and showed us the settings on each plug! Talk about a Master Class! He really likes using plugins and uses them extensively. He favored the Waves SSL and the