[musictlk] home studios: Mac vs. PC and control surfaces?

Sheri Beth Wells-Jensen swellsj at bgsu.edu
Tue May 14 20:10:42 UTC 2013


Hi, Folks,

I spent some time listening to the (really well done) podcasts from Dancing Dots about setting up home music mastering equipment.  As a result of this, I'm ready to upgrade and have questions of anyone who has a home studio and works with projects larger than 2 or 3 tracks.  I've been using Audacity which works... it works like driving a tank, but it works.  Hence, my excitement when I heard how easily things can go if you have the right equipment.
I'm tired of hacking; I want this to be fun again.

I'm not (and don't currently have) a keyboard player, so I'm not interested in a keyboard with a midi as such.  We need multiple tracks for things like banjo, bass, ukulele, sax, flute, guitar, vox and percussion, and I'm serious about doing the recording right and getting the effects the way I want them.  My day job as a linguist also requires me to make clear speech recordings and edit them well.  Again, I've been using audacity, but that causes me to swear bitterly and sometimes throw things... *smile*

I'm simultaneously about ready to give this blasted old PC of mine the boot out the door (It has failed me for the last time!), and so I'm trying to figure out if my recording needs and my computer needs ought to unite.  So, my questions:

Do any of you use a stand alone piece of equipment like Portastudio?
I ask because I'd really like to have a control surface: that sounds to me like the easiest way to manipulate things partly because, although I use VoiceOver on my phone and JAWS on my computer, I  really prefer to work as much as possible without voice.  I'd love to have braille access to all this, but I understand if that's just not workable.  Things go so much better if I have braille access!

I'm quite willing to make the jump to a Mac Book if that's the best way to go... Anyone out there use a control surface with a Mac?  Or would I be better served by a PC that has better manners than mine does?


Thanks in advance and my apologies for the combination of rant and questions.

Peace,
Sheri





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