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

[blind411]

Sheri,
	I have finally gotten my PC issues fixed ... I think! I am now
upgraded to 
Windows 7 and am ready to attempt another shot at audacity. Are you still
willing to teach me how to edit out of the middle of tracks or will this
cause you to swear and throw your computer? (grin) If you are willing to
help out, please give me a call: 813-626-2789.

Peace!
Marion




-----Original Message-----
From: musictlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sheri Beth
Wells-Jensen
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 4:11 PM
To: Music Talk Mailing List (musictlk at nfbnet.org)
Subject: [musictlk] home studios: Mac vs. PC and control surfaces?

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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