SCO Session: 2011 NAMM Wrap-Up

Deane and Brian reflect on the 2011 NAMM Show in this special podcast episode.

2011 NAMM: MOTU and ADAM Audio

SCOREcastOnline.com’s Brian Ralston and Deane Ogden visit with MOTU and ADAM Audio at the 2011 NAMM Show.

Competing with Technological Assumptions

We have been reading great articles this month on how to stay competitive as a composer, but can technology or the latest sample library or monitors help you be competitive? It could, but it could also bear no relevance whatsoever.

For me being a recording engineer and having to appeal to a wide variety of people means that I need to stay competitive in my gear selection, my rates, my marketing, and my best practices. I can no longer afford just try to compete on my talent or skill alone.

"My Perfect 3": Lee Sanders

Editor’s Note: In the spirit of December’s theme (Gear and Software), we asked our contributors to weigh in with their Top 3 gear finds and why they like them, and we are bringing them to you in a series that we are calling “My Perfect 3″. Here are the three that Lee Sanders chose, and a short rundown on why he picked them. Digital Performer I imagine a lot of us will include our sequencing app on this list—and that’s probably appropriate. If you write music at the computer, your sequencing platform informs everything else you do. Its importance is paramount. It has to be solid, flexible, and powerful… and above all, it has to…

Better Mixing Through DAW Control

This month I wanted to talk briefly about DAW controllers and how they can help you in your workflow. You probably have heard of a few models from Mackie including the Mackie Control, and the HUI. Presonus and Frontier Design have entered the market with a single fader unit, and if you’re Houston Haynes you already use the SmartAV Tango controller. Euphonix has also come out with two lower cost versions of their higher-end controllers, the System 5 and MC Pro. These lower cost versions, the MC Mix and MC Control offer a great deal of features for the price. DAW controllers have been around for a few years now, but have increased in visibility…

Tame the Template

Every month I will be talking about the technology that we work with on a day to day basis as well as some tips on how to make your experience writing and composing music as easy as possible without letting the technology get in the way. These techno toys we deal with can be very intimidating at times. Some of us are just not that technical and we don’t want to be, while others love combing through the manual and look forward to the challenges of taking on a new piece of gear. (In a future issue we will talk about GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). So what exactly do we have to deal with in…

Maximizing Your Time: The Essentials

So here I am, responsible for getting these columns off to a delinquent start! But, I have a legitimate excuse, which I am going to use to kick off my first post here in my series “Composer as Producer.” Before I get started, I’ll take a quick moment to explain the purpose of my column. As a lecturer at UCLA, my personal goal is to train students in the skills they need to bring their music from the initial moment of creativity to the finished product, whether it be a live performance, an electronic recording, or a combination of the two. Even as the prices of music production equipment continue to fall, and the opportunities…