DAWS & COMPUTERS.
Sequencers, recording software, computers, latency and production systems.
A Look at Cubase 5 by SoundCravers Lab
A Look at Cubase 5 New Features push Cubase towards the top of its game By SoundCravers Lab Tweak peeks behind the Steinberg curtain. Cubase Five-Oh. Wait a minute, Cubase 5 came out in 2001! So did a control surface called Houston (erm..Houston, come in, we may have a problem). And they did have a…
A Look at Pro Tools LE by SoundCravers Lab
Tweak Looks at Pro Tools LE 8 Systems by SoundCravers Lab under construction YouTube Video on Pro Tools LE 8 Many of you know me as a Logic person. That is undeniably true. But I have always been fickle, temporarily moving through all the sequencers. I've used Logic, Cubase and Sonar (cakewalk Pro)…
Ableton Live Version 5 upgrade
Ableton Live Review of Version 3 and Version 5 Version 3 Ableton LIVE 24-Bit Recording Software (Macintosh and Windows) Ableton Live is the music-production solution that allows you to spontaneously compose, record, remix, improvise and edit your musical ideas. Live brings your acoustic, electronic…
Acid Loops: Celestial WindowPane
The Celestial Windowpane CD Rom for use with Sonic Foundry's ACID, Cakewalk's SONAR and other sequencers that use loops like Cubase and Logic. CWP turns your application of choice into a Cosmic 21st century virtual Groove Box Applications: Trance, particularly "Space Trance", Ambient, Club Music, an…
Articles on Sequencers at SoundCravers
Articles on Sequencers at SoundCravers Ableton Live Review of the Ableton Live Ableton Live Version 5 upgrade Reason Articles Review of Reason 3.0 Review of Reason 4.0 Understanding and Using Reason REASON and Logic Logic Early History of Logic Logic Platinum 5 (last PC) L ogic Platinum 6.3 Review o…
Build A remix Studio
Build A DJ/ReMix Studio Tips on Building a remix station to Create or Remix Hot Dance music by Tweak Stanton SCS3 System DJ Controller Package TIME OUT! What is a ReMix? Speaking classically, a remix is where a producer takes the original multi track tape of a commercial piece and remixes a new mast…
Celestial WindowPane FAQ and Manual
Celestial WindowPane FAQ and Manual Thanks for purchasing Celestial Windowpane CD Rom from SoundCravers Lab. The disk has been a product of much hard work but was lots of fun. Now its your turn to have some fun. May you have some exciting journeys deep in the cosmos of our collective mind. I want to…
Create a Portable Music Studio on your MacBook
The Mobile Recording Studio A Midi and Audio Notebook Computer for Sequencing Anywhere and Everywhere by Tweak The holidays. A time of traveling, often to see distant relatives and friends, loved ones and a time of good cheer . ...well that is how it is supposed to be, anyway. But for the true tweak…
Cubase SX3 vs. Sonar 4
It's upgrade time in the land of sequencers, the core software that makes our computer-based home studios work. The top 2 PC sequencers are slugging it out to earn your continued allegiance and support. I will have these soon at the TweakLab. Here's some of my thoughts at this juncture. Note these l…
History of Emagic Logic page 2
History of Logic Notator 2.0 Page 2 page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 by Tweak In Notator, we see the core MIDI engines of Logic--a real time notation editor , an event editor , a matrix editor and hyperedit --all in a highly integrated screen layouts. Notator SL as of version 3.0 had its own multi-taski…
Hook up your audio now
Hook up your audio now Let's Hook up your audio now, OK? Ok, lets start by hooking up your onboard sound device or soundcard that came with your computer. So our first stop is to take you to a place you will go to frequently if you get involved in studios. Where is that? Oh no, we are on a trip to..…
How Sequencers and Music Applications for your computer actually work
How Sequencers and Music Applications for your computer actually work How Do MIDI keyboards actually work? How do you set up a keyboard so it works with my computer applications? Which Sequencer is best? Yes, you need a computer program. Go look at some. at this page Stop sobbing already. Now put on…
How to build a budget computer-based recording studio
How to Build a Budget Studio This is the cheapest computer-based rig that sounds decent! Welcome to SoundCravers Lab! SoundCravers Lab has the following resources to get you started building your recording studio. In the Guide , Tweak takes you through classes that cover all the basic of putting tog…
How to Build a Cakewalk Instrument Definition
How to Write a Sonar Instrument Definition .ins file By Rich the Tweak Cool Cakewalk Software You can make an instrument definition inside Sonar if you don't mind typing in all the names for the patches on your synths. This was not much of a problem when synths only had 127 patches, but now many syn…
How to Configure a Recording Studio Rig, Page 2
21 ways to assemble a home recording RIG page 2 Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 A Tour through the Diverse Home Studio options available Today Rig #5 Project Mix System Who it is for: Ideal for those working alone or recording small ensembles. For those who want to run Pro Tools M-powered but also want the flexibi…
How to Configure a Recording Studio Rig, Page 3
21 ways to assemble a home recording RIG page 3 Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 A Tour through the Diverse Home Studio options available Today Rig #9 Goin' Mobile Mac System Who the rig is for: For people on the go who need higher quality and reliability than off the shelf laptop systems can provide. Hooking it up…
How to Configure a Recording Studio Rig, Page 4
21 ways to assemble a home recording RIG page 4 Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 A Tour through the Diverse Home Studio options available Today Rig #13 Electronika Superior Who it is for: Here is a rig for those doing electronica, which is typically a track at a time process. Its not for those recording bands, but…
How to Configure a Recording Studio Rig, Page 6
21 ways to assemble a home recording RIG Page 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 A Tour through the Diverse Home Studio options available Today Rig #19 Acoustic/Electric Songwriter's Studio Discuss This Rig This rig can be discussed here: http://studio-central.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=140&t=73330 Who it is for: Multi t…
How to Get Audio into your Computer by SoundCravers Lab
How to Set Up Digital Audio in your Home Studio Ways to get audio into your computer for your creative projects by Tweak Audio 101 1. Learn the different ways to get audio into a computer 2. Understand digital audio 3. Learn Basics of the recording process and the Mix So, then how do we get our soun…
How to Network Your MIDI and Audio Studio's Computers
How to Network Your Home Recording Systems EZ ways to create a productive network by the Tweak There are many advantages and few drawbacks to networking additional computers in your project studio. SoundCravers Lab has 4 computers networked with an Apple TV/HDTV. It's very easy to do and the benefit…
Installing Your New Sequencer: No Sound! by SoundCravers Lab
No Sound! The Noob's Checklist for Installing a Sequencer by Tweak Definition of a Spoonie There are Newbies and Spoonies (or Noobs and Spoons for short). A Spoonie is a person who wants to be SPOONFED information, like a little baby. "Open wide, Spoonie, here it comes!". The Spoonie is unwilling to…
Is it Time to Go Mac Yet? For Home Studio Owners
Is it Time to Go Mac Yet? Tweak's Ongoing Blog on Going Mac by Rich the Tweak Jan 2002- Mar 2009 OK, the Tweak breaks new ground, thinking of the possibility of building a Mac Based OS X DAW for, you guessed it, Emagic Logic Audio. I've only been on the Mac a short while, so don't hit me with a lot…
Logic Control
Logic Control and Logic Control XT A new control surface for Logic Audio 5.0 and above (now Mackie Control Universal) by Rich the TweakMeister Emagic writes: The Logic Control hardware units provide quick and easy operation of your Logic System. The Logic Control units are the ultimate tools for tur…
Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, Sonar and Performer: Which Sequencer is Best?
Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools, Sonar, DP, Live: Which Sequencer is Best? By Tweak Deciding on which sequencer is one of the most important decisions when putting together a computer based recording studio. I will give you as much detail as you can stand. If you follow "the Hand" at the bottom of the page…
Logic, VST, Cakewalk: Which Sequencer? Page 1
logic, cubase sx, sonar: which sequencer is best? Comparing the Top 3 Sequencers Page 1 Page 1 2 3 Screen Shots of Sequencers Revision 9 May 2007 By Rich the TweakMeister Ok dudes, this article is now in its 8th revision and has spanned 6 years! You know how I hate these "what is the best" questions…
Logic, VST, Cakewalk: Which Sequencer? Page 2
Logic, Cubase, Sonar: Which Sequencer is Best? Comparing the Top 3 PC Sequencers Page 2 Revision 5 Page 1 2 3 Go the the conclusion Screen Shots of Sequencers Creating Web Audio Oct 99: My Ranking, Cakewalk way ahead, others way behind. All three programs will mix down to a stereo .WAV file suitable…
Logic, VST, Cakewalk: Which Sequencer? Page 3
Logic, Cubase, Sonar: Which Sequencer is Best? Page 3 Conclusion Page       1        2         3     Screen Shots of Sequencers                           Page 3   Tweak's Overall Review  1999 Overall  Logic is slaying the competition with L…
Pic of Basic Setup
Pic of Basic Setup Here are some Big Pics of How a Home studio is Connected First, using the soundcard/mixer approach Here is an example of the audio interface approach. The interface in the pic is a Presonus Firepod Firewire Interface. This is similar to many 8x8 interfaces. Here's the Presonus Fir…
Pictorial of Emagic Sequencers
A Pictorial History of Emagic/ C-Lab Sequencers page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Notator first arrived in the USA from Germany in the fall of 1988 with version 1.12. This was a tremendous event for those who were trying to do electronic music on computers. Notator was developed by a company named C-LAB, which…
Pictorial of Emagic Sequencers page 3
History of Logic Page 3 page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 The Birth of Logic In the meantime, C-Lab's programmers formed a new company called Emagic after what appeared to be a falling out at C-Lab. Atari and Notator's plight was openly discussed nightly on GEnie's ST and MIDI Roundtables . These were on…
Pictorial of Emagic Sequencers page 4
History of Logic Page 4 page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Logic Audio 3 Logic Audio Platinum (PC) v3.5 (click the pic to see full 1280 x 1024 Screen shot) The AudioWerk8 and Logic 3.0 Probably as a response to the maelstrom of discontent among PC users, Emagic decide to release its own soundcard, the Ema…
Pictorial of Emagic Sequencers page 5
History of Logic page 5 page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Logic Audio 4.0 Starting with this page you will read the actual reviews I wrote at the time the version of Logic came out. So some of the material is obviously going to be dated. Tweak's original review of 4.0 Without any doubt, after using it for a fe…
Pictures of Vintage MIDI Sequencers
Pictures of Vintage MIDI Sequencers Home Studio 101 " How-To" Articles on Making Music with your Computer Tweak your PC into a Screamin' DAW Upgrading to Windows XP Doing it all Digitally Use 2 video monitors with your Sequencer Using the Emagic EXS Soft Sampler Sequencing with REASON and Logic Tap…
Publishing Your Music the EZ Way
Broadcasting your Music to the World Publishing your Music the Free and Easy Way If there is anything I truly love about living in the cyber age it is our ability to beam our tracks around the world to many people. When I started this was not the case. You either had a record deal or you had to play…
Recipes for Song Construction with MIDI Sequencers and Synthesizers
How to Write a Song with Music Software by Tweak Newbs, you've come this far. (Tweak smiles, holding two fingers about 1 inch apart.). Its finally time to START making your music! If you master this page you will be this far along (Tweak hold his fingers about 1 foot apart.) This page is important a…
Review Of Acid 4.htm
MIDI, VSTi and Surround now incorporated by the Tweak New in ACID PRO 4.0 Plug-In effects automation ASIO driver support 5.1 surround mixing MIDI piano roll editing MIDI event list editing VSTi support Alternate time signatures Master, Aux and FX bus tracks MIDI step recording Yamaha OPT support Hav…
Review of Cakewalk Project 5
Review of Cakewalk's Project 5 by Rich the Tweak Cakewalk calls it's Project 5 "a complete software synthesizer workstation". providing everything they need to experiment, create, and perform music using integrated sequencers, software synths, samplers, audio and MIDI effects, and audio looping tool…
Review of Cubase SX 3
Review of Cubase SX 3 PC and Mac versions compared, with a rundown of new features By Tweak C ubase continues on with its tradition of fine sequencers with SX3. Feature wise, and in many other categories, Cubase is the leader in sequencer technology, followed by Logic and Sonar in many important are…
Review of Cubase SX by SoundCravers Lab
A Logical Look at Cubase SX Making the decision: SX, Sonar, Mac-Logic By Tweak Pros Great Audio Sequencing Features and excellent sound Offline Audio Processing Rocks! Solid Rewire implementation with the Ableton Live and Reason Cons Time consuming and tedious MIDI patch management system Bugs due t…
Review of Emagic Logic Audio 5
History of Logic page 6 by Rich the TweakMeister page 6 Logic Platinum 5 The ads say "Think Different". With Logic 5, I assure you, you will! Logic 5 is here with new features that completely redefine the boundaries of what is possible with the program. Rather than try to give you a comprehensive ov…
Review of Emagic's Logic Audio Platinum 6.3
Review of Logic 6.3 A Logic WinXP user moves to Mac OS/X by Tweak page 7 As of this writing, late in December 2003, Logic Platinum has been a Mac-only application for almost a year and a half. Things have quieted down since Apple's buyout and everyone is now back at work. In the meantime, Mac OSX ha…
Review of iLife '06 and GarageBand 3
Review of iLife '06 It comes in a small box. But that is about the only thing that is "small" about iLife '06, except perhaps one other important feature: The Price. ($79 on Apple's site and cheaper at other stores). iLife '06 is actually a suite of applications designed to work together . It contai…
Review of Logic Pro 6 by SoundCravers Lab
Review of Logic Pro 6 An Outstanding Sequencer now Gives you More by the Tweak Page 8 Let's jump right in without any fluff. There is one compelling reason to get Logic Pro 6 if you have never used a professional level sequencer before: It includes everything you in need in terms of software to crea…
Review of Logic Pro 7
Review of Logic Pro 7 with notes on 7.1 and 7.2 page 9 As soon as Apple announced the release of Logic Pro 7 , it was clear this would be a major event in Logic's history. And now, after playing with it for a while I can tell you, it IS! The last upgrade from Logic 6.3 to Pro 6 added many audio inst…
Review of Logic Pro 9 by SoundCravers Lab
Logic Studio 9 is here by SoundCravers Lab Apple Logic Studio Music Production Software (Macintosh) History of Logic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 page 11 Number 9, Number 9, Number 9. I have to wonder if the coders themselves got into the Lennon-ist mantra. Its kind of funny. A few months ago there someo…
Review of Logic Studio by SoundCravers lab
Review of Logic Studio including Logic Pro 8 by Tweak page 10 The Amazing Thing about... The wait is over and Logic Pro 8, now part of a software bundle called Logic Studio, has arrived and is selling. The amazing thing is that they added a lot of stuff to the package and they cut the price--in half…
Review of Sonar 3
Review of Sonar 3.0 Cakewalk rises to the top of the sequencer universe by Rich the Tweak Page 1 (Sonar 2) Page 2 (Sonar 3) I started my venture into Cakewalk software with Professional version 7. This was early in the audio game. It was rough going, and I felt lucky to get a few tracks down. Then I…
Review of Sonar by SoundCravers Lab
Review of Sonar 8.5 More improvements, a better look, hardware integration Sonar 8.5 screenshot Sonar is impressive. Let there be no doubt amongst the staunch believers of other sequencer religions. Sonar has been up to serious speed since Version 4. Its not only functional, but it looks great too,…
Review of SONAR, Cakewalk's Digital Multitrack System
Review of Sonar Page 1 (Sonar 2) Page 2 (Sonar 3) Cakewalk's Digital MultiTrack Recording System by Rich the Tweak Pros EZ importing of Audio Loops Rewire is added in version 2.0 MIDI Plugins are well implemented Excellent support, helpfiles, guides Cons Time consuming and tedious MIDI patch managem…
Review of the Ableton Live
Review of the Ableton Live Adds Acid and Sonar like Loop facilities to Cubase and Logic page 1 2 by Rich the Tweakmeister Pros: Works in ReWire Hosts Excellent Effects with real time control Works "On the Fly" and would be great for Live Shows Works great in Mac OS X and Win XP. As of version 5 MIDI…
Rigs-sidebar
Studio Rigs Rig #1 Entry Level Budget Firewire Rig #2 Ultra Flexible and Sonically Inventive Analog/Firewire Mixer Based iMac Rig Rig #3 Entry-Level PC-Mixer- based Home Studio System that can Get the Job Done with a minimum of cash Rig #4 Dream Home "Mixerless" Software Studio--Mac Platform Rig #5…
Sequencer City Page 2
Sequencer City--Page 2 back to page 1 An old pic of Cakewalk Pro 3 see more on the Vintage Sequencers Page 11/22/02 Logic 5.5 released with the NEW EXS24mk2 code inside. If you already have the EXS24, download 5.5 and you now have the EXS24mk2 for free. Cubase SX Now available Sonar 2.1 is a free do…
Sequencer-City!
Sequencer-City! Restored local archive. Dead external/affiliate links and unavailable archived targets have been disabled. Guitar | Bass | Keyboard | Microphones | Mixers | Audio Interfaces | Monitors | Sequencers | Soft Synths | Live Sound | Drums | Club | …
Songwriting and Philosophy for the Incurable Computer Musician
Songwriting and Philosophy for the incurable computer musician by Tweak Every Composer needs a wee bit of Philosophy. So you want to write a song and you are going to do it with the modern tools of production. Alright! You have come to the right place. I have uploaded a number of items, ideas, sound…
SoundCravers · Guide To Home And Project Music Studios
Guides Reviews Catalog zZounds Links - Guitar Bass Keyboard Recording Computers Live Drums DJ Accessories Blowouts The Guide Jan 1 — By The Tweak Contents ↓ How to support SoundCravers OK, Let's get started! OK, so you are new. You have an idea of making and producing your own music. And you feel in…
Studio Tips for Computer-Based Studios!
Some Digital Audio Tricks and Tips By Tweak (this article goes back to 1999) As computers get faster and can handle more of these processes we used to relegate to outboard gear, it may become possible to rid ourselves of the need for any equipment other than a keyboard, amp and speakers. Those days…
The History of Logic
The History of Logic From C-Lab's Creator to Apple's Logic Pro 8 by SoundCravers Lab page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N otator first arrived in the USA from Germany in the fall of 1988 with version 1.12. This was a tremendous event for those who were trying to do electronic music on computers. Notator w…
Tips on Using the Mystik Garage
Tips on Using the Mystik Garage By Rich the TweakMeister The Garage is no ordinary sample CD Rom. It’s a set of sounds for those that want to really dig into their sequencers and come up with new uncharted material. While you can use it as a traditional sound set of drums and instruments playing lik…
Tweak Your Music Computer Page 2
Tweaking Your Music Computer Page 2 page 1 2 3 by Rich the TweakMeister Note: This page is dated; info is old. So How much is all this going to Cost? Tweak's EZ Guide figuring out what you need Most important of course is which processor (CPU) a re you going to buy. AMD and Intel are the two major o…
Tweak Your Music Computer Page 3
Tweaking Your Music Computer Page 3 by Rich the TweakMeister page 1 2 3 Tweak's Choice for a DAW this segment of the article was originally written in June 2001 during my 3rd upgrade see below for my 2005 DAW CPU: AMD Athlon "Thunderbird" at 1.4 gHz (today I would go for an Athlon XP 2200+) Motherbo…
Tweak Your Music Computer to Screaming Fast Digital Audio Workstation
Building your Music Computer How to perform a full CPU/Motherboard Upgrade for a screaming fast digital audio workstation Page 1 by Rich the TweakMeister Page 1 2 3 To successfully make music on your PC, your machine has to be able to work well in real time . Unlike using a word processor, web brows…
Upgrading to Windows 7 for your Home studio DAW
Upgrading to Windows 7 for Studio Sequencer Heads Upgrading from Vista or XP to 7 by Tweak Windows 7 offers a promise of a fast, stable, multimedia computer. Having installed Windows 7 on my main machine, going through the compatibility issues and banging my head against the wall while troubleshooti…
Using a 2-track Field recorder in your studio
Replacing your DAT recorder with a Solid State Portable Recorder By Rich the TweakMeister The thought of getting a DAT recorder these days is usually followed by a bunch of questions by the home studio owner. The big one is: Do you really still need one? You might not. There are many ways to print a…
Using a Mac Pro as your DAW, by SoundCravers Lab
Using a Mac Pro as your DAW under construction Apogee Ensemble FireWire Audio Interface Tweak : High Quality, Logic ready Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) 24IO 24-Channel Audio Interface The MOTU Audio 24I/O interface fulfills the promise of host-based hard disk recording: to record, edit, mix process, an…
Using Multiple Video Displays in your Home Studio
Using Multiple Video Displays in your Home Studio Take control of your music with double the viewing pleasure. by Tweak Tweak: Prices are dropping on the LCD monitors. Tweak's 2009 four monitor Mac pro setup. The Mac Pro can take up to 4 video cards and use up to 8 monitors. It was only a few years…
Using Plugin Processors for Professional Sounding Audio
Using Plugin Processors for Professional Sound Bring your audio up to professional spec before you burn that CD by Rich the Tweak IK Multimedia T-RackS Mastering Plug-In (Macintosh and Windows) OK class, your assignment for today is to put your 2 favorite commercial CDs in the CD player along with y…
Using your Home Recording Studio for Video Production
Using your Home Recording Studio for Media Production The Basics of composing for Film, TV and streaming Video ...by Tweak Media is happening. Think. Why have all the video software makers bought out all the audio software makers? They see it coming and are betting with millions of dollars. You want…
What is a Software Plugin?
What are Software Plugins? Making sense of the VSTi, DXi, MAS, RTAS, and AU Jungle By Rich the Tweakmeister FXpansion BFD Drum Instrument VST/RTAS/AU (Macintosh and Windows) Tweak: BFD is a completely configurable drum kit that resides totally in software. For Anyone who built a studio in the late 9…
What is Latency? How to defeat it, by SoundCravers Lab
What is Latency? How to defeat it by SoundCravers Lab T hat which makes music 'gel" is within the finest innermost particles of what we know as time. This is not a fancy quote by some writer. This is me telling you what is true. When 'what you hear' is "late" you have latency. Latency is a problem t…
What's New and Cool Page 3
What's New and Cool Page 3 The Beatles, according to legend, had several Epiphone Casios . At the time the P-90 pickups were a huge part of rock N roll. Today I have mine no more than 3 feet away at all times. I hot rodded my Casino with a Roland GK3 pickup, which, through my VG99 , can create just…
Which is Best for Music? Mac Vs. PC
Which is Best: Mac or PC for a Music Computer Straight Talk from Tweak G o to any computer gear-head forum, including studio-central, and simply ask this troubling question. Suddenly the air changes around you. For a moment, you sense a cold scrutiny from everyone around you, the same kind of vibe t…