DJ6i AudioPhiles

As many of you may know, I do all of my composition electronically using my sutdio software, headphones and a keyboard. Although I have used a few tools as I have progressed  along the way, I found that Apple’s Logic Studio was the easiest to learn for a newcomer to the world of DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) and for the cost versus functionality ratio, I really cannot get much better than it. I have heard the arguments about Cubase is better and ProTools is better and so on but when it came to my production, I found Cubase to be far too detailed for a newcomer and ProTools was too expensive (basic editions starting at $400) for me to use. Furthermore, I have been studying under David Campos and his tool of choice is Apple Logic Studio so that’s what I chose as my system.

Yup, this is all I use! You will see here that I have a simple setup. My black Asus 23″ Widescreen monitor is the first eyecatcher, I own two of these monitors, one I use on my Windows machine (just behind me when I took the pic) and this one for my MacBook. You will also notice the large Casio WK-200 keyboard which was a present from my amazing wife who teamed up with all my friends to buy this for my birthday, God I am so blessed! This puppy can not only control any MIDI sequence I have on here but I can even record it like a regular instrument if I like the sound better than an instrument in Logic. Next up you will see the true workhorse, my MacBook Pro 17″ laptop. It was a used laptop that I bought off a college guy at UCO for pretty cheap. Sure, it is only an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 Ghz but it has 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. So far, this has been more than sufficient for my needs. You will also see the awesome Sony HD headphones which are one of the newest additions to my studio these are like wearing pillows on my ears and the range of audio is from 12hz – 22,ooo Khz, better than most Sennheiser headphones! Beyond that, you won’t see much else but the basics… my keyboard is there and my trusty trackball. I also have a second set of headphones hidden behind the keyboard so that I can use it to practice even if everyone else is asleep. All of these are sitting on my latest addition… my new SOLID desk. I bought this off a college student at OU for only $40 bucks and let me tell you… it is SOLID. In fact, I ended up putting it in my office instead of the media room because it was so freaking big that it would not go through the door! Oh well, more space for me! I have a stereo surround unit on the floor under the desk that I will eventually be hooking up to the speakers it has but it was too large to fit on the desk so it is floor bound. Rarely will I ever have the ability to play stuff on here with the speakers (I do most of my work at night while the family is sleeping) but it will sure be nice when I want my family or friends to share their thoughts on my stuff.

And here we have an example of some of the basic things I can do to make music. This screen capture is a look inside my Logic Express DAW which means this is exactly what I look at during most of my time working in the software. The large screen with the green blocks is the Arrange window and here I have a few instrument patterns I have put together while working on Christmas music. Within the arrange screen I do almost all of my instruments and change their locations and automation. The large block along the right edge is the Media browswer which shows the instrument I am currently using in this particular highlighted track, using this window I can change to almost any instrument I choose and sample it live. I also use this window to access my moderate collection of loops for adding the effects I am seeking. Along the far left of the Arrange Window you will see the Channel Strip interface for the currently selected track using this strip, I can adjust the level of the instrument (aka how loud it is compared to other instruments) and add various channel effects such as reverb and tremolo effects and each one of those effects can be changed in the DAW to make it is a unique as I want. Along the bottom side of the windows you will see a musical score window with a few notes placed on the scale. Depending on the type of music I am creating, I may choose to put actual music notes and score mechanics such as crescendos and stacattos as well as lets me create instrument patterns based off of sheet music. In this instance, I am using a public domain score to get the notes right and it is much simpler to input the notes instead of trying to play them on my MIDI controller. Lastly, you will see the transport bar along the bottom of this entire interface. The transport bar’s primary purpose is to allow me to play, rewind, fast forward and record on to the tracks but it also gives me a readout of the current tempo I am in, the number of measures in the song and offers advanced editing features such as punch-in punch-out and cycling. If you want to create your own music like I do, learning the ins and outs of your audio workstation is one of the most important things you can do. For more information about using software like this, I encourage you to go read up on David Campos’ guide to music production: Electronic Music Production.

Maybe you liked this or maybe it bored you to tears, but that is actually ALL I use to make my music other than God’s gift to me of creativity and moments of inspiration.