NOTICE: BLOG MOVING TO...

Due to the setting up of my new website and the extra content that can be viewed there, I am moving my Blog over to the new link below. It seems foolish to Blog in two places and the gains would be minimal.

So if you like what I have to say and you have enjoyed reading my Blog then please come on over to my new official website, gain access to a lot more content and continue to read and follow my ramblings and reviews about music, the industry and my own songs.

Thanks for following, greatly appreciate it, hope to see you over on the new Blog, You can subscribe if you like by filling in a few details at the bottom of the News page and receive updates straight into your inbox.

Thanks to one and all

Steve

LINK: http://salterszo.wix.com/songwriter#!blog/c1yqb

DAW Study Series - Avid Pro Tools

The Old Workhorse...

It would seem that from the beginning of time that Avid has held the number one, DAW of choice award, but that wasn't always the case. To listen to some professional's it would appear that if Adam & Eve had been composing and recording some tunes that Pro Tools would have been their software of choice. There is no doubting the position of power that Pro Tools holds within the industry, being hailed as the standard by which, all other contenders to the throne, are judged, but like everything in this life, it has it's faults.

Chris Lord Alge

Top of that list is cost and it's strategic position. Due to it being the industry standard it's not really aimed at the home studio user, although lite versions exist, it's aimed at being the connecting block between expensive hardware and software. Take a look around any of the, mixing masters, Dave Pensaado, CLA etc, and their surrounded by hardware, thousands of dollars of rare, now unavailable hardware, and that's what makes up a Pro Tools HD rig. That's were Avid sit, in that all singing bells and whistles, thousands of dollars worth , professional recording studio.

Have I managed to record at home on a version of Pro Tools? Yes most definitely, as many do, but for hundreds of bucks, you get a two pane software package, a few standard plugins and your done. Others, for less money, offer a more complete, tailored to the home studio user bundle, of DAW, 3rd party plugins, 3rd party VST instruments, drum packages such as Addictive Drums 2 and more. That's what I'm getting at, their aimed more at work flow and musical creation, Pro Tools expects you to be an established force, mixing everyday, earning your crust, in a professional environment.

Pro Tools... Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Pro Tools is finally a 64-bit application. A long wait on that one, but don't think for a minute that 64bit will sound better or be faster, that's just a myth, 32bit in tests in a 32bit OS is just as fast and both have no part at all to play in sound they create.
• The new audio engine improves performance and makes possible long-sought-after features such as offline bouncing. Features that have been available in other DAW's for years.
• The metering options with the gain-reduction meter are a nice touch. Again nothing awe inspiring.

Cons:

• It might take some time before you can use all your third-party plug-ins in Pro Tools 11. Controversial move by Avid to only support AAX plugins leaving RTAS and having never supported Vst, despite some amazing free Vst plugins being available, behind. Again Avid lean to their market of Pro Studio's not the home user.
• Avid have created a distinction between Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD, making it impossible to get HD software features without buying HD hardware. Again leaning to their market of Pro Studio's. 
• PACE iLok protection. All for protecting against piracy but then having to buy a usb dongle  and register with a 3rd party, and keeping it plugged into the computer for some, including me, is an inconvenience too far.

In conclusion we can see the benefits of Pro Tools, if operating in the same market it's aimed at, Pro Studio's, but if your sitting in that basement, bedroom, kitchen, wherever, then there are better, less costly, more bang for your buck, options available to you, some of which I will be analysing later in this series.

At the Mercy of the Listener

Being Discovered...

Over the last few weeks I've blogged about the modern music industry and its internal workings. How

things work from track order to familiarity is King! So I thought I'd do a little re-cap on what in my findings became apparent.

Firstly, we had track order. Here I discussed the importance of placing the best tracks in positions 1-3 since relying on the listener to stick around for track 4 seems folly with statistics showing the listener losses interest very quickly.

Secondly, the unfortunate habit of skipping tracks also puts pressure on the artist to captivate the listener. Already proven is the fact that 50% of your audience will skip the track before the song even finishes. A nod to songs under 4 mins or less if ever there was one.The more alarming fact was that you lose 25% of your audience through skipping, in the first 5 secs. Hell the drummer has just about hit the first stick on the hihat and it's all over for some!

Thirdly, to engage with someone through the medium that is music, to get them to discover you, to stop them skipping the track, to keep them listening past track three, to get them to download your tunes all comes down to one thing and one thing only, the songs have got to be good, really, really good. Who is the judge of that? You the listener...

Lastly, Familiarity that's what the masses thrive on. They can't sing along to your tune, with lighters and mobiles held aloft, when they don't know the words or the melody to your songs. So many factors go into what makes for a good entertaining show but I think the obvious one is, the one that is usually missed..... observing the crowd. Maybe you just might have to compromise your ethics on cover versions or do some serious leg work on getting your songs out there and known. If you have lost the audience, you've lost everything. It's no good getting caught up in your band, your tunes, your instrument playing and not notice no-one is listening any more. 

People want to be entertained, they may have paid good money for the privileged, we who are categorised as relatively unknown artists, and to the same extent, established artists need to remember, it's all about the fans. After all where would any artist be without them?

In conclusion the independent artist, the unsigned hero\heroine has it all stacked up against them but some would say no more than so called established artists. The age of social media has narrowed the gap but like any business it requires money to thrive and that can be the deciding factor. It's estimated that a budget of $1 million is what it costs to produce a hit single these days and get it onto mainstream radio.

On a good note the disenchantment that is ever growing with mainstream music may well drag underground bands\artists into the limelight and we can all bathe in it's refreshing audible glory.