Well, the subject heading should suffice, but here’s a little backstory. Lifelong musician, I came up in the analog age and have been in and out of studios for 30 years now. I’ve done everything from carpentry to soundproofing to voice overs and most things in between, from engineering to live sound and recording my own and other bands, c.g. straight-up production shit.
In the early 00s, my home rig was a fairly pedestrian digital 8-track (which I still own and use and love not so much). In 2007, I took a step and converted my apartment into a Pro Tools set-up (Digi 002 control surface, PTv.7-8). Later on, I picked up the M-box Micro, which allowed me to mobilize the whole operation - I came to Taiwan in '08. Last year, I sold off the 002 and most of the related gear, except the Micro.
At some point, working exclusively on the laptop (for mixing) stopped being functional for me. I need physical faders - which is why I haven’t abandoned the 8-track; it’s basically a double, non-degradable, Tascam cassette 4-track, which is what I started out using all those years ago. I like and have a mid-intermediate knowledge of PT, and that seems like the most obvious route. But I’m hedging.
Flame away, but for music production, I prefer Mac to Windows. Again, that’s just how I came up. My initial introduction to digital audio in 1990, the cat was using a Macintosh. I’ve worked in studios using Windows, and I’ve been lost half the time. (Explain to me again: Why are these files being saved in five different locations?) The point is, I’ve got an iMac that’s going to function as the heart of the operation.
With that in mind, I’d love to hear from people who are doing audio at home. What are you using? Describe your set-up, if you don’t mind. Give me recommendations. Would you recommend your chosen platform? Links to “The 15 Best DAWs in 2016” are not necessary. I’ve read a lot of the specs already.
I’m currently at the pre-mixing stage of a project - dumping the WAV files from the 8-track on to the iMac and flash drives. Some on-the-fly punch-in and outs may be necessary along the way. My budget is probably US$1000, all-in. That includes a modest set of powered speakers. Otherwise, mics and extraneous cables are not needed. Basically, I need the software, a control surface with I/O, and the speakers. The budget isn’t set in stone, but there is a definite ceiling.
The actual material I’m working on doesn’t need that much fixin’ and arrangin’. Shit needs to be cleaned up, smoothed out here and there, add some beef, skim the fat, ETC. Ninety percent of the tracks were recorded with the specific intention that they NOT need a lot of TLC later on down the line. Also, contextually, this is experimental pop-progressive art rock, but I’m definitely not looking to do a lot of loops and samples (so Abelton and Reason are not on my dance card - but still, would love to hear about your experience). Actually, the looping I wanted to do was already achieved on the 8-track, and…sampling? No need, really. Limiting and compression are super_important. I’ve had a man-crush on Joe Meek since I was 18.
I’m thisclose to buying Logic Pro X and going from there, mainly because of its out-of-the-box compatibility. For whatever reason, I’ve always been lucky with my Apple products. Even when there’s been problems, those cats have fixed 'em for me, STAT.
Thanks in advance for your feedback.