I’ve put a lot of gear together over the past year and a half.  I’ve learned a lot of new stuff, some of which I’m trying to pass along.  I’m thankful for the many resources made available to me which I’ve tried to mention here as well.

Since this is getting a bit more serious, although still at the hobbyist level I decided to give my Studio Project the name Lower West Side Studio.  This is a reference my wife Mari and I cooked up when trying to locate each other in our new home when we moved.

I hope to expand my capabilities and services as things go along.  Stay tuned and we’ll see how it goes!

When I purchased my Gretsch kit I decided to go a little different than in the past.  I switched from a 22″ kick drum to a 20″.  I’m still not 100% sure I made the right decision but this article isn’t about that.

It’s about porting the kick drum.  I’ve had a chance to play the drum now for several months without a port in the resonant head.  It had a nice, boomy, deep sound even for a 20″ drum.

For as long as I can remember I’ve used ported kick drums.  Some like my Pearls came with the ports installed.  Others, when I was much younger, were butchered with an Exacto-Knife but seemed to work.  I like the sound of ported drums.  I like the whoosh of air out of the drum and the way it lets the batter head sink a little deeper into the shell.  I like the way you can get a microphone deep into the action of the drum.  I also like access to the inside of the drum for tweaking muffling materials (if they’re being used).

I haven’t ported a drum in over 30 year and I definitely didn’t want to butcher my Gretsch head.

I read online that you could heat a can on the stove then melt a hole into the drum but that plan didn’t totally groove me.

Instead I got Bass Drum Hole Cutter from my local music store (yes, it was Fromager’s Music).  It cost me $7 and was worth every cent.  It’s basically a cutting blade mounted in a plastic armature with an adjustable centre point.

If followed the directions which are pretty much; remove head,  place head on cardboard on flat surface, select hole size on tool (I chose 5″), do a few practice spins to get location right (keep edge of hole at least 2″ from side of head), insert pin and spin.

Simple!  The hole was clean and precise with no jagged edges.  Plus I was left with a 5″ muffling dot to do something with (I don’t know what yet, I just threw it in that pile of miscellaneous stuff we all have).

With the new port I find the kick sounds boomier and even deeper.  That could be because I gave it a good tuning as well but the port also changes the feel of the drum and I really like that.  The air can escape and the heads can really do their thing.

Port size is easily selectable by moving the pin to the desired size.  Sizes are clearly indicated so there’s no guess work.  You can select port sizes from 2″ to 10″ in 1″ increments.  The 5″ port worked out well for me.  I didn’t want to remove too much of the head because I still wanted that resonance but needed enough space to get my AKG D-112 into the port without too much trouble.  I offset my port to the lower right of the head to leave the centre free to resonate.

The Hole Cutter can also do small holes and I’m considering porting a tom just to hear how it sounds.

I highly recommend this inexpensive yet well constructed, easy-to-use tool!

 

 

 

 

Well I finally did something I haven’t done in decades;  changed up my drum setup.

Anyone checking out my pictures can immediately tell my set is influenced by Neil Peart’s setup.  Yep.  As a lifelong Rush fan and drummer  (who lived up the street from Geddy Lee and went to his and Alex’s Junior High) it’s a natural thing.

My older kits were similar to my existing setup with the smaller toms up on my left.  While cool and totally playable there were a few challenges.  First and foremost was clearing the hi-hat.  That was tough.  The toms had to be high enough to clear them even when open and slanted by a good bash.  This also required the hi-hat be up close to the snare.  Not bad in and of itself but often a bit squishy.  If you don’t clear the hi-hat with the toms you’ll get hat rash on your tom.  My Pearl 10″ has suffered a bit of this but I won’t let it happen to my Gretsch.

This leads to the second issue which is swinging around to get that hi tom.  Not difficult when doing the old Spinal Tap roll around the kit but try maintaining a beat on the floor toms while working your way up the toms with your left hand.  Bit of a shoulder ripper when you get to the 8.

One very nice feature of my previous setup was that it was, at its core, a 4 piece jazz setup.  I could go into any venue and expect to find a minimalist kit with a snare, one up one down, a single crash and the ride over the kick.  This setup seems to be in fashion and all the rigour now.  One word boys and girls; BORING!

With my new setup I’m returning to the old 70′s tom-tom rock wall.  Moving around it is becoming a cinch.  I’ve got my lower toms, the 12″ and 13″ close enough that going for them doesn’t require a reach and the 8″ and 10″ are right in front of me and slightly to my left.  No reach at all to hit any tom and I’m hitting with more accuracy.  I’d like to apologize to each of my poor microphones I’ve whacked.  Thanks for holding up and not breaking on me guys!

The ride is a bit more of an issue but not one that isn’t resolving itself.  Having the ride over the floor tom means you don’t have to spend much effort holding up your right arm while ting-ting-tinging along.  With the ride raised and moved slightly to the right more effort is required to keep that arm up.  At first it can become fatiguing but after a few practices the muscles build up and you don’t even notice it.  What’s tricky is getting used to a slightly different cymbal placement.  I’ve crashed my Ride so many times it’s starting to have a personality crisis.

I’ve set both my kits up in this new style.  I like consistency, especially when learning a new kit layout.  I plan to set the kits up at my jam spaces in a similar fashion (although the electronic kit pretty much is set up that way).  If you’ve been following this blog might also notice in the pictures that the positions of my Gretsch Renown Maple and Pear Export kits have switched sides.  I have a large, sun filled window in my jam space at home.  While I keep my Renown’s covered I was concerned the sun might fade their beautiful finish.  It’s really tough to bleach out “white” so I moved the Pearls close to the window.  It worked out nicely because my microphone setup is more organized and tidy.

As for the left side of the kit, I’m still using it, at least on the Pearls.  I’ve moved my Roto-Toms and some percussion there.  Still easy to get to while leaving the core setup right out in front.

So now it’s time to sit down with the new setup style and play, play, play.

 

 

 

Let me start by saying this post is not a pissing war between PC (Windows machines) and Macs.  Windows boxes are flat out better if you have business to do or games to play.  End of story.

But this blog is about music and for music don’t waste your time;  Go Mac.

I’ve been a PC user since the first time Windows had a tiled interface.  That was back in ’85.  I love Windows boxes for all the reason PC lovers love theirs;  ease of expansion, customizability, lower cost, tons and tons and tons more software.  Back in ’08 I got a Mac.  With the help of Parallels, a program which allowed me to run Windows natively alongside the Mac OS I was jamming.

Over the past 5 years though, with upgrades, bloatware, etc… my old Mac was chugging and puffing like a fat guy racing for the last donut in the box.  Not wanting to spend $2000 on a new Mac.  I decided I would switch to a super-fast HP i7 box I have.  I got everything installed and updated and connected.  Having a native Firewire port on the PC made it a snap.  I even found a pile of VSTi plug-ins that weren’t available for the Mac.  Suddenly I had a dozen new synthesizers!

Now you might recall my setup from earlier posts.  My Mac had an external monitor and was connected to my Oxygen 49 keyboard and Mackie Onyx 1220i mixer.  Both devices plugged in and worked seamlessly from the get-go and have ever since.

I set up the PC with my 2 Samsung PX2370 monitors and loaded the drivers for my gear.  This step was un-necessary with the Mac.  You just plug it in.  The mixer seemed to be ok but I was getting various MIDI error messages from my DAW Reaper.  I spent hours searching the web and trying to resolve 2 issues;  Horrible latency when playing the keyboard and the inability to get my control surface working with Reaper.  I managed to resolve the first issue but never got the second one fixed.  I could have, however, the solution involved hours of work.

Next was the Mackie.  When plugged into the Mac all the I/O for the mixer was pretty much handled automatically.  The PC required manual mapping of ports and didn’t seem to give the amount of flexibility as the Mac.  I only spent time getting things barely working and even that took a long time.

Then there were sound card issues.  When working with Reaper I’d have sound.  Then I’d fire up iTunes.  The sound would go away.  Sometimes.  Then I’d reboot.  Then I’d utter a string of curses.

But the machine was fast!  So my dilemma continued.  I had a super-fast machine for no additional cash outlay but my DAW and all it’s great new add-ins sucked.  But I didn’t want to spend $2K on a new Mac.

Then inspiration hit me!  Actually it was given to me by Trevor from Fromager Music in Owen Sound;  The Mac Mini.  This little beauty is compact, elegant and inexpensive (for an Apple product).  Using an adapter in the Thunderbolt port plus the built-in HDMI port I’m able to connect my 2 monitors.  The Mini is also the only current Apple product which has a Firewire port built in.  My Mackie gear is Firewire so…. yay!  I ordered the unit with 4GB of RAM because it’s the least expensive Apple offers.  Then I went up the street to the local PC warehouse and bought 2 8GB DIMMS for $65.  This is a $200 option if you go with Apple.  Performing the RAM upgrade for the Mac Mini is astoundingly easy.

I used Apple’s migration utility to slurp the old Mac onto the new Mac and voila!  Back in business with a TON of horsepower.

When Trevor suggested the Mac Mini I still wasn’t off the PC fence but then he made a comment that really hit home;  ”I just can’t afford the down-time”.  I thought about how much time I had wasted with the problems I was experiencing.  How many reboots.  How many work-arounds.  How much time spent wandering forums looking for people experiencing similar nightmares.  The answer was obvious.  Ditch the PC platform and return to the tried and true Mac.

So I’m back to a Mac (with Windows running on Parallels).  The box is a tiny technical marvel.  It takes up almost no space, runs silently, fast and is semi-reasonably priced.  Best of all, my hardware devices all work again (not to mention the sound not cutting out).

If you’re doing music I can’t recommend anything else.

Now to start saving to buy an Apple notebook for mobility.  Talk about over-priced  : (

Ok, I admit it.  As the rhythm guy behind the kit I have a sick affection for the thump, thump, thump of the other part of the rhythm section; the bass.  As a young musician and the drummer, my bands would often leave their instruments at my place.  Sometimes we’d hang around and they’d teach me how to play stuff.  While I liked playing the guitar (man those strings hurt my fingers) I LOVED playing the bass.

Here’s where I want to thank my old mates for teaching me how to play and letting me use their instruments which they left at my place.  Or rather having me play them without permission then clean their instruments like only an OCD can.

Anyway, back in 1995 my son lost interest in drums and switched to guitar.  At the time I thought it would be cool to rekindle my relationship with the bass so I picked up a Fender Jazz Squire Series bass.  Since then I’ve been playing it on and off.  Recently a new project has me plucking away at it daily.

Then something odd happened.  My wife told me that she’d really like to learn to play the bass.  Wow!  Totally cool!  The trouble was that as she was learning to play our bass I’d be taking it away to practice leaving her with nothing to play.

Then came the Hohner.  My friend / teacher / bandmate John had told me of this Hohner bass for sale at the local pawn shop.  I had checked it out back around the holidays.  It was nice but at the time I didn’t want to buy a bass (I wanted drum stuff : )

Anyway we decided to buy it  and went back to the store this past weekend.  We worked out a deal with them for the Hohner B2A bass.  It really sounds great and we both love playing it.  It practically plays all Flock of Seagulls songs by itself  :D

I love having a musical wife!

While it’s not a Steinberger, or even Steinberger sounding this bass is a blast to play and has a full, rich sound.  That’s with crappy old strings.  Stay tuned and see what happens when I fix this beauty up!

Those of you who have been following this blog have seen my studio grow from a single keyboard, bass guitar and drum set to a multi-room, multi-lots-of-stuff full blown starter studio.  That involved a lot of new equipment buys.

Those of you who have followed my Tech Please – I’m Outta Here thread may have noted our move to the country and our desire to do a lot of local business.  That in mind, despite the fact that you can get anything on the Internet, I wanted to do my music business locally.  Mind you, I still love dealing with Just Drums in North York.

There are three main music stores near my home and I live about equidistant from them all.  Fromagers Music in Owen Sound.  Kerry’s Music and Computers in Meaford and Blue Mountain Music in Collingwood.  There’s also Joe’s Music Store in Collingwood.

I am excluding the figures for Just Drums which includes my new Gretsch kit and a few other toys.  I’m including Barrie stores as they are a significant part of my purchases and the largest local city within a one hour drive.

If you look at my spending over the past year, which is the massive studio build-up time, you’ll see the percentages as follows (Estimated);

• Best Buy – 55%
• Fromagers – 40%
• Kerry’s – 2%
• Music Pro  - 1.6%
• Joe’s Music- 1 %
• Blue Mountain – 0.4%

I’ve included figures for all the stores I shop at  to keep things close to accurate.  Some stores (Best Buy & Pro Music) are located further away from me though.  Best Buy, it should be noted, has the BEST prices on everything (that they carry) and they ship free.

That said, I was recently asked by someone entering into the retail business field “What makes you shop at one local store more than another?”.

I stopped and seriously thought about it for a minute.  Here’s what I said;

“Stock turn-over.  I like going into a store that has new things all the time.  A store that sells stuff turns over inventory and is always fun to check out.

Next I’d have to say customer service.  Face it.  In this day and age, finding someone with knowledge about what they’re selling is a rarity.  Anyone can read an Internet blurb and chances are if your customer is asking about it, they’ve already been to the vendor’s site.  We all have the same info so go the extra mile.  COMMUNICATE WITH  THE CUSTOMER.  If you don’t have the answer.  Get it.  Get it fast.  Don’t wank him around.   Communication is the key.  Good news or bad news, tell the customer quickly.

Finally, it’s the willingness to deal.  The best price is usually on the Net until you factor in duty and HST (for us Canadians).  Nobody expects a local shop to match the price of a big chain but if you’re willing to deal a bit you’re likely to move more inventory.  Some folks will pay a few bucks extra for good customer service (see above).

And that’s why I said I shopped as I did and will continue to.

Stay tuned…

Well I can’t believe where the time has gone but another year has past.  For my studio project it has been a very exciting time.  As you may recall when I started this blog I was just starting to get back into music seriously after taking a thirty year hiatus.  I’ve learned a ton and had some really great experiences.  Here’s a summary;

Drums

This year I purchased my dream kit.  A set of Gretsch Renown Maple in Autumn Burst finish. I also picked up something I’ve wanted since I was a kid.  A Zildjian China cymbal.  Actually it’s the 18″ Trash China and I love it.

I also decided not to sell my 30 year old Pearl kit.  Considering what I’d get for it versus the benefits of having 2  kits just wasn’t worth it.  My son plays, my teacher comes over, other drummers drop by.  2 kits just works better.

The Pearls also sound pretty damn good.  Because of the depth difference between the toms in the two kits I get a nice heavy rock sound with the Pearls (which I keep tuned slightly lower).  It’s great for playing Joan Jett or some old Scorpions!

Both kits are in the same configuration; 8″ 10″, 12″, 13″ rack toms, 14″ and 16″ floor toms.  The Pearls have a 22″ kick and the Gretsch a 20″.

This year I plan to either go double bass pedals or double bass drums.  Not sure yet on this one.

Oh yeah…. and more cymbals

Electronics

Micing such a large kit is a real pain in the ass!  But I did it.  This year I managed to put together a group of Shure and AKG mics to properly mic a single kit.  I’m using a collection of SM57, D-112 and C1000S mics.

The cool thing is I can also mic both kits using 3 microphone setups and get some cool recordings of double drummers.

Last year also marked a leap in Mixer technology.  While I love and still own my Mackie Onyx 1220i (and use it every day) I also purchased a Mackie Onyx 1640i mixer.  This mixer has deep firewire integration and offers incredible flexibility.  Trouble is everyone is bailing on FireWire.  For now and the near future though I’m in pretty good shape with these outstanding mixers.

Software

This year was HUGE for software discoveries.  A lot of time in the beginning was spent on me spinning my wheels trying what to use.  I didn’t want to spend a ton on Logic by Apple which is very popular.  I especially didn’t want to get nailed with Platform-Lock-In.

The DAW I settled on is called Reaper by Cockos Software.  It’s inexpensive (or free if you don’t mind annoying messages but if you like it – buy it).  The product is feature rich and powerful.  The vendor supports and updates it regularly and the user community is large and very active.

For plug-in instruments and effects I chose Native Instruments products.   The offer the Komplete 8 Players for free which is essentially the infrastructure of their plug-in systems.  This package includes loads of instruments and effects that are pretty incredible for free.

Of course then you see the cool options available to you for a few (or not so few) dollars.  The include Retro Synthesizers, Studio Drums and vintage compressors, EQs, etc….

The iPad also turned out to be an invaluable tool for music creation.  Whether generating music itself or triggering other devices through CoreMIDI the iPad really came through as a major tool (the good kind, not the Short-Bus kind).

Keyboards

I love farting around with keyboards.  This year I Picked up a vintage Yamaha DX7-II.  This was the grandfather synth of the ’80s New Wave era.  There are an unbelievable array of voice patches for this baby.

I also added an Oxygen 49 keyboard controller to my mixdown station.  This provides me with a control surface for the DAW and a handy way to input more music into my Native Instruments toys.

Bands

So what good is all this stuff if you don’t play with it?  Fortunately the music scene in my area is totally bopping.  Lots of musicians and places to to play.  Lots of Open Jam nights too.

Highway 26 - We’re a 7 piece R&B band covering ’50s and ’60s songs.

Silvertone Rock Camp - Man, we really need a name.  This band is made up of music school students playing rock tunze from the ’60s to the ’80s

The Drop Bys -  This includes jams put together with buddies who drop by.  Some good friends from Toronto and the surrounding region have come up for some really fun jams.  Unfortunately I managed to piss off a guitar play who hasn’t come back.  If you know me, you’ll understand.  Sorry Randy!

Revenge of the Nerds – This is an experimental project John, my teacher, and I are beginning work on.  It will involve a lot of synthesizers and be very artsy.  You’ll know more as soon as we do!

So that’s the 2012 news from the Lower West Side Studio.  Please keep visiting the blog for more info and fun tales.  Thanks for dropping by!

Portable studio under construction

The Original Setup

2 Kits

Recently my drum teacher and I thought we’d spend some time making some synthesized music together.  I’ll keep you apprised of that project as it goes but for now I had an immediate problem to deal with;  While I use a Mac on my desktop and one in my studio I have no portable Apple computers (besides iOS devices).  The soft synthesizers I use are all Mac based but I was careful to choose products that were also PC compatible where possible.

I’ve always been a PC guy but I switched to a Mac in 2008.  Since then I’ve really enjoyed the machine for music but I still say that if you have work to do, fire up a PC.  Anyway, let’s not go there, that’s not the point of this post.

I wanted to play synth-boys with John but don’t really want to spend a lot of cash to do it.  In fact, I don’t want to spend any.  Macs, especially portables, cost a fortune.

Want to hear what I did?  It’s really cool!

Ok….

I had an old Hewlett Packard HP Mini 210 sub-notebook lying around doing nothing.  It runs Windows 7 Home version and while I wouldn’t call it fast I’d call it adequate.  I made sure everything was up to date and then removed every program that wasn’t tied to the music-making I had planned for it.

Next I loaded it up with the same programs I had on the Mac.  These included;

• Reaper by Cockos
• Komplete 8 Players (Kontakt, Guitar Rig, Reaktor) by Native Instruments
• Elements, Retro Machines & Studio Drummer by Native Instruments
• Synth1 by Daichi

There are a few more toys but I thought this was a good start.  So now I’ve got the box loaded and the headphone jack plugged into my Mackie Onyx 1220i mixing board (this was done with a 1/8″ to dual 1/4″ cable).  I use the Mackie’s dual channel inputs for this (9/10) allowing me to use a single strip to control a stereo signal.  A bit less fuss than using 2 strips.

Next comes the input.  I have an M-Audio Oxygen 49 keyboard connected to my control room Mac.  This is what I use for touch-ups when I’m doing mix downs or just farting around.  It’s perfect for dragging around.  I plugged this into the USB port of the HP and there you go;  Instant synth!

While this is nothing particularly special the fact that it works well in this configuration is significant.  You can easily turn a lower powered machine into a useful musical box with little effort.  The Oxygen provides its own MIDI interface through USB and software synths do the rest.  With Synth1 and Retro Machines I get some awesome progressive rock sounds going on.

One other major bonus was again being on the PC platform.  There are a ton of VSTs available for the PC that just aren’t out there for the Mac.  Mac guys say “yeah well they’re all written like crap” but that’s mostly to help them sleep at night.  Many are pretty awesome.  I picked up a Taurus Pedal plug-in which is incredible!   Totally not available for the Mac.  Oh, and Mac guys….It’s written very well so you might not sleep well over it!  Hey wait…I resemble that remark.

But wait…. there’s more!

Really?

Yes!

Like for instance?

Ok.  First I downloaded an application called  rtpMIDI which provides a MIDI over network interface similar to the Audio/MIDI application for the Mac.  In fact it’s designed with the same user interface.  Then, I set up an ad-hoc wireless network on the HP.  I connected my iPad to the HP on this network.  Then I fired up Little MIDI Machine.  This is a FANTASTIC app that is free (at this writing).  I fired up Reaper on the HP and set up a track with the Taurus Pedal VSTi.  I fired up Little MIDI Machine and arpegiated (?) the coolest bass track over my wireless network.

It gets better!

Really?

No Shit!

Next I downloaded an application on the HP called ShairPort for Windows.  It turns a Windows PC into an Apple AirPort receiver.  Very Handy!  So now I have my Little MIDI Machine triggering one channel on Reaper with a synthesizer effect and a second channel taking audio out of a second synth running on the iPad (in this case, Sunrizer).  All this while tinkling away on the keyboard through an NI synth on a third channel.

So Rich you’re saying it was smooth sailing all the way?

Pretty much but…

There are a couple of things that cropped up during all this.  First off, do yourself a favour and get a portable wireless mouse.  Using the trackpad sucks when you have a ton of mousing to do.  It will slow you down.  Get a wireless mouse and use the machine in comfort.  I happened to have one with the HP.  It’s the HP portable mouse.

Next, disable or better yet remove your anti-virus software.  If you must surf porn then use a protected machine but leave the notebook free of applications that will steal away clock cycles.

Latency turned out to be an issue on the PC where it didn’t exist on the Mac.  Before you jump all over the speed of the HP I should mention I experienced a similar latency issue with the same configuration on a very fast PC.  When I played the Oxygen 49 through the Kontakt instruments outside of Reaper there was no noticeable latency.  Inside Reaper the latency was very noticeable and made playing in real-time impossible.  To solve this issue I reduced the number of buffers from 8 to 2 in Reaper’s Preferences-> Audio-> Device setting.  Now it works fine.

Finally, make sure the computer’s Power configuration goes flat out and doesn’t slow down when the computer decides you don’t need the power.  Screw the computer, you’re in charge!  Use AC power when possible as well.  This will help keep the pedal to the metal.

The next step, which will cost a few bucks, is for an interface / sound card for improved connectivity and output quality.

So now I have some pretty cool capabilities built with a pile of stuff I had lying around!  I’ve tried running 4 tracks with lots of action and the system performs really well.  I wouldn’t use it as a mix down station but for what I’m doing I think it will be great!  I can’t wait to try it in kombat.

Keep you posted…

Oh, one last note…  I can also patch my iPhone into the ad hoc network and run a fourth track from it but I was using it to take the pictures.

I’ve had an iPad since the first one came out.  In fact, I was in the US during the period they were available in the US but not in Canada and picked my first one up then.  Practically the first program I got for it was a drum machine.  It was called Beatmaker and cost $20.  This was at a time when most Apple apps were still being given away.

Since then I’ve gone through a ton of music apps and I thought I’d share the current content of my iPad’s Music folder.  Some like Beatmaker have bitten the dust (no upgrade path without paying over and over – it’s history) and others are still free but I’d be more than happy to pay for.

So here are my apps;

Remote by Apple – This application allows you to control your iTunes library by remote control from your iDevice.  Very handy for starting and stopping songs from behind the drum kit or across the room.

Animoog by Moog – An anisotropic synthesizer engine with a very funky interface.  Rich, incredible sounds with a wide library to choose from.  MIDI support as well.

AC-7 Core by Saitara – I’m hung up with this one.  AC7 is a remote control program for your DAW.  It sort of puts the mixing deck in your lap.  Very, very handy.  Trouble is there are some glitches with the Mac version and the vendor seems to have vanished.  I use this program but am looking for an alternative.  It’s disappointing because this is a paid app.

Music Studio 2   by Xewton – This app got me seriously into multi-track recording and mixing.  It was one of the earlier apps I got and I love it.  There is a great free version and an expanded paid version (more instruments).  MIDI support is well done and you can create some great tracks on the go.

Sunrizer Synth by BeepStreet – This analog synthesizer is simply awesome.  Numerous libraries are available with banks of sounds or create your own.  If you’re looking for a flexible arpeggiator, you’ve found it.  Patch in with a CoreMIDI keyboard for some wireless fun for hours.

Little MIDI Machine by Synthetic Bits – I stumbled upon this application a few days ago and have been hooked ever since.  It is a flexible MIDI sequencer with incredibly sophisticated routing and fantastic note control.  Within minutes I had turned my Yamaha DX7-II into a sequencing FM synth.  Wirelessly!  Oh, and as of the time of this writing – It’s free!

Garageband by Apple – I got this app when I was using Garageband for the Mac.  It’s a large app that I don’t use much any more and am considering removing from the pad.  If, however, you use Garageband then this app is a cool companion app to work with.  <<Edit>> I decided to remove GarageBand from the pad.

DM1 The Drum Machine by FingerLab – Man, I can’t say enough good things about this program.  It’s my favourite drum machine.  Very powerful, flexible and getting better with each revision.  Basic MIDI support is included with more to follow.  Sample your own sounds and use them in your beats.  This app totally rocks!

V-Control Free by Neyrink – This is another remote DAW control application.  I’m tossed up about this one.  The full version is $50 and has a TON of features, several of which I don’t require.  On the flip side it’s powerful, works very well and is supported.  The free version is stripped down and very handy but lacks several useful features in order for you to want the full version.  I’d pay $20 for it but $50?  I don’t know…

MIDI Monitor by iOSMIDI – This handy tool provides a MIDI testing board for sending and receiving MIDI signals.  It’s very useful for debugging MIDI problems or for testing.  It’s free but there are ads.  Nothing too intrusive though.

PAD MIDI by Onoko Intl. – Wifi MIDI pads.  Simple and flexible.

iShred Live by Frontier – This is a guitar tool which comes with a couple of decent effects and has more available for in-app purchases.  You’ll need some type of guitar input like iRig.

SPL Pro by Studio 6 Digital – This is a fantastic sound meter.  Very useful for tuning a room or proving your kid’s stereo is cranked louder than a jet

Pro Metronome by EUM – I’ll bet you were thinking a drummer wouldn’t have a metronome application but this is the one I chose.  It is VERY flexible providing control over speed, tempo, beats and visuals.  I’ve tried several but this one takes the cake.  There’s an excellent free version or you can pay the buck and get all the features.  It’s so easy to use even guitar players can figure it out ; )

The Drum Dictionary  by Ryan Dillon – The perfect reference tool for all drummers.  It contains 40 rudiments and over 100 beats to practice.  A must for every drummer.  Oh, and it’s free!

SoundCloud by SoundCloud – If you use SoundCloud (how many times can I write SoundCloud on 1 line) then this application is a handy front end for the service.  The latest version sucks less than the previous one.

InsTuner by EUM – A chromatic tuner featuring several display modes including Instant Tuning, Fine Tuning and even FFT displays.  Very useful not only for tuning but also for sound analysis)

I love extending the life of stuff I like.  Several years ago I picked up this great waterproof case to carry my scuba diving computers and gauges.  I’ve since stopped diving and this heavy-duty, foam lined case was sitting on a shelf.

The case is a UK 6010 by Underwater Kinetics.  The interior came with a foam insert which is cut into cubes.  This allows you to customize the case for whatever  you’re planning to store in it.  Over the years my foam was modified then re-modified to suit the various computers and accessories I had at the time.

I contacted Underwater Kinetics last week and ordered a replacement foam for the case.  It was cheap and they sent it fast.  Thanks guys!

I’ve been looking for a way to conveniently store my microphones for my drum kit.  Having a large kit means having a lot of mics.  I’m using Shure SM57 mics for my toms and snare.  Seven are required in total.  I have five at this time.   I’ve also got a couple of AKG C1000S mics for overheads which come in their own cases and an AKG D112.

The UK 6010 is the perfect size for the SM57s.  I hollowed out sections for each mic and then reinforced the sections using electrical tape.  Because of the wear and tear caused by removing and inserting the mics I wanted to prevent the foam from breaking apart.  It works pretty well!  The mics are now stored in a safe, waterproof, durable case and I’ve got an old piece of gear off the shelf.

Rock On!