A listener asked me for a run-down of the software I use and what I use it for. So here it is in short:

Propellerhead Reason 4: my first stop when I work on a new track. I’ll generally take a song to about 70% completed before bouncing individual tracks into Sonar for additional arrangement, mixing and mastering. I use Reason to create most of the original loops you hear in the MLO podcast. Reason is also the only tone generator I use with the WX-5 midi wondcontroller that’s heard all over MLO.

Cakewalk Sonar 8.5: all of my tracks pass trough Sonar for mixing – it’s a superb environment, offering a slick, customizable workflow. Unlike Reason it allows me to record live audio and to make use of scores of VST plugins to get tracks to sit just right. It’s my primary tool for doing remixes (when doing remixes, I’ll work in Sonar from the start and use Reason to add elements). Generally I’ll mix with mastering plug-ins enabled, so that a track is finished and mastered by the time it leaves Sonar.

Ableton Live 7.0.16 (Lite – M-Audio enhanced edition): my main tool for performing/mixing live – the episodes of the MLO podcast are all mixed in Ableton. I have it set up with 8 tracks named as follows: Music 1 (music loops), Music 2 (music loops), CrowdSourced (non-musical elements), Perc (percussion elements), Bass, Drums 1, Drums 2, WX-5 (windcontroller rewired from Reason). During performances, I drag loops from my sample pool into the appropriate track’s clips and take it from there. It pays to stay organized ;^)

Sony Sound Forge 9: editing of completed mixes, or micro-editing, restoration of individual samples, culling loops.

Sony CD Architect 5: creating replication ready CD masters.

Enjoy Live Online #34: Breathing

This recording was made at Substance (Second Life) on November 8th, 2009.

Alternatively, listen to Live Online #34 via play.fm (128kbps mp3 – medium quality).

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After the heat of summer there’s finally something cool in the air again. It was a beautiful crisp morning as Em. and I drove back from Sun Moon Lake – taking advantage of the recently completed Highway 6 to hop on over last night.

Got back in time for the Substance show and to intercept DHL who delivered my upgrade to Sonar 8.5. I’ve come a long way with Cakewalk/Sonar over the last 17(!) years – looking forward to getting up to speed with the latest features. I’m itching to install, so if you’ll excuse me…

Enjoy Live Online #32: Fall Falls

This recording was made at Substance (Second Life) on October 25th, 2009.

Alternatively, listen to Live Online #32 via play.fm (128kbps mp3 – medium quality).

Download this mix for US$ 1.33 (256kbps mp3 – highest quality):

This mix is made available under the following Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Taiwan (more details)

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