ironbut

Once you have the iLoc app installed and you learn to use it, it's a snap to transfer your licenses from the cloud to the dongle and back again. iLoks are a pain no matter how you use them but there you are. I don't know of a USB-C iLok. I suggest getting a C to USB 2 adapter cable if you don't like the docks (the docks do come in handy with the limited ports on the newer macbooks). They make 6 inch cables. Most field recording folks use a cable or dock just to keep from having the dongle sticking out of their laptops waiting to get broken or breaking the port.

Happy B Day to my B Day Bro/Santa Bro/Banta Stro/Red suit ho,.. ho... And thanks guys, it was a "Chamber of Commerce" Day here and I was lovin' life (still am for that matter)!

Buy an iLok

Aside from the soundtrack significance (first film with continuous music) there was an urban legend about one of the lines Lugosi had with Karloff in The Black Cat. It was said that it was filmed before Lugosi could speak English and that he performed his lines phonetically. Who knows for sure? Always a great talking point for Creature Features hosts.

Lots of fantastic tutorials. My favs are the ones from Kenny Gioia/ Reapermania/Kennymania Very comprehensive. http://www.kennymania.com/reaper-videos/ Also Jon on The Reaper Blog is very cool and would likely answer your emails https://www.youtube.com/user/audiogeekzine

After thinking about it, I thought that just saying that Reaper was good for live recording and batch processing wasn't giving it a decent recommendation. After all, it was my main DAW for 4-5 years and there are tons of "pros" about it. Of course, which DAW is best for someone depends almost entirely on what they want to do with it and what I think of it is influenced by my needs. Reaper is pretty close to an open source program so the users have a great deal to do with it's features and strengths. This goes hand and hand with the fantastic Reaper Forum which is full of helpful and creative folks. How it looks and behaves is up to you. It's almost the opposite of Pro Tools in that respect. With Pro Tools, it their way or the highway. With Reaper, you can decide almost everything if you wish. So some of the things I like have to do with layouts. First, you can have up to 10 default layouts that can be switched with a single key command. These "Screensets" can have different layouts for the Mixer, or the Arrange view or anything else for that matter. You can create custom Toolbars with any command/action (thousands) or combinations that you create (Macros) to complete strings of actions that you need to do over and over again. You can create Themes or import one that another user has created and make that your default skin. Some are insanely elaborate. Here's a couple of screen shots of one called Imperial from White Tie. I can't help wondering if some of these guys ever get around to making any music! Some other things that I like have to do with their Piano Roll/Midi Editor. In Reaper you can have multiple, editable modulation lanes for each midi track. So you can have something like a lane with automation for a low pass filter with another lane for resonance open at the same time along with 10-20 other modulations lanes if your crazy enough. You can also install Reaper as a "Portable Install". That allows you to install every file including your preferences for Reaper and all it's included plugins (which are excellent BTW) into a single folder. That means you can install it on a thumb drive if you want so you can take it to another studio, plug it in and open "your" customized version of Reaper anywhere. Well, this just scratches the surface but I hope you get the idea. So, why isn't Reaper my primary DAW anymore? For the most part, it just never seemed intuitive for me. And I like the limits that Logic imposes (I don't get distracted by the DAW when I should be keeping focus on the music).

You should check out the "About Us" info on their site. UAD is probably the most storied audio engineering company in the US. Started by the legendary Bill Putnum who designed and built some of the best sounding studios and recording gear (with endless copies and plugins modeled after them). Bill Putnum Jr helps direct UAD now. UAD started as United Audio and went on to become Urie (which was bought and almost ruined by JBL). Someone we both know worked for them designing gear and still receives royalties from a DI box he designed. I wonder how Craig Uthus is doing these days?

Let us know how it works out with Linux. My guess is that the lack of native plugin's could be a pain in the ass. When I first started using Reaper (during the early Paleozoic Era) I had to use a bridge on some plugins (32 vs 64 bit) and I kinda hated it. Hopefully, things are easier or maybe I'm totally wrong about the need for a bridge with VSTs. Cudos for the effort!

I love Reaper for live recording. And for batch processing it's tops in my book! That's one of the reasons that it's become popular with sound designers/game sound producers. The guys who make my interface, Metric Halo, are upgrading the recording functions/software included. Their aim is to produce the single best live recording program in the world bar none. We'll see (unfortunately, I'm not going to be a great judge of that since my needs aren't exactly cutting edge).

Yup,.. I don't eat candy much but I love getting these unexpected treats once in a blue moon. Reminds me of Halloweeeeenie! (a different Steve)

Happy Birthday Jim!

I have some sweets coming my way next week too!!! You should give those Indiana boys a call. That or contact UAD direct. Super nice guys over there in Scotts Valley. Universal is a small shop with just a few guys outside of the assembly area. They have one of the most awesome collections of vintage gear since they need the real thing to model most of their plugins. A gorgeous Live Room for recording and testing too (they make some killer empanadas too!). Got to spend the evening there on an AES event. This video was shot there about the same time I visited.

Terrible news Jeff! My thoughts are with you buddy

My condolences Jose.

Looks like you've lost a few lbs since the last time I saw you Ric (except around the chest maybe?)!

RIP RBG What an inspiration and blessing to follow her career!

Happy Birthday Stretch

You'd be surprised how much most bands/musicians know about recording and preferences these days. Most are experienced with some sort of recording/production software/hardware.

Still off the charts in my area (Eugene Or). Not much ash falling now and we should be getting much better by Thursday.

Dan's questions are great. The bottom line depends a lot on the situation. Do the players "know" what they are looking for? In other words, do they have experience in a studio/recording environment. If so, like Sherwood said, you should listen to what they want. The classes I took on recording were great. We'd take a instrument like drums, and the teacher would show us a couple of well known mic set ups (and mic choices for each position) and talk about where each mic type might be placed. Then we would listen to what that sounds like, move each mic around, then switch mics and then switch drummers. After that class we'd book studio time and meet in small groups and experiment with that instrument group. We did that for each instrument type. After that we booked talent and studio time and recorded a complete song. We also used a pretty good book. The Recording Engineer's Handbook by Bobby Owsinski Amazon's got it on Kindle. That class was a great experience and it taught me how much is trial and error until you've put in your time. And always use your ears!

Finished my latest composition.

Happy Birthday

RIP Diana I for one was totally in love with her and dreamed of a Lotus Elan just because of her.

Happy Birthday!

That was too much fun! Congrats to all the winners (that includes McLaren and F1 in general). That race highlighted a lot of the things I love about F1. Sad to see Claire and Frank leaving the helm of Williams. The end of owner run teams for now at least.