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Home computer music recording has become extremely popular, both as a hobby and as a legitimate means of live recording and mixing. For the serious musician or recording technician, the computer/software combination offers ease of use and lower cost, and it requires less space than traditional methods of recording.
Recording can be accomplished by using a “mixing board” to pre-mix multiple signals with their corresponding analog effects (if desired) before sending them to the computer, or each “plain” signal can be recorded independently to its own track through a computer audio interface, software effects applied, and the individual tracks then mixed together.
Using a mixer and analog effects, one could conceivably record without the benefit of multiple tracks, resulting in the need for less expensive, more simplistic software. For much greater control and a more polished sound, a quality multitrack software with effects is preferred.
Although more difficult to learn and use, multitrack software provides many more options for the user. The cost for quality multitrack recording software can range from $40 to several hundred dollars. Don’t let the low prices fool you though, many a great recording has been made with shareware recording software.
If you aren’t experienced in multitrack recording, purchasing at the low end of the spectrum makes sense. It’s best to choose a product that will accept plug-ins, though. Plug-ins are small pieces of software that provide various functions (typically effects) that can be installed into the multitrack software, providing greater flexibility to the sound engineer. Several companies produce audio software plug-ins of the vst or directx variety that will work with even low cost software. A number of the plug-ins are actually offered free of charge.
For the more serious enthusiast, the computer (pc) should contain at least a Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 processor, 200gb, 7200 rpm IDE or Serial ATA hard drive, 1 gigabyte of dram, a good video card, and a high quality sound card. Any on-board video should be disabled in the cmos setup and a quality graphics card with at least 64mb ram installed.
A flat panel monitor with a 19″ screen is preferred over a crt. With the large viewing area, the video resolution can be set at 1280 x 1024, enabling more of the audio recording software to be viewed on the screen at one time.
On-board audio (if available) should also be disabled and a high quality sound card installed into the computer. Also, invest in a pair of quality, amplified, near-field monitors. These speakers are designed specifically for music recording. Remember, if you’re serious about your recordings, you’ll want the music to be reproduced as realistically as possible.
A computer audio interface of some sort is a real necessity. It should have 1/4″ inputs for instruments such as electric guitars or keyboards, as well as XLR inputs for microphones. 48v phantom power should be avaiable for condensor mics, as well. A mixer could even be plugged into the audio interface if more flexibility is needed.
More and more, musicians are realizing the high quality and low cost of producing their own recordings, while those interested in the technical side of recording can see the benefits of digital recording, mixing and mastering.
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The question: “What features should I look for when choosing audio recording software?”
The answer: “It depends on what you want to record.”
There are many low cost recording programs available that can be used to record from existing media (tape, cd’s, vinyl lp’s) or from radio and internet broadcasts. Even these low priced software programs have editing features and native effects that can be applied to the recording.
Live recording is best accomplished by using multitrack recording/editing software that incorporates tools and effects suitable for application to live voices and instruments, one of the most important being compression. Compression is essential to level the extremes in volume that inevitably occur in live recording.
Several features/capabilities should be considered when choosing software for live music recording (listed below).
Required features:
1. Recording – record multiple stereo tracks
2. Editing – edit a track’s waveform
3. Mixing – mix multiple tracks into one stereo track
4. Effects – native (built-in) effects such as delay, reverb, fade in, fade out, flanger, compressor and various high/low filters
5. File conversion – convert to/from the most popular music formats such as wav, wma, mp3
Additional useful features:
6. Plug-ins – accepts 3rd party software plug-in effects and tools
7. Ripping – pull individual tracks from music cd’s
8. Burning – copy recorded tracks to cd audio
Optional features (depending on need):
9. Midi – record midi instruments (midi keyboards, synthesizers, guitars)
10. Video – synchronize audio with video files
So, in conclusion, if you are recording music to computer from pre-recorded media, you can certainly get by with software on the low end of the price spectrum. But, if you want to create professional sounding mixes from live music, you’ll need the higher level of sophistication available in a quality multitrack recording program.
Cost shouldn’t be an issue in the choice as the difference in price between the low end software package and a quality multitrack program can be as little as $10 – $20.
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A business plan will guide you into greater depths in your business, and will allow you to be on the right track. When a business is organized you minimize the risk of downfalls and you can move forward step by step towards the goal. Business plans are also written when an entrepreneur is seeking funds for a project.
The first step towards writing a good business plan is to have complete knowledge about the product and what needs to be done. Normally a small business plan will need to have a lot of spark in it, so that an investor will take an interest in it. Though the length of a plan does not matter, it needs to be precise, and it also needs to have as much information as possible.
A plan will need to have a time frame for the growth of the company, or has to mention exactly how it would reach the goal that has been planned. The reason of the plan has to be specific, and the details about the company have to be honest, as sooner or later they are going to find out who you really are. And if the plan is specially for seeking funds, you will have to be clear how the funds will be used.
Besides describing the nature of the business, other legal aspects have to be included. The people involved will have to mentioned, as well as their experience. The plan should include specifically what the company has currently, and should also include how it thinks of expanding. Marketing will be another important aspect in the plan.
How you will market, and what exactly is the audience target you have in mind. If this is made clear, it also speaks about how many resources will be required initially, and also how much you can recover. The profile of competitors is a must, as it will give a glimpse into what the company needs to do in terms of duration to reach a specific goal.
Without any inhibitions, you should also list the strengths and weaknesses of the company. This will allow a third person as well as you to understand which areas need to be worked on. A summary of the financial status would help greatly, and this will project the company in real light, thus making the process for growth easier.
About the Author:
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Tom Barker is an Internet Entrepreneur developing own projects and offering his services to Online Businesses. One of his projects can be visited at Digital Resale Shopand the Digital Ebook blog.
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In this article I hope to demonstrate a few tips that will, with any luck, put you on the correct approach to developing into a proficient guitar player. If you can take into account that to play well involves a lot of practice and dedication then these tips will give you a head start.
It takes arduous work and perseverance to the learn guitar and there is no fast and easy way, but some procedures are much more adept than others, resulting in quicker advancement. The main chief tip, though, is no matter what you do don’t admit defeat
1. Set Aside Your Own Space
Distractions can play havoc with your concentration and focus, making any practise session worthless. Learning to play the guitar is hard enough so make it easier by finding a space where you can be alone without any outside noise or interruptions.
2. Equipment
Ensuring that your guitar is tuned correctly is paramount at the beginning of any practise session. Preparation is essential to good guitar playing and it is imperative to make certain that your instrument is in good condition
3. Understand Your Instrument
Surprising, as it might seem, not all guitars are the same, every one has a different tone and sound. Learn to know and understand your guitar, what every part is called and its different function. Appreciate your instrument and, although it’s an inanimate object, learn to respect and care for it. Even though you might not appreciate it now it will make you a better and more experienced guitar player.
4. Recognize Your Level Of Expertise
Frustration can soon set in when, after a few weeks of practising and learning, you cant play the same tunes as Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page or any of your other guitar heroes. Realism has to kick in somewhere and the sooner the better. Learning to play the guitar is not an overnight thing. It takes time. Start with sensible goals, leave the advanced playing until later and progression will come with a growth in confidence. Show persistence at this point and you will reap the benefits later and it will be even more rewarding.
5. Pick Your Style
Being able to play a piece of music made famous by one of your favorite guitarists is an unbeatable sensation. When, and only when, you have completed the fundamentals and you are set to move on to something harder it’s time pick a style of music you like and can identify with. Most songs are generally accessible as sheet music from a variety of sources and it’s another level in your education. This is an exhilarating stage in your progress.
6. Set Goals
One of the best ways to focus you concentration on you progress is to set mini targets. Pick a time period for when you are going to play your first song in front of family and friends and let them know about it. This helps give a reason for your practise sessions and certainly grabs your attention the closer to the date of your debut performance. Once you have performed and enjoyed being in the spotlight it will give you a boost in confidence. It’s no surprise, but your playing will improve after.
Keep in mind, learning to play the guitar is a continual progression, but should always be fun, and if you continue to advance consistently there is no knowing how talented you can grow to be. With any luck, these tips will prove useful and you will have many years of playing satisfaction.
About the Author:
Learn more about playing the guitar or any instrument of your choice at www.learn-and-play.info a popular website full of tips and advice.
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One of the greatest motivators of learning to play an instrument for most people is the thought of being able to compose their own music, to take their talent to a new level, and use their music to express their inner feelings. The first step to take to learn how to compose your own music is to learn the art of improvising. The good news is that it isn’t as hard as you think.
The sad thing about learning improvisation, is that many people put a lot of emphasis on the fact that they must first learn to master chords, notes, read music, and be able to play other peoples music well, before they can get onto the more important task of creating their own masterpieces. The result of these thoughts usually ends with the person becoming so caught up in getting everything right that they feel afraid to improvise, and compose simply because they fear getting it wrong, or creating something that sounds terrible.
Why Improvisation Is Important
Improvisation is vital to a musician, because it is a lesson taught in creativity, and it develops an ear for hearing music on a whole new level, and copying it. For those who want to learn to compose, creativity is the most important aspect of being a composer, it is even more important than knowing keys, notes, chords, or even reading music itself.
Improvisation at its greatest can be found in jazz music. If you want to learn about improvisation, be sure to listen to some of the classic jazz. Jazz is the type of music that was mostly improvised, and added to. It was rarely played to a set out strict music sheet, but evolved as it was being played, and only got better each time the musician played it.
How To Improvise
Improvisation is nothing more than experimentation, and creativity. We all have those two things. Don’t be fooled into thinking that, in order to improvise, you must first know all of the chords, or notes used to play your instrument. Improvisation can be started off as early as when you have learned your first couple of notes, or chords.
The best way to use improvisation is to experiment with the chords or notes as you are learning them. If you are taking lessons, use some your practice time to try out different chord, or note combinations. Try anything you like, experiment. Improvisation is all about learning the art of non-conformity to the average style of music, and how to learn to use your creative talents to make an expression of yourself.
How To Deal With The Internal Critic
Everyone’s a critic, but we are our own worst critic. Most people are afraid to try new and different things simply because they are afraid to fail. The first time that you improvise, you will probably sound terrible, and maybe even the second time, too. This isn’t failing, this is learning. As you get better at playing your instrument, you will also get better at improvising. If you start off learning how to improvise early, you will only get better at it as you learn more chords, or notes. By starting to improvise early on, you will never be concerned about when the right time to start improvising is, simply because right now is the best time to start.
Don’t be afraid of what other people will think, either. If you are afraid of someone criticizing your first attempts at improvising, just play your instrument when nobody is around, until you are more confident, and ready to share your music with others.
Taking Improvisation Into A Musical Composition
Once you have mastered improvisation, it is only a small step to take it to the next level, which is creating music of your own. Once again, composing music is a lot like improvisation, and to master it you need to be creative, and understand that it may not sound perfect at first. But with a little creativity and some tweaking, you have the potential to make the music in your head come to life through your instrument.
Conclusion
Composing is nothing more than letting yourself be creative, and letting that creativity to make your music unique. You don’t have to be able to play as well as well as Mozart to start to improvise, and from there begin to compose music. Mozart started out just like you, improvising, learning, and then composing.
So let your creative talents flow, and remember that you don’t have to get it right every time. But you do have to want to succeed.
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by Peter Clark
And of course before you learn to play the guitar you need to own a guitar, or at least borrow one. When you’re just starting out learning the electric guitar you don’t need one like Jimmy Hendrix would play, but you still need to get your hands on an electric guitar that will be adequate for the beginner. And if that’s you then there’s a few things that you need to know about electric guitars that may help in understanding a little more about them.
First thing to remember about buying your first electric guitar is that you don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands to do so. Be happy with a cheap electric guitar while you’re learning, and maybe once you hit the big time spend up big. However a cheap electric guitar will do the job for the first few years.
You also need to know exactly what style of music you will be playing on your guitar. Different styles of music require different styles of electric guitar. You need a different guitar to play rock, for example, to the guitar you’d buy if you were playing jazz.
So spend a little time researching the types of electric guitar that should be used by different music styles.
Electric guitar types boil down to 2 basic types, solid body and hollow body. As the name suggests a solid body guitar has no hollow space inside, and is usually, though not exclusively, made of solid wood. Different types of timber can produce different sounds, so as you get better you may want to research more on the type of timber you need to produce the sound you want, but in the early stages if you’re buying a cheap electric guitar don’t get too carried away getting the ideal timber, you may find it more expensive than you need to be paying, and it’s not essential at the start.
And there’s a few unusual terms you’ll need to become familiar with if you’re buying an electric guitar for the first time. Here’s a taste.
Pickups
The pickup is a magnet with a coil of wire wrapped around it placed right under the strings. This receives the vibrations of the strings and turns these into an electric signal for the amp to use. There are 2 types of pickup. The single coil, which produces a sound that sounds good for playing rock, blues and country. Humbuckers are a pickup with 2 coils next to each other that produces a warmer sound which is great for metal and rock in particular. Some guitars have a combination of single coils and humbuckers, and there is usually at least 2 pickups utilized.
Bridge
The bridge is where the strings connect to the body of the guitar. You can have a fixed bridge or a Vibrato bridge which allows you to move the bridge to tighten or loosen the strings. The fixed bridge is better for beginners who can graduate to a Vibrato bridge after they’ve mastered the basics.
Hollow body electric guitars are the second basic style of guitar. These, as the name suggests, have a hollow body although there is also a variation of this which is the semi hollow. As the player plays his guitar the hollow space helps the body resonate which produces a quite distinctive sound. These are good guitars for jazz. These hollow body guitars also utilize pickups, including single coil and humbucker.
That’s really just the start when it comes to understanding electric guitars, and for the enthusiast it’s a lifetime job learning all there is to know about them. And finding out exactly what it is that you need to play to produce exactly the sound you want to produce. That’s part of the fun of playing the guitar, it’s a constant learning process, not just about how to play but what to play as well.
However remember, the most important piece of advice. If you’re a beginner don’t spend up big the first time. Buy yourself a cheap electric guitar first, then learn to play that and take it from there.
It’s the best way to kick off your rock star career.
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iPod represents a wide array of moveable media players which have been designed and are sold by Apple Inc. It was first launched in October 2001. iPod models generally cover digital audio players with a central click wheel to iPod Shuffle that uses various buttons because of its small size. iPod Nano, a fifth generation, was launched in September 2006. This led to discontinuation of iPod mini, which it stored the data on an internal hard disk. iPod Shuffle and Nano employ flash type of memory for smaller size. These devices also act as an external medium for data storage.
iPod was inspired by the shortcomings of existing digital music players, which were not physically compact and the user interface were not very friendly. Apple assembled a group of engineers and within a year, it unveiled the iPod. It was launched as a product which was Macintosh compatible with a hard drive of 5 GB. Apple used PortalPlayer`s reference for its software. The company Pixo helped iPod for developing user interface. But these were refined by Apple after development. The naming of the device as `iPod` was suggested by Vinnie Chieco, who is a freelance copywriter. Coincidently, Apple had the name registered for `internet kiosks`, but it never used it for this purpose.
iPod can run MP3, M4A/AAC, AIFF, Protected AAC, Audible Audio book and WAV format. It also introduced the displaying of images ability with PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, and JPEG formats. The 5th generation models can even play MPEG 4. From the 2nd generation model, the software also started working with Windows along with Macs. It doesn`t support Microsoft`s WMA audio format. WMA and MIDI files can be changed using iTunes, a service provided by Apple through which you can view and download latest songs and movies on your device player. iPods having colored displays use texts and graphics which are anti-aliased and sliding animations. The operating system is stored in a dedicated storage medium of the device. Each device player has 32 MB Ram, though later ones have 64 MB Ram. Most of it is used to cache songs through the storage medium.
Apple also added PDA type functionality so that text files can be viewed and an address book can be maintained through a computer. Also, some built-in games like brick are also included. In fifth generation iPod, the brightness of the screen can be adjusted and games can be downloaded from iTunes Store. For first and second generation models, as well as Nano and Shuffle, internal lithium polymer batteries are used and for third and fifth generation models, internal lithium batteries are used. Initially, iPods came with a FireWire connection for charging the device, but with introduction of multipurpose USB ports, they became outdated. Recent iPod models can be charged using USB 2.0.
Many accessories, even by third parties, have been made for iPods. Some additional accessories developed by Apple were sound recorders, FM Radio Tuners, Remote Control and Audio-Visual Cables for TV. Other accessories are external speakers, protective cases, and wireless earphones. Third parties manufacturing most of these accessories are Griffin Technology, Belkin, Bose, and SendStation. BMW was the first car company to launch an iPod automobile interface, thus allowing newer vehicles to control iPod through steering wheels. Later Apple made this technology available to many other car brands too. Even certain Airlines started provided iPod connectors in the seat.
Apple markets its own iPod earphones and claims that they are better fitting for ears and provide better sound quality. Since it was launched, iPod has been market leader in digital players because of their high quality, supreme aesthetics and ease of use. With more cash flowing into research every year, there is no reason for this fact to change.
This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author’s name and all the URLs (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.
About the Author:
This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the Article section of pagewww.polomercantil.com.br/ipod.php
Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for www.PoloMercantil.com.br
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Pablo Picasso was once asked by a journalist “what does it feel like to be Picasso, master of the arts?”
Picasso slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill.
He took a pen in his hand and signed the dollar bill before handing it to the journalist.
The famous painter then remarked “that dollar bill is now worth $500…that is what it feels like to be Picasso!”
Every time I recall that story it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. For me, it’s a constant reminder of the rewards that flow from spending a lifetime dedicated to what you are truly good at.
So what’s your Genius?
If you want to succeed in business it is critically important that you are able to work out where your true talents lie.
Take a moment to think about the 3 things you do best (no reading forward until you have them – close your eyes if you have to!)
You should also consider asking your three closest friends what they believe you three greatest talents are. Compare their answers with your own. It just might surprise you!
The Entrepreneurial Challenge
One of the biggest challenges every entrepreneur faces, particularly when starting out in business is trying to be good at everything (no lecturing here – I’m actually working on this one myself!).
But consider what would happen to your business if you could completely flip this one around? What could you do to focus more of your time on the things you are truly good at? How could you attract people to do the things that you don’t have a natural talent for?
Employee Performance Appraisal
If you’ve ever worked as an employee, chances are that you’ve had to endure a typical performance appraisal. You know the ones I’m talking about. Where you spend a couple of minutes talking about the things you’ve done well and then a couple of hours talking about all the things you needs to improve upon. Often the result of this kind of approach is that you spend the following six months focusing on all the things you aren’t good at, sending your motivation into freefall. Can you imagine the collective effect of this approach where entire organizations are in a similar frame of mind?
As an entrepreneur, I don’t believe you can afford that kind of luxury. It is of critical importance that you create the habit of recognizing and developing your strengths and delegating your weaknesses.
What would you like your business to be recognized for?
So what are the extraordinary things that you would like your business to be recognized for? How far and wide would you like that recognition to spread? Do you want your business to be the best of its kind in your local town, city, and country or across the globe?
If you can maximize the time you spend developing your core genius and can find an effective way of commercializing your ideas, you’ll very soon be banking your own autographed dollar bills!
