audio at last.

In order to celebrate the arrival of No. 8056 I had taken the liberty of ordering a couple of condenser mics before it arrived. This evening I was finally able to set them up. Record something. Weird listening to the result. The only time I've recorded a piano was maybe twelve-plus years ago on digital videotape which I transferred to an audio cassette now old and scratchy-sounding full of hiss.

So it's weird.

Weird listening to a recording of my piano that sounds exactly like my piano. I squeezed the mics in over the strings. Adjusted the gain just below clipping. Inserted a touch of reverb and EQ and played something simple.

I'm not sure what it is about microphones and recording but they and it are just cool. Up until now Logic and its piano samples were my way of capturing ideas usually late late at night. But now ... now I will be able to record the Bechstein.

Awesome.

wishlist.

My new wish list ~

1. M-Audio Keystation 88es – 88-key, semi-weighted, velocity-sensitive USB MIDI controller (powered over USB, even); for controlling the effects through Apple Logic Express (see below) – I'd also have to get a sustain pedal, which runs about twenty bucks

2. M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 desktop reference monitors; for iTunes and monitoring recording, along with my Sennheiser HD280 (64-ohm) monitor headphones I already own (via the 1/4" headphone input on the back – not the 1/8" input on the front)

3. M-Audio Nova large-capsule cardiod condenser microphone, or – if I get lucky – maybe the matched pair of the Pulsar II condensers; for recording the Bechstein – I'll need two to record in stereo

4. M-Audio Fast Track Pro 4x4 USB interface w/ balanced/unbalanced analog I/O, S/PDIF/coax MIDI I/O, 1/4" monitor headphone out and phantom power for the condenser mics; for recording from the mic- and line-level (i.e. guitar) sources, this has two inputs for stereo

5. Apple Logic Express (7.2 – cos 8.0 won't work with my dual 1.0-GHz PowerPC G4 processors, but 7.x will); for recording, effects and mixing from the MIDI controller and mic inputs (the Bechstein, possibly a guitar, even more remotely possibly vocals) – this will supply all the effects for the 88es controller like synth, guitar effects, reverb, etc.

Surprisingly, none of this stuff is very expensive – which is what turned me on to M-audio. It looks like their stuff is pretty high quality without a ton of bells and whistles. And Logic Express is the stripped-down version of Logic Studio, but seems like it has everything I would need to record and mix from all these different sources.

I'll keep researching a little bit more, but so far this stuff is pretty cool. It's bringing me back to my days working in recording studios in LA and Seattle – something I absolutely loved, I just couldn't afford to keep doing and was, with a bit of remorse, forced to get a 'real' job. Sigh.