(D)IGITAL (J)OCKEY EXPANDING YOUR LIVE CONTROL
DJ
Many of you will have grown up using Akai’s range of MPC and S series samplers to create and perform with. Akai have come a long way since those humble beginnings and their ability to not only present modern software and app ideas, but also create hardware designed to integrate with the most common DAWs keeps them at the forefront of live DJ and production performance. With the APC range, Akai has taken a few ideas from their competitors, mixed them in with elements from their original designs and presented us with a very workable selection of controllers specifically designed to make better use of Ableton Live. APC40 Mini PERFORMANCE CONTROL The latest of fering in this range is the APC40 MkII which goes a few steps beyond the original APC40 and according to AKAI addresses 5 years worth of user feedback into its new design. The MkII is a thinner and mor e lightweight design, has some clever new contr ols and like its predecessor it is specif cally designed to integrate seamlessly with Ableton Live. That said, you can use both devices as generic MIDI controllers and ther efore use them with just about any DAW you wish. It features a 5×8 RGB LED clip-launching matrix, assignable A/B crossfader, 8 r otary knobs, 8 channel faders, and a send button for quick access to send busses. LIVE VS STUDIO I really loved the mor e simplif ed idea in the MkII version. Sur e, it doesn’ t offer you quite the range of button, knobs or other contr ols over the software, but it doesn’ t need to. What the MkII delivers is the essential selection of faders, knobs and buttons to take car e of your most pressing needs in a live situation and not over complicate the matter with too many dials. In this way, I can see a r eal case for someone wanting to own both the original and the later
released MkII. It would work quite well to use the original design in the studio when compiling and producing your music, giving you a wider range of controls when you have the time to get mor e in depth with your editing. But, when it comes to performance, the leaner design of the MkII really speeds up your ability to become one with the software and takes away a lot of the unnecessary distractions and confusion that ar en’t necessary up on stage. ` SIZE MATTERS Additional designs like the APC20 and the APC Mini further r educe the size and weight of your controller if you r eally want to minimalise your travel needs. The APC Mini simply pr esents you with a selection of faders, buttons and an 8 x 8 bank of pads. This is great for when desktop space is at a pr emium, but if you use the APC40 MkII just once, you will really miss the range of added features and f nd the Mini somewhat prohibitive. ALL BASES COVERED Akai have just about got it all cover ed with their range of pad based MIDI contr ollers and whether you ar e using Ableton or any other software, you need to consider what functions
APC40 MkII
are going to best suit your pr oduction and performance needs. Ultimately, I always f nd that a selection of dif ferent controllers is needed to meet all my requirements and for me settling for just one is really never an option, but mor e of a compromise. BY ROB GEE
For more information on the Akai range of products contact Electric Factory on (03) 9474 1000 or visit www.elfa.com.au
HOME STUDIO HINTS
TWENTY YEARS OF COMPUTING IN THE STUDIO
STUDIO
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In celebration of Mixdown’s 20 anniversary edition, I thought it would be a good time to look back at how my home studio has changed. Aside from the multiple relocations, growing stacks of gear and the endless amount of red wine spilt on the carpets during late night sessions, there is one item that is in a constant state of flux, the hub of my studio, my computer. THE EARLY DAYS My f rst introduction to a music computer was the 1985 breakthrough home computing system the Atari ST, this was soon upgraded to a far more modern DOS compatible PC which was powered by an Intel 486. However , what I was really looking for in a musical computer was the ability to r ecord directly onto har d disk and in 1993 the W indows compatible Pentium (P5) was released (remember those old babies) and I along with thousands of other home producers worldwide took home recording and production into the 20 th century. But this was in the 90’ s and it came at a cost. I can r emember having to shell out over f ve hundred dollars to get a MIDI interface card for one of my early computers. No audio, no digital conversion, just a single MIDI input and a single MIDI output, however I was soon to discover that my computer’ s motherboard was not compatible. So, my bank account took another big hit and I upgraded a whole new motherboard. LEAPS AND BOUNDS These days, a one hundred dollar MIDI keyboard will connect to your computer via USB, it will be compliant, work straight away and it will of fer more controls than what I had on my expensive stage piano that was being integrated in as a MIDI master keyboar d. When I consider the machine that I had built for me in 1997 as an audio computer it really does pale in comparison to what is on of fer today, but at the time it was monster. I had it put together specif cally as an audio multi-track recorder. The guys in the shop couldn’t understand my need for a har d drive that was more than 20 GB. Yes, they thought 20 PG. 36 / MIXDOWN NO. 240 / APRIL 2014
GB was ample and I had to specially r equest an extremely expensive 40 GB drive to be installed. Given that you can get a lar ger USB f ash drive today for fewer than f fty dollars, it is frightening to think of what I paid for that har d drive back then. THE NEED FOR SPEED As computing power and capabilities increased, as did the complexity of the software that ran on them. Soon hardware synths and drum machines were being replaced with VST’s, analogue gear and rack based ef fects were being r edesigned as plug-ins. Although this softwar e empowered the home pr oducer and wer e far cheaper than their hardware brethren they had a dif ferent cost, hardware space and processing power. The advances in audio software technology continue unabated and I wonder whether we will ever get enough power in the machines we ar e running. My custom built PC in 1997 served me well. It handled the workload I threw at it and rarely gave me issues with track count or lack of memory . Which is surprising because it only had a modest 2 GB of RAM to work with. It isn’ t uncommon to see 10 times as much RAM in a computer today, or 100 times the hard disk space. But, the modest design of the DA W I was using along with the advancement of all the plug-ins and VST instruments that wer e available meant that my old dinosaur of a workstation could mor e than meet my needs and only rarely froze up. THE HERE AND NOW The PC I had built for me about 5 years ago was a revolutionary advance on the pr evious model. It gave me more than three times the processing
power, four times the memory and about 20 times the har d disk space. But, it also allowed me to use a mor e modern DAW, with mor e powerful plug-ins and VST instruments that e r ally took their toll on the system. So, even though I found myself with a new machine that was really quite impressive, the workload I expected of it left the system struggling somewhat mor e than my older machine. All the excitement that had built up in the delivery of my new workstation and the adventur e into new softwar e realms meant that I was actually slightly behind as far as spare power went. So, as I look into the futur e, I have to wonder how the next advancements in computer technology will meet the new software I will inevitably want to run with the system. These days so much more processing is completed within the computer as opposed to using external processors, which has seen the rise of the DSP processor card and external systems to further power VST needs. I think that the latest swing towards tablet systems and app based
recording software has had developers consider the workload their products place on the hosting system. With this consideration, it could be that as our computers become even mor e powerful in the next few years and we should f nally see some headroom in processing power to allow us to go even further with our cr eative needs. I’d always recommend researching new technology and try staying ahead of the curve when it comes to your workstation. V isit your local music and studio retailers and ask questions of engineers that you know to ensure you keep your computer ‘upgrade budget’ in check. The ability to increase your pr ocessing power and it’ s overall compatibility with new softwar e and har dware will ensure you get solid mileage out of your computer and workstation. Ask questions, stay informed, stay in budget and build a system that actually suits your studio needs.
BY ROB GEE