‘Tis the Season… for updating your software.
Over the last few days, the world over has been celebrating. The Holiday Season is upon us, and like most human beings, we studio professionals retired to our familial domiciles for all sorts of merriment.
Now that the overindulgences and hangovers are behind us, we’ve slowly gotten back to work. On the docket we’ve got a few mixes to finish, files to edit, and other run-of-the-mill session work.
Yet, in addition to the current workload, there is also the inevitable studio maintenance and house cleaning that ensues. First on our list? Some software updates. We took the plunge- we’re running ProTools V10.
Its been an interesting season for ProTools. In October, with seemingly sky high expectations from the user community, AVID released a major revision to the venerable platform. New architecture, new HD cards, new features.
And, to the chagrin of many, a new price. The upgrade price for PTHD is a cool $1000.
Not surprisingly, since AES many in the community have been slagging AVID across forums and user groups. Our take? We really like PT10. Under the hood, the feature and workflow updates are pretty impressive.
In V10, after processing a region with any audio-suite plugin, you can drag the edit back and forth with your trim tool. Kinda slick. Also, anytime you create a new region, you have immediate access to clip based level control. And trust us, adjusting levels in clip based audio regions can save more time than you an imagine.
Not to mention, PT10 allows you to cache sessions in RAM, alleviating some of the load on your CPU. Running an HD Native system, we’ve seen our system usage drop on average by about 15%. That is not an insignificant gain in processor heavy mixes.
One week in and already we wouldn’t want to work any other way.
All in all, this is not an inexpensive piece of software. But all things considered, as users we’re reaping a pretty amazing benefit from the obvious time, thought, and investment that AVID has continued to put into our favorite platform. Well done gang, well done.
We want to weigh in on streaming…
There is one reason that we now own the new Black Keys album, “El Camino“, on vinyl. We streamed it on MOG last Tuesday and fell in love with it.
(Ed. Note- This really is a tremendous album and our hats go off to Messers Carney, Auerbach, Burton and all involved.)
That said, as last week progressed, “El Camino” was pulled from virtually all of the major streaming services including MOG, Rdio, and Spotify. It would seem that now, the only digital option for hearing the record in its entirety is iTunes.
By no means are we upset with the Black Keys per se. They have clearly decided to pursue a release strategy that is more sales focused, and with “El Camino” currently sitting amongst the top spots on the iTunes chart, this decision is probably paying off. Coldplay took the same approach with their newest release, Mylo Xyloto.
Instead, what we’re concerned with is a growing trend or perspective that views legal streaming services in a negative light. One of the things that we’re really excited about in today’s burgeoning Internet Era is accessibility- the potential to hear something, see something, or discover something new and exciting because it is findable, playable, and sharable.
Does Spotify cannibalize album sales? Probably. But maybe that is only for one sub-set of casual music fans? We, the voraciously music obsessed, still by lots of physical product. So do our friends.
Bottom line, for us, streaming can be a great way to discover new music. Spotify has become almost an indispensable tool in the studio to listen to tracks with clients and discuss sonic approaches to production. Could we follow our favorite artists on Twitter or other social networks and access new music directly form an artist’s website? Sure, but that would assume that we (and all music fans in general) are inherently socially connected to a diverse pool of artists wherein new music is automatically landing in our in-boxes.
The unanswered industry question is still about discovery- what about the music you’re not already “Following” or “Liking”? With Mog or Spotify, users can log into the system every Tuesday and start exploring new releases that they may not have been previously aware of. This opportunity can create new fans and lead to further monetization. And, streaming is still a financially compensated activity unlike file-sharing.
Granted, there are quite a few people upset about the payouts form today’s streaming services, but then again, when did anyone complain about the payouts from one specific radio station? And, we’re continuing to learn about the almost prohibitive costs of building a compelling music service. We’re lucky we have what we do…
This issue is highly complex and we don’t pretend to have an answer. We simply wanted to weigh in on the potential that music streaming, accessibility, and discovery can lead to new fans, physical sales and other income.
We love the Black Keys, we love music, and we’re excited about what our digitally connected world may hold for musicians, producers, filmmakers, educators, and creators of every ilk. Here’s to the technology that may support their careers in the very near future…
Our new coffee filters arrived today…
We bought what we thought was the “econo” box.
It shipped with 1000 units. Granted, we like our coffee, but this seems excessive.
That said, if you visit us anytime next year and notice that we’re running low on filters, please help us seek professional help from what has obviously become a notorious (and likely unhealthy) addiction.
Thank you.
You have managed to find NoWare. We are a music based creative house located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
