The Cool & Affordable Must-Have's

From the Editor

Okay, if money was no object I could think of a thousand
pieces of gear that I would want in my studio but since that
is not the case I have to be a little more discriminating.
Here are 3 things that are: one, affordable and two, useful.

First, let's talk about drummers. Since I am a drummer maybe
I'm a little touchy about his subject but, if you have ever
used a virtual drummer, whether hardware or software based,
the sounds are pretty poor, especially the cymbal's. Most
are hard to program so you just make do with the presets
and hope everything works out. Well, those days seem to be
over. Welcome to the scene - STRIKE (Digidesign). The only
reason why I came to know STRIKE was because we (HowAudio.com)
created a tutorial on the software. This software is AMAZING.
It's easy to program, the 1500 customizable presets give
you a lot of options to start creating your own unique sounds.
You change so many different parameters including mic placement,
drum tuning, style complexity and for me, one of the nicest
features is you can set where on the cymbal the stick will
strike. In past drum software/hardware you either had the
rim or the bell to choose from. Words cannot explain how
cool this is, so check out the video and see for yourself.
You will become a believer in STRIKE.

Secondly, the Axiom 61 Keyboard MIDI Controller. I'm not
a keyboard player but this is a piece of gear that I'm adding
to my arsenal. Yes it's great for the studio but I would
use it in live settings, as a controller. M-Audio has hit
a home-run with this keyboard. Jeff Dykhouse called this
the "Swiss Army Knife of Keyboards". Check
it out.

If the Axiom is the "Swiss Army Knife of Keyboards" then
the NRV10 is the "Swiss Army Knife of Mixers".
The NRV10 is made by M-Audio and it combines an 8 x 2 analog
mixer with a 10 x 10 24bit/96kHz digital audio interface.
For those who aren't 'gear-heads' - so what. Well, without
getting into every nuance of the NRV10, just image only having
to plug in a single firewire cable versus a slew of cables.
You have real-time insert effects on every channel. You can
host two VST plug-ins on every channel. The NRV10 can be
used in live situations as well as in the studio, as an analog
mixer or and digital control service for Pro Tools or other
DAW software.

If you want to learn how to use any of the aforementioned
products or would like to evaluate them to see if you would
want to add them to your family, check
out the videos.