EZKeys Grand Piano from Toontrack!

What a complete joy EZKeys Grand Piano is to work with! When was the last time that you heard someone say that about a plug in?

I have found the new midi piano writing tool for all of the music that I will write from now on! EZKeys from Toontrack! I actually found myself letting everyone that I came in contact with know that I have found the best midi piano plug in ever. I have never done that before either.

I can't believe how good EZKeys sounds! Top that off with an amazingly fast workflow, and the ease of tuning the included midi files to music that you have already recorded, and a true winner is born. Truth is, that within 30 minutes, I had found the perfect midi files for a new theme song, for my new podcast that is in the works. I easily cut, copied, and pasted the midi files to taste, in minutes flat, to better fit within my tracks. Then, with a super fast chord change here and there, my work was done! I love that! I used to spend hours upon hours writting midi for piano.

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The EZKeys interface is so darn simple to use. Each genre of included midi files has several choices for each of the parts of a song (intro, verse, chorus, ect.) All you need to do is audition them, and then, as you find that perfect midi file, grab it! Drag and drop the midi file that best suits your tracks into the plug ins midi workflow area. Don't worry if it is in a wrong key, too long, or too short. Listen to what is being played. Why? Because you can simply use the provided tools to cut it up, copy and paste the midi parts around, just to get the midi performance perfect. I do that very thing in the video. Once you cut and paste to taste, you simply join the splices to make one long file. Dragging and dropping this "new long midi file (sequence) into your daw is easy, and a song was born. In the past, I often have written my midi in, note by note, but those days might just be over.

EZKeys is just too darn fast to work with for me to ever go back.

EZKeys works fine as a stand alone instrument too! The sounds are wonderful, and the effects, like reverb, are just amazing. You might want EZKeys just for the stand alone qualities alone! It sounds this good! I am also using my favorite Toontrack plug in for the drums too, in the video, and that is Superior Drummer 2.0. However, EZDrummer is just as good, and it will do almost everything that Superior Drummer 2.0 will, except for the mixing and effects parts of the software.

I can envision some new sample packs and different piano types in the works, but this is not fact. Just one of my dreams for the future. If Toontrack repeats what they have done for EZDrummer and Superior Drummer 2.0, with both midi packs and kit/studio packs, then we are in for a long ride! Lets all pray that the past repeats itself!

Quiztones Frequency Ear Training

Quiztones Frequency Ear Training for Mac & iOS demo and review!

From the Quiztones website: "Quiztones is a frequency ear trainer for amateur and professional audio engineers, producers, and musicians."

What an awesome tool, and a fantastic idea Quiztones is! If you find yourself mixing, mastering, or just using EQ, you will need to train your ears. Training your ears is fundamental, but how does one get the training? Here is the tool that makes learning fun! First, here is how Quiztones Frequency Ear Training for Mac & iOS works!

Quiztones is broken down into two separate tests. The two tests are called "Tones", and EQ".

The tests that fall under "Tones" play sample frequencies and then supplies you with four answers to choose from. Three of the four answers are close, but only is correct. You only need to pay attention to the sample, and make your guess. I was very impressed the first time through! My score, however, was not as impressive, a 575. But that is the whole point. I need to get better at knowing the spectrum, and this is a fun way to get better! In fact, this was a great, and a fun way to learn how to pay attention to what I was hearing. The 4 answers, supplied for us to choose from, are close to each other, as to be a better challenge. What I mean by this, is that you have to think about what you just heard as you make your choices. There are no giveaways here.

The second test option, "EQ", is where I find myself spending most of my time. This section plays samples of instruments, or entire songs, and then applies a chosen frequency boost or cut to that. You can audition the sample over and over, and you can toggle the "applied EQ" on and off. This makes "Hearing" the applied EQ easier, and choosing less like guess work. Here is a list of what is inside the "EQ" part of the app.....

The "EQ" section of Quiztones has many choices from which to choose from. There are Music Library, Acoustic guitar, Bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Orchestra, Piano, Pink noise, Strings,
Strings 2, and Vocals. All of these instrument selections have sub-categories to select from, such as "Easy +10db", "Hard +6db", and "Hard -10 db". The "db" part is how much (in decibels) or how less of the "EQ" is applied to the samples. The samples are well recorded, and make this app so much more than some sort of game. I am learning here, um, and keeping score!

Choosing the "Music library" selection actually imports audio (that you select) into it, and then
Quiztones adds the frequencies of question to that song. This makes perfect sense too. Wouldn't it be great to hear a particular frequency boost in a piece that we already recognize, forward and backwards, and then decide which frequency range it is? After all, don't we often ad an EQ onto a master buss? This makes sense for the mastering folks out there too.

Head over to the Quiztones website and grab the app for yourself today! It will work on Macs, and Iphone/Ipod touch. For 4.99 U.S.D., my ears are going up in worth each time I play through a "set".

HRW on Facebook!

Hello everyone, I hope all is going well in your studios. This post is simply a little note to let you know a few things.

First, Home Recording Weekly is now on Facebook! Here is my new Facebook page link . Please head over there and send me a friend request. I want to have as many of you on my friend list as I can. This will make give aways so much easier!

Secondly, if any of you wish to reach me directly, with any questions about the blog, I have a new email for you all. Kern@HomeRecordingWeekly.com is the email for that. So, if you have concerns, issues, or ideas for me, please feel free to drop me an email!

Thirdly, I have been so busy raising my newborn son that I have not posted in some time! Please excuse me for my absence! I am the stay at home dad, and all is well, but busy as all get out! Trust me, there are some cool demo video projects in the works, as well as some cool ideas.

Thanks for stopping by today!

A dedicated controller for Reason!

New from Nektar, a “all-in-one” controller for Reason and Record!

Here is the press release, and You could win one for yourself too!

Nektar Technology, Inc. - December 19th, 2011 (ictw) - There have been already a lot of rumors about it, now it is official: Nektar, the California based new brand for Advanced Control * Enhanced Workflow
Controllers announce Panorama P4, the first dedicated Controller Keyboard for Propellerhead Reason. This couples with a great prize competition. Musicians can win the very first Panorama P4 rolling off the
production line, by submitting their competition entry at www.nektartech.com.

Panorama P4 is Nektar’s vision of how a great controller keyboard should work. As there are many controllers on the market already, it is still a challenge to find one that offers the feel and flow of
operating the software, as if it’s hardware.
Panorama P4 uses a communication protocol that has been
custom designed for Reason 6, putting control - every control - at the musician’s fingertips. Panorama, in addition, of course also features traditional MIDI controller capabilities, including a MIDI output, so its possible to switch between the virtual and a hardware instrument rack in real-time. Panorama P4 really provides access to all areas.


Panorama P4 will be shown to the public for the first time at the NAMM Show 2012 in Anaheim, January 18th – 21st 2012 at booth #4912.

Now it is possible to win the first ever made Panorama P4.
And the rules are simple: Answering the the questions and including one’s real name and email address.
The competition will run until NAMM and if more than one submission got all answers right, Nektar will pick the winner through a random draw. As there is one question even Nektar do not know the answer to yet, everybody is invited to make a good
guess.

Panorama is expected to be available in Q1 2012. Price tba.

More Information you can find at: www.nektartech.com

Buy Toontrack Music'c latest EZX® expansion, Americana, before the end of October 2011 and automatically enter the competition to win a hand carved, custom designed and one of a kind guitar. On top of that, once you've won - we will have your name or custom inscription carved in the pickguard. How cool and unique is that?

Contest Rules:
• To be eligible to participate, a copy of Americana EZX must be registered to your personal Toontrack account before the end of the month of October 2011.

• Any place of purchase is valid

• Only new copies apply (second hand owners are not eligible to enter)

• One lucky winner will be randomly picked from all copies registered from September 30 through October 31 2011

Follow this link for more information about Toontracks EZX® Americana expansion pack.

Review of Billy Penns’ “Guitar Set UP Guide” E-Book.

From the creator of the popular 300 Guitars website comes a new E-book that perhaps every guitar player should have.

This is one thick “E-book”. How about 46 pages of knowledge, packed with great images, relevant video links, and so, so much more!

However, before I take you any further, perhaps I should explain both “who is Billy Penn”, and “why it is that we should we take his advice?”.

In Billy’s own words and with paraphrasing too…….

“I began my career as a guitar (and amplifier) tech out of necessity and pure love for the instrument. As far back as I can remember I was always interested in how things worked, came apart and went back together………..

Around the age of 19 I got a job at Kramer Guitars in the stock room which was right next to the repair department. I used to hang out and watch to see how some repairs were performed. As I got older I started playing in bands but my full time day gig was as a Union Electrician. My band mates and their friends would give me their broken guitars and amps and I would fix them. I couldn't decide which I loved more, playing them or fixing them. So I decided that it would be cool to be the best I could be at both……….

I then worked in various music stores doing repair work. I actually created a repair tech job at Outlaw Guitars which specialized in vintage guitars and amps. I got an education of a lifetime there working on all the different prized gear you can think of. I used to stay late and open every amp and guitar to see how they were built and how they all were different. I really got more interested in amps during this time and decided to start a boutique amp company.………

Around this time the playing bug started to gain strength and I found myself touring for part of the 90's and spending a little time in Nashville. Being on the road and in the studio was another great education. This was the other side of the bench as I like to call it. Needless to say I took care of everyone's gear but I didn’t mind at all. So after about 20+ years working on countless guitars and amps (some pedals too) and having my own “Pennalizer” brand of amps I decided to go online with my passion and started 300guitars.com…….I actually have my own band called the Inside Drivers and play gigs regularly and record. I like to keep that aspect of myself “plugged in” so I can constantly learn more music and come up with ideas to better help players with my services.”

Now, back to the review…….

This E-book is geared towards electric and acoustic guitars, but not the types with “floating trems” and locking nuts. There will be another E-book coming soon which will cover these types of guitars.

As a guitar player, band member, songwriter, and over all guitar enthusiast, I have always wondered just which important guitar adjustments I should try to make on my own. With much regret, what I found out was that this information is “trade sensitive”, and that no guitar tech seems willing to just give this knowledge away. My guitars just seem to fall out of perfect setup as the gigs pass, and my guitars never seem to play the same ever again.

Billy Penn makes no bones about giving us the exact and precise information that we all need, and wish to know. Such knowledge is vital to the way that our guitars “play”, feel, sound, tune up, and perhaps most important of all, how long our guitars will last. It is like having a guitar tech with us, for as long as we keep our E-book Guitar setup guide that is.

Within the pages of this E-book, Billy Penn teaches us how to perform the most vital of guitar adjustments. Billy teaches us how to adjust our guitars’ intonation, truss rods, radius, action of the strings, pickups, and all of this with exact precision! The information that I have always tried to obtain is “just what substances should be used to polish all of the different types of guitar finishes”. Well, that is also in this excellent guide E-book!

Billy lists the best possible tools that we should have available before we begin our guitar work. He details what the work space should look like, what it should contain, and as we read along he details lot of great tips. Great tips that we can all use to make our job a lot easier.

All of the fine measurements are in this E-book, along with a lot of images, video links, and knowledge that most “techs” do not like to give away. Thanks Billy Penn, for helping all of us guitar players! At $4.99 this is a steal, and a must have!

Winner for August songwriting contest!

Well, one more month has passed, and one more songwriter has won.

Congrats to Genta Tamashiro, and a job well done!

I love this tune, and the story behind the song. Here is what Genta has to say about the song “ Left in the past 2”……

“Hello my name is Genta Tamashiro. I am from Denver, CO but I am currently going to college in Hawaii at the University of Hawaii. I went to Denver School of the Arts (which is a public school with emphasis on the arts in Denver) for middle and high school where I studied music. I recently started recording music and I love it. I have no formal training in recording or audio engineering but I hope to go to school for it soon. At the moment all I use to record is a copy or Logic Studio that was given to me from a good friend, an input box to hook up my mic to my laptop, and a Shure SM58 microphone.

After much deliberation, I decided to send you this song I made that I call Left In The Past. I started making this song after a rather intense dream I had a few months ago where I was a soldier in some great war just to come home to have my wife leave me for being gone for so long. It is a strange dream considering I'm only 19 years old and have never been married! Never the less, it was a very strong dream and one of the very few that I can remember after waking. The song depicts one specific scene in my dream where my now ex wife is walking away from me while for some reason I do nothing to stop her.

All the instruments in the song are played by me and all the vocals are me as well. The drum kit is not live but a used a series of sampled sounds. The marimba you may hear is a MIDI instrument inside Logic and the guitar is live. I hope you enjoy my song. I have more songs as well in many different styles that I would love to enter if possible, if not, I would still love to have you hear them if you wanted to, I am always looking for feedback in the music that I make. :)
Thanks A lot,
Genta Tamashiro”

Enjoy your prizes Genta!