[Editors note, the following was started last saturday]  

Ok.. so so much for back in the saddle action, ha? 

As I write… well it’s a “tax holiday” in Massachusetts… which means no sales tax, which means Matt’s on a shopping spree… of course today is only day one of said weekend.. so lets take a quick look at the fun new stuff.

#1 Electric Bass:

It’s a Fender.. a fretless no less. I was just playing different basses that were vaguely in my price range when this one came up and bit me.. It plays rather well, and the fretless thing didn’t seem that difficult to deal with.. so I was a happy camper.

Getting a bass is resonant with many meanings and implications for me.. but right now it seems to be like my new favorite thing to do.. just play around on it. I’m sure there will be more on this subject in not too much time.

#2 ReCycle:

I think ReCycle is a little over priced, and ought to come with Reason.. Of course I haven’t played with it yet, and playing with it could change my tune. For those not in the know.. what ReCycle is mainly about is slicing and dicing audio files.. turning them into sliced up loops.. the slicing allows the sample to be played at whatever tempo or pitch.. that these things can be handled independently… none of which is really that compelling these days.. but the REX file type.. which is what you create with ReCycle… well that’s the main thing you’re buying it for.. And REX does allow for some creative loop manipulation that’s a good deal of fun.

In practice, as I understand it, ReCycle is a great way to.. kinda mine your record collection.. for loops. I’m.. not big into working that way as.. there’s the copy right issues.. but I do have a lot of work of my own that could be sliced and diced and turned into something new.. and I like the idea of working in that sorta way.

Further.. I’ve been feeling inspired, as of late, to create synthetic drum sounds.. and perhaps make loops out of them.. and the whole notion of spending more time customizing my sounds is very appealing to me.

#3 A DAT: Ok, if you didn’t know, DAT stands for Digital Audio Tape…  So I bought a DAT recorder.. not because I plan to record anything with it.. but because I have old DATs with my music on them.. from College.. and buying a DAT is the only way to get that old work onto disk. The DAT only cost me $90 used.. and I can probably sell it for.. $50 without too much trouble.. or perhaps even a little more.. 

#4 A 24″ HD monitor: This would be my second monitor.. This particular monitor has a swivel to it so you can use it in horizontal or vertical mode.. has HDMI.. and is a bit of a USB hub.. More monitors = greater productivity. I haven’t gotten a chance to try it out yet.. for reasons we won’t go into here.. but OMG does it feel amazing having the two monitors on this desk here.

#5 Art Tablet: Lets face it, drawing with a mouse on a computer blows… When you use an art tablet you start to realize how much of how you use a mouse is a compensation for the failings of the mouse.

All this stuff has been, more or less, on the budget for the last.. 6 or more months.. stuff I’ve planned.. or whatever. To jump out and buy all this stuff all at once is quite a rush.. and I’m sorta feeling like.. well like I wish I wasn’t buying it all at once…. and yet, given that tomorrow is more tax holiday.. I’m thinking of buying more.

More?

• I’m thinking about getting an HD video camera.. 

 [Editors note: Matt didn’t really end up buying anything the next day]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 12:12 am and is filed under Media / Arts Business, Music Production. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.