Don’t Fear the Reaper

Reaper. It’s more than just a grim story. It’s also a DAW – or Digital Audio Workstation – from Cockos. It’s also the DAW of choice for Glyptic Minority.

When I first started making music electronically on a PC, somewhere in the mid to late 90’s, I bought Sonic Foundry‘s Acid. They were cutting edge at the time and held the title for some of the best audio editing tools available. They later sold their audio tools to Sony for only 18 million. I spent a lot of cash on their various products over a 15 year period. Once you get into a work flow, it can be difficult to change.

In the end, Sony all but killed the Acid Pro family. Version 7 is still the latest pro version, and has been for years. A few years ago I wised up and started looking for a better DAW. Acid just wasn’t cutting it (pun intended). That’s when I found Reaper.

In comparison to Acid, Reaper had a very similar workflow, which really turned me on to using it. The major difference was that Reaper was so more advanced, and easy to use, that my mind was blown. What else was amazing was the price and upgrade policy. Not only did it cost much less than Pro Tools, Logic, or others, it included 2 full version upgrades. I used to drop $100 to $150 for an upgrade to Acid. More for other DAW’s.

There are other DAW’s in a similar price range, but they pale in comparison.

Every producer is partial to their own DAW. In the end, it boils down to workflow and personal preference. Reaper is an amazing tool. If you’re looking for one or just want to give it a try – go ahead and download it for free.

Gear Head: Glitch 2 (VST Plugin)

I first came across the glitch (ver. 1) plugin a couple of years ago. I looked into it because I wanted the sound of Izotope’s Stutter plugin but didn’t want to pay the price. Not because their plugins are bad, I own several. I think that at the time I just couldn’t justify the expense.

The early version of the plugin was very cool for the low price of free. But it lacked an elegant user interface and a few features like layering or combining effects. Enter Glitch 2.

Glitch 2 isn’t free, but it’s well worth the asking price. And while I’m sure you could download a bootleg copy, don’t. Support good developers by dropping a little dough. They deserve it.

Control – Ctrl+Alt+Del

This track features the first version of Glitch, which is still free and available for Windows. I’m currently working on new tracks with Glitch 2.

Top Five Points on Soundcloud

For those of you who aren’t in the know, Soundcloud is a company that sells SAS. SAS is “Software as a Service”. In other words, it’s a website application that offers subscription plans. And they should, because they’re good at it. Continue reading