Pro Tools uses a proprietary plug-in format called RTAS (Real Time AudioSuite) which is equivalent to the open source VST plugin format used in other sequencers such as Logic and Cubase. As anyone can create their own VSTs and release them to the public, there are literally thousands of VST plugins out there, ranging in price from free to remarkably expensive. As there is no quality control system on these plugins, their usefulness also varies a lot – but at least for the free plugins, you don’t have much to lose by giving them a go. For Pro Tools users, however, there are still a few ways to expand your RTAS plugin arsenal on the cheap…
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Music Technology Posts from January, 2008
Free RTAS Plugins – Free Plugins For Pro Tools
Thursday, January 31st, 2008Last FM More Fun Than Napster
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Continuing their determined push to continually innovate in the online social music world, Last.fm yesterday announced that users can now play full-length tracks and albums on demand. At the moment, the full-length streaming service is available in the UK, USA and Germany, with plans to expand into other countries in the immediate future…
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RPM Challenge Gets An Extra Day
Monday, January 21st, 2008It seems that an entire year has almost elapsed since the RPM challenge 2007, when musicians around the world took upon themselves the mighty task of writing and recording an album in 28 days. As February is impending once more, the challenge has now been reissued with the marginally less daunting timeframe of 29 days…
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Rewire Reason – Using Reason with Pro Tools, Cubase, Live
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008Rewire is a technology developed by Propellerhead Software that allows music production programs to be connected (rewired) together so that they operate in tandem, with both timelines synchronised and locked to one another. As Reason doesn’t have any native audio sequencing facility, it makes a lot of sense to link it to your favourite sequencer package, whether that be Pro Tools, Cubase, Ableton Live, or any other program that supports the Rewire protocol…
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More Cowbell, More Drums
Monday, January 14th, 2008One of the immutable laws of music production is that, no matter what style of record you’re dealing with, you can never have too much cowbell. In fact, one of the most effective ways of predicting which upcoming single is going to be a major international hit is to check its cowbell usage. No cowbell is probably fatal; some cowbell is good, more cowbell is best…
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A Compressed Guide To Audio Compression
Thursday, January 10th, 2008A compressor is arguably the most vital plug-in processor in an audio producer’s toolbox (after reverb, that is) – but is also one of the most difficult to fully understand, and almost certainly the most difficult to use properly. There are a few things you should know before you start down the compression trail…
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Download Free Albums – The New Music Marketing Approach
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008There’s nothing new about giving music away for free – it’s just that nowadays the big boys (Radiohead, Prince, Jamiroquai, Nine Inch Nails, et al) are doing it too. The status quo of the old music consumption system has been eroded, and we are currently in the process of finding a new equilibrium. But are free album downloads the way forward?
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Get Your Pop Tips And Mashups Now
Friday, January 4th, 2008Today’s title sounds like a bad menu choice from a greasy spoon, but is inspired by my recent discovery of two useful lists; the first being a list of 25 pop track production tips over at the newly-beta music radar, and the second being Bootie’s list of the best mashups of 2007, which are all available for free download…
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Choose Your Own Future Of Music
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008Just as each year ends with a tempest of review pieces, each new year begins with a myriad of dazzling predictions for the months to come. Will music become like water? Will major artists leave their record companies behind and distribute their songs themselves? Will the major labels stop creating cookie-cutter one-hit-wonders and make some long-term investments? There’s only one way to find out…
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