I’ve slowly updated components of The $1K Home Studio over the last few years, but have never had a low-cost, DIY solution for disc replication. After playing with external CD burners and evaluating various proprietary hardware options such as the Aleratec auto-flip burner , MicroBoard tower replicators amongst many others, I decided that the current [...]
Archive for the ‘music’ Category
The $1K CD/DVD/LightScribe Replicator: The DIY Guide To Manufacturing Your Own Discs For Less Than $1 Each
June 28th, 2010
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Getting iTunes To Convert/Export/Bounce To Other File Formats
March 21st, 2010
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You’d think iTunes 9 would have a menu option to convert selected, non-DRM’d files to .MP3, .AAC and such. It doesn’t, but there’s a quick–if not silly–workaround to get iTunes to covert your tracks to a supported format. Mac instruction for iTunes v9 Open Preferences -> General -> Import Settings. Change the “Import Using option [...]
Why Amateur Musicians Use Macs
October 21st, 2009
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While discussing tonights U2 concert in Phoenix, I got into a HUGE argument with a Linux user over why amateur musician/producers would have to be mentally challenged for *not* making a Mac their first investment over Linux and Windows. Since the proof is in the ear pudding, I wrote, recorded and mixed this U2-inspired acoustic/vocal [...]
Whiskey Three – Deconstructing Fate Preview
August 21st, 2009
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My alt. rock band–currently going by Vic Lee And The Whiskey Three–is rehearsing to put together an EP-length studio demo. We practiced in my living room today and decided to let GarageBand run during a few song run-throughs. This is a raw-off-the-fretboard, completely unedited practice take of one of them… hope you enjoy the sneak [...]
Three Beers, Three Originals Live Originals
June 18th, 2009
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Here’s three original songs from a small set I played a few weeks ago with some friends. If you’ve ever wondered if there is a connection between alcohol consumption and complete loss of control over your vocal chords, behold: undeniable scientific proof. Soooooo, let’s just ignore the crappy parts, mmkay? Lies (Preston Lee, 2009) In [...]
Solaris 10 x64: Get Your Sound Card Working
August 17th, 2007
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When I built the $1000, 2TB file server, the on-board nVidia HD audio support of the Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard didn’t work out of the box. It’s a trivial fix using the recently open sourced OSS drivers from 4Front Technologies. (I also tested a Creative Audigy 2 PCI sound card using these drivers under Solaris 10 [...]
Lala.com Review: Legal Web 2.0 Music Trading
July 6th, 2007
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Lala.com is an online service for trading physical discs. After entering information on your current CD collection, what CDs you want, and receiving a free shipping kit of envelops and plastic disc carriers via postal mail, you simply start sending discs out as they are requested. Other users do the same, and the system handles [...]
The $1K Home Recording Studio Mac Add-on
January 7th, 2007
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Update 1: Check out “Making Friends With Some Guy Named Mike” on this band page of mine for an awesome example of this studio in action. 20 years ago digital home recording wasn’t plausible. 10 years ago we started to see its potential, but most hobbyists (read: very cash-limited people) were limited to using still-primitive [...]
