Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?

Subject: Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?
From: M.Ted
Date: 19 May 03 - 05:16 PM

I am particularly prone to get musical ideas when I am away from my desk. More often than not, though I may have worked something out pretty thoroughly, I lose part, most, or all of it before I can get it down. I have tried, without success, a variety of dictation related devices--they tend to have horrible sound quality, and don't really allow me to work with multiple parts. I have seen ads for several of these little ministudios or pocket studios or palmtop studios, and am beginning to feel like I am a little kid again, looking at the Sears Christmas Toy Catalog of days gone by--

Anybody use one of these things? What have you been doing? Are practical or just another musical gizmo?

Subject: RE: Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 May 03 - 05:35 PM

Great question, though I dont know the answer.I look forward to informed replies. At home I have a Yamaha 8-track set up, which is a great musical notebook, and also can be used to produce perfectly adequate quite complex CDs. But out of the house, I rely on drawing music staves in my trusty little note-book in my trouser pocket, and jotting down ideas there. I'd be intrigued to know of anything equally small that could be more useful.

Subject: RE: Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?
From: Amos
Date: 19 May 03 - 05:38 PM

Minidisc recorders are extremely useful and record with high quality. Dunno about ministudios, though.

A

Subject: RE: Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?
From: Ed.
Date: 19 May 03 - 05:50 PM

I'm not really sure about the type of technology you mean, and having ever write precisely zero decent songs, am not perhaps the best to comment (mind you I've written better stuff than some who claim to be 'songwriters')

I tend towards Paul McCartney's view: "If I can't remember it, then no one else will"

I don't fully understand what you mean, but surely a dictaphone with 'the melody does this' 'the bass does this, etc would suffice?

Or maybe I'm missing your point?

Not sure why high quality is important for a sketch

Subject: RE: Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 May 03 - 06:01 PM

The quality aspect might interest me a bit. The complexities of multitracking wouldnt interest me down at the pub,or out in a field, but the only small scale pocket sizeportable thing I've got is a little cassette thing, which produces loads of bacground noise. No good for adding nightingales or street noise to a soundcape mix. Are these mini disc things good, and do they need a big mike to go with them?

Subject: RE: Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?
From: Amos
Date: 19 May 03 - 06:58 PM

Nah -- they're very good, being digital, with remarkable fidelity (off course if you records chaos it comes back with excellent fidelity to chaos). They run a long time on batteries and recharge rapidly. The only probaem with them is that they are so condensed physically that you need to learn a different mindset for operating them from the old habits of cassette recording. It's a learning curve, but do-able.

Despite this they are very handy for editing as well -- you can cut out bits, insert bits, move them around, put labels on 'em and so on. The disks hold masses of stuff.

You can't blend two tracks on an MDR but you can pipe them both to a computer as separate tracks, synch them up and mix them. Once they'r eon board the puder you can do anything to them a sound studio would do just about.


A

Subject: RE: Tech: Anyone use a Ministudio?
From: M.Ted
Date: 20 May 03 - 12:11 AM

Which one have you used? I have seen a couple that say you can do up to 10 virtual tracks per channel, if you can't blend, how does that work? Also, what type of audio files do they create?