JB2011

Also consider Presonus Studio One Pro. The community is very active, and they're coming out with version 2.0 this fall. The program was written by some of the top programers formerly with Steinberg. I used to use Pro Tools, but since I also use a ton of virtual instruments I found the work flow in this program much much easier. It supports through VST3. It's not cheap, but then I also think you get what you pay for, usually. The KRK Rokit5s are good, but I really would look at maybe the Rokit8s. The reason is that there are typically some mud frequencies around 45 Hz that can overwhelm a mix. The 8s will get you lower than that down to 44 @ -1.5 dB, but will probably go to 40 at -3 or -4. That's about 1/3 octave. The 5s cut off around 52 Hz. The monitors I currently use do fine from 63 - 20 kHz, and I found I need to buy a subwoofer because I can't hear what is going on below about 55 Hz and before I was aware of this I would boost the bass up, only to find it was muddy on other systems that were capable of handling the bass. Bass became guess-work. So I'd consider the Rokit8s.

Ella Fitzgerald Peggy Lee Eva Cassidy Gladys Knight June Christy Melissa Etheridge Nancy Wilson (jazz) Gaga Ann Wilson Frank Sinatra Tony Bennett Jim Morrison Freddy Mercury

It would be like learning how to play a different instrument.

Reverb.... on vocals I'm a reverb whore. I use mostly VSTis for instruments, but since they're all rigged differently I turn off the effects bank on them and prefer to make it sound like everything is in the same room with a plugin like Waves IR1, and there is a trick to using this. The signal path can get very convoluted, pardon the pun. At some point I'll explain how I use it. It is possible to get a 3D effect. The amount also depends upon the genre and overall mood one wants to achieve. I also want to touch on timing issues. When using VSTis too many people quantitize. Of course it doesn't hurt being at expert level on the keyboards to get around this. Take for example if you're putting together a sax section. I think it would behoove you to play each individual sax part. If you have two tenor saxes, play the part twice. Why? No section, no matter how good is going to have the perfect timing one achieves with quanitization. It stands out like a sore thumb. I've heard recordings where I know the piano was quantitized because the timing is too perfect. No one plays like that. Quantitizing does have its place. It can help when you're creating the pocket, but then it might be wise after you've got everything done, to slip things just a little here and there for a more human feel. I don't think the "humanize" feature on most DAWs is up to snuff just yet.

Not that I particularly care for the software package myself, but there is always Reaper. It's free for 30 days, and costs $60 after that. That's a pretty darn good deal. There's quite a following. I cut my teeth on Pro Tools 8 and now use Presonus Studio One Pro which I like a lot better. But the latter two get pricy, and you still need a computer. But for recording a quality hand portable recorder would do the job for getting down ideas and stuff, but if you want to take them further you'll need more than that.