need an idea scratch pad for the coffee shop

[Danly]

I am looking to put together an extremely small, portable, idea scratch pad for myself. I recently bought the korg nano series controllers, so that I can get a riff out of my head if I'm sitting in a coffee shop... or in a park, on a bus, etc..

For audio, I guess I could just use a usb mic, but do you think a 57 plugged into a xlr to female trs adapter -> usb guitar cable - would work ok? But also, I'd like to be using an apogee duet so I can travel to a friends house and do some legit recording as well.. I have thought also about a mini me, but in this case, smaller is better, so I'd prefer the duet.

I am going to be doing this with a new dell 9 netbook computer. I plan to wipe windows or ubuntu off of it and install leopard. Also gonna get a mini pci to firewire card, and external drive. Do you think an apogee duet could work with this funky setup.

I definitely have a habit of going about things the hard way, so if you have a better idea (it's gotta be SMALL, I travel a lot,) let me know. Like, maybe I should just get a mini digital 4 track and call it a day. I have a dave smith evolver which is small enough to carry around with it in a bag.

haha, I could just buy a 15" macbook pro.. I just really want something smaller than that though.
thanks, everyone

edit: just thought about this, if I do the 4 track + small synth thing, I would need an outlet to power the synth. If I am using a laptop, I can just mess with vst i's, and power the usb controller off the laptop.

[BenjaminWells]

I kind of like the idea of a small, portable flash recorder. Seems simple enough.

But... I don't feel it's about the stuff surrounding you. It's about the riffs you talked about creating in a coffee shop. Recently, I discovered this:
http://changethis.com/6.HowToBeCreative

It is a rather famous free.pdf that talks about creativity. In it, #10 really resonated with me. It dispenses with the idea of "props" and "pillars" being necessary for creativity. Possibly because I no longer have the financial freedom to spin on what new prop I'm going to buy or pillar I'm going to rely on to make me good, I have discovered a sort of freedom from the medium, in favor of a focus on the ideas and inventions that come from within me. This new understanding has transformed my creative process.

So, it doesn't really matter if you write down your ideas on paper, record them to a flash card, play them into your cell phone or smoke signal them across the valley. The point is you had them and saved them somehow, for later use, re-generation, evolution or enjoyment.

[Danly]

cool post. Thanks for the link. I think it will be helpful for me. I am going to read it now, but it will take me some time to digest, so just wanted to say thanks first, and I'll let you know what I take from it.

[Danly]

i don't know if I agree with you on the #10 pillars thing. For me, I have a studio that I built out and that is more of a pillar than a macbook pro would be. I need this portable setup so that I can get out of the 'studio' and go sit in the sun and get creative somewhere else. I am really enjoying this read though, it's inspiring.

So back on topic, does anyone know if a pc with os x installed can run a duet? I'm just more comfortable with mac

[ThePitz]

Dunno anything about leopard on PCs...

Why not a macbook or macbook air? Those are pretty small - but would still have some multi-track power.

[Danly]

maybe macbook would work for me since I can get a 13" with firewire. Was hoping to have something smaller, which is why the netbook idea appealed to me. If you read the pdf that is linked to above, in #24, the author talks about how he started drawing on business cards because he needed to get something down when inspiration struck, not go back to his studio and 'recreate a memory'.. Maybe I am just being crazy, but I thought it would be cool if I could be recording to a small computer instead of just humming in my head when I'm walking around outside. I don't want to hum into a voice recorder.. I want a tiny laptop, and a tiny usb keyboard, and hopefully a tiny interface. I think I am answering my own question here.. will probably go with the netbook. Are there any other small interfaces that can be powered directly from a laptop, without having to be plugged into the wall? If I decide to try the duet, I will report back on whether it works or not. Maybe I'll just record to the built in mic jack.
If only the ipod touch had usb an app that could run a vst..

[standup]

Apple is supposedly working on a netbook sized something or other, in between an iPod and a netbook.

I have a couple of music apps on an iPod touch, but you can't do anything very serious with them.

[standup]

Apple is supposedly working on a netbook sized something or other, in between an iPod and a netbook.

I have a couple of music apps on an iPod touch, but you can't do anything very serious with them.

[lyman]

. Recently, I discovered this:
http://changethis.com/6.HowToBeCreative

.

I never read that before. Thanks for posting it, there are some excellent ideas in there!

Regarding the portable recorder idea..... I got a little Sony voice recorder and it has had more of a positive impact on my creativity than the new & expensive acoustic I bought. They're cheap, durable, easy to use, and pocket-sized. I keep it handy when I'm playing guitar at home, and at "work" I go through it with headphones on - figuring out which bits are keepers, which need some help, and which are disposable. PLUS, they're awesome if you want to record a lo-fi vocal or guitar track or whatever for a song. Sounds nice and shitty.

It sounds like the OP is committed to the mini-laptop idea but I figured I'd share my thoughts simply for the sake of discussion. By all means, find the tools that work for YOU. Use whatever inspires you. That is all!

[ninethirty]

If you check out the forums on insanelymac.com, there are users with hackintoshes that are successfully using Duets. So I don't see why it wouldn't work. The trick would be the miniPCI firewire card -- it would come with a 4-pin header, and you'd need to get a firewire bracket to plug into that to give you a normal firewire port, and I don't know where that would go or how you'd route it out of the netbook so you could actually plug things in. But perhaps others have done that before?
The Duet would sound better, but I'd recommend a Zoom H2 (or newer/bigger Zoom H4n). You could use it on its own as a digital recorder/scratch pad, or plug it into a netbook and use it as a USB microphone. I know you said you weren't interested in a digital voice recorder, but this would play both roles, and it's a great scratch pad -- I use it for that (I like Tascam's DR-1/GT-R1 better, but it doesn't serve as a USB interface).

The netbook (or laptop of some kind) would be necessary to use the nano series, of course. And I'd definitely price out the cost of Netbook + leopard + firewire card + firewire bracket and see if it doesn't end up cheaper to buy the white plastic Macbook (which still has Firewire) and call it a day. That Macbook was just updated with slightly faster specs, and it's a great deal in Apple-land.

Apple is supposedly working on a netbook sized something or other, in between an iPod and a netbook.

It's true...lots of rumors about that. Shame that there's no way to know when that might be coming out. Apple has a developer conference next week, but they don't usually announce new laptops there. But you never know...


By the way, how do you like the NanoKey? I'm thinking of getting one to bang out melodies while I work, but I hear a lot of conflicting reports about durability and feel...

[grinningidiot]

I recently bought the korg nano series controllers, so that I can get a riff out of my head if I'm sitting in a coffee shop... or in a park, on a bus, etc..

Just out of curiosity, what software would you use? I was thinking of something similar but don't have really any experience with soft-synths. I would like to have a small set-up at home to lay down quick ideas, lay down melodies that pop in my head. Right now I'm whistling into my cell phone's voice recorder. I'm in an apartment so I don't always have my recording stuff set up, but it would sure be nice to be able to lay down a quick melody, with maybe a drum beat underneath. Can anyone recommend any (legit)free/cheap programs for PC that I could use with the Nano that could handle maybe some drums, some melodies/chords? Would I be looking for a plug-in, or a seperate stand-alone program?

Sorry for the newb question

[Danly]

grinningidiot, I'll will share with you what has been most useful and effective for me for songwriting, and maybe it could work for you too.

sometimes I like to write songs on keyboard. I am not a great keyboard player, so what I do is record midi notes into a DAW and quantize them later. For this I use Reaper. I download free vst synths from KVR audio. For a keyboard I am using a cheapo yamaha electronic piano, but it has a midi out -- so I connect it to the computer with an M audio midisport. For making a beat, I find a vst synth that has a cool drum sound and record the midi notes through my cheap keyboard by tapping whichever key triggers the bass drum or snare, and that you definitely want to quantize.. (due to latency/not being perfect)

I'm mainly a guitar player, and usually I'm just doing rock n roll. For this I use a Tascam 488 cassette 8 track. It works great for band practices or solo demos. It is quick and dirty but can sound pretty damn good if you use a good mic and good pre.

[47ronin]

In Ableton Live you can "play" midi instruments using the computer keyboard, which is kind of limited but is a lot easier than carrying around a midi controller.

[Danly]

hey, ninethirty, thanks so much for all that info! and welcome to the board . That is great to know that there are other people with hackintoshes who use a duet. I will do some research and figure out how to make it work.

Also, you're definitely right that I should do the math on whether it's cheaper to maybe just buy a macbook, than do the netbook with upgrades. I was planning on buying os x from the apple store. Maybe even the basic version of logic as well. Hmm.. software would be about 200 - 250, ram upgrade 50, firewire 50 at least... yeah.. it's kind of adding up to $1000 anyway.

I will consider the Zoom recorder. I am getting better at keyboard and maybe I don't need to quantize anymore... I'll think about this some more later.

As far as the nanokey is concerned, It feels like CRAP! the buttons "click crunch" if you push them diagonally, and the velocity is very iffy. The width of the keys is weird too, chords are kind of ok on it, but the worst would be playing a fast melody if you were using a mono synth patch. It is a great idea, though, and I love how small, portable, and "disposable" it is. I have an oxygen 8 that can be powered from usb, and I highly recommend that over the nanokey. (unless you want coffee shop, or walking down the street small).

very helpful! thanks again and see you around

[Danly]

In Ableton Live you can "play" midi instruments using the computer keyboard, which is kind of limited but is a lot easier than carrying around a midi controller.

True, I used to do that in fruity loops before I ever had a midi to usb interface. i don't think it would work for me, good call though. (Also, I used to import midi data from guitar pro, where you compose by typing in numbers (tablature) and using standard notation. Ha, I still remember that kick drum is 36, snare is 58, and high hat is 42.)
I know I just bashed the nanokey, but it is pretty handy that it's so small, it looks cool, and I am going to use it, even though it doesn't feel that good.