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Welcome to my recording studio! This page describes the equipment and software I use for doing my audio productions.

My Equipment: From Keyboards to Multitrackers

I play a variety of instruments, including a Fender electric bass guitar, a Titano accordian, and two Roland keyboards; the E28, and the EXR-3S. The E28 has 128 instruments, 64 rhythms, and two effects processors: one for reverb, and one for chorus. I used to use it for MIDI work on the computer, but now mostly use it for performing live.
The EXR-3S is an interactive arranger keyboard released in 2005. It features 510 instruments, 20 drum kits, 160 styles (84 are built in, and the rest are in Flash memory), and a pitch wheel, something which wasn't available with the E28. Roland have done a good job improving the sounds in this keyboard. I demonstrated some of the features of this keyboard in Episode 4 of my podcast.
I also use this keyboard in conjunction with Sonar, my MIDI sequencer.

For my mixer, I use a Peavey RQ2314 (I'm not sure if it's still being manufactured.) It's a 12-channel board, and is very easy to use because of the sliders and knobs. It also features mute and pre-fader buttons, which are useful if you're an Internet broadcaster, or doing any recording, using a software speech synthesizer like the Dec-Talk Access32. You can mute the software speech channels (this assumes that you're using two sound cards, and that both are connected to different channels on the mixer), then turn on the prefaders for both sound cards. This way, you'll still be able to hear everything through both sound cards, but the software speech won't be heard if you're broadcasting, or doing a recording. Unfortunately, at least with this board, everything is in mono when using the prefaders.

In 1997, I purchased a Fostex X26 Multitrack Tape Recorder, and used it until I started doing audio work on the computer two years later. I still have it, and it comes in handy if, for example, the computer died for some reason and I needed to work on a project while it was being fixed. The recorder uses regular tapes rather than reel-to-reels, and has some switches for changing the track you want to record on, a master volume control, and a pitch control, similar to those on a regular 4-track player like those from APH (the American Printing House for the Blind.) It also has a monitor so you can see the recording levels, but it's not necessary.
In case you don't know what a "multitrack recorder" is, it's a special type of recorder that lets you record, in the case of the X26, up to four tracks of audio. As an example, track 1 could be used to record a bass part. Track 2 could be for drums, while track 3 could be used to record a piano, and so on. As you record on the individual tracks, you can hear what you've recorded on the others.

My Computer Including Sequencers and Soft Synths

As far as my computer is concerned, I have a 1.5GHZ computer (I'm not sure of the name of the processor) with Windows XP Home Edition.
For my audio editor, I use Sound Forge 6.0D from Sony Pictures Digital Media Software. If I were asked to describe this program, I'd say it's a word processor for audio files, because it allows you to do things such as select a portion of a file, copy and paste sound, etc., just like a typical word processor. It's also usable without scripts, but there are some available for JFW, as well as set files for Window-Eyes.

As mentioned above, I use Sonar 6.2 Producer Edition from Cakewalk. It's a great sequencer when used with scripts for JFW, such as JSonar, or CakeTalking for Sonar from Dancing Dots. One thing I like about the program is the way you can edit MIDI data. You can remove a note that shouldn't be there, change notes by pressing a key on the MIDI keyboard, adjust a note's length, etc. The program can also be used to record audio tracks, and allows you to use Acidized audio loops and soft synths.

For my sound card, I use an M-Audio Audiophile 2496. While I'm sure you can use it to play games (I haven't tried that yet), it's designed to be used with programs like Sonar, since it has virtually no latency. This means you won't hear a note play a second or so after pressing a key on a MIDI keyboard. (This often happens with soft synths, especially if you use them in standalone mode.)

While I mostly use soft synths for my music these days, I also use soundfonts, a type of file that contains sampled sounds that can be loaded into the computer's memory. They can then be played if you have a MIDI keyboard and sequencer. There are a lot of soundfonts available on the Internet that can be purchased from companies like SONiVOX, formerly Sonic Implants, or that can be downloaded for free from places like HammerSound.
To use soundfonts, you'll either need a plugin for your sequencer that can support them, such as SFZ from RGC Audio or a sound card from Creative, such as the SB Audigy 2, which has built-in support.
Regarding the soft synths I use, the majority of them are in the VSTi format, and are based on analog synths, like those from the early '80s. But there are also a few that emulate instruments like saxophones, guitars, etc. The advantage of using soundfonts and soft synths is that you can get more sounds without having to buy additional keyboards.

Additional Links

The following is a list of additional resources dealing with music production.

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