Mac/Windows Hybrid studio system...

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OK so before someone says "That's not really revolutionary!" I'd like to qualify that the goal was not to spend extra money with new sound cards. The idea was to use my existing 2 systems; one Apple based and one Windows based and get them working together with Logic as the master program. The result was using my master keyboard controller as the link. Logic sends MIDI information out to the keyboard through USB then the keyboard passes the information to the Windows box running a VST host by using a regular 16 pin MIDI cable. The audio from the Windows box them comes back to the Mac running Logic and records it on an audio track. The result is I can continue to write using MIDI whether I'm using an Apple past softsynth or a windows based softsynth. I now have the best of both worlds; with Logic Pro as the center of the sonic center of the universe.

I gave the previously mentioned set up a test by writing a new cue for the next set of cues for Jingle Punks. I created a channel strip set up similar to my live recording rig designed for the band Architects of the Atmosphere. What was great about that rig was that I used delays to create syncopated rhythms that I would loop then build on; giving Architects of the Atmosphere a complex and rich foundation for Dave and I to play over. With this channel strip I created a syncopated cello stem that inspired a driving and tension carrying percussion track. Then dialed in a couple of awesome ambient electronic patches from a Windows VSTi and triggered those from Logic. The set up worked so well that I will be re-cataloging and evaluating my Windows softsynths. After 12 years of using softsynths in Windows I have TONS!

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