The quality of [audio] plug-ins

When I had my morning coffee today I had a discussion someone regarding plug-ins. Having used plug-ins for quite some time now, I think it’s interesting to look back and remember how they were years ago and what they’re like now.

What I can conclude is that the quality of plug-ins in recent years is much higher than before. The last four years or so have been great for people who work with an ITB or hybrid setup. What’s even more intriguing is that I actually see a bump up in quality the last two years as well. Things are actually moving forward.

Sure, there are some oldies that are still goodies – the early McDSP and Sonnox plug-ins, for instance, still hold their own – but overall I find myself using newer and newer plug-ins all the time.

Compressors and EQ’s are better, that’s my belief despite what some say in the ongoing discussion regarding all digital EQ’s are the same (I’m working on an article for that by the way, pulling some strings today) but the quality of virtual instruments is so much higher today that it’s ridiculous. I used virtual instruments very early on, listening to them today I can only say that, well, quite frankly they suck. [read: ProTooler Blog]

7 Chords Guitar Chord Library [iPhone]

7 Chords: If you’ve always wanted to improve your knowledge of guitar chords or music theory, look no further than 7 Chords. Despite the deceptive nature of the program’s title, 7 Chords is essentially a database with over 10,000 guitar chords laid out in both standard notation and chord shapes. Oh and if you’re trying to figure out if a certain chord would sound in a song, 7 Chords can also play each note in a chord without going through the trouble of hunting around your fretboard. Additionally the program utilizes the iPhone’s impressive display and polyphonic sound, while the program itself has a breathtaking and intuitive interface. If you ever wanted a composing tool that you could keep in your pocket, 7 Chords is the ultimate program for you. Price: $1.99 [iTunes]

How to (Legally) Become a Professional Photographer

Image by Roberto Carlos Pecino

A common question asked by an amateur photographer looking to turn professional is, “what equipment do I need?” I’ll skip the discussion around skill and experience being more important than equipment, but before you rush out and buy any equipment or start offering your services to others, you should consider the various liability issues and the options for operating as a legal entity that are available for your business and obtain the proper insurance for both your equipment and liability. I’ll cover specific options available in the United States in this article, although similar concepts are available in other countries.

Legal Entities

The most common mistake for beginners is to operate a business as a sole proprietorship, meaning there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business. This may sound easy and convenient, but it also means that you have unlimited personal liability for the actions of your business, and this includes the actions of your employees or even volunteer assistants. Operating as a general partnership is even riskier because all the partners are personally liable, even if it is for something done by the other partner that you didn’t know about. Even if you have liability insurance coverage for yourself, an accident caused by one of your partners or assistants (paid or not) could significantly expose you to liability.

SHARON OSBOURNE: The dark side of fame… and why the cult of celebrity is destroying today's children

Glad Sharon is talking about this, but it’s not exactly ‘new’ news.  What is new is that a celebrity is talking about it rather just us average folk. Maybe a more respectable publication will print this so it has a bit more bite.

There is an epidemic of fame-obsessed youngsters – aged between ten and 25 – who wrongly believe celebrity is a shortcut to wealth and happiness, and who are convinced it will bring them everything they want. An entire generation that doesn’t understand that nothing worth having comes easily.

I’m not a politician – and that’s politics’ loss – but it seems obvious to me that many teenagers part company with the schools system with little or no actual education.

And because the traditional family unit has more or less collapsed, these children probably haven’t been brought up with any real values. We used to call them latch-key kids. How many people do you honestly know who sit down together and have a family dinner every night? [read]

Best Tech Guy caller EVER: Jennifer stealing WiFi [Leo Laporte]

Lady calls Leo Laporte’s Tech Guy Show claiming her WI-FI access has “disappeared”, come to find out that she doesn’t even have a router! She’s been stealing someones wi-fi for the past year! She even bought a wi-fi extender hoping to get it back. BEST Tech Guy caller EVER. PERIOD.

Supercharge Your Resume

dreamingofcalifornia via Flickr

In economic times like these, it pays to put a little extra effort into your resume and get a leg up on your competition. After all, anyone hiring new personnel during a recession can expect to get a stack of resumes a mile high.

If you want your resume to stand out, you’ll have to pump some extra effort into making the best single page about you ever written. You’re going to have to add whatever it takes to give your next employer a great first impression in a stack of hundreds. So get pumped. Let’s supercharge this thing. [read]

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Watch Video:

Creating an Online Resume: Hands-On Training

Crucial launches 'world's fastest SSD'

Crucial is well known amongst Mac aficionados for its memory upgrades. But lately, following the company’s purchase by Micron, Crucial has been branching out, developing new technology beyond RAM. The fruits of that development are about to pay off as Crucial earlier this week launched its new RealSSD C300 solid-state drive.

Jim Jardine, Senior Product Manager at Crucial, doesn’t mince his words when it comes to the the new drive. He says, ”It’s the fastest hard drive in the world.” With a 6GBps SATA interface and a read speed of 355MBps, the C300 should offer a substantial boost over the typical MacBook Pro hard drive. “It’s like having a [read]

Genius is public recognition of failed attempts at solving a problem

sethgodin.typepad.com – Genius is the act of solving a problem in a way no one has solved it before. It has nothing to do with winning a Nobel prize in physics or certain levels of schooling. It’s about using human insight and initiative to find original solutions that matter.

Genius is actually the eventual public recognition of dozens (or hundreds) of failed attempts at solving a problem. Sometimes we fail in public, often we fail in private, but people who are doing creative work are constantly failing.

When the lizard brain kicks in and the resistance slows you down, the only correct response is to push back again and again and again with one failure after another. Sooner or later, the lizard will get bored and give up.

Source: Seth Godin

Ad Powerhouse FedEx Woos Small Biz With Web Parodies [marketing]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – FedEx is famous for memorable television commercials, but like many big companies, it is following customers as they navigate from the television to the computer and in turn, shipping much of its marketing to the Web. One of the package delivery giant’s biggest Web campaigns, running on YouTube and Hulu, is a series of three-minute parodies called “1-2-3 Succeed!” starring comedian Fred Willard.

FedEx wants the spoofs to help increase what it calls “a key market” for them — small-business owners like Anna, a mom who makes handbags.

“With FedEx, you are now Anna, international maker of handbags!” exults Willard, known for his comic turns in mock documentary films Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind.

“Hey there, international businesswoman!” he bellows in one of the spots.

The spots are a departure for FedEx, which has always spent its advertising and promotion budget — $379 million in 2009 — on pricey marketing vehicles like the Super Bowl to snag accounts that need and can afford its premium shipping services.

But now, FedEx has set its sights on small businesses, or those with fewer than 100 employees, said Steve Pacheco, FedEx’s managing director for advertising. [Read]

Logic Pro rivals $20K Pro Tools HD?

Most of my work in Apple Logic Studio was on my laptop. I’ve found that between a MacBook Pro, Apple Logic Pro, the Euphonix MC Mix, and the Universal Audio UAD 2 SOLO/Laptop, I can easily compete with a $20,000 Pro Tools system. Thus, Apple’s feature-packed Logic Studio is truly a bargain at $499. The system sounds wonderful, the included instruments and plug-ins are intuitive, and they sound fantastic. Logic Studio is the perfect all-encompassing production tool. If you are already a Logic Studio user, you’d be crazy not to upgrade. If you are contemplating switching to Logic from another DAW or deciding which format to jump into for your first DAW purchase, the new version of Apple Logic Studio provides significant enhancements and improvements, making Logic seem more logical than ever before. [read]