Dr Mike Metlay

I wrote machine code on a PDP11 in 1983 to control a Buchla 100 and an ARP 2500. I wish I could say I was still using that system, if only to see folks' expressions. Since then, I've used Music-X and Bars&Pipes on an Amiga 500, Creator on an Atari 1040ST, Cakewalk since version 2 or so on a PC, Opcode Vision and Vision DSP (still my Lost Lenore) on a Mac, and -- after becoming a DAW reviewer for a pro audio magazine -- dabbled in Metro, Peak/Deck, Logic, Studio One, Reaper, Reason/Record (does that date me?), Tracktion/Waveform, Bitwig Studio, Numerology, Lumit... jack of all trades and master of very few, because I kept having to shift focus. Now that I'm not doing that any more, I will try to choose a single linear sequencer/recorder to get really good at, with my top candidates being Studio One, Bitwig, and Reaper as an outside contender. All that said, the vast majority of my music making these days is live, direct to stereo, whether gigging out or doing live improvs on the radio, and most of my recent albums haven't even been multitracked. I play live, cut out the egregious errors, and release what's left, with imperfections left in so there's a sense of humanity in the music, and that formula's worked for me for almost 20 years now. To do that, for the past 15ish years I have relied heavily on Ableton Live. I've owned it since version 1.5, used it steadily since version 3, used it exclusively on stage since version 5, and most of my studio today is based around it. Is it perfect? Hell no. The tabbed interface in a single window can be downright maddening, and the Arrangement View has never made any real sense to me. Its steadfast refusal to understand polyphonic aftertouch or MPE is making me at least consider a move elsewhere, but after so many years, it's nearly instinctive for me, and I'm still learning more about it every time I boot it up. And as Craig mentioned, it's solid as a tank and runs well on even old hardware. Besides, Live uses Ableton Link, the most important advancement in digital music communication since the invention of MIDI. The first non-Ableton DAW that adds proper Link support will probably be the one I go with, if it has the other things I need it to do (hence my putting Bitwig on equal footing with Studio One at the moment)...

I will echo something here that many folks have said, with a twist or two of my own. I've been making music using computers for about 35 years, starting with a PDP11 in an academic music lab and moving through many platforms between then and now. I have done tracks on PC, Atari 1040ST, Amiga (!), PalmOS (!!), Windows of various flavors, Linux, macOS, and iOS, and I've seen a lot of changes. Where I am now is largely based on understanding my music needs in opposition to my personal skill set, degree and type of commitment, budget, and comfort zone. That's an understanding everyone has got to have going in, and it boils down to: are you comfortable doing what it takes to keep the machine healthy? If the machine is healthy, the music making experience will be too. It's been a long time since I did any serious music work on a Windows machine, but I remember what was involved in getting where I needed to go. It's not egregious; you have to understand how the system goes together, be comfortable with tracking updates to your drivers, plug-ins, etc., and stay on top of what's happening with the operating system. A lot of people have this base set of skills where Windows machines are concerned, and for them, the extra hoop-jumping to get a music system up and stable isn't onerous. They can take advantage of the expandability, modularity, and cost savings on the Windows platform, and use some pretty great software that you can't use anywhere else (Cakewalk by BandLab and Acoustica Mixcraft come to mind). That said, I have been on stage with people using computers doing music for decades now, and I have watched many meltdowns... and while I couldn't and wouldn't try to put a percentage on them, I would say that in my experience, Windows screwups significantly outnumber Mac screwups. Even the guys who put in many hours of prep work and know their Windows systems inside out can boot up and be confronted with a sudden driver issue, lost peripheral, etc., and have to do troubleshooting instead of just getting started playing. This happens much less often in the walled garden of macOS, CoreAudio/CoreMIDI, and compatible software. I have a real problem with statements like "it just WORKS" and "I have better things to do than learn to wrench my music machine"... that's loaded language and puts the onus on the other guy to prove that his system's just as reliable, and you can't prove a negative. All I can say is that I use macOS because I have a combination of many years' experience, a firm understanding of which hardware is reliable and which isn't, enough under-the-hood savvy to spot when a problem's above my pay grade, and a strong preference for how Apple handles upgrades and updates and support vs. how Microsoft does it. That said, I am not a complete Apple fanboy. I think that Jony Ive leaving the company is the best thing that's happened to them in a decade; his slavish insistence on "thin and light" has produced some truly hideous black marks on Apple's record, from drives you can't replace and memory you can't upgrade to keyboards that hurt your fingers and break if you glare at them... and don't get me started on what they consider "high end" and what they charge for what you get. Apple dumping the MacBook and going back to the MacBook Air was the first sensible thing they've done in the laptop sector in years, and the Mac Pro, while stupid expensive and really aimed at Skywalker Sound and its ilk, is at least a box you can open and futz with. My usual recommendation these days is to get a used refurbished Mac of about 2012 vintage, load it for bear, lock down the OS at Mojave, and just hunker down and wait for scissor switches to come back. I have a 2012 quad i7 MacBook Pro, pre-Retina, with two SSDs and 16 GB RAM in it. Amortized over all the years I've used it, it's been the cheapest computer I've ever owned, and when it dies I will almost certainly replace it with an identical model. I'm typing this on a 2011 iMac that goes gangbusters for me on most applications (still running Sierra), and my beater is a dented, ugly, dead-solid-reliable 2014-vintage 11" MacBook Air that's been my live companion from Shanghai to Copenhagen and all points in between. If I had to start over and do everything with Windows, I could, and I'd get good at it and relatively smooth. But I do love my Macs, and I am willing to wait until the post-Ive generation of gear that is properly Pro rather than "thin and light". One other note: I am also a fanatical iOS music user, and that's worth a thread in and of itself. I don't see myself going full iOS any time soon because I do so much in Ableton Live, but I really enjoy working with my iOS devices. They are a great value for a beginner just getting started, but I must inject a note of caution... with only one Lightning port, you have to get very clever with how you hook stuff up to your iPad, and it pays big dividends to know what you can and can't do wirelessly to supplement that. I'll probably launch a whole thread on the topic, which I've been teaching for years and years. (Android? Don't. Make. Me. Laugh.)

Any one of a bazillion Internet meme songs could do this as well. I will not post links, but you can go to YouTube and listen to BadgersBadgersBadgers, the Nyan Cat theme, the He-Man version of "What's Up" by 4NonBlondes, Ekkosangen, and of course Trololo! ...what? Why, yes, I DO have a teenager living at home. How ever did you guess? (help me i am in hell)

The Shaggs' album Philosophy Of The World. Can clear a room in under four tracks.

If folks are interested in learning more about the electronic music coffee table books PUSH TURN MOVE, PATCH & TWEAK, and the forthcoming PEDAL CRUSH, please don't hesitate to reach out. I edited the first book and am editing the third, and the author of the second is a dear friend. I am happy to answer any questions I can, and if I have no answer I will find someone who does.

I will share some of mine when I get a chance. There's plenty of room for Internet radio stations like yours and mine, so I'm proud to offer my tracks from our library for your use.

Hello everyone! I'm Mike Metlay, aka Spiral Sands in Second Life. I do regular shows there as part of the RadioSpiral online presence. If folks have questions about streaming to SL and giving effective virtual concerts, please don't hesitate... I've been doing this for a very, very, embarrassingly long time. If you have an avatar in SL, hit me up, I'd love to meet with you.

Wow, right up my alley. I will be in touch via email asap!

Neither the keyboard version nor the module version of the minilogue xd understands aftertouch, even via MIDI. I am aghast and very, very disappointed.

Wonderful video. Thanks, Stephen!

Note that wax buildup varies a lot from person to person. I have been using a Q-Tip in my ear canals (gently) for many years right after showering, and my ENT says my ear canals are always very clean with nearly no buildup. I don't recommend my method for anyone who doesn't have naturally low wax production; if you do it wrong, it will jam the wax against your eardrum, making extraction painful and possibly dangerous.

As someone who has unapologetically played keytar for decades and who's probably owned ten of them at one time or another, I will happily talk about why they're wonderful to anyone who will listen. I am well aware of the fact that they can (and often do) look truly idiotic on stage. That said, I find that they embody an almost entirely different methodology for playing than traditional keyboards do, they require a different approach, and present different rewards. Alas, the currently available crop is pretty thin: The Roland AX-Edge has a lot of the right features but is fabulously expensive for what it does and looks ridiculous (even for a keytar, which is saying something!). Conversely, the Alesis Vortex 2 Wireless is actually a huge bargain as a MIDI controller; as is often the case with keytars, it provides the user with immediate access to a large variety of left-hand expression controls, something which IMO you can never get too much of. Some tips for the OP from a once and possibly future Vortex 2 Wireless owner: 1. The included USB wireless dongle is best thought of as a way to not clothesline yourself when playing on stage, not as a way to walk far away from your rig and get out in front. If you're really serious about mobility, invest in a proper wireless MIDI setup and add it to the keytar; otherwise, stick to wired for safety's sake. Anything beyond 10 feet, you're asking for trouble. 2. As stupid as it sounds, if you want to take it on stage, invest in a guitar stand for it, and try it first to make sure it will actually work without dumping the keytar on the floor! (The one thing that nobody ever seems to think about any more when designing keytars is practicality. While you're cleaning up the beverage that squirted out of your nose while reading that last sentence out loud, let me explain. A keytar doesn't HAVE to have a useless, impractical design in the name of cosmetics. If someone built one that was relatively utilitarian in shape, it would draw a lot fewer laughs. The Yamaha KX1 and KX5, the Casio AZ-1, and the original-original-no-not-the-AX1-do-your-homework-kid Roland AXIS, all had one thing in common. You could set them down on stage without them falling over because they weren't all weird angles and bad balance, and without damaging a cable jack. You shouldn't need a damn guitar stand for a keytar, and that's a huge failing of the Vortex 2 Wireless: it's got a slanted bottom edge and all the damn I/O is down there. Feh! But I digress.) 3. Get a very long strap and wear it as low as you can. You're not playing a Chapman Stick! Get it away from your shoulders so your arms can extend semi-naturally; you'll find it way more comfortable, and as a side benefit, it looks considerably less stupid. 4. Do not dance while using it. Ever. Do not run around on stage with it. Do not even walk over to the guitarist or bassist and grin at him while swaying back and forth in time to the music. Nodding your head is acceptable, barely, as long as you don't headbang. Walking back and forth a few steps around your rig to reach various keyboards that are far apart, or walking across the stage to confer quietly with other band members, is OK... it shows that the keytar has practical value and isn't just silly stage dressing. 5. If you shred on it, don't make the "oh my God I need more fiber in my diet" face. Please. For ALL our sakes.

Argh, this is my life. I've been looking for an Oberheim Xk off and on for years, and one pops up on Ebay and is nabbed while my back is turned. Have fun with it, but watch out for heating issues (they added a voltage regulator later on and bolted it to the back of the case as a heat sink) and for the pitch/mod paddles coming loose (Permatex is your friend).

Just not a posing pouch, PLEASE!

Hello, everyone. I'm Mike Metlay. These days, I work as a consultant and freelance writer and editor, with RECORDING Magazine as one of my clients; I was the Editor-In-Chief there until March 2019, ending a 23-year stint on the masthead. Forty years into my journey as a musician, I have released a bunch of music, much of it interesting, some of it even pretty. Learn more at my website. I am the cofounder and library curator of RadioSpiral, a 24/7 Internet radio station specializing in electronic, ambient, and experimental music. With a staff of ten, it's a vibrant and fast-growing station with an audience that loves to chat online during our hosted shows and our frequent live concerts, as well as a continuing presence in the virtual world of Second Life. I have spent nearly 30 years assembling groups of musicians from all over the world for recording projects, concerts, and festivals. I derive a huge amount of enjoyment from bringing people together to make music and have fun, and love facilitating it even when I can't be a part of it. Tech gets boring; people never do... or as I often like to say, "Some people collect synthesizers. I collect synthesists." I ran the Oberheim Xpander User Group (with an actual quarterly newsletter printed on real paper and everything!), and have been contributing to online knowledge bases since before the World Wide Web was invented. Forty years is a long time to amass information and working experience with music gear, and I am always happy to share what I know. My primary musical interests include alternative controllers both inside and outside the new MIDI Polyphonic Expression standard, iOS as a practical platform for music making, small studio outfitting and design, and the long and tortured history of certain vintage keyboards, especially the Mellotron. I live with my family in northern Colorado, in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, and I'm very glad to meet you all. I can't promise I can answer every question you might have in my areas of expertise, but if I don't know the answer, I'll happily try to find someone who does. To paraphrase one of my favorite heroes: it is my very great honor to meet you, and you may call me "Dr. Mike." PS: Yes, I usually put a Ph.D. after my name, and I know it's a silly affectation. The doctorate is real -- it's in experimental nuclear structure physics -- but I haven't used it professionally in decades, and I don't think it says anything about how smart I am, only how determined. I use it because I earned it and I nearly died getting it, so why not?

Nope. Wasn't me, you can't prove anything. Nope.