Blog
Open Channel: The Return of the Ampersand?
Let’s look at three different platform models that add some twists to the evolution of online collaboration.
Craig Anderton
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Open Channel: MIDI Two Point…Oh!
What’s most exciting about MIDI 2.0 is what we don’t know is most exciting about MIDI 2.0....yet.
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Open Channel: Watch Your Language!
Craig Anderton plumbs the depths of definitions as he tries to figure out which technical terms mean what when.
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Open Channel: A Musical Legacy, Or Slip Slidin’ Away?
Digital data isn’t stone tablets. Will people 20,000 years from now—or even 1,000 years from now—know what kind of music we made?
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Open Channel: Who’s Right? Who’s Wrong? Who Cares?
Many a studio argument stems less from who's right and who's wrong than where each party is coming from and their frame of reference....
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Open Channel: How the Loudness Wars Turned Guerrilla
Historians note that the Loudness Wars ended in the early 21st century. It was a step in the right direction…after which, some took a...
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Open Channel: To Get the Right Answer…Ask the Right Question
If our creative recording skills are going to move forward, we need to rethink what we're trying to achieve and how we're going to...
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Authenticity and the Art of Performance
"Yes, anything goes, and that’s what this column is about. Expect opinions, praise, complaints, controversy, and of course, occasional moments of blinding stupidity."
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Software Tech: Build Your Windows Audio PC
Pro audio legend Craig Anderton recently built the recording PC of his dreams -- here's some of the questions, issues and answers he discovered...
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Software Tech: Livestreaming in the Age of Pandemic
With venues closed and artists stuck at home, livestreamed performances have taken center stage during the pandemic; Craig Anderton shares how to join in.
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Software Tech: Safeguarding Your Software Tools
You may be self-isolating at home with your computer right now, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t steal your files. Craig Anderton explores how...
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Software Tech: The 2020 Anderton Awards
Sizing up the NAMM Show with a moderately bloodshot eye, the Anderton Awards return.
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Software Tech: MIDI 2.0 Comes Into Focus
Additional aspects of the MIDI 2.0 spec have fallen into place, and the first pieces of gear with elements of MIDI 2.0 are working...
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Software Tech: Amp Sims Go Pro
Craig Anderton explores how amp sims are winning over the normally conservative world of pro guitar players, both in the studio and for live...
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AES Returns to Its Roots
Craig Anderton looks at the changing trends of the annual AES Convention.
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Software Tech: Will Your Hardware Rack Move to the Cloud?
Craig Anderton considers whether it's feasible to expect hardware processes to follow software processing into the cloud.
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Software Tech: Is Inexpensive Pro Audio Software Over?
By Craig Anderton. Before the turn of the century, keyboards were on a race to the bottom in terms of cost, before they managed...
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Software Tech: The Services Industry?
Craig Anderton ponders whether the music software industry will take the services route to offset maturing sales.
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Software Tech: The New Mac Pro
By Craig Anderton. Deep dive into the new Mac Pro and discover what it means for audio pros.
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Software Tech: Will Podcasts Elevate the Small Studio?
By Craig Anderton. While podcasting started out with homegrown audio, listeners’ expectations are rising fast—creating a new opportunity for audio pros.
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Software Tech: Recovering from OS Meltdowns
Craig Anderton explores the changing ways to recover from OS meltdowns.
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Software Tech: Remote Possibilities
By Craig Anderton. Smartphones and tablets have fostered a veritable explosion in DAW remote control options.
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Software Tech: New Trends in Plug-Ins
By Craig Anderton. With over a quarter-century of development, plug-ins are exploring worlds that go way beyond analog emulation.
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Software Tech: The Latest DAW Updates Serve Up Compatibility, Parity, Completeness
Craig Anderton serves up insights on the latest DAW updates.
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Software Tech: How the Cloud Changed Music Software
By Craig Anderton. Digital downloads turned the software sales model completely on its head. Once Apple started the trend, momentum increased for companies selling...
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Software Tech: Last Year Meets Next Year
By Craig Anderton. 2018 laid the groundwork for what might be the dominant computer experience of the future for pros.
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The 145th AES Convention Anderton Awards
Duck and Cover, because the Anderton Awards are back. You've been warned.
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Software Tech: Can Studios Live in the Cloud?
Craig Anderton isn’t daydreaming as he looks at the future of recording studios...
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Software Tech: 96 kHz vs. 44.1 kHz—Let’s Settle This
By Craig Anderton. Ever since we’ve had a choice of sample rates, there’s been controversy over whether higher sample rates sound better.
Recording
Software Tech: The NKS 2.0 Spec—Controller Salvation?
By Craig Anderton. Whether NKS has value depends on how you plan to use it, and what updates may be forthcoming.
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Pro Audio and Machine Learning: Ready for Prime Time?
By Craig Anderton. Will machine learning make audio engineers obsolete?
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Software Tech: Apple Drops Intel? What Does It Mean for Us?
By Craig Anderton. The latest Apple rumor is that the company is going to replace Intel’s chips with their own starting in 2020.
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Software Tech: Can Pro Audio Software Sustain?
By Craig Anderton. The lessons of Cakewalk, Emagic, Steinberg, Digidesign and Syntrillium are instructive because each presents possibly sustainable economic models for pro audio...
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MIDI-CI Makes Its Debut
Craig Anderton digs into the MIDI Capability Inquiry specification—and digs it.
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Is Thunderbolt 3 the Data Savior?
By Craig Anderton. Thunderbolt 3 looks poised to become the breakthrough protocol its originators always hoped it would be.
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Software Tech: The Year of the Platform
By Craig Anderton. Given the pro audio and music industry’s relatively small slice of the economic pie, a platform makes sense. Products need staying...
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Software Tech: Is Modular Software the Future?
By Craig Anderton. Software’s “next big thing” could be modular software that allows mixing and matching elements from various programs.
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Lessons We Can Learn from Cakewalk’s Demise
The sudden death of Cakewalk was a cautionary tale for companies—and customers. Here's the take-aways.
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The 143rd AES Convention Anderton Awards
With the restraining order from last year’s Anderton Awards still in effect (but c’mon—no one actually died from the food), this year the world’s...
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Yes, Even Guitars
Guitars are more likely to be associated with tubes and retro technology than cutting-edge software, but that’s changing in everything from recording...
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The Calm Before the Storm—12 Years Later
If you look at “new product” introductions at trade shows, often they’re more about reminding people of what was a new product a...
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Advances in Archiving
Recently, I ran across a family photo that was taken in 1890, affixed to a cardboard backing—and was as good as the day...