Easy Computer Help: Computer Training & Tips to Learn Computer Basics
• Sunday, May 18, 2008 - How to Chose The Best Computer Speakers For You
As a computer trainer, I get asked a lot of computer questions, and one question I get asked is which are the best computer speakers to buy.
I succeed in my business by trying to give honest answers and not automatically directing people to the most high-tech and sophisticated audio there is. As an honest businessman, I have to say there is no simple answer.
If you are an ordinary user, the best computer speakers for you might just be the ones your computer came with. Most laptops come with computer speakers that have a pretty high level of fidelity. What most don't have, unfortunately, is much bass.
If you are only using your speakers for casually putting music on in the background, a little bit of gaming, or voice over IP, what you have is probably just fine. If you want a little bit more body, you can add a woofer to fill out the sound a little bit, but there's no need to spend a lot of money on a sophisticated audio setup.
On the other hand, different people have different tastes. In gamer magazines, the best multimedia computer speakers reviews consistently go to speakers with a lot of bass. It seems that gamers really like low-end power -- no doubt to stimulate the impact of explosions hitting nearby, or the growl of hideous monsters in some strange underground dungeon.
If you find big bass to be thrilling, by all means go out to your local audio store and invest in some bass. Just don't make the mistake that most people do by assuming that more powerful speakers are automatically better.
Having too much bass without enough mid and high range can actually distort the sound of music.
Of course, if you are a serious music listener, a great way to find the best computer speakers Is to look them up in consumer reports. You can spend as much as you want on high quality audio components, and you are generally rewarded for the money you invest.
Nonetheless, even if it is supposed to be the best computer speaker out there, don't buy it without listening to it first.
Some speakers, for example, have too warm a sound for some users. Others feel a little bit tinny. Different audio speakers are directed towards different listeners, so there really is no one best choice.
The best computer speakers, like the best music, is a matter of opinion. |
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• Thursday, May 15, 2008 - Understanding How To Download Music Videos
I've always loved music -- no matter what I am doing, I usually have some playing in the background. I like all kinds of music. I like rock, pop, jazz, and even some classical.
Nonetheless, sometimes the music alone is not enough to convey the whole message. That is why I like to download music videos.
Music videos are an art form, if you ask me. When they are done right, the music and the images go together to tell a story or create a seamless and beautiful scene.
Even though MTV doesn't seem to show videos as often as they used to, with all the downloadable music videos on the Internet you can still watch them whenever you want to.
There are plenty of different ways to do music video downloads. One of the easiest ways is to download music videos from YouTube. You Tube is great because it is so convenient and so fast. Basically, you can find anything with one quick and simple search.
After that, it will "stream" the music video directly to your computer (streaming is kind of like watching a TV broadcast instead of a DVD -- it comes to you "live" as it's playing, instead of being completely saved on your computer first). Nothing can be easier. There are, however, some disadvantages to this method of downloading a music video.
The biggest one, of course, is the low resolution, or picture quality. Almost everything shown on You Tube is at an extremely low level of resolution. That is what makes it such a fast way to download music video, but the problem is that a lot of the details that make the music videos so nice the first place are gone.
That is why a lot of more serious fans download music videos off of some other service. There are several other ways to do it. If you don't mind paying some money, there are literally dozens of sites that will let you download music videos online. Usually, you pay a subscription fee, or maybe you pay per download. Either way, all you have to do is enter your information and you can download music videos to your hearts' content
If you want to, you can always download free music videos from bit torrent. This can take a little more time than any of the other methods I have discussed, but it is worth it. Basically, if you look long enough and are willing to put in the time, you can download anything from bit torrent.
You can download games, programs, movies, and of course, music videos. It is a pretty low risk way to download, but you should still take some precautions. You should always scan the files for viruses before opening them, and don't go too crazy with the downloads or your ISP might notice what you're up to.
But as long as you're careful, you'll be fine, and enjoying your ability to download music videos! |
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• Saturday, March 8, 2008 - Don't Make the Mistake of Using Custom Software Samples When You Can Get Custom Drum Tracks Online
Don't Make the Mistake of Using Custom Software Samples When You Can
Get Custom Drum Tracks Online
This article is for the benefit of you, the songwriter/composer. Undoubtedly you need professional sounding drum tracks for your music. But how to get great sounding drum tracks without breaking the bank?
Many folks think they see the solution to the problem in drum pattern software samples, such as the BFD premium drum module.
People have the impression that this is the right solution because, admittedly, the drum samples involved in the software tend to sound very good. That is, generally the drums are well-tuned and recorded well.
But there are drawbacks.
The biggest two drawbacks to using drum sample software are:
- Canned”, uninspired results -- drum tracks that sound disconnected from your music.
- Large amounts of time being wasted putting together “custom” tracks slice-by-slice with individual-hit drum samples.
Most of these drum sample software packages give you pre-made loops you can use.
Most also give you the option to construct your own beats using separate, single-hit drum samples.
You might be able to occasionally find a pre-made pattern in the package that basically fits your song.
But even if a pre-made drum pattern works partly, there are inevitably parts of your song that could use a little bit of variety..
Certain parts may benefit from a change in the bass drum pattern, for example, or maybe looser hi-hats or some extra snare hits.
At any rate the chances drum pattern software or a sample package containing a loop that has exactly what you need for that situation are very slim.
Confronted with this situation you are likely the think something like “I need my drum tracks to sound more organic than that”, or perhaps “this loop or that loop won’t cut it because I need the drum part to highlight the vocal rhythms on the third pre-chorus”.
Of course these are legitimate concerns as you want your music to sound alive, not contrived.
And at this point you may decide that you need to construct the drum parts yourself, hit-by-hit, slice-by-slice, using single-hit drum samples. Admittedly, you’ll probably get a better result this way as you at least have control over specific cymbal crashes, adding bass drum notes, fills, etc.
There is a big problem to this approach however: It takes up huge amounts of your precious time.
If you have been through this before, I don’t need to tell you: putting together “custom” drum tracks using single-hit drum samples will take up so much of your time that you are likely to compromise your artistic needs in the end anyway.
You will put in so many hours, and the tracks will sound better than just using factory loops, but you will probably give up realizing that they will never really, truly sound and feel like custom drum tracks that were played by a real person for your song.
You would look at how much time you have put in to them, and settle for your cobbled-together tracks because you couldn’t bear to do such tedious busy work anymore. You wouldn’t even end up with the result you wanted . It would only be closer to that goal than the factory loops -- closer, but no cigar!
They say say time is money, which everybody knows is true.
It seems like you'd save money painfully cobbling a drum part together slice-by-slice from a drum pattern /sample software package, but in reality its just not worth the time you'd waste, and the frustration you would feel.
As you look at it that way, its obvious that approach would really end up costing you.
A much better idea is to take advantage of a recent development, the appearance of online session drummers.
You can now get real, custom drum tracks from session drummers over the Internet and save a whole lot of money over conventional recording methods.
Conventional recording methods tend to involve having to pay several people (renting the studio, carting the drums there, paying the producer, the engineer(s), drummer, etc.). All that can really add up.
With an online studio drummer you only pay one person, which obviously saves you a bundle.
Be sure to shop around -- all online drum track providers are not equal. Of course you should base your decision on which session drummer would musically fit your project best, but you must also compare the actual sound quality provided.
Compare the sound quality of tracks on the websites, and compare the gear being used by each online studio drummer.
You will see that some session drummer web sites are providing noticeably drum tracks with better sound quality than others, so choose carefully.
Remember, drum pattern software sample packages would make your music sound very stale. Pre-made loops won’t sound like they were for your song, and piecing a drum part together from sample slices will drive you mad with wasted time yet still sound uninspired and “canned”.
Don’t go with drum pattern software samples are “canned” goods! Go for fresh, custom drum tracks online.
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