Markk II Studios

So I am at work yesterday, and I get a call from FedEx International and they are asking me questions about my company and my tax ID number etc etc... and then they tell me it's in regards to my synthesizer from Macbeth Studio Systems... Yippeeeeee... it's been shipped, and is scheduled to arrive Monday the 2nd. The long awaited M5N is so close I can almost taste the purple LED's... LOL.

Yesterday was one of my longest work days ever, I flew all day, 3 flights back to back... and logged 4.0 hours on the hobbs meter... I was beat, and walked in my door at home just before 9pm...

And once again, I have grown tired of my "tired" hairstyle or lack thereof... so Wednesday before running my last errands, I got out the clippers and shaved it all down... the "summer time" cool cut... as my friend Scot says... "high speed, low drag." LOL It looks something similar to this... yeah, I'm stylin' !!!

Well.... it had to happen. Digidesign has been dragging their lazy ass feet for quite some time now, and I had been sitting with an "un-opened" brand new boxed Digi003 Rack mounted system. Unable to use it, because I have upgraded ALL of my Apple Macs to the best OS X Leopard 10.5.2 as of this writing... heck their own H.D. big systems only work on 10.5.1 and they tell their user's NOT to upgrade their OS. So I have decided to once again, try and let go of the "mystique" of the almighty "Pro Tools" and embrace Digital Performer much more.

Plus, MOTU has just released some awesome hardware. the new MOTU 828mk3's are out, and have all the bells and whistles that I need, plus the revision of their own AudioDesk is just unbelievable... and more importantly, it works with the latest Apple OSX... gee go figure, a REAL IT department on top of their game... 5 kudo's to the MOTU team. Check these out!

I am still waiting on pins and needles for my new Macbeth M5N... there was a slight delay on the location of my customization of "Purple Led's" for my unit... alas Ken has found them, and they have been installed. Down to the last bits of "burn-in" process, and then assembely and delivery. In the mean time, here are a few treat pics that Ken sent me...

~M~

I am very pleased to annouce that I have been emailing back and forth with Ken Macbeth, the man behind the synthesizer you see pictured below. I am definately ordering one of these directly from the factory, and tomorrow on Monday the 31st, I will be sending the direct wire funds for the synthesizer, Ken estimate's I should see it in about 4-6 weeks. I am very excited to be getting the beautiful classic re-creation of the Arp 2600 with the many improvements he has made. Plus it just looks damn sexy. What a great looking machine... I hope to have some audio and video clips of the new synth once it arrives...

I went back through many of my older post's... and discovered that I have changed direction back and forth a few times... but I always seem to end up back with Pro Tools... so I think I shall stay in that realm for HD recording process. I still want to learn Digital Performer for the MIDI sequencing side of things... I just think it's a great program, and lots of power. Anyways, shoot I got off topic... I meant to say, I have deleted many of my old posts... I know many of you just leave em all up there... but I am OCD like that, and I figured since I don't even own the MOTU 828's anymore, delete the whole topic of how I switched from PT to MOTU, blah, blah, blah... LMAO... I use Pro Tools... end of story...

I am still un-packing from the move, and haven't even come close to setting up the studio which is a bit depressing at times as I haven't touched my keyboards or modular in month's... and Bruce has been developing some new modules for the Modcan line that sound like they would be a great addition to the system. but alas... it takes time, and the almighty or weak dollar... neither of which I seem to have at the moment. But I made myself a promise to get a CD done this year, and I am tired of myself not following through, I need to change...

...and for the last time, I have gone back to using the Blackberry 8703e, and I am going to list my LG VX8700 on eBay so I will not be tempted to even think about using it again. LMAO... I just accepted the fact that I am so used to the email push, and the way my contacts book is laid out, it mirrors my Outlook... so I can actually find things faster. It really is a bonus for work, as I have many tid bits of information stored in it for codes and so forth. Plus the huge bonus is that Verizon or Blackberry have lowered their data package rates to only $30.00 a month instead of $44.95... so I am saving an additional $15.00 !!! whoo hooo...

On my wish list: Digidesign Control C|24, Moog Music Voyager Mini-Moog Select series, Macbeth M5N (pictured below), More Modcan B series Modules, Guitar amp and 4x12 speaker cab... Marshall or Mesa Boogie, still undecided... ultra dream list, ARP 2500 !!! Damn, I guess I am going to Guitar Center in a few hours to check things out.

Well, after another email to the tech guys over across the big pond... they have successfully upgraded the 3 soft-synth's I have and they now all work great with Mac OSX Leopard! Major Kudo's to the guys... although the CS-80V was the most difficult and was a pain in the ass to get loaded, that took me three tries... but in the end, it was back up and running...





On the "other" news front... I am moving yet again... but this time, not too far, about 30 miles north of my present position... I am moving to the Anthem community just north of the major part of the Phoenix Metro area, it is just off the right of I-17 which is going to bring me much closer to the ol workplace... so no more hotel for me after March 1st, and I will do the 58 mile commute one way on my work shift... but I favor the part of sleeping in my own bed every night. Plus here's the good part...

I am moving into a home again... this house was just built last year, and is 1823sq ft. Just the perfect size for a single guy like myself. Plus the previous owner must have "thought" a lot like I would have. One of the bedrooms is actually a combination of two, as he knocked out the wall between them... making it the size of a small hockey rink! I am guessing it is 24x12 or so... big room... and that my friends will become the new studio... plenty of room to spread out the keys. Plus the home has all the major upgrades, 20" tile throughout, Berber carpet upgrades, and granite counter tops in the kitchen... I am very excited about this... stay tuned for pictures from the new digs...

~M~

...well after a brief hiatus from Pro Tools, I have once again dove head first back into the world of Digidesign. I had originally looked into a full blown TDM HD|1 system and the C|24 control surface. I also was going to use Apogee 16X A/D and D/A converters... but what killed the whole plan... $20K+ that what! As much as I'd like to compete with the big dogs, and play on the big porch... I just can't realistically afford it at this point in my career, maybe later, maybe never. I have already been putting off buying more of the Modcan modular as it too has crept up in price. Sooo today at 12:30pm I bought the Digi003 Rack mount, and the next progression of ProTools LE 7.3, I am however going to keep Digital Performer as I think it will work well and seamlessly with ProTools. I have also purchased Focusrite's Liquid Mix to give that a whirl...

I am also going to try and par down the studio mass... I am going to use the Nord Modular G2X as my main controller. The 2nd keyboard will be my Nord Lead 3, the rest will be two JD-990's with Vintage Cards, and three Arturia VST synth's. CS-80V, Prophet-V, and Jupiter-8V. (just a side note to all, "if" you use the Arturia plugin synths, take note that the JP-8 and CS-80 do NOT work with Mac OS Leopard at this time, only the Prophet-V seems to have been fixed.) Stayed tuned... more to come.

I am sick... caught a damn cold... piss me off. I have been now shoveling down "Airborne" and 500mg Vitamin C tablets... I need to kick this in the ass... too much going on to be sick... didn't sleep worth a shit last night... and I am tired and grumpy today... "no phone calls today" LOL

Merry Christmas to all :-)

I am working these next 10 days in a row, (my own doing) I wont spend as much, and keeps me out of trouble as well. I have once again been lured by the sweet sound of great rock guitars, and have started buying more guitar equipment again... I have on order two Vintage Marshall 1960BHW 4x12 speaker cabinets with Vintage Celestion speakers, Heritage 30 Watt speakers made the same way they used to in England right down to the glue and coning process, and I must say they sound awesome. I have also bought a Marshall TSL 100 watt guitar amp, and will be trying to acquire one more so I can run my rig in stereo... Those Lexicon Delays will really sound tasty with this setup... to finish it all off, I am looking at a variety of wireless systems, and I have my Gibson 57' GoldTop V.O.S.

So what am I doing you ask??? Have I gone off the deep end of my lust for synthesizers... I have had this battle all of my life, only in the past I would switch back and forth losing money each time I'd trade one rig in for another... this time, I feel I am at least making a better decision, (more expensive mind you) but I am just keeping both setups... Guitars AND Synthesizers...I love em both, but I am longing to play live again... and I can maybe get a gig with some local friends and join in the fun...

New pics to follow... I did get the Anvil Cases in, they are just awesome, thanks a million to my buddy Randy at Guitar Center !!!!

up and running :-)

http://www.MarkkIIStudios.com

After much thought and a little bit of research, I am waiting to find a good solid used Ghost 32.8 console "if" one such exists and then not too expensive. I just found one on eBay today... but starting bid on it is around $4500.00 with a Buy It Now price of $5250.00 + shipping will be expensive. Just a bit too much in my opinion. Average used price is around $3000, and $500 for the meterbridge. So I will watch this one too and see what it does... I know all of us want the biggest bang for the buck, but if it doesn't sell, then there's no buck... ya know?

I have once again joined the ranks of MySpace, http://www.myspace.com/markkiistudios mostly due to the ability to reach many friends who don't email much but update their MySpace account almost daily... it's got to be some sort of addiction, plus in a way it is kind of fun to add famous celeb's even if it is their PR people, sometimes they may read it... at least that's what I keep telling myself... LOL

Still waiting for my brand new Anvil racks... they had to be made, but I will be so happy when they arrive. I am also going to buy (2) more MOTU 828mkII's for my studio for a total of 32 channels of I/O hardware.

Vacation was awesome, got to hang with my brother and folks, always a good time, next year we are going to Hawaii... we've been going to Mazatlan for 6 years now, time to change it up a little and go somewhere else, and for 2009 we are talking about Orlando and Disneyworld, which I have never been to. After all, I am just a big kid... LOL

Yes indeed folks you heard it right... I am in Mexico on a beach... today we visited a cool Tequila Factory... small little family owned one from the 1800's, got a little history tour, and did a shot at 11:15am... that hurt a bit... but it was good... and I became a little more educated about tequila in general... like the difference between the "blanco, reposado, and anjeo" tequila's... this is a picture from last year, but my brother and I am dad are going deep sea fishing again on Friday, so maybe I'll get another one of these bad boys... fresh fish for dinner... LOL

This is a picture of an 18U Road Ready case, I am trying to get three "Anvil Brand" with the Case Wraps, 16U cases similar to these for my studio. Then as I expand, I will also place the Modcan Modular on top of all three racks... the bad part is the three cases alone will cost me a small fortune! *** CASES ARE ORDERED ***

Damn, almost the end of October is upon us... my last night shift here at work, and one OT night tomorrow... and off for 6. I am hoping that Lexicon returns my PCM81 for the second time after they really did a bonehead of a repair. Not only did they NOT fix the LED bar that I specifically asked for, they changed out my faceplate and put on a PCM91 front panel ?!?!?!? WTF !!! I have all of my new gear ready for hook up and trial runs. I am really excited about using Digital Performer and the 828mkII's. I reformatted my Apple 17" Powerbook, and am using it for strictly studio stuff. DP, Numerology, and Arturia Synth's. and here's my favorite latest one... I used to have an original Roland Jupiter 8, just loved that synth...



and my second favorite is this one the Prophet-V and after my "less than happy" email exchange with David Smith, and his new P.O.S. Prophet 08, and his even worse attitude, he can just continue to lose my business, the Arturia sounds better anyways.




forgot to add the 1st one I bought, just love the large lush string pads from the CS-80, almost like owning the real one...

I am sounding like Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles... LOL. My 2nd Lexicon PCM81 was delivered yesterday, unfortunately I am out of town, so FedEx did not leave it like they were instructed to do with my front office... so I had to do the phone call thing, spoke to a VERY broken english speaking woman who processed my request to deliver with my office allowed to sign for it. ..... we'll see.

I have re-found joy for a little program called Numerology written by a guy named Jim Coker out of Albuquerque, N.M. www.five12.com written ONLY for Apple Mac OSX... this is a great little program packed with tons of features... I have owned it for years, and just set it aside for the longest time... I recently have reopened it, and discovered I need to start playing with this program again as it is really very very cool. I encourage those of you into analog based sequencing and of course using Apple Mac's to try this program out... great program, great support.

I am still not sure whether or not I want to keep Digital Performer software... anyone have any opinions they'd like to share? What's your favorite Midi Recording Software, what platform, and most of all why? I currently have my ProTools Digi002 system, and of course Numerology, my Modcan Modular system, a few Nord Synthesizers, and the Arturia virtual synth's which I really like... I have to say, I tried the new Prophet08, and I was VERY disappointed... DSI used some of the same design tricks from the PolyEvolver, with what I consider "unfavorable results." My Arturia Prophet V sounds better than the hardware version... and this is from the original design guy... just sucks.

At times I wish I were not so busy at work so I could get back to the fun I have in the studio... I just have no drive to play right now as work has consumed me for the last several month's... I am just tired.

I was going to sell off some of my keyboard stands, and a MIDI interface, only to find out they weren't worth enough for my local Guitar Center to even take them in. So back home they came... it's almost 10pm here and I am supposed to be up and at em by 4am as I have to work in the morning, but alas I am not tired at all...

I have been on an eBay frenzy as of late as well. I was also going to switch from ProTools to MOTU's Digital Performer thinking I'd use more MIDI sequencing, but the jury is still out on that verdict, and I haven't opened the box yet to DP 5, it may go back... the ProTools Digi002 has lost about half of it's value. I just don't think I want to take that much of a hit on it. Plus I have Waves Gold bundle for it too, I just need to renew the WUP... which I had no idea about.

But I do have two of the older 20" Apple Cinema displays that I will be selling, as I finally added two more of the newer 23" Apple Aluminum displays, so now I have 4 that match... my office looks like the CIA or NASA, take your pic... I am going for the "Swordfish" massive computer... LOL

I have been slowly learning web stuff again with the help of my friend Eric, he has been generous with his knowledge and I sure do appreciate his "coaching" me along, and great tips. I am learning, and having fun at the same time. I will eventually have my site up again... just not sure when, and I am really in no hurry. I need to go pack my truck, and get ready for the work routine.

I am back to LJ... my new website is soon to follow... stay tuned... Markk