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I want this page to grow over time, as more cool and interesting things make their way into my awareness. The list below is loosely based on categories, and while I make no guarantees about what may or may not be there at any given moment, they're still pretty nifty places to start. I hope in time that friends and fellow designers will share some of their favorites, so this can become a great place to exchange ideas and philosophies. Please email me privately if you have something to contribute, and remember that I'm not wanting to show off anyone's work in particular, but to provide opportunities to learn and be challenged. All links will open a new page; to come back here, just close the current one. I personally vouch for the quality and usefulness of all the links I provide. :) |
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Free stuff: |
| Hitsquad : the best source I've found for audio, MIDI and music software for all platforms. Everything from commercial demos to public domain. |
| Freesound: exactly what it says. Pretty much the best single free source for SFX (thanks to Jen Raynak for pointing it out!) |
| SoundCloud: the free account allows up to two hours of *any* quality audio hosting. I like not having to make lossy mp3s of stuff. :) |
Academic institutions with amazing computer music studies, and often experimental audio software: |
| IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) (English version) |
| CNMAT (Center For New Music and Audio Technologies, UC Berkeley) |
| CCRMA (Center For Computer Research In Music And Acosutics, Stanford University) |
| CRCA (Center For Research In Computing And The Arts, UC San Diego) |
| CCM (Center For Contemporary Music, Mills College) |
| BMARS (Bregman Music And Audio Research Studio, Dartmouth College) |
| CMC (Computer Music Center, Columbia University/Princeton University) |
Publications: |
| Electronic Musician: monthly, this one's been around since the 80s, and still has great new material. |
| Keyboard: monthly, obviously keyboard-focused, but a lot of new techniques are discussed that have immediate use beyond the instrument. |
| Mix: monthly, arguably the one magazine that makes audio folks of all stripes happy. |
| Computer Music Journal: quarterly, the "gold standard", published by MIT Press. Been around since the 70s. |
Commercial/freelance sound libraries, both on CD and for download: |
| Hollywood Edge: just bloody INCREDIBLE. 'Nuff said. :) |
| Sound Ideas: possibly the single-largest source of individual effects in the known world. |
| BBC: available through Sound Ideas, possibly the most meticulous collection I've ever used. |
| Independent: this link goes to a site with a number of high-quality freelance designers' work. It's worth the time to look. |
| (also, check your local library for SFX CDs. Many have a variety available for free checkout. Mine, the Multnomah County Library, is noted for their multimedia collection, and they've got some great sound sources) |
Commercial virtual instruments, mostly Kontakt-native (some offer .ALP-native too) |
| 8Dio/SoundIron: truly fanatastic quality instruments. Each company is the result of Tonehammer's split, and earlier libraries are available. |
| Soniccouture: often unusual instruments, extremely well-made. |
| Sonokinetic: a newer company, and I'm very impressed with their work. |
Ah, the software. Most are commercial, but some are shareware/public domain. Unless noted otherwise, I've used each one listed for quite some time. You'll quickly notice I've only listed Mac apps, and this is because I've used a Mac exclusively for audio/MIDI since 1989... |
| Apple Logic: while I still use Pro Tools on my older machine, this is my go-to on the iMac. |
| Native Instruments Kontakt: a lovely software sampler, my favorite to date. Not difficult to figure out if you have hardware sampler experience. |
| Bias Peak: simply the best editor I know of. Started using when Digidesign's Sound Designer II went away. |
| Tunesify: my favorite new batch file format converter. Availalble on Apple's App Storefor a whopping $3.99 |
| Avid Pro Tools: the program that made multi-track recording available to the general public way back when. Still a classic. |
| Qlab: discovered this a couple years back, and has single-handedly replaced my reliance on rack samplers for live theatre. :) |
| Ableton Live: listed here because some good and trusted friends swear by it. |