When big studios use Macs for recording and production it usually creates a buzz among users and musicians, but the giants of the industry are not the only ones relying on the stability of the Mac. At the NAMM music show in Anaheim, Calif., there are plenty of independent musicians that swear by their Macs too.
“We use the Macs for everything from recording to mastering,” independent recording artist, Bill Lonero, told Macworld . It’s so stable we know it is not going to crash in the middle of what we’re doing and lose everything.”
Lonero said that his latest album was recorded directly into a G5 and then taken into the studio. The tracks were then loaded into Pro Tools where all of the mixing and mastering was done. Tracks from the new album can be heard on the band’s MySpace Web site.
“The tracks we took into the engineer came out so good, the engineer couldn’t believe it,” said Lonero.
The band now looks for a studio that use Macs, so the engineers understand what they are doing and where the band is coming. Even though he is in complete control of the recording process, Lonero said one thing he won’t do is copy and paste music pieces in the audio workstation.
“Our approach to recording is very organic,” said Lonero. “You may hear string noises throughout the song, but it’s all real. People are so concerned with making everything sound so perfect, it’s almost sterile — we wanted to leave in that human feel.”
A guitarist fronting an instrumental band Lonero’s first album contains a mix of Rock, Blues, Latin and Classical music. The musicians on the album are impressive too — Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani) on Bass; Mike Mangini (Steve Vai, Extreme) on Drums; and Gigi Gonaway (Mariah Carey) on Drums. The second album, which was just released, is a bit more Rock, he said.
As for his future recordings, Lonero said he’ll continue to use the Mac as the workhorse in the studio and at home.
“The power of the Mac is just so far beyond anything on the PC,” said Lonero.