my latest forays into computer generated music:

 since 2002 i have been experimenting with computers as musical instruments.

 i am currently using NI Reaktor, Propellerheads Reason, CoolEditPro, Stylus RMX, AAS Tassman , a bunch of freeware/shareware such as Reaper, Triple Cheese and String Theory, and various plug-ins. i'm particularly pleased with physical modeling software synthesizers. Tassman, some of the PM Reaktor stuff and String Theory all sound fantastc to me. 

i am not all that fond of digital audio quality but i think the situation is much improved with 24bit recording.  i can certainly hear the difference between 16bit/44.1Khz and 24/96.  i still haven't heard much that sounds like a big, fat chunk of analog tape.  however,  i am in no position to use tape right now, so digital it is. if anyone reading this wants to donate a 2inch tape reel to reel recorder, please let me know.

i'm using PCs with windoze XP as they are cheap. i mostly buy them used, then slap a new hard drive or two in them.  my main desktop pc (the Dragon) is a cheapo Gateway with an AMD6000 (a 3Ghz processor) and a Native Instruments Kore V1 audio interface. my laptop, (the sphinx) is a crappy sharp (p4/2.2Ghz) with an RME audio interface.

 in the interest of actually creating some music i try not to spend too much time doodling with new softwares. if i was just learning to play the violin i would rarely fiddle around with say, the clarinet, or harpsichord. i consider each piece of software as a complex instrument that will take years to master. Since i originally wrote this i have purchased Native Instruments Komplete so now i am experimenting with Absynth and Kontact and Battery and FM8...