Top products from r/AdvancedProduction

As much as I want to agree with this, I've always found the whole dictum of 'discipline' to be kinda... lacking. Let me tell you an anecdote.

if I'm good at anything in my entire life, it's probably programming. I've been doing it for 15 years or so. I've made popular games, websites, worked for multiple companies, gainful employment, open source projects with hundreds of thousands of downloads, blah blah blah. Not trying to brag, just trying to get across the point that I am indeed competent.

Anyways, I hear people on Reddit saying that you need discipline and that you should just force yourself to do it even if you don't want to. Thing is, did I use discipline to get as good as I am at programming?

No.

I do programming because I enjoy it. Programming is one of the most fun activities that I do. Heck, I was programming just now (at 2AM) before I switched over to Reddit to troll some people - err, I mean respond to your post. :) Just doing some fun little side work, and enjoying myself. There's nothing disciplined about what I was doing. I didn't force myself to open up my IDE. I just did, because it's fun. This is 100% the essence of what makes me a good programmer.

And so when I see everyone on Reddit saying that discipline is the way to enlightenment, I get sad. Because if I had followed that ideology instead of doing the stuff that I enjoy, I wouldn't be who I am today.

Humans aren't robots. If you take a guy and force him to do with discipline an activity he isn't really enjoying, he's still not going to enjoy it. He'll feel bad that he doesn't like it, and he'll get distracted and disappointed in himself for getting distracted, and etc etc.

If you take a guy and let him do an activity he wants to do, you won't have to force him or make him disciplined. He'll just do it automatically and get good at it.

The great thing about it is that you can really learn to enjoy almost any activity by learning how to get into flow state while doing it. There's been a couple of good books written on it.

Now if Reddit had chosen to focus on flow, rather than discipline, as the way to get good and steady improvements, then that would have been awesome! But they didn't, and that makes me disappointed. Not to write off discipline entirely, as it's important to know that not every time you do something is going to be as amazing as the first time. And discipline can sometimes lead to flow states.

The problem is that Reddit seems to celebrate 'forcing yourself to work'. That, to me, is incredibly dumb. If you're not enjoying your work, that means that something about your workflow is incorrect and needs to be fixed. It's like trying to continue to drive with a flat tire. Eventually you could cause damage if you don't figure out what's going on.

Anyone who does that is going to get rapidly surpassed by people that don't need to force themselves to do anything because they do it for the love of it.

Other users might know issues with this hub that I haven't come across yet, but I received this two days ago as a replacement for the Sabrent one that you linked in your OP and it's been working great. I'll admit that the ports feel a little flimsy and cheaply made (which they definitely are) but so far it's been totally fine and has more ports than I will likely ever need. The Sabrent one worked fine, but there was a defect in the plug itself (little plastic burr) that prevented it from plugging in to the port all the way. I'm sure I just received a defective unit and you may have better luck, but it constantly slipped out because of this and when I tried to remove the burr, the device stopped working altogether.

For anybody downvoting, don't. This is very much the kind of question that deserves asking and answering on this sub.

You said you preferred Python or Swift.. I'd recommend just using Max or SynthEdit like /u/BennJordan suggested. But if you're serious about making VSTs I would recommend looking into JUCE. It's a C++ library so you're gonna have to learn that if you haven't yet already. C++ is an essential language. If you've yet to pick it up, I recommend starting with C. The transition from C to C++ is not difficult.

JUCE is nice in that it is cross-platform ( OSX, Win, Linux, Android, iOS ). It is proprietary, but
> most JUCE modules are shared under the GNU Public Licence (GPLv2, v3, and the AGPLv3).

The documentation seems organized and there's a healthy amount of tutorials and resources, and it is already used by many developers.

Make sure to read up on your Linear Algebra
and
DSP.

I just got one of these and I'm very happy with it. Great price, nice tube warmth, simple controls, smallish footprint for smaller home studios.

ART TubeMix 5-ch Mixer w/USB and Assignable Tube https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074WG5TCQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_bs5SCbP7SN5NW

Haha thanks for the correction man. Total derp.

Elements of Computer Music by Richard Moore is another great one if you want to get deep into the nitty-gritty of audio DSP. The code is all in C, and it was written in 1990, so some of it is mildly outdated- but the theory is still relevant, and you can implement everything in a more modern language. It's on the more low-level theory side, where Pirkle is mostly focused on application, and getting to practical uses as quickly as possible. It's a really cool book to read, even if you don't follow along with the exercises.

I think you might find the following more fun in the inspiration department. I have a roland sh 201 which is analog modeling like the mircro korg and i have alot of fun with it but don't end up recording with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Korg-Volca-Keys-Analog-Synthesizer/dp/B00CAKSVTU/


http://www.amazon.com/Korg-MONOTRONDUO-Oscillator-Analog-Synthesizer/dp/B00684KFFW/


http://www.amazon.com/Korg-Kaossilator-Dynamic-Synthesizer-Recorder/dp/B00B5S93OK

http://www.amazon.com/Korg-Volca-Bass-Analog-Machine/dp/B00CAKQCHS/


http://www.amazon.com/Korg-KAOSS-Dynamic-Effects-Sampler/dp/B00B5SDFRG/

I just picked up an AT 120 USB, and it's been wonderful so far. Has the option for traditional phono out, built in amp w/ line out, and a USB port that easily connects to ableton (and presumably all DAWs)

Comes with Audacity too, if that's your bag.

Beware of hubs that, in the fine print, don’t support MIDI. I bought an Anker powered usb 3 hub that not only wouldn’t work with any of my midi devices, it wouldn’t recognize my Logitech mouse dongle or my USB 3 thumb drives.

I’m currently using this hub, I’ve got MIDI coming in and out of four ports at the moment and it works with all my other peripherals as well.

I recently got a umc 404hd from behringer and it is sick. It runs great on mac and pc and you can take stereo inputs from it in fl studio, ableton, basically any daw. I highly recommend it, and it also has midi in and out as well as xlr out for 1/2, and trs and rca out for 1/2 and 3/4. I managed to snag mine for about $99 and it was a hell of a steal. I have my analog synth in as well as 2 mics and a guitar as my inputs. I highly suggest you look into it if you want to control and capture all the sound coming into your pc. Also, there is the added benefit of having your headphones able to listen to an alternate track that is not your master track. This helps for live performance.

Link BEHRINGER U-PHORIA UMC404HD https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QHURLHM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FZDmybKJS4DWX

It is currently 105$, with prime shipping available. I seriously suggest you get this interface rather than that steinberg one.

I have one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Port-USB-Power-Adapter/dp/B00DQFGJR4

Been solid for about a year now.

Have a look at this one.