Disklavier

I acquired my new audio equipment today.  I'm worried
that my Dad's duet partner might be in too poor health
in July when I can do the recording, so I figured I
better get started learning how to do this!  Hopefully
she will perk up, take better care of herself and get
some rest if she knows I'm going to make a CD of her
music.  She has written some original compositions over
the years.  I only wish I had this idea sooner!

My total tab was $538 for the Edirol USB Audio Capture
UA-25 interface, 2 audio-technica AT202 Cardioid
Condenser mics, two 50 ft. PROformance microphone
cables , 2 On-Stage microphone stands , and the
audio-technica ATH M20 Monitor Headphones.  Much to my
delight, my local music store, Chuck Levins (Washington
Guitar Center) had better prices than I could find on
the internet, plus they were very patient (unusual in
this business) and explained everything so that even I
could understand their answers to my questions.

I bought the Edirol interface instead of the MBox.  The
UA-25 has all the features of the MBox for $200 less,
plus a MIDI interface, and works with all my computers.
I'll let you know what software I eventually use.  I
already have Cool Edit Lite, Cakewalk Home Studio 9,
ProAudio 8, and Yamaha XG Works.  You can also download
a free copy of ProTools 5.2 for Windows 98 and ME from
the DigiDesign website.

I would have purchased the MBox if I had a computer
that would work with ProTools lite.  It is supposed to
be the best. You need to carefully read the specs to
make sure your chipset will work, your processor is
fast enough, and have an additional fast hard drive
that is not the one used for the operating system. It
was explained to me why the MBox is designed the way it
is, and not more consumer friendly.  DigiDesign makes
both the MBox and ProTools.  They also sell these high
end professional packages that recording engineers use
for the highest quality recordings, and need to keep
the results as good for the MBox.  Therefore, their
hardware (MBox) and the software (ProTools 6.9) work
perfectly together to get consistent and known results
that meet professional expectations when using their
products.  There are no wildcards in this system and
they are very specific about what kind of equipment you
need.  Also, ProTools only grudingly supports MIDI and
that is why there is no MIDI interface on the MBox.

I was told that I could come close to these results
using the Edirol, but that I would have to do more
tweaking of the system.  That is all right with me as I
only need to improve upon a boombox with a built-in
mic.

Thank you so much for your advice on this list, and to
the folks who emailed me privately.  I know that I
usually go into a big yawn as soon as I hear the word
"audio" with visions of DAT recorders in my head, but
now that reasonable quality, affordable products are
available, who knows what creativity has awakened!
There is nothing like new toys to make you look forward
to waking up in the morning!

Carol Beigel