A Guide To USB Controllers, MIDI And Audio In Music Recording

Audio Interface Basics

The are numerous Control Surfaces (knobs, buttons and screens to you and me) and USB Controller Keyboards currently on the market, offering users a huge variety of products to hook up to their PC or MAC based recording platform. Many of these interfaces now offer tight integration with the big name audio/Midi sequencing and computer music packages, like Cubase, Ableton, Propellerhead Reason and Avid Pro Tools.

This is useful when you understand how to use them, but it may present barriers for potential users who are trying to select the best option for their particular needs. For example, someone looking to work predominantly with loops and samples may opt for Ableton, whilst a songwriting guitarist might opt for Presonus Studio. In this article, we're looking to shed some light on these products and hopefully take some of the undoubted mysticism that can surround computer recording. Essentially, we want to help users to better assess what products they need for the results they are striving to achieve.

USB MIDI Interfaces

There are currently more USB interfaces and products within the music industry than you can shake a stick at, with more being released on what feels like a daily basis. To me, it makes perfect sense to cover what constitutes a USB interface before we go any further, as moving forward without understanding this fundamental concept is akin to walking into a minefield.

In short, a USB interface can be classified as basically any device that plugs into a PC or Mac via USB, however some USB devices offer only MIDI support whereas others support both audio and MIDI interfacing (see this SoundonSound article for an interesting commentary on MIDI over USB speeds). This point is of fundamental importance as, if you buy a USB MIDI controller keyboard to run soft synthesizers on your computer, you are not going to hear anything unless you also have an audio interface, a pretty important point to note! So what is MIDI, how does it vary from audio and what products tend to only feature USB MIDI interfacing without support for any audio?

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Unboxing: Blue Yeti USB Condenser Microphone

Here we are with another microphone unboxing. This time it is the epic Blue Yeti, a professional USB condenser microphone with a ton of versatility. This was one of my Christmas gifts that I am very grateful for and look forward to using to improve my audio quality in my videos.



As many of you know, this is a microphone I'm very excited to use, seeing as it gives you control over gain, master volume as well as your pickup pattern. In audio terms, those are great things. Not to worry, I will be explaining all of these to you in an upcoming audio production series of videos. Stay tuned for many more videos relating to this mic!

Blue Snowflake USB Microphone and the iPad

Creating high quality YouTube videos depends on three things:

• Content
• Video Quality
• Audio Quality

You can have the best quality full HD video with amazing content but if the audio is poor people will switch off quickly.  Excessive background noise, low volume and distortion can all detract from a good video.

I have recently been working on improving the quality of audio in my videos. An obvious place to start is by investing in a good quality microphone. Being a MacBook user this is made more complicated by the lack of microphone input! 

After looking at the options available an external USB microphone looked like the best option. I settled on the Blue Snowflake portable USB microphone which is cleverly designed to fold away with a handy space for the USB cable.

Installing on my MacBook was simplicity itself and the device was immediately recognised. The audio quality is excellent and for less than $60 I am really pleased with the results

As a user of GarageBand on both my MacBook and iPad I wondered if the microphone could be used on my iPad. After a bit of research the answer was yes!

By connecting the USB cable into my iPad 2-in-1 Camera connection kit a USB microphone can be connected to the iPad.

The iPad recognised the microphone not only in GarageBand but in other audio enabled apps. If you are looking to make good quality recordings of your band, lectures or audio for video this is an excellent option.

In conclusion I am really impressed with the design, style and audio quality of the Blue Snowflake microphone and the ability to plug into the iPad is a real bonus.

CiragoTV Mini Media Player Review

The CiragoTV Mini is a compact and portable device that bridges the gap between your digital media and your TV. Simply connect your CiragoTV Mini to your TV, plug in a USB storage device or memory card and instantly enjoy your photos, videos and music on your TV from the comfort of your living room. The CiragoTV Mini's compact size and plug and play simplicity allow you to move it easily from room to room, or take it with you when you travel. The biggest highlight here is the $40 price tag.

Cirago Website: http://www.cirago.com/ctm1000.htm