LAPTOP MUSIC, the book. REVIEW.

tomperson · Post by **tomperson** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:27 pm

Ok, after reading good reviews on Sound On Sound and other places on the net, I got this book.

Good things:

- REALLY ENCOURAGING. After reading the first chapters, you really want to go out and PLAY with whatever you have available!
- Lots of opinions/experiences from actual laptop performers.
- An interesting approach to audio apps and hardware, centering on portability and originality. He definitely wants to make you think out of the box. Thats cool.

Bad things:
- Too subjective. That may be a good thing or bad thing, at times i didn't like it though.
- Too centered on the MAC platform. I'm a PC guy, so it feels a bit annoying.
- Too much technology info. I guess that if you are new to audio, thats good, but if you already know your rig, you are more interested in concepts and ideas rather than having a view of the available midi controllers. Maybe thats just me, anyway.

Overall, an enjoyable book, but my expectations were a bit different from what I got. Recommended if you are hesitant about going out and playing.

minimal · Post by **minimal** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:31 pm

strange, never thought a book is what encourages you to preform live.
I may be wrong, but it shouldn't be a book that gives you the motivation to play live... it's something you have to feel inside of you

going to check some rewievs anyway.

tomperson · Post by **tomperson** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:52 pm

Obviously, it's up to you whether you want to go out or not. I'm just talking about what I felt was nice (or not) about the book...

Many people just does music in the bedroom and don't even think of going out, maybe because they feel they dont have the gear, maybe because they are unsure, whatever. For that people, coming across this book might be a good thing.

robbmasters · Post by **robbmasters** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 3:56 pm

tomperson wrote:- Too centered on the MAC platform. I'm a PC guy, so it feels a bit annoying.

Got a sample of what I assume is the same book with Music Technology Magazine. The author said that platform debates were stupid, but then painted a disproportionate view of the platforms and admitted he was biased!

I felt like he should either call it Powerbook Music or provide a more balanced view. His bias and apparent ignorance put me off buying the full book...

It reminded me of those "10 reasons to switch to Mac" ads. There may be plenty of good reasons to switch to Macs, but these aren't them! "It's Unix based so it doesn't crash". Er, have you ever used a Unix machine? (Or a Mac!) "It runs PC software" Well, that's all well and good, but it's hardly a reason to switch from a PC (which will also run PC software) to a Mac, is it?

This isn't an anti Mac post. I like both platforms. And Linux. And I choose what I feel suits my needs best for a particular purpose.

However, I am opposed to disinformation about the differences between the two platforms contained in books like this and Apple ad campaigns.

Of course, I still haven't forgiven Apple for shafting PC users over Logic. So I guess I'm biased too. But then I don't intend to write a supposedly cross platform book...

computo · Post by **computo** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:16 pm

never had an apple crash in performance.

robbmasters · Post by **robbmasters** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:27 pm

Never had a PC crash in performance.

But I don't want this to turn into a Mac vs PC debate. That would be to miss the point completely.

PCs, Macs and Unix machines all crash from time to time. Maybe Macs typically crash more infrequently than PCs, maybe it depends on how well they're set up and what's installed. But saying that Macs don't crash because they're based on Unix is both illogical and untrue.

tomperson · Post by **tomperson** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:32 pm

robbmasters:
Yeah, I got the impression that the guy really didn't know much of the PC world, and I think the book is not PC friendly at all, despite what's advertised. He kept on talking of iBooks, iPods, and only god knows what other iStuff. Don't get me wrong, I kinda liked the guy, but his bias towards mac was too much for me, at least they should not pretend the book to be "cross platform".

computo:
I don't want to start another platform war, cos if I had the money, I would get a MAC if only for how sexy they look, but funny enough, my professor at an audio course had a highly spec'ed Mac (double processor, MOTU soundcard, etc, etc) and I witnessed it crash at least 2 times on a row one afternoon (he said it had never happened and it was my bad karma!).

Enough for me, macs not crashing seems like one of those "I want to believe" topics...

robbmasters · Post by **robbmasters** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:37 pm

Just picked up my sample again and noticed what you were saying about subjectivity too. He didn't like D'Cota, for example, as he's a presets man, and you have to actually program it to get the best out of it...

tomperson · Post by **tomperson** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 6:15 pm

He mentions D'Cota. I think he didn't like the interface of it, but generally he encourages looking for your own sounds and personality, which is good!

netchaiev · Post by **netchaiev** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 6:16 pm

Gotta get that book then if it's pro MAC !!!

robbmasters · Post by **robbmasters** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 6:30 pm

netchaiev wrote:Gotta get that book then if it's pro MAC !!!

And pro presets?

LAPTOP MUSIC, the book. REVIEW.

LAPTOP MUSIC, the book. REVIEW.

Re: LAPTOP MUSIC, the book. REVIEW.

ermmm