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October 24, 2014

Surface Pro 3: A Powerful Mobile Music Studio That Goes Everywhere You Go



Over the past few months, I’ve met with Musicians around the world across all genres and specialties. These are individuals who create, arrange, improvise, record, teach, and perform for a living. Most Musicians depend on two devices outside of the studio: a laptop for creating music and a tablet for reviewing it on-the-go. Musicians don’t want to carry two devices to do their work any more than people in any field do.. They’ve told us that they’re always looking for new things – in particular, something that does everything their laptop can do and that offers something their laptop isn’t able to do that would help make their work more efficient. As I talk to musicians and really get into what Surface Pro 3 can do, the first reaction is always something like:

“Wait, you can run Ableton and Pro Tools on this thing?”

Ableton running on Surface Pro 3
Ableton running on Surface Pro 3

Most of the music we hear in the car, in the movies, and on our devices is created using powerful music software – full, real deal, workhorse programs like Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Cubase, Reason, Sibelius, and Finale. Musicians love Surface Pro 3 because it runs all the tools they depend on to create music in a form that’s portable enough to travel with them everywhere they go. They can write a full orchestra score with Sibelius in the attic, record virtual instruments with Ableton Live on the train, and mix tracks with Pro Tools in the studio. Surface is a powerful mobile music studio that can travel with a Musician everywhere music takes them.

Perhaps not surprisingly, half of the reason Musicians are fascinated by Surface is purely utility-based:

“You know, I’m really tied to the programs I use more than I am tied to my MacBook. I wouldn’t carry around my MacBook and my iPad if I could carry one device that runs all the real music software I use.”

Beyond consolidating to a single device, the ability to use Pen and touch on Surface Pro 3 opens up new possibilities and efficiencies as you make music.

How does music making change when you can run Ableton or Pro Tools on a touch device that’s almost as thin as your smartphone? How does teaching music change when you can view and edit full scores using Sibelius in one hand while writing down notes from rehearsal with Pen in the other? How would touch and Pen enable you to create in entirely new ways?

Our team gets super excited when we hear real stories of people who are using Surface to create in new ways and in places we never imagined. Last month, I met a great guy and Surface fan named Robin (@surfaceproaudio) who has been exploring the potential of Surface Pro 3 for music creation and put together a Twitter handle, blog, and YouTube channel to share his learnings with the world.

I love Robin’s latest video – be sure to check it below, and share your own Surface music creations with the world using #SurfaceMUSIC.

I’ll look forward to checking out all that you share!

Stuart Pitts – Product Marketing Manager

@stpitts