Mark Winter started out in music at the age of three, playing piano. From there he's built quite a career in the music industry; Winter is responsible for writing songs for every type of application. From his work in pop music as a founding member of the Epic/Sony act Illusion, to his work in writing songs for commercials (which landed him major clients including Goodyear). Winter has also produced his share of artists over the years in addition to working on his own projects.

His current work as producer/program director for WebmasterRadio.FM hasn't kept him out of the studio. Mark Winter's new CD is called Another Round For My Friends; the country CD is Winter's return from a hiatus from his own work. Gearwire's Joe Wallace got Winter's perspective on home studios, how technology has changed the business, and what he thinks has been the most important technical change to the recording industry.

Joe Wallace: You built your home studio from scratch, and long before it was as easy to do as it is now. With the benefit of that experience, what advice do you have for people who want to build one now?

Mark Winter: I recommend Adobe Audition, because it does everything. You can multitrack, record single things, it has a ton of effects built in, you can edit, everything. It's user friendly, and I would recommend that, and learning how to use everything before you move up to a more expensive program.

What about analog-to-digital conversion?

With my Cubase, I'm using MOTU stuff, it was recommended to me to use, it works fine. Anything that works fine, as long as it sounds pure going in that's the most important thing, you can always process it later.

What about the Vista issue? Does that affect what you use? Any concerns over "modernization"?

I don't know, because I'm using two computers, one I have XP on, and it works. On my other one I still have Windows 98, most of my programs are still older versions and I don't want to upgrade because I am still happy with the way everything sounds. I'm not going to change to Vista unless there's a reason to with my music.

Moving away from the technical side, do you have any advice for people who are trying to build a career in music, and doing what you've done in the past with writing music for other people?

First, even if you're doing a simple demo, make it sound professional. Make sure it's as professional as you can make it, and there's a lot of websites you can join to get leads. There's a lot of resources for leads, for like, "this movie is looking for a song". You can submit by uploading MP3s, that sort of thing. You can create a Myspace page at Myspace Music, it's a good way to promote yourself.

You've said that you like to keep a wide-open sonic palette. Is that an advantage in writing music for others? Any advice on being a "musical generalist"?

I guess being a producer I do a wide variety, there are some people who do just one style, which is fine! Everybody does their own thing. Today you can really get your music out, where years ago it was impossible. You had to mail to the record company and hope they liked it. These days you can really promote yourself.

What technical innovation has been most helpful to you in your career?

Email and MP3s have revolutionized everything. Even on my country CD where I'm using pedal steel. I couldn't get together with my pedal steel guy, so I called him up and told him "send me the tracks", he sent me an MP3 and I put it into the song. You can really perform and play with people all over the world.

What is it like watching the technology evolving over your career?

Digital is awesome now. I like to move with the times and it's great to be able to do all this stuff. Years ago, if you a great artist and didn't have the money to go into a studio you were really stuck. Now, with the home studios, people are able to do it. If you want to record a song, you can. Years ago it cost you three thousand dollars to do one song.