Intel ® Visual

digital artists
your monster machine back in the office. Lassen
points to the ability to use netbooks when
traveling. “Inspiration happens anywhere, and
now I can chronicle that and then take it back and
do post-work on it. You want to be ready for that
idea. Otherwise, when you drive back to the
house, you won’t have the same idea.”
Salonen recently completed her fantasy novel
Ordera, supplying not only the text but artwork
as well. On top of that, she’s finished commissions
Desert Sand (2009) by Kirsi Salonen, is the
portrait of a wild, proud, and free-spirited elfish
girl. It has a painterly touch, mixed with realism.
She considers it her “fantasy portrait.”
and other projects, so being busy is just part of
her DNA. A key for her is being able to work
when the inspiration hits. “I’m extremely
Whether composing soundtracks for feature films or video games,
remixing pop songs, or assembling new hip-hop tunes, many musicians today
rely on extensive audio sample libraries to bring their ideas to life. Sample
libraries can comprise thousands of short recordings of anything from
orchestral strings to rare world instruments, captured with varied volumes,
playing techniques, and acoustic settings so musicians can have a full
spectrum of sound at their fingertips.
For musicians such as Justin Lassen who rely on digital audio workstations
for composing and recording, traditional hard disk drives can produce
significant bottlenecks in the creative workflow. Loading the massive libraries
into software-based samplers and “virtual instruments” can be a timeconsuming
process. Add to that the mechanical limitations and high failure
rates of traditional hard disk drives, and musicians can face compositions
and sample libraries that are vulnerable to loss. After years of experiencing
dropped notes and audio glitches, including a devastating loss of years of
work because of a hard drive crash, Lassen knew he needed a reliable, durable
drive that would let him take his work on the road.
spontaneous when it comes to working. I tend to
work in dashes and do as much as possible
without wearing myself out. I’m a sort of
workaholic; I paint ‘til I drop on my keyboard.
Sometimes I take one job at a time and focus on
it, but sometimes it’s all multitasking. Doing art
isn’t always a day job. Inspiration might strike in
the middle of the night, and then I grab it.”
Golden Weaver (2010)
by Kirsi Salonen.
Intel® Solid-State Drives Enhance Music Production
Ruiz agrees, saying he has no real set pattern to
his creativity. “Sometimes I’ll be incredibly
disciplined for hours at a time, and other times I
can’t stand more than five minutes of it! Music
really helps, or putting a movie on in the
background. I really never can tell what mood I’ll
be in, but that’s when I have to ‘override’ myself
and create whether I feel like it or not. The
computer is a double-edged sword. I have all the
tools and speed the machine has to offer, and at
the same time I have the mother of all
(continued on page 30)
Self-Centered by Alex Ruiz. Ruiz has worked as an
illustrator, concept artist, art instructor, and prolific
digital artist.
Lassen installed 300-GB Intel® Solid State Drives (Intel® SSDs) in his
primary mobile workstation—an Apple MacBook* Pro with an Intel® Core i7
processor. “In my environment, the Intel SSDs cut loading time for each multilayered
instrument from five minutes to just 30 seconds,” he said.
The Intel SSDs also helped eliminate dropped notes and audio problems
experienced with hard disk drives. “With hard disk drives, I couldn’t play or
perform many compositions in real time without glitches or dropped notes,”
said Lassen. “And with Intel SSDs, I experienced zero dropped notes. These
drives are performance ready, even for compositions with layered instrument
patches or passages with repetitive, fast notes. These drives allow me to
realize compositions that I envision, without limitations.”
“When I wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea, the last
thing I want to do is wait for instruments to load—I lose that inspiration,” said
Lassen. “With Intel SSDs, I can start working almost instantly so I can capture
the inspiration the moment I have it.”
intel visual adrenaline no. 10, 2011 31