Philosophical Rant 5

Is this Rant 5? Yeah, I think so. I spent the last weekend with my folks. They're so awesome. We talked heaps. Mum listened intently when I talked about my music.

I agree with Richard Kingsmill's recent commentary about 2010 being one of the best years for music in a long time. There was some bloody amazing music released this year. Sufjan Steven's twisted our brains. Arcade Fire took us back home. And Kanye West's new album wasn't just on another level, I think he went to a new fucking planet. There's a healthy levels of desperation and honesty in some of the music released this year. Great to see. Raw and real I think.

I sometimes hate how learning is part of the process to becoming good at anything. Especially when it comes to expression. My music feel's 3rd rate somehow. I'm still striving to reach that 2nd level, where most of the pro's sit (let alone top shelf where the legends sit, I don't want to go there anyway). I need to step it up a notch.

I'll make a few practical decisions here I think:
1 - I'm going to release all my music for free. Screw iTunes. I need a website or something to do it. Maybe I can do it here on the blog somehow. I'll ask for donations only. I don't ever want to become precious about my music. I just want people to listen to it (and enjoy it or otherwise).
2 - I need to try getting a pro engineer to help later mix/master etc. That'll depend on my money situation...
3 - I really need to remix/remaster The Fall and I Feel Alive to get them up to scratch. Although, I did start this whole process by buying pretty cheap equipment. Still juggling with conflicting expectations there.
4 - I think 5 tracks to make up the first EP.

Cool.

I'll finish this post with a photo of my mother and grandfather from December 1962. Dancing to Elvis.

Elvis is on. Time to dance. Things are as they should be.

Ideas for new songs (and some tips)

I've been experimenting with riffs and sounds the last few day with some success. I've come up with at least two strong ideas for songs, both originating from my electric guitar, that I've already begun composing/producing into songs. Transitioning ideas from my head, to an instrument, into a nice sounding composition is beginning to come naturally. I still feel like there's capacity in me to do it faster. I'm also finding that it feels much more natural to work on lots of tracks at the same time. If I'm not 'in the mood' to work on a particular track, I might be feeling right to work on another.

The new stuff I'm working on is a real mixed bag. The first track sounds like a 60's rock song, but then phases in and out of a more modern sound. I'm even going to try putting some weird chanting and stuff in. Like Gregorian type stuff. Just to mess with people's heads and add that element of 'epic' that I just can't avoid doing.

The other track sounds like some of NIN's gritty rock mixed with something by Muse.

I also came up with a few little riffs and that which sound cool, but not sure if they'll become songs. I can always use them as transitional effects. Or rather, content to fill the space between songs. Some really great albums use little instrumentals to break up songs and create ambiance on the album.   :)

That's all for today. Oh, and James Bernard's week 41 tutorial about mid-side processing was amazing if not a bit overwhelming! I'll tinker with the patch he posted.

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Tips for new producers:

For budding musician/producers out there trying to learn this stuff like I am, here's a list of the things I think are critical to producing your own stuff. (Keep in mind that I still consider myself to be an amateur!). I'm assuming you've already bought all the equipment you need and know what most of the knobs on a standard mixing desk do. (For more info about my equipment, see my posts from August 2010)

Ok here goes:
- High and low pass filters: Learn about these to help get rid of that 'boomy' or 'muddy' effect from your songs. Try applying a high pass filter (up to 150-300Hz) to all instruments except your bass sound and your kick drum sound. Your song should start to sound clearer.
- Think about the frequency of all your sounds and try not to put in more than 2 sounds of the same frequency in any song. Use left and right panning to separate sounds of the same frequency.
- Learn about Parallel Processing by watching James Bernard's week 37 tutorial. It's a great way to fatten up your sounds. Particularly drums I find, but I imagine it could apply to any instrument.
- If you sing (or use a singer), learn about 'comping' and do it! Make a singer sing each part 20 times over with very minor variations each time. Listen back each time a part is sung and consider what a variation could achieve.
- Learn about 8-band parallel processing and try using it as a mastering tool. I've found it to be the most important mastering technique so far. It produces amazing clarity and gives you real control on your final mix.
- Work on a few songs at the same time. i.e. you won't be in the mood to work on the same song everyday (or other day)!
- Watch tutorials until your eyes bleed. Try following a tutorial, but make your own music at the same time. Read about your software online and in magazines. Some magazines go into amazing depth about software.

Post release thoughts

Ok, so DJ Ridonkulous was an interesting experiment. It's not the core stuff I want to be doing though. Even though I might pull some more comedy out of the bag at a later stage. I posed the idea of a YouTube video to my friends who are keen help. They came up with the idea of filming it near the docklands and finding some boats to get on etc.

I've certainly learnt lots of lessons already from the DJ Ridonkulous experiment. How not to mix a song for start. I've noticed as hear it played about that it sounds different on different speakers. I'm pretty sure that is a sign of a rushed job resulting in a poor mix. But hey, lesson learned. I can do better next time.

Returning to Ergo Alt material, I've been lost for ideas on what to do next. I have a few old songs I could pull out of the bag, but they aren't inspiring me. I need to feel inspired so it makes me want to work. So I've started working through some software tutorials from a Reason magazine I found. The tutorials run through details of the Reason instruments and how to make various interesting sounds. I'm copying what they instruct, but making my own music as I go. Hopefully it will result in a riff, or a tune, or something else that inspires me to keep working.

I really want to do something epic. Massively epic. You know, with like with different 'movements', and crazy sounds that turns heads, and then some massive orchestral sounds thrown in. I dunno. That's me throwing ideas around.

I'm also hoping that by creating music in 2-hour blocks, following the magazine, that this will get me in a habit of creating music this way so I can keep on doing it when I have a job. Oh yeah, so I'm still looking, I applied for a few. I'm literally out of money now, living on my credit card as well as generous donations from my parents. They're so supportive. Anyone else would think I'm nuts.

That's enough for today, back to my magazine and job hunting. No photo today. Someone should invent a thought visualiser. hmmm...

DJ Ridonkulous

Another milestone today! My political satire piece came out today. Follow this link to listen: DJ Ridonkulous on Myspace. Here to buy on iTunes: DJ Ridonkulous on iTunes.

Ridonkulous, meaning deserving or inspiring ridicule to the highest degree, is the perfect artist name for this music. I already have idea for other comedy songs I want to do. 

If you're not from Australia the song might confuse you. Here a quick over-view of the genesis of the song for you: 

The vocal is Australia's current prime-minister Julia Gillard. I sampled here voice from one of her recent television appearances. At present, two prevailing issues reported by the media here (among others) are:

- Asylum seeking refugees arriving at Australia's shore by boat; and

- Gay marriage rights.

I found that, when listening to Julia, the funniest (or most ridiculous) things she said was when she was talking on these topics. So, I merged these topics and, the song kind of wrote itself in a way. The other thing I should point out is that the political party in opposition at the moment has a leader named Tony Abbott. Julia calls him Mr. Abbott. However, because of her heavy accent, it sounds like she says Mr Rabbit. 

Australia has a long history making fun of our politicians using political satire. The right to do so is legally bound here. Unfortunately, I personally think this culture is in a slow decline. Australians are becoming too politically correct and sensitive. And our media is becoming too sensationalised.  

Hopefully, Australians will find it funny and offensive enough that it will get some press. And maybe everyone here can get a bit of a laugh and lighten up a bit.

Do it for the nation!

Alternate project - another milestone

I finished putting together all the core elements of my political satire piece today. I promised a good friend I'd have a demo ready by tonight. So I have that. Yay! Another milestone. As usual, the mixing process has been long and involved. I wish I knew how the pros get their frequencies so clean and clear all the time. How do they know the exact point at which there is enough high-end treble in the mix?! They must have frequency level visualizers of some sort (or something!). I need to do more research on this.

Anyway, I've been mixing and mastering my track by listening to various tracks on the 'Ministry of Sound' compilations and trying to copy their frequencies and their 'beat pump'. It seems to have worked. I can definitely still hear a slightly superior level of clarity in their tracks though. Particularly in their sound effects which have amazing detail. But most people probably won't be able to tell the difference. 

I also still need to add sound effects to the song. Just to make the track that little bit more interesting. That can wait till next week.

Soon, I'll start talking to my friends about the video. This track is all about connecting (and getting sales hopefully) with people via the YouTubes. It's pretty funny on its own, but I think it will excel as a music video. We've got some ideas that involve dressing up as animals etc. We'll discuss them tonight perhaps.

This has been enough work by itself so I'm not sure if I'll have time to pull of an iPhone application as well. Sigh!

What a sexy rack!

Jango

I've been busy over the past week, painting the flat, looking for jobs, and jamming on the guitar with myself. Had some success with experimentation, but for the most part I just had fun. I needed that. Felt great just to experiment for the hell of it.

I recently put my music onto Jango Radio which is a website that automatically makes mixes of music you will like based on an artist of your choice. Its a great way to discover new music and I myself have been enjoying discovering some great music. There are so many amazing bands and artists out there. I have a real positive outlook for the future of the music industry. Funnily, it means that I've stopped listening to the normal radio. The internet is by far the best place to discover new music.

When listeners hear something they really really like a song or band, they can 'become fans'. A small contingent of people have already become Ergo Alt fans, and even more have indicated they just 'like' my music, which is awesome. A quick hello to those people and thanks for becoming fans!

One cool thing Jango does is tell me stuff like this. Handy for future marketing probably. If I ever get my album finished...

Philosophical Rant 4

This might sound weird, but I found a zen place in my heart for my music today. You know, I think I've been rattled by the world and various circumstances for a long time. The same circumstances that lead to me quitting my job I think. I had really lost that stability of mind that I'm normally used to. I'd normally consider myself to be a very stable person. But not of late. Not for a while. And I think I understand it all now. I think I've been doing this because I had lost hope in just about everything, except music. I've been clutching onto it like a lifeline.

But today, and I don't know why this day in particular, I suddenly have new hopes. And I suppose that has set free the musical side of me. I don't need to clutch onto it so tightly anymore. Already, this is making me think in new ways about my music. New genres. New beats. That's so weird. It's amazing how state of mind is so closely linked to music. I mean, that's not weird, but it's like the bond between them is almost like they are the same thing.

During this whole time of composing and producing music, I've never once picked up a guitar and just jammed with myself or with someone else. Isn't that strange? For 4 months I've been producing music, but not once have I just strummed a guitar for the sake of it. You know, just to reflect and enjoy the sound of the strings. Today, I'm going to do that. Just strum some random stings for the hell of it.

Ok, I'm weirding myself out now. Time to stop.

Parallel Processing

Today, I'm writing a bit of technical jargon. Hopefully you don't fall asleep. I've been working on my dance/satire piece, but I've been a bit uninspired by it lately. The beat and the music has been sounding flat and boring, despite the song's ability to make me laugh. Now that's changing, thanks to parallel processing.

I'm amazed that I've been able to release two professional sounding tracks without really knowing about this. But to be fair, I've sort of been doing it already, but not really knowing exactly what I was doing. However, after James Bernard's week 37 tutorial, I now feel enlightened and am putting the knowledge to good use.

Put simply, parallel processing is overlaying a sound with copies of itself and then adjusting the copies so they emphasize different frequencies. This fills out sound with different textures while maintaining the integrity of the original sound. Very powerful. I've even starting using this technique in stereo (i.e. overlaying different sets of copies in the right and left channels) which makes stuff sound huuuuuuge.

Below is a screen shot of the rear of the rack with two sampling devices that carry a drum sample. The Spider Audio thingy copies the signal from the bottom channel to the top one. Then I've put a Stereo Imager on the bottom channel, and a distortion unit on the top channel. It really spices things up.

The beat is now sounding heaps better. I'll tinker with the other sounds too, particularly the bass. I feel like this song is actually coming together, which is awesome, coz I had lost hope there for a bit.

Asleep yet?   :)

I Feel Alive - Video Clip (early workings)

This is my first post in a while. I've been focusing on 'getting my shit together' so to speak, with respect to life generally. I'm still working on that. Life that is.

In the mean time, I'm still working on my political satire piece. 

I've also started putting together a video clip for I Feel Alive. I guess I'm hoping that my music will go further into the world via YouTube. I got the idea for the clip from drawing cartoons for some of my musically inclined friends. They were ecstatic about the cartoons. I was really surprised. I guess that made me realise that I have a few unusual skills. In this case, using photoshop. 

So anyway, I got the idea of doing a video clip using the cartoons. Basically I take thousands of photos, some of myself singing, and then turn them into cartoons. Then I'll string them together into a video clip. That's basically it. Should look cool when its done. I'll finish today's post with an example for you. 

What the hell? I'm a cartoon! I knew eating that mouldy bread was a bad idea... 

I Feel Alive - Online

I Feel Alive went on sale on iTunes on 18/10/10. Another major milestone!

iTunes reports the date of publishment in American time, so it says the day before (i.e. the 17th).

My music can travel through time. Shazam!

BAM! Back through time to 1955. Nearly.

Business Rant - 2

My new track is up on Ergo Alt Myspace page. I'm putting together a final mix of The Fall and I Feel Alive today. (Some of the sounds in The Fall were annoying me, so I've fixed them, most people won't notice the difference).

I'm taking a new risk, and putting together a piece of political satire. Yes, that's right. Political satire. I've got a weird business idea for it. As part of the product, I'll also be putting together a YouTube video (god willing) and an iPhone application as well.

So here's what I'm thinking. Step 1 - Put together the new track this week, and get it up on iTunes asap. It's already half done. Step 2 - Make a video for YouTube and get that online by early November. Use the video to promote the track.  Step 3 - Make an iPhone application that will go on iTunes about the same time as the video gets online.

By that time, I need to have found a real job. I'm hoping that by March-April, this new product will have made me rich, and I can get back to making Ergo Alt music. Ha ha ha. Gotta think big ya know.  :)

Alternate project

Distribution of my second track, I Feel Alive, is nigh. And with that, I've decided to try my hand at a new project.

One of my mates was listening to my stuff, and said to me, "hey why don't you make something like the Barbara Streisand song?". I was like, whaaaaat are you talking about. He didn't mean a song by Barbara, but rather about her. There is this weird song by Duck Sauce going around on the YouTubes at the moment where they just say "Barbara Streisand" in comedial ways. Yes, a gimmick. But I imagine 15 year old's love it.

So my mate said "why not do something stupid like this song, and just change the lyrics to another name". I laughed. Initially I thought the idea was ridiculous. But now, maybe not so. So, I going to run an adaption of this idea for a week or two, and see what happens...

Song 2 - I Feel Alive

Song 2 is nearly done! The song title will be 'I Feel Alive'. I need to product test it on some people. My partner thinks that the lyrics need improving, but I'm not convinced. Other people may have a different opinion. That's the way it is with music.

Hmm, does that make the planet one big musical meritocracy?

I've done the art for the song. Here it is.

Unfortunately, I'm out of money, so this will be the last song I release before getting a job somewhere. But that's ok, it's been an awesome journey. I can still use the skills that I've gained to slowly work on another 8 tracks. When I raise enough cash I can return to unemployment to finish the album.

Philosophical Rant 3

I think I written this before, but I need to learn to stop working when I'm tired. I've been putting in 8 hour days on this track, in my eagerness to complete it. And it's not a good strategy. No-one wants to listen to half-finished music after 8 hours of work. Let alone their own song. Let alone the same song they've been hearing over and over all day.

I'm going to enforce a new rule on myself. No work after 3pm.
Enough about that.

The song is progressing nicely. It's definitely a tribute to the arrival of Spring. My partner listened to parts of it yesterday. She agreed that its vastly different to my first song. But still distinctly Ergo Alt. Its all there. The same weird vocals. The high musical complexity. The theatrical elements. I was thinking just the other day, how somewhat unfortunate (for me) that my music is complex. It takes so bloody long to produce. It would be nice if my music was simpler. The same sound all the way through. 5 instruments in total. But noooo, I have to put in a million instruments (obvious exaggeration) , including a mini orchestra, and vocode my voice 10 times and in different ways.

I think that last paragraph qualifies as ranting. Whatever, at least I feel a bit better.

Time for a photo. From my recent trip to Adelaide.

Yay for sunnyness.

Song 2 - Vocals

Laid down some vocals yesterday. And yes, 'laid down' is the official verb replacement for record. Just had to confirm that.  :)

I'll spend time today and tomorrow listening to them, mixing them, and deciding what I'll use. Most of my singing will be discarded as per usual. About 90 percent of it. That's just how it works. The rest of it, that little piece of gold, will be used.

I've already had a bit of a tinker, and decided that the lyrics needs reworking or rearranging. But it starting to sound ok already. Since The Fall, my singing has already improved, or, at least my technique has. Probably lending to the fact that I know the sound of my voice now and how I'll want to use it.

Hey wow, I just realised, just then, that I now know my own 'sound'. That's cool as. How many people in the world can say they know their own musical 'sound'? Ha.

Awesome.

Everything I need to make some slamming tunes.  Meow.

Song 2 - Progress

Still working on this track. Managed to find a bass sound, but not using a bass. Instead, I patched two different pianos into a mixer, panning them right and left, and then the put the result through a bass amplifer. The clanging piano bass strings fit the song perfectly.

Following discovery of this new bass sound, I completed the bass track. I'm almost finished laying down the mini orchestra that I've devised. Primary its four violins and a chello, sourced from a multitude of samples, with a bit of orchestral percussion. I love the violins, they are so 'me'. Classical music is in my blood, and it comes out in the complexity of my songs.

I was hoping to finish this track by the end of this week, but that's looking highly unlikely.

That's all I got for now.

Dueling pianos

Song 2

Worked on Track number 2 this week. I wrote it on guitar many years ago and its been haunting my brain ever since. It will be great to get it out of there. The Fall was similar in that way.

This song is very different to The Fall in sound. My early workings are ebbing toward orchestral sounds. A bit like Sigur Ros stuff. I like it a lot. Unlike The Fall, its aspirational and uplifting. I'm even going to attempt putting in some horns and stuff.

My software got an upgrade recently. The new drum machine (Kong) is a winner. So easy to make amazing drums now. So I whipped up the drums for this song in only 2 days. Then added a guitar track (another day gone). Then violins and some orchestral percussion (another day)... and that makes for a good song skeleton. I toyed with bass sounds this morning, but nothing I liked. I'll try some chello bowing sounds and see if that works as a bass substitute. Might have to get creative to make it all work.

I'm really hoping that I can have most of the song completed by the end of next week. It will be a challenge. Sigh. I need a mental lift...

On a very positive note, I've figured out how to work on my laptop now. So I can work out in the sun with the cat. Here's a pic of me working outside. And one of the cat.

Meow meow...

Meow!

Post release thoughts, and starting work on Track 2

The major lesson I've learnt from releasing The Fall, is that 1 track is not a lot of content. And I think that's what people want... content. Something they can really sink their teeth into. But hopefully The Fall has left people curious and wanting more. I think it has. It had the iTunes popularity bar maxed out, but that could mean anything. I'll find out in two months when I get a sales report.

I haven't promoted the release heavily, so it will have limited success out there in the real world. That's the way I like it, for now. I will probably alter the song slightly for the EP or album release. That's because I've had a little feedback, and also have had a chance to experience it after a bit of a break. It sounds different after not listening to it for a while.

But The Fall served its purpose of drumming up some interest. A few people used Ergo Alt as a substitute for my real name the other day, which was pretty funny (weird). The name seems to have stuck already. 

I've already begun work on my second track. Progress has been blistering, compared to before, now that I've learnt key skills from producing my first track out. I can re-use a lot of the drum sounds and samples etc too.  I already have all the core elements for the drums in Track 2 laid down. I'm stoked about that, and how fast I can do it all now. 

I'm really excited about this second track, I think it will grab the attention of more people than The Fall did. I think it will be one of my favourites on the album/EP (whatever it is that I'm doing). 

On the radio today, I heard lots of good unsigned acts are giving out their music free through the JJJ website. I'm going to have to go down the same path if I'm going to compete for people's ears. That means I need, at the least, 4 or 5 tracks to get anywhere meaningful. Two tracks to promote myself with, by basically giving them away, and then a few more so that people can see there more content available to get into. I might even go so far as to have all my tracks available to stream online for free (but not download obviously).

That's ok though, coz I feel really confident about my skills using the software and stuff now. I feel like I know exactly what I'm doing and where my music is going. Awesome   :)

There's a producers conference in the city this week. I'll go and check it out, see who else is out there doing this stuff. 

(Post) Release Day

'The Fall' went on sale on iTunes on Saturday night (11 Sept). I can still hardly believe it. A huge milestone. We had a mini party to celebrate.

My friends and family have been ultra supportive of its release, helping to spread the word. I'm truly a lucky man to have such amazing people supporting me. 

I've made a myspace page to help promote what I'm doing. I'll post photos and stuff as I go. I'll make a facebook page and others soon.

I think my head is in a bit of a spin. I'll refocus tomorrow and begin planning for the next major milestone. A 4 track EP.

Distribution!

This is it!! 'The Fall' will be available worldwide on iTunes and most other digital distribution services in the next two to four weeks. Probably faster because its a single. Unbelievable!! I don't know if I'm able to learn about the actual date of availability. All the distribution services operate independently on releases. More to come on that...

I've been listening to the song on my iPhone, it sounds great. Some of my most trusted friends (i.e. the ones who don't bullshit me..) have given the song thumbs up for quality last night. That's great. Especially given that music is such a personal thing. It even sounds good coming out of the iPhone speaker, which is possibly the worst speaker in the world. So that's really cool, lol.  

Now its just a matter of spreading the word. I'll start with social networking sites...  So much work to do! I need a bunch of ompa loompas to help me!

My biggest problem now is that I'm running low on cash, but one of my best mates is working on getting me some shift work in a factory. Just running production lines and stuff. If I can get some work for a few days a week, then I can work on the album for the other days. Hopefully it will work out ok. It will take a year or more to produce a full album to pro level quality... sigh!  :)

More news on distribution to come.

The Fall (Single) - Finished

This is a pretty exciting day. The Fall is finished. I'm listening to it on my iPhone now, product testing I suppose you could call it. I'm gunna mix it in with some other tracks and stuff, see how it sounds amongst other music.

At the moment, very stoked about it.

Also, I decided on an artist name. It will be Ergo Alt. It took days to come up with that, which is seriously sad. But there are so many bands out there, there's hardly any names left. I googled and myspaced Ergo Alt which came up with nothing, so the name is free. I like it too. It carries a bit of futurism philosophy and is also a bit dark and mysterious, like my music. 

HUGE thanks to Berlintapes (http://www.flickr.com/photos/berlintapes/) for supplying the cover art photo!!!! It looks great. I added my logo and the single name. The cover art looks cool on an iPhone. I noticed that the text 'The Fall' reflects on the bottom of the screen under the play controls, a totally unintended cool thing done by the phone.

I've kept the text really large, given that I'm breaking into music, so I need people to see the name. The cover is basically advertising. I'm no Radiohead yet, can't just do random cool art, coz people won't know what it is. So, huge font, Ergo Alt - The Fall.

Now I'll listen to the song a few times and decide if it needs tweaking. Then I'll work on getting it distributed.

Philosophical Rant 2

I looked at my blog just then. There was an ad below my last post with a couple on it and it said 'Meet Women who are 30+'.  Bloody hilarious. Must be because in my first post I wrote that I just turned 30.

I'm still working on 'The Fall'. I've been batting around some potential band names. Not satisfied with anything. Something in Latin might be cool. Maximus Chuggus. Ha.

The Fall is turning out to be a piece of epic stadium rock. Not entirely what I had expected. I just do whatever works. Its almost as if the song is writing itself now. Weird. I've been playing with Vocoders to fill out the voices where there isn't enough desperation or intensity. They sound so cool. I need to yell stuff over the top too I think.

The Latin branding may work well with the stadium rock sound. Not sure.

I hate how close my first song is to being finished. I just want it done and out of the way....

Song 1 - Title: The Fall

Song 1's title is 'The Fall'. 

I've decided I really want to release 'The Fall' as a single to promote what I'm doing. Waiting until Christmas to release a 4 track EP is just too long of a wait. I need to think more on this.

Song 1 - Completed recording parts

The parts that I need are in there...

Can you believe it? I completed singing the vocal parts that I need to compile Song 1 today. Pretty awesome. I'm having a beer right now to celebrate. Song 1 is still some way from being finished but everything I need is in the computer. That's a big milestone. In all, i probably sang 300 vocal parts. Maybe more. Of which, only 30 will be used. That's the way it goes. I record 90 percent crap, but the rest, that 10 percent of gold, goes on the track for your listening pleasure.

Next task will be to manipulate the waveforms of my voice, so they sound plush as possible. Then add stereo effects, and then rack effects (like reverbs, delays and stuff). Then mixing, mastering.... and so forth. It sounds like a big job, but it will probably only take a few days.

That means that a first draft cut of Song 1 is about a week away...

So, then what? I've got a some friends lined up to test the song on. They will listen and give me feedback. The things I'll want to know are: How does the song feel overall? Does it flow well? Any highlights or favourite parts? Stuff like that. What I'm hoping for is that they will pick parts they like or don't, and then I can modify the bits that don't work with special effects to cover up the fact that they didn't work. I won't alter them significantly, it would take too long. Its a screening process to figure out when people get bored while listening. I want them to stay as interested as possible for as long as possible...

Back to my beer...  :)

Mixing Mixing Mixing.

Sound production may induce hair loss...

Mixing, mixing, mixing. The curse with this having amazing musical sequencing software is that there's always an alternative way of doing something. Sometimes, endless ways. For example, to get a bass sound, I could use a synth, filter some frequencies, run it through a couple of compressors, a maximiser, and presto, a synth bass. But after doing all of this, I discover there is some 'woofing' that I can't seem to control. What I mean is, the original synth sound might have a phasing character that I wasn't aware of at the time, which is coming through in the bass sound. It sound like it gets gradually louder and softer, say, with a 1 second cycle. I discovered something like this today. So I spent about 4 hours replacing the synth bass with a sampled fingered bass. It sounds better, and I feel I have a greater level of control over the sound once again. Well... at least, I can tell it sounds better. But a non-pro might not be able to tell the difference.

I guess my point is that, I could be mixing this bloody song for the rest of my life. I need to stick to things that give me greatest benefit for least time invested. I'm finding this really hard because the perfectionist in me wants to take control all the time. Oh well...

I ordered my free upgrade to Record 1.5 and Reason 5 the other day. I'm particularly looking forward to the Neptune device. Its a pitch controller primarily I think. I've always wonder how sometimes some of the pro singers sound 'synthetically pitch perfect'. I think Neptune may be the key.

Business Rant 1

Song 1 is sounding great, lots of potential. I think it will really surprise people. It's scary and philosophical and then its explodes into some really awesome pumping rock. It may weird a lot of people out, but that's what I was aiming for. To make something different. It needs to stand out.

I've completed vocals for the verses, and the first chorus. The later chorus is similar to the first, so I can recycle some vocal material. The 'bridge' will be challenging.

Hopefully, Song 1 will be completed by end of next week. Then I'll need to look for artwork. Or an artist. Or whatever.

It's taking me a long time to make Song 1. So at this stage, I'm trying for a 4 track EP by Christmas. I'm still undecided whether I'll release Song 1 as a single. Hopefully it will be good enough to be a single. I need the money. Maybe if I release Song 1 as a single, and then the EP at half price to people who buy the single. If I get enough sales, it could mean I can fund myself to make a full album. 

If I sell through digital distribution, I think I take in 30% of sales. So 30c per 'Song 1' sold. I think. If was going to fund myself until June 2011, I'd need about $6k. That's something like, 20000 sales of Song 1, or roughly 5000 sales of Song 1 and 5000 sales of the EP. 

I can do this. Surely I can do this. Please god.

Chugg out.

Philosophical Rant 1

This post is therapy. No substantial musical info.

I've been noticing that in my attempts to control my voice, I'm becoming more conscious of my body. Particularly my shoulders and necks. I guess that, because I'm pushing and striving for ultimate control over sound coming from my mouth, I'm becoming aware of its physicality. i.e. that my voice is created by muscles and stuff and that I need perfect control of these muscles if I want to control my voice. 

It's common sense I suppose, but I've never noticed it before in all my years. I've also started becoming acutely aware of pain in my shoulder (when it happens) and also the tendon thingys at the back of my neck that join to my skull. If they're tense and I try to sing, I really notice them. I also notice when I'm my shoulders are either relaxed or tense. 

That's today's therapy over with..

Song 1 - Vocals progress

Oh my god, singing is so hard. No wait, make that, making your voice sound good is so hard.

I started singing some vocals a few days ago. After my first attempt at singing some parts, I listened back to them. They sucked. And I deleted. It's pretty depressing when you sing and discover is sounds shit. Something was missing. Since then I've discovered a few things, here goes:

Know thy voice.
I had to learn a lot about my voice, and still am. What it's strengths and weaknesses are. What its tone is. How I sound generally. And then, begin using my strengths. Listening back to myself was a real eye opener to learning about my voice. The hardest part was accepting it. I spent a whole day being depressed at the sound of my voice. It wasn't the voice that I envisaged singing the song in my head. That was really hard.
After a while, I had to gather some balls, and rediscover my song with my voice in it. It meant scrapping some lyrics and rewriting. I've since found out that my vocal tones are sort of like a mix between Thom Yorke and Mika. But not. Basically, I found that I like the tones in my voice when I sound depressed and/or falsetto. Letting go of what I had imagined it would all sound like was tough.
Another hard pill to swallow is that my voice probably isn't suited to electro/rock music in general. That REALLY sucks. Its probably more suited to quiet acoustic or insanely experimental music or something. I'm still not sure yet. What I do know is that there's no 'guts' to my voice. Its smooth and serene and soft.

Work the music and voice together in a draft cut
Next time I go to record a song, I'll try to get a first draft mix with vocals included to help compose the song. That will help me understand how the music and vocal fit and then I can change either/or to suit. I will save the time that I spend recording and then scrapping the recording coz it doesn't work.

Anyway, so I've started to find a happy place in the music for my voice that kinda works. Its still needs a lot more thought though. Today I worked on a part which I did 36 takes for it (not kidding), and I still don't like it. I keep discovering new ways that I could be singing the words that would sound better. Its bloody tiring...

Afternoon update: I did another 18 takes of that part this afternoon. And I hate it. It just doesn't suit my voice I think. I'll keep what I've done, but I've decided i'm going to try recording a different set of lyrics for this section later. This is just an example of how seriously hard it is to lay down a good set of vocals. Grrrrrr..

Wear a hoodie
I sound better, and look cooler, with a hoodie on.

I'm tired of writing this, so gunna get back to singing now.

Song 1 progress - Mixing

Geeze time is flying, its been ages since my last post. Sorry for using text, I've used up my monthly internet quota so no video today.

I've completed the majority of the music for Song 1 now, and its sounding pretty sweet. It was a long process of discovering how instruments fit together, and making the composition work. I've recently started on vocals.

So anyway, here's what I've learned from putting down the instruments:

Lesson 1: Mix until your ears bleed. And then, mix more. And then, sit down and keep mixing.
I understand now that there no real single lesson to make a song sound great. It just takes a good mix. That mix comes from listening to your mix, trying to understand why a bit of the song sounds shit, and then trying to rectify it. That's basically it. I discovered so much from mixing until my brain hurt. Frequencies, levels, pan, doubling, it all takes time to come together...

Lesson 2: When you get tired, stop.
Mixing is so frustrating. It takes bloody ages to try and understand the sound that instruments make and how they can fit together. I found that when I got tired and frustrated, I needed time out. I discovered that waking up on a fresh day (after a frustrating session the previous day) and listening to my song again, it sounded better for some reason. I was like "hey, what I thought sounded crap yesterday, actually sounds good today". Its amazing how different things seem when you're tired.

Lesson 3: Most of the time, less is more.
I often found that when a part of my song sounded shit, it was because I was there was too much going on. Some of the instruments weren't adding to the sound, they were just making it muddy. Despite the deep sadness I felt when removing an instrument that I liked (and for the wasted time in recording it), muting unnecessary instruments helped clarity.

Lesson 4: Calibrate your ears on pro music that you like.
While mixing, take time out to listen to the pros. Doing this gave me ideas about how to improve my own song.

Lesson 5: Sidechain compression is your friend.   :)

That's about it really.

Early workings of Song 1

Hey everyone! Here's a tiny insight into the inner workings of the software I'm using to produce my album. Also, you get to hear a snippet of the first song I'm writing, recording and producing. Obviously, its still early days for this song I'm showing you, but it will give you a taste for things to come.

Simultaneously recording video, my voice, and playing back 50 recorded tracks was a bit of a stretch for my computers brain so the sound quality suffered. (My computer should have studied harder at Uni and not partied so much!) Also blogger appears to have compressed the video.

But anyway, this will give you a rough idea of how it all works.

So what I've shown here is only scratching the surface of what I'm able to do with this software, its seriously incredible stuff. It's kinda like "how deep does the rabbit hole go"....  I really only know the basics so far and I'm learning so much new stuff every day. Very cool!

And yes, that guitar does sound a lot like Edge from U2. I totally stole his sound, MU HA HAAA! But don't worry, this song will sound absolutely nothing like U2 when I'm done. Not that it would be a bad thing if my finished songs sound even remotely like U2!   :)

Equipment and Digital Studio Setup

Hi guys! I'm gunna quickly run you through the equipment I've been gathering to make a digital home studio.  I don't have heaps of cash to blow so its a home studio on the cheap. Also, I'm still an amateur so I've avoided going for anything complex. I want to keep it simple. I'm positive that this will put me at a disadvantage in the long run, but I'm not too bothered about that for now. I just want to record! There's always the option of giving it to an engineer later to have it spruced up.

Ok, so here's a basic list of the stuff I have or bought etc:

1 - My PC. I'm gunna make a digital studio, coz I only have a tiny room to setup in. Also, digital is sooooo cheap now. I'm still avoiding Mac computers coz they cost an arm and a leg. I wont bore you with specs. Its got a mid-range dual processor, 4 gig of memory, Vista, you get the gist. Cheap. I could have just bought any PC off the shelf. They're so fast these days.
Something you might want to think about is computer noise. I did. I want to use a microphone later, in the same room, so I need my computer to be quiet. I'll also have to insulate the desk it goes in. We'll get to that later...

I just realised that I am a total nerd. How depressing.

 2 - Soundcard. Normal computer soundcards don't understand analogue signals. That's all I know. So I got a Creative X-Fi Pro. Yes, like I said, cheap. It was something like $450 (AU) when I got it a year ago. If you've got lots of cash, go ahead an shop for pro parts. A good soundcard can set you back $2k. But the thing that drew me to the X-Fi Pro, other than price, was its simplicity. I just wanna plug in and play. This does that.
It's got two line in jacks, and a headphones jack, on the console. That's all I need to begin. It has other plugs on the back, MIDI and stuff to plug in a digital keyboard, but I don't care about that right now. I have my guitar plugged straight in to the Line In 3. It doesn't get any simpler than that. Here's a pic.

The knobs don't do much. The big one is volume.  :)

So the soundcard has an analog-to-digital converter in it or something. It converts my guitars analog signal into a digital signal my computer can understand. I dunno, who gives a shit really. It works. That's it.

3 - Sequencing Software. I got Propellerhead's 'Record/Reason' bundle.
This is basically software to arrange my recorded tracks into a song. It should also come with a digital mixer console so I can mix the song. Really anal musicians and audio engineers will crap on about 'Logic' or 'Pro Tools' which they say is industry standard, blah blah. But I want cheap and easy, I'm not part of the 'industry' yet. The term 'industry standard' just sounds like a marketing gimmick to me. To be fair, I've never tried Pro Tools. It's always been too expensive, not sure what it costs now.
I said in my last post I used Cool Edit Pro 2 for a bit. Very crude software, almost too simple, and didn't have a lot of tools for working on my song. That meant it took forever to arrange and mix a song. I learnt a lot having to process everything manually though.
I also had a go at Cubase 4, but geeze it was difficult to learn. I did all their tutorials but, at the end of them, I still felt like I had no idea how it actually worked.
Anyway, so a few weeks ago I saw that Propellerhead had brought out a recording sequencer called 'Record'. They have video tutorials on their website which were easy to follow. I had previously tried a demo of 'Reason', a digital instrument sequencer, in the past. It was easy to use but lacked a good soundbank, probably due to it being a demo version. The appealing thing to me is the ease of putting analogue and digital together in the one sequencer. And the digital sound library is to use straight away. That speaks 'simplicity' to me.
So I lashed out and bought a copy of the Record/Reason duo bundle. It was $515 (AU) including postage in July 2010. And it comes with a free software upgrade when they release version 1.5 later this month I think. It has a fairly large sound library that will work with a Midi keyboard so that's awesome. I'll buy more sound banks later if I need to.
Here's a photo. Sorry, no 'unboxing' video for you weirdos out there, although I wouldn't be surprised if you found one on youtube. Yep, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pxy3ZiUOD8

Fits snug on the bookshelf too

4 - Headphones or Speakers (pros call them 'Studio monitors'). I've just got some headphones, lashed out and bought the Shure SRH440's (the peeps at my old work gave me a $150 leaving gift). They're the best headphones I've ever had. But then again, I've only ever had shit headphones. I do have some speakers, but they're just my crappy old Gateway computer speakers. They'll do for now, at least I have a separate sub-woofer. Here's a pic of my Shure SRH440's headphones.

Time to make my ears bleed

Sadly, monitor speakers are expensive. Most 'industry' people will tell you that you absolutely need studio monitors. I'm not convinced yet, and I'm also out of cash at this point. Basic pro monitor speakers cost about $1000, however there are some really good desktop size ones appearing on the market now. I've got my eye on some M-Audio BX5a's which are roughly $450 (AU) for a pair. One day maybe.

Soon my lovelies. Soon...

5 - A microphone and a microphone preamp. I want to do some vocal work. Nothing fancy. I got the Rode NT1A and to pre-amp it (to make it loud enough to hear), I got the Behringer Tube Ultragain MIC100. The microphone was $400 (AU) in 2009, and the preamp was $80 (AU) or something like that. Very basic, very cheap. The microphone plugs into the pre-amp, and then the pre-amp plugs into the Line 2 jack on my audio card console. I also have a microphone stand that I borrowed from an old mate (it was lying under his bed for years).

NT1-A. Rode, please sponsor me, I'm desperate!

There are an insane number of microphone and pre-amps out there. The sky's the limit with this crap. It's possible to get microphones that don't need a pre-amp I think. Like the Shure SM58 which is another well known microphone. I used the Shure SM58 for my early recordings, which was great then, but I'd like to step it up a notch.

6 - Instruments!!!
So I have:
- Fender (Deluxe Strat Plus II) electric guitar that my Mum and Dad got me when I was 15. Its still bloody awesome. A Classic. The sound is very mid-tone though. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I used to have a boss-ME8 digital effects board for my guitar, but it died. So I'll just be using the Record/Reason software for guitar effects. Maybe one day I'll be able to afford a Gibson so I can get some sound variety.
- Washburn XB-400 bass guitar. Don't know if I'll use this yet. I discovered that my software has some pretty cool digital bass guitars that are amazingly easy to work with. We'll see anyway.

I haven't played this thing in 7 years

- For keyboard work, I bought the M-Audio Oxygen 8 v2 (digital midi keyboard). The keyboard uses the Record/Reason software soundbank to make sounds. It has no internal sounds. There are heaps of digital Midi keyboards out there, but I got this one because it was cheap, very small (portable), and M-Audio has a good reputation. You can't go past a good rep. I discovered that this keyboard can do more than I had expected. The knobs can be 'programmed' to sync with just about anything on your mixer/sequencer. That's cool but I probably will never use that. Ha! I just want to press the keys, and have a sound play. That's all.
- I borrowed a Trace Elliot amp from one of my old mates. Sadly it has some 'buzzing' noise issues so I won't be using that for now. It probably just needs a service and I don't wanna mess with my mates things too much.

Time to make some slamming tunes

So that's everything! Like I said, very basic, very simple, pretty cheap. Let's see if I can actually make some music crammed into this tiny little back room. Or else, it will be an EPIC FAIL and I'll go get a job at the local supermarket. Fuck. Hopefully, this will be FTW ('For the win' for you non-nerds).

Note that there is no fancy multi-track mixing desk or anything in my set-up. All that stuff is in the software now. Go digital, yay! God I love the 21st century.

One final thing you might need. Musical knowledge. (or Talent). To be honest, I don't think you need talent. You just have to know what you like. That's my opinion. Music doesn't need to be complex, or difficult, people just have to like it. The fundamentals are rhythm and melody. Everyone knows a good beat or a good tune when they hear it. That's it. Well, I'll keep telling myself that...

Next post. Song 1. I'll walk you through my first song. Later peeps.

First Post

So. First step. I quit my job. Yeah, you heard right. To cut a long story short, I hated my job. One day, I was sitting at my desk and thought 'what the hell am I doing here'. Watching myself rot away at a desk in a Melbourne city office. Turning 30 etc. Wondering whether I'll ever get a chance to pursue my real passions. Fuck that. My true love has always been music. It's simple really. Not sure why I didn't do this before. Have I gone mental? Maybe. But who cares. I'm happy. For now. Or maybe I'm just a whiny, ungrateful little bitch who needs a good slap. Ha ha.

Here's a pic of me on my 30th birthday.

Yay for me turning 30... whatever.

 
So here we go, try to produce an album. By myself. God help me. I guess I'm hoping to discover something along the way. What? Who knows. But here goes. I've been off work about 3 weeks now already...

At least I might discover some good lyrics while I'm writing this crappy blog. Noone will read it anyway. It might help me get through this hell.

So I know plenty about music. I played classical piano for 10 years. Guitar too in jazz bands for many years. Bass Guitar in a rock band for a few years. I left it all to work as an Engineer after Uni. Got my degree, worked for a few years, then had my little mental breakdown.

I did a bit of amateur stuff on my computer when I was 23 or so. It was ok. Pretty amateur, but the sequencing software was pretty crude. I used Cool Edit Pro 2 to put it together. I was just learning everything. I think its still on the internet somewhere...

Holy shit its still there! Have a listen if you want.
http://www.mp3.com.au/artist.asp?id=17187

Player VS Player. That's what I called myself. I'll come up with a new name I suppose. You can't google that name and find a band. Damn you video game industry!!

Anyway, blah blah, you get the gist. Time to stop writing bullshit and get to writing music.

In my next post, I'll write about by digital studio setup. Yes, it will be really fucking boring shit for most people. But for the budding young start-ups out there interested in producing their own music, they might find it interesting, you just never know.