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...