Monday, September 26, 2011

New track

I've been making myself create, just to get back in the habit of it.  I was feeling really uninspired tonight, so I spent a good bit of time relearning/practicing songs on the piano I hadn't played in a *very* long time.

Date: 2011-09-27
Track(s): 2011-09-27
Notes:  Ambient track/loop.  Like what's there so far, but it needs to go somewhere else.  This is another one using only software synths, so save myself some power and heat if I pull it up again.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New track

I made a new random track last night.  I was supposed to be working on my end-of-quarter self assessment for work, but I *really* needed a break.

Date: 2011-09-19
Track(s): 2011-09-19
Notes:  I started off with the intent of making this an "ambient" track... but the mangled drum beat and bass turned out a bit harder sounding than I expected.  So far it's mostly just a skeletal loop, melodies and/or samples are still needed.

This track is entirely produced with software synths and effects.  This will make dumping the track down much easier.  Also I can minimize power draw, noise, and heat by shutting off all of the unneeded equipment.  I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the quality of some of my software synths, and the bundled samples.  I have a feeling I will be relying a lot less on my hardware synths in the near future, I just need to get used to a different work flow.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Misc minor updates

One month and one day until my new guitar is completed... not sure it's arrival date yet, but needless to say I can't wait.

New magazine subscriptions purchased: Mix and Electronic Musician.

On Wednesday two of my coworkers came over and helped me tear out the door to the "closet" aka mic room and turn it around so it opens outwards to leave more room.  It's hung, and functioning perfectly.  It still needs some caulking to clean up the seams, but the hard part is done.  The shelves are cleaned off, and I'll be pulling them off the wall tomorrow.

The monitor stands came in on Wednesday too.  It's nice not having to stand up to hear my mix.  Here's a pic:

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Random track, new desk, cleanup/prep work

I decided to start a random uninspired track and see where it went.  I only have a short loop so far, but it's a pretty decent loop IMHO.  The bass line and chord progression are nothing original... but I'm making myself create just to get back into the swing of doing this regularly.

I also spent some time straightening up the studio.  I had a friend/coworker come by to take a look at the door to the closet, which is soon to become the vocal/guitar mic room.  I want to turn the door around so it opens out rather than in... since the closet is limited on space.  We're planning on starting and hopefully finishing the project tomorrow.  If I can remember while we're working, I'll take pics of the process.

If I could pre-date my posts, I'd say something about all of the work I did (some with Lego's help) setting up the new desk.  A friend donated his old desk, so I spent the better part of two days moving equipment, furniture, and cables to get it all set up.  Tonight was my first real session working with it, and I have to say I'm pleased with the outcome.  I don't have my speakers setup yet, because this "smaller" desk doesn't really have somewhere to put them... but I have a set if speaker stands on order that will hopefully arrive soon.

Date: 2011-09-13
Track(s): 2011-09-13
Notes:  This track uses the first two outputs of the proteus 2 module, so 5&6 on the 1604 need to be un-muted for a change.  A few of the synth sounds are rough picks... particularly the bass.  I need to spend some time trying other options and tweaks...  First experiments with intentionally broken looping on percussion tracks... good enough for now, but I'm not entirely sold on my result.