I’ve been working on music every night for the past few months. I have about 6 songs finished for my next album. Most of what I write these days is autobiographical. It has me thinking a lot of where I grew up and first loves. The house I grew up on had a stream that went threw it. I spent a large amount of time in that water. Even though it’s just H2O, rocks, mud and fish it’s a sacred place to me. I was reading Spinner magazine’s “The 25 Most Exquisitely Sad Songs in the Whole World” (link) and came to Bruce Springsteen’s The River. We really do all swim on the same road. I’ll post some preview clips of what I’m working on in a few weeks.
“Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true or is it something worse?” – Bruce Springsteen
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_River_(Bruce_Springsteen_song)
photo credit: helti
This entry was written by , posted on January 31, 2012 at 7:21 am, filed under song writing and tagged Bruce Springsteen, The River. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
This video gets good at 4:45. The human voice is the most expressive instrument and it will always be the the one that hits our hearts the most.
“Andy from the Sennheiser Research Center in Palo Alto, CA showed us this neat MIDI Wireless Microphone with Controllers & Buttons.” – Moogulator
For more info: sennheiser.com/press_releases_060411_4
via sequencer.de
This entry was written by , posted on October 28, 2011 at 5:00 am, filed under live performance, song writing. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Every musician knows by now Soundcloud is a great way to share and explore music. I share my own tracks to Groups and often explore them. Here are 14 that are non-genre specific but more “pro-audio” based. What are your favorite Soundcloud groups? Have you started a Group of your own?
1. The Singer/Songwriter Group link
2. Analog or Modular Synthesizers link
3. Samples link
4. Sound Concepts and Experimental Feeds link
5. Hardware Samplers link
6. iOS Music link
7. Creative Commons link
8. iOS Musicians link
9. Hardware Synthesizers link
10. Circuit Bent link
11. Synth Samples link
12. The Sound of Airports, Planes, Trains & Train Stations link
13. Vocoder Love link
“SoundCloud was originally started in Stockholm, Sweden, but was established in Berlin, Germany in August, 2007 by sound designer Alex Ljung and artist Eric Wahlforss. It had the intention of allowing musicians to share recordings with each other, but later transformed into a full publishing tool which also allowed musicians to distribute their music tracks.” – Wikipedia
Follow me on SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/thingstocome
This entry was written by , posted on October 25, 2011 at 5:44 am, filed under music, song writing, sounds and tagged SoundCloud. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
This Keaton Music Typewriter is available for sale on ETSY for $6,000 USD. What a pretty machine. Apparently there are less than 12 of these in the world.
“The Keaton Music Typewriter was first patented in 1936 (14 keys) by Robert H. Keaton from San Francisco, California. Another patent was taken out in 1953 (33 keys) which included improvements to the machine. The machine types on a sheet of paper lying flat under the typing mechanism. There are several Keaton music typewriters thought to be in existence in museums and private collections. It was marketed in the 1950s and sold for around $225. The typewriter made it easier for publishers, educators, and other musicians to produce music copies in quantity. Composers, however, preferred to write the music out by hand.” – musicprintinghistory.org
For more info: musicprintinghistory.org
via Inspire Me Now
This entry was written by , posted on October 23, 2011 at 6:33 am, filed under hardware, song writing and tagged Keaton Music Typewriter. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Celemony has posted a bunch of well produced Melodyne tutorials. I do use Melodyne on a track here and there. I didn’t know I should split off consanants to help avoid artifacts. That alone was worth the view.
“In this video you will learn how to get the most out of your vocal tracks with a few editing tips and tricks in Melodyne.”
View more tutorials: youtube.com/user/celemonysoftware
This entry was written by , posted on October 7, 2011 at 3:58 pm, filed under plug-ins, song writing and tagged Celemony, Melodyne, vocals. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
My TC Electronic Powercore PCI recently died. I became quite in love with the TC-Helicon VoiceModler plug-in. After some research and contacting the company I discovered their Voiceworks Plus hardware unit contained the same algorithms. I was able to get a “B-Stock” unit from NovaMusik for $350. It’s an amazing piece of kit. It does do exactly what the Voicemodler plug-in did and a lot more. More importantly it does it clearer, brighter, sharper, bassier and with zero CPU load or latency. I know this little review isn’t the new VoiceLive Rack but my point is Helicon makes really good products for vocals. I don’t believe the VoiceLive Rack has the modeling stuff but nevertheless if it’s anything like their other products it should be great on your voice. Maybe this unit has some tricks the Voiceworks doesn’t? I’m also starting to think I need to bring one of these units on the road with me.
“VoiceLive Rack combines a transparent, digitally controlled mic preamp, a full suite of adaptive pre-effects, and TC-Helicon’s industry leading, complete vocal effects path to produce any vocal sound you’ve heard or dreamed of. Now, whether you’re constructing a giant vocal track for your latest tune or mixing front-of-house at today’s tour stop, VoiceLive Rack delivers the vocal magic.” – tc-helicon.com
For more info: tc-helicon.com/products/voicelive-rack/
This entry was written by , posted on September 13, 2011 at 10:12 am, filed under hardware, song writing and tagged TC Helicon, VoiceLive, Voiceworks. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I was watching a comedian on TV the other night. He was saying it’s going to be funny when old people listen to hip hop. Since there is a generation into now it it’s only natural eventually they will grow old, reminisce, play and “sing” the songs. That fact alone is worth a blog post. I mean it’s going to be rediculous no? My TC Powercore has been on it’s last legs lately. There are a few key effects in it I really don’t want to live without. I contacted TC Helicon and what I am looking for is also available in their Voiceworks Plus unit. Off to Youtube to see a few videos and I came across the video above in which the performer uses a Voiceworks. He’s also covering one of my all time favorite songs Only You by Yaz. Time is a strange thing don’t you think? Where’s my bucket list again…
“Only You” is a ballad written by musician Vince Clarke. He wrote it while with Depeche Mode, and offered it to them when he was leaving. They declined, and Clarke recorded it after forming the duo Yazoo with Alison Moyet. It was an instant success, hitting number two in the UK, and charting in the U.S. (number sixty-seven, Billboard Hot 100), a feat only attained by one other Yazoo single (coincidentally, that single was “Situation,” the original UK B-side of “Only You”). “Only You” also made the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart at number thirty-eight.” – Wikipedia
For more info: tc-helicon.com/products/voiceworksplus/
This entry was written by , posted on September 2, 2011 at 3:30 pm, filed under music, song writing and tagged TC Helicon, vocals, Voiceworks, Voiceworks Plus, Yaz. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
SongSynth – a songwriting app for iPad / iPhone from Attic Sound & Music.
I love software that helps me create actual songs. Chord generators, lyric triggers and anything that can get me to a full arrangement quickly has my interest. I’ve been playing with an iOS app called SongSynth. Sitting on my couch I was able to knock out a few simple songs. I really like this app quite a lot and hope to see more apps like it. My only wish is MIDI export so I can bring my sketch into a pro-environment.
“At the heart of a pop song is a lyrical idea sung along to a collection of chords. SongSynth offers a unique, easy-to-use way of experimenting with chords, and a host of other features to help you write, store and record song ideas.” – atticsound.net/songsynth
For more info: atticsound.net/songsynth
This entry was written by , posted on August 24, 2011 at 5:01 am, filed under iPad, iPhone, song writing and tagged chords, iOS, SongSynth, songwriting. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Read the quote below. I think it’s a true statement. I know this is the way it was for me. I fell in love with music in my teens. It took me years to create music as good as the music I loved. It was worth the years of loops and failures.
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through. – Ira Glass
photo credit: dub_ee
via nprfreshair
This entry was written by , posted on May 4, 2011 at 4:45 am, filed under song writing and tagged quote, song writing. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Now that I’ve finished my album I am putting together the same album full of remixes. Instead of paying 20 people to do remixes for me I am trading a remix of my own for one of theirs. This serves three purposes. I don’t have to shell out a bunch of cash. It forces me to work on material that’s not my own which I find a challenge. Lastly, every remix I do for someone else gets promoted by that artist therefore extending my own name into the world. I know this is obvious but maybe this post will trigger you to go trade with your friends, fans and if your lucky music heros. This weekend I am finishing remixes for Haujobb and Steinkind. See how they just got some free press?
“A remixer uses audio mixing to compose an alternate master recording of a song, adding or subtracting elements, or simply changing the equalization, dynamics, pitch, tempo, playing time, or almost any other aspect of the various musical components. Some remixes involve substantial changes to the arrangement of a recorded work, but many are harmonic, such as creating a “vocal up” version of an album cut that emphasizes the lead singer’s voice.” – Wikipedia
For more info: facebook.com/thehorrorist
This entry was written by , posted on March 17, 2011 at 3:12 am, filed under business, song writing and tagged business, Haujobb, remixes, Steinkind. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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