"City Shadows volume 1" update
A few things bothered me about the last attempt at a mix-down of the album. I need to do another pass to clean up a few of the low-end issues. I've noticed that, while the JBL JL-100's I use for producing provide a unique result-- it's hard to nail the low-end w/out it being entirely over-powering on high-end systems... I see some studio monitors in my near future.
"Well of Souls" update
The track list is now up to 10 songs. I'm very close to wrapping up these 10. One or two more songs will make it into the album before the project is final and ready for release. With the artwork complete, the last step will be some press materials for the kits and advertising. A limited short-run of the CD will also be available via CD-Baby as well! No ETA at this point-- I hope to have an idea of a release date soon!
The future of my music
The big three items on my plate after the above two are complete are (in no particular order) 1) The "Jeff & Sean" project, of which we have a few pieces in the works. 2) Working with artist Jacqui Johnson on some electro-indie and dance tunes. 3) More Sliptide original tracks, with a foray into trip-hop and dance tracks with full vocals!
I am working towards expanding my arsenal of audiological weapons. A new midi keyboard, perhaps another knob or slider board, a new rig (mac, anyone?), and an entire custom programmed Ableton Live! set to meld my instruments with live performances.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Remastering Tracks
After reviewing some of the older tracks (older being from January and before)-- I have made adjustments to ones that I have posted online already.
The biggest changes came from re-calibrating my studio speakers such that I can clearly hear the over-powering of bass notes in my music. I had noticed that "A Midnight Cab Ride" was particularly crowded in that low range.. the song is now fixed and WAY more appropriate for big bass systems (read: car audio).
I also tweaked "Talking Circles" to separate the bass drum from the droning bass I used. Much cleaner sounding. The updated versions of these songs won't hit the 'net until the next series of 'album' releases go forward or I post singles into SNOCAP.
-
As a test, I uploaded "City Shadows vol.1" into SNOCAP, only to find that one of my songs, "Calm Control" came back as being in dispute with other artists. After I did some digging around, I found that it is because of the copyright-free sample I used in the song. The organ licks were modified samples that I used during my foray into down-tempo music-- where I had used samples of speech, instruments and ambient noise to augment my original beats, keyboard, and sound synthesis. This sample appears in a few other songs registered on SNOCAP.
Essentially, I have confirmed my suspicions in that my legitimate album attempts will be put forth on CD-Baby or TuneCore, while SNOCAP will be reserved for special singles, 1-offs, B-Sides, rarities, etc.
Good times.
The biggest changes came from re-calibrating my studio speakers such that I can clearly hear the over-powering of bass notes in my music. I had noticed that "A Midnight Cab Ride" was particularly crowded in that low range.. the song is now fixed and WAY more appropriate for big bass systems (read: car audio).
I also tweaked "Talking Circles" to separate the bass drum from the droning bass I used. Much cleaner sounding. The updated versions of these songs won't hit the 'net until the next series of 'album' releases go forward or I post singles into SNOCAP.
-
As a test, I uploaded "City Shadows vol.1" into SNOCAP, only to find that one of my songs, "Calm Control" came back as being in dispute with other artists. After I did some digging around, I found that it is because of the copyright-free sample I used in the song. The organ licks were modified samples that I used during my foray into down-tempo music-- where I had used samples of speech, instruments and ambient noise to augment my original beats, keyboard, and sound synthesis. This sample appears in a few other songs registered on SNOCAP.
Essentially, I have confirmed my suspicions in that my legitimate album attempts will be put forth on CD-Baby or TuneCore, while SNOCAP will be reserved for special singles, 1-offs, B-Sides, rarities, etc.
Good times.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Torch (vox free) & "slow going" clips on the Fan Club
I have posted 2 new clips on the Sliptide Fan Club (Google Group). Sign up and check 'em out!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Insert Dreary Introspective Title Here
This week has been fairly drab for most things concerning my job. I continually look forward to quitting time at the office so I can go home to hang out with Amy, maybe work on some music, fund raising, or other projects, or even go out to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having. Just the other day Amy and I had a great time walking to St. Edwards Park and hiking around in there for a few hours round-trip.
The nerd in me was excited to see the entire Sun Java training suite arrive to the office. I am still interested in furthering my knowledge and education in programming (but I most certainly do NOT want to be a full time paid programmer).
The funny thing is: the more-than-three-thousand dollars we spent on the suite wasn't truly *worth* it. The package is an in-house print job on crappy paper with what looks like a recycled CD/DVD multi-volume case. The discs themselves are CD-ROMs that, when flipped over, reveal green-back burned copies. C'mon.. I know we're paying for the content on the discs, but couldn't we at least have something that looks a bit more official?
Project work is going to finally take off-- it is a bit late in the season to really be starting on some of the massive things I am working on, but such is life. Between legal working out details on contracts with vendors, to senior management dragging their feet or thinking they are giving constructive feedback/suggestions: it has been a pain of a season so far. T-Minus 5 months to retail season... -_-
Enough about work.. I rarely talk about it here and I prefer to keep it that way!
---------
I made incredible headway on, what I think is, an incredible track. I managed to sit down, assemble my instruments, do some programming, and write lyrics out along with my composition. The pairing is awesome. The song is very dark yet contains a beat with some great momentum to it. If I had to pick something the song sounded like: "Massive Attack" is the most appropriate label.
A sample will undoubtedly be posted to the Sliptide Fan Club. I hope to do that this weekend.
When I had finished writing and composing, I tried my hand at recording the vocals. After 8 takes I came *close* to what I had envisioned for the song, but I have much practice to do to improve my singing ability. I have discovered that I am capable, but having zero experience singing means that you can hear a lot of terrible mistakes. I'm not aiming to be a professional, glossy, studio quality vocalist here-- but I definitely want to be presentable, enjoyable, and be able to capture the emotion and instill a level of pathos in my music.
---------
City Shadows vol.1 is another step closer to being released online. Another pass at mixing should nab some of the oversights I made on the previous attempt (very minor things).
Well of Souls still needs 2 tracks. There are several candidates (starts to projects) that may bloom into full fledged additions to the album. "Eloquence" was the last full song to be added, for a track total of nine (goal is 11-12, since there is at least 1 "intro" track of < 2 minutes).
Alrighty, I should be productive for the jobby job today. I'm leaving early to head out to the company picnic then heading back over to Seattle for a SAM volunteer appreciation event. Wee! Busy day!
The nerd in me was excited to see the entire Sun Java training suite arrive to the office. I am still interested in furthering my knowledge and education in programming (but I most certainly do NOT want to be a full time paid programmer).
The funny thing is: the more-than-three-thousand dollars we spent on the suite wasn't truly *worth* it. The package is an in-house print job on crappy paper with what looks like a recycled CD/DVD multi-volume case. The discs themselves are CD-ROMs that, when flipped over, reveal green-back burned copies. C'mon.. I know we're paying for the content on the discs, but couldn't we at least have something that looks a bit more official?
Project work is going to finally take off-- it is a bit late in the season to really be starting on some of the massive things I am working on, but such is life. Between legal working out details on contracts with vendors, to senior management dragging their feet or thinking they are giving constructive feedback/suggestions: it has been a pain of a season so far. T-Minus 5 months to retail season... -_-
Enough about work.. I rarely talk about it here and I prefer to keep it that way!
---------
I made incredible headway on, what I think is, an incredible track. I managed to sit down, assemble my instruments, do some programming, and write lyrics out along with my composition. The pairing is awesome. The song is very dark yet contains a beat with some great momentum to it. If I had to pick something the song sounded like: "Massive Attack" is the most appropriate label.
A sample will undoubtedly be posted to the Sliptide Fan Club. I hope to do that this weekend.
When I had finished writing and composing, I tried my hand at recording the vocals. After 8 takes I came *close* to what I had envisioned for the song, but I have much practice to do to improve my singing ability. I have discovered that I am capable, but having zero experience singing means that you can hear a lot of terrible mistakes. I'm not aiming to be a professional, glossy, studio quality vocalist here-- but I definitely want to be presentable, enjoyable, and be able to capture the emotion and instill a level of pathos in my music.
---------
City Shadows vol.1 is another step closer to being released online. Another pass at mixing should nab some of the oversights I made on the previous attempt (very minor things).
Well of Souls still needs 2 tracks. There are several candidates (starts to projects) that may bloom into full fledged additions to the album. "Eloquence" was the last full song to be added, for a track total of nine (goal is 11-12, since there is at least 1 "intro" track of < 2 minutes).
Alrighty, I should be productive for the jobby job today. I'm leaving early to head out to the company picnic then heading back over to Seattle for a SAM volunteer appreciation event. Wee! Busy day!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
One Tank of Gas for a Whole Month
I was eating lunch today and surfing around on news websites, and Komo4 happened to have an interesting segment on one of their producers who had decided to try and only use 1 tank of gas for an entire month.
You can watch the video right here.
It is a great idea and I know that there are plenty of people capable of doing what she did, however, they kinda gloss over the fact that she used public transportation (cabs, busses) and at one point was using a boat to go scuba diving.
I won't be a complete anti-anti and say that her efforts aren't awesome: The bottom line is her personal transportation was that of bicycles, or other methods that increase the "people per vehicle" ratio.
She saved quite a bit of cash, is a little more in shape (biking everywhere, especially downtown Seattle, isn't exactly easy ;P ), and it probably gives her a positive spin on her ego and personal well being.
It certainly makes me think about my biking to work options and using buses a lot more. I love my Toyota Tacoma and VW Jetta a great deal.. but the money spent on gas alone is enough to sway my habits.
You can watch the video right here.
It is a great idea and I know that there are plenty of people capable of doing what she did, however, they kinda gloss over the fact that she used public transportation (cabs, busses) and at one point was using a boat to go scuba diving.
I won't be a complete anti-anti and say that her efforts aren't awesome: The bottom line is her personal transportation was that of bicycles, or other methods that increase the "people per vehicle" ratio.
She saved quite a bit of cash, is a little more in shape (biking everywhere, especially downtown Seattle, isn't exactly easy ;P ), and it probably gives her a positive spin on her ego and personal well being.
It certainly makes me think about my biking to work options and using buses a lot more. I love my Toyota Tacoma and VW Jetta a great deal.. but the money spent on gas alone is enough to sway my habits.
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