January is gone

Weather is cold and shitty and I have a sinus headache. February is dedicated to loops and slices. Probably start with a George Clinton groove and drum fills from "Bess You Is My Woman Now" and "Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window".

Played Reason Pianos with some midi loops from Johnny's Toolbox mapped onto an RDK producer kit. Midi file went to the cymbals way too much.

Moving on from Pro Tools

Finished/got sick of the Pro Tools book. Played bass along with the PT Honeywagon demo song (might as well get some benefit out of spending 3 weeks fixing drum hits).

I realize no one is reading this

So I might as well be boring ..... coming soon to a darkened theatre near you - my daily schedule

Tools
The Musican's Guide to Pro Tools pp 219-232

Instruments
Telecaster with backing traks from reasonstation.com. Everyone there seems to love C Minor.

In the same place, at the same time

One of the problems with the demos was that I was never playing the whole song - I played all the drum parts for all the songs, then all the keyboard parts for all the songs, then all the guitar parts for all the songs, and then all the vocals for all the songs. Now, I want to record one song at a time. However, this means that I need to have my chops together on all of my instruments before I start - if I am scheduled to record guitar for several months in a row I can afford to be a little bit rusty for the first few days, but if I am switching instruments every day I can't be spending time on fingerings or technique. So while I am learning my tools I am also supposed to be practicing my instruments.

Monday - Drums
Tuesday - Bass
Wednesday - Acoustic Piano/Electric Piano
Thursday - Les Paul
Friday - Electric Piano/Organ
Saturday - Telecaster
Sunday - Vocals

Solutions Breed Problems

So I have some tools which I think will help solve my problems. But before I can use my new tools to solve my problems I have to figure out how to use my tools.

• January - Pro Tools


• February - Loops, Slices


• March - Ableton Live, Arrangements, FLStudio 7, Pattern Clips


• April - Trigger Finger, Reason Drums


• May - Jamstix 2


• June - Triangle, 3xOsc


• July - Subtractor, Malstrom


• August - Rapture


• September - Compressors, EQ, Automation, CamelSpace, Love Philter

Dance Music for Grownups Needs Work

I recorded the 13 songs I wanted to record. Here is what I think:

• Overall
  • Make every track intersect with the track below it
  • Leave Holes
  • Listen
  • Less is more
  • Smooth out the lyrics


• Drums
  • Need more variation in drum loops/drums
  • Solutions
    • Better use of Dr. Rex
    • Jamstix
    • Reason Drum Kits
    • ReBirth
    • FPC
    • Trigger Finger


• Bass
  • Not organic/funky
  • Solutions
    • P/Jazz Bass
    • POD Bass Pack


• Piano
  • Does not cut through the mix
  • Solutions
    • Reason Pianos


• Electric Keys
  • EP, Organ not great sounding
  • Solutions
    • Lounge Lizard EP-3
    • Native Instruments B4 II


• Synths
  • More whoosh/atmosphere. Tempo synced filters and effects. More interesting sounds
  • Solutions
    • Better use of Reason
    • Rapture
    • CamelSpace
    • Kjaerhus Classic AutoFilter
    • Kjaerhus Classic Phaser
    • FL Flanger
    • FL Flangus
    • Love Philter
    • Fruity Slicer
    • Fruity Granulizer


• Guitars
  • Too much guitar which says too little. Guitar parts have no structure and do not groove with the other instruments.
  • Solutions
    • Have a plan for the guitar solos.
    • Play fewer notes.
    • Record dry.
    • Create a reference wet track after recording.
    • Edit in ProTools
    • Slice in Edison


• Vocals
  • Very pitchy, rhythmically wayward, not layered.
  • Solutions
    • No more one take/afterthought vocals.
    • Record Vocals with minimal instruments.
    • Create a guide track.
    • gSnap
    • Voxengo Voxformer


• Mixing/Mastering
  • EQ - Voxengo GlissEQ
  • Volume Automation/Sidechain - FL Peak Controller
  • Reverb - Wizoo Reverb, Fruity Reverb, Kjaerhus Classic Reverb, SIR + Impulse Reverbs
  • Compressor - Digital Fishphones, Voxengo Crunchessor, Voxengo Marquis
  • Stereo Widener - Fruity Stereo Enhancer, Voxengo Stereo Touch
  • Limiter - Kjaerhus Classic Master Limiter

The Shins

Make Belle and Sebastian seem positively manly...