March 2013
1 post
7 tags
February 2013
1 post
October 2012
1 post
7 tags
Collaborating with other musicians
I have recently started getting involved in a few musical collaborations so I thought I’d write a post about my experiences so far. Collaborating with others obviously has great potential for reward, but also has great potential for difficulty too. So far, I must say, I’ve been lucky, but I can definitely see how your luck could run out and there are a few things I wouldn’t leave...
August 2012
1 post
July 2012
1 post
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June 2012
1 post
March 2012
2 posts
6 tags
FabFilter Twin 2
Well, I’ve finally decided to get my butt into gear and start recording again. I’m beginning with a song called Miracles and I still have a lot to learn about electronic music as I continue to make the transition away from more traditional acoustic instruments.
I use FabFilter Twin 2 (http://www.fabfilter.com/products/twin.php) as my main synthesiser in Ableton Live and up until...
February 2012
0 posts
4 tags
January 2012
2 posts
5 tags
December 2011
0 posts
1 tag
October 2011
1 post
7 tags
Turntables and Vinyl
I finally got around to getting a new turntable to be housemate with the typewriter in Retro Corner. There has already been a lot of talk about the Vinyl Revival so I won’t bore you all with my take on the obvious visceral pleasure of dropping a needle on a record over selecting an mp3 from a menu. What I will talk about though (which is arguably even more boring unless you are facing the...
September 2011
2 posts
7 tags
Free Retro Synths for Ableton Live
From the Ableton website: “We invite you to enhance your Ableton Live experience with a free download of Retro Synths by Puremagnetik, our most popular Partner Instrument. Retro Synths represents the best of Puremagnetik’s meticulously multi-sampled vintage synthesizer packs, including samples from classics such as the Korg MS-20, Roland D-50 and more. With intelligently selected...
5 tags
Typewriter
A relaxing weekend staying with friends in Enmore included my first (and hopefully not last) trip to Reverse Garbage in Marrickville. In their own words, “Reverse Garbage is a not-for-profit co-operative that sells industrial discards, off-cuts and over-runs to the public for creative and practical uses, reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.” There was lots of cool stuff in...
August 2011
5 posts
3 tags
“There are people who would say you shouldn’t mix music and politics, or...”
– Adam Clayton
7 tags
Akai APC20 Review
I’ve had the APC20 for a little while now so I’m overdue to write a short post about it. If you’re thinking about getting a control surface for Ableton Live, read on and I’ll tell you how this particular model is working out for me.
The Akai APC20 completely rocks, or whatever it is that cool things do in the world of electronic music. Loops? Dunno. Anyway, if...
4 tags
8 tags
5 tags
Comping a vocal track with Ableton Live
Although Albeton Live is not traditionally used for vocal-centric music I have begun to find it one of the better pieces of software I have used for exactly that purpose. One of the reasons for this is the ease with which you can record multiple takes and then create a composite track from the best parts. I’m sure there are many ways to perform this task but this post is about the method...
July 2011
1 post
5 tags
June 2011
3 posts
Script for finding identical files
Over the last few months I’ve been collecting some drum loops from Silicon Beats (http://www.siliconbeats.com/) to use in my songs. My usual routine has been to buy a new set of beats then sit with my laptop on the train and listen through them all, picking out the ones that I think might suit various songs. When I find one I like I copy it to a separate directory under the name of the song...
2 tags
Chosing a Creative Commons Licence
It’s very easy with songs, and no doubt all art, to feel that your creations are your babies. You send them out into the world and people form their own relationships with them, completely independent of you, their creator. With our flesh and blood babies, however, as well as having an influence on those they meet they are in turn affected and changed, and that is a healthy part of...
May 2011
3 posts
6 tags
Pedal Board
In order to start and stop Ableton Live’s looper while playing guitar I needed a foot switch of some description. Looking around the net I came across this wonderful post by AlexMC on how to make your own pedal board from an old USB computer keyboard. I won’t go through the construction of the pedal in detail as AlexMC covers that very well already, but I will say a little bit about where...
5 tags
Equipment Setup
A new musical direction means a new equipment setup so I thought I’d share some thoughts on the different configurations I’ve tried so far. My first port of call was the open-source program SooperLooper. SooperLooper is an excellent multitrack audio looper for Mac and Linux. I don’t really trust computers as far as I can throw them though so I also started looking into a...
Making Loop-Based Music
Having been introduced to looping by the wonderful Mr Percival (http://www.mrpercival.com/home.cfm) I’ve decided to experiment with this medium as a way of performing my own original songs as a solo side project I’m starting outside of GIRT (http://girt.tv). Over the next few days I’ll post some info about my efforts to get set up for this new adventure.
