House of Love Records - i Magazine

Follow me, as I journey into music production in the Electronic Music Production Program @ Dubspot. www.dubspot.com

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5/8/09 – Class #8

Class was good, but I was tired and found it hard to focus. He taught a lot of effects and I took notes and tested them on my remix files. One of the delays created an effect that I’ve heard in a lot of songs and liked. I will play with them more. He gave me some workflow tips to help me layer the vocals and separate the effects in my mix.

I was reading The Art of Mixing and it was really helpful in understanding the audio effects and how they fit into a mix.

I started building an original loop, after midnight, from a beat that I heard in my head. I built a percussion loop to go with it, and will start working on instrumentals to see if I can develop a new beat for my remix. The drum grooves are hardest for me because I think of more melodies than instrument parts. I’ll see how they develop and see if I can keep creating them.

I’ll see if I can recreate it. I took a picture of the screen to reference.

5/9/09

I looked online and found some tutorials on mastering audio. Sound Forge and Wavelab are the frontrunners for software. The difference in the sound quality is amazing. I am curious to learn to do it myself. I’ve always had an interest and visited mastering studios through the Grammy events. They were always my favorite. I remember not attending one because it was just a regular studio.

The screen captures, for the mastering software, showed something similar to the spectrum filter in Abelton’s devices. It said to get used to analyzing a song in this view for the peaks and valleys. I’ll also listen to the CD that I bought on ear training for audio engineers to develop my awareness of pitch by frequency.

I forgot my password and couldn’t unlock my demo version of Ableton to work on the remix. It’s Saturday, so I may not get any support this weekend. I think it is a stupid safeguard to put on the software. It is only valid for two weeks anyway.

I started working on my original loops and my friend said they sounded good. I am taking pictures of the screen to recreate the settings later. I found that Retronica created an interesting sound for my note placement and the melody is a nice one. I like the way that it turned out. I hope that I can create some interesting compositions. Honestly, I hadn’t expected to be trying this so soon. While I’m not where I want to be with it, it is a promising start.

5/10/09

Still no word from Ableton with the password. It sucks to have lost it on a weekend.

I put my files on the new flash drives and I’ll organize them soon so that everything is sorted and easy to find when I back them up. I’ll still use the old drive as my primary drive and back up directly to that one and my laptop. I’m testing the midi cables now.

I got the Trigger Finger to work. I have to download the manual and figure out how to use it. I think I can use it with Ableton very easily. I can’t wait to use it.

It’s 1am. I figured out how to use the Trigger Finger, at a basic level, using Ableton, and assigned and triggered some clips to test it. I will play with it more, as I develop my remix. It is easier to have the control surface to trigger clips that are not core elements of the mix. If the clips are not finalized and might be altered with effects during the mix, I would not map them to MIDI devices. If I set up scenes it would help trigger those as well.

5/12/09

I just got my password from Ableton. Count the days.

I’m not happy with my remix. I have a nice instrumental but the vocals are not fitting in with any pop. They feel lost and spread too far apart. I a little pissed because I had a full day to work on it over the weekend and now I’m rushing and feeling unprepared. I would have been, had I not had this mishap. It’s also delaying other things that I had to do, in order to make the time now, so I’m a bit pressured. I have several deadlines that will be missed because they took so long with the password.

I’m meeting with delays. The computer cursor is jumping when I need to have steady control. I’m getting phone calls in the middle of the mix and I’m extremely frustrated by the distractions tonight. Every other night, I get quiet and things work without a hitch. I’m just not getting the chance with this.

After hours of struggling with it, my friends said not to be so hard on myself. I don’t know how it will be compared to everyone else’s, but I’m disappointed with myself. Regardless of how it compares to the other remixes, I wanted it to meet my standards. I know that I don’t have to be perfect all the time, but I really wanted it to be good. I’m bringing in the instrumental for the remix tomorrow. I feel like it sucks, but it may not. Everyone else has experience as a DJ or audio engineer and I know that mine will pale in comparison. My biggest accomplishment with it was the arrangement of the instrumental. At least I know that I can do that. I’ll keep working on it and see if I can create an original track for my songs. I don’t even know if we had to remix with vocals or just build a beat.

I will need to keep working on the remix and see if I can get the vocals to fit what I wanted.

5/13/09 – Class #9

I’m up for judgment today. I hope it’s not too embarrassing.

The first remix that was reviewed was amazing. He’s a DJ. I didn’t want to go after him, but I wanted to get mine over with so that it could be critiqued and I could relax. I felt it would suck by comparison. The teacher’s critique was not as bad as I thought. It needed filtering on the high-end and some EQ adjustments. When I put the lead vocals in, it will sound much better. The levels were low. He told me that when you export audio, you want to keep the levels as high as possible. He started to show how to EQ the WAV file and said that we would cover EQ and compression in a later class. Everyone turned in good work, but the first remix caught my attention the most. I told him to let me know when it’s on iTunes.

-1 2 3 4 5 6-

	Follow me, as I journey into music production in the Electronic Music Production Program @ Dubspot. www.dubspot.com -1 2 3 4 5 6- 5/8/09 – Class #8 Class was good, but I was tired and found it hard to focus. He taught a lot of effects and I took notes and tested them on my remix files. One of the delays created an effect that I’ve heard in a lot of songs and liked. I will play with them more. He gave me some workflow tips to help me layer the vocals and separate the effects in my mix. I was reading The Art of Mixing and it was really helpful in understanding the audio effects and how they fit into a mix. I started building an original loop, after midnight, from a beat that I heard in my head. I built a percussion loop to go with it, and will start working on instrumentals to see if I can develop a new beat for my remix. The drum grooves are hardest for me because I think of more melodies than instrument parts. I’ll see how they develop and see if I can keep creating them. I’ll see if I can recreate it. I took a picture of the screen to reference. 5/9/09 I looked online and found some tutorials on mastering audio. Sound Forge and Wavelab are the frontrunners for software. The difference in the sound quality is amazing. I am curious to learn to do it myself. I’ve always had an interest and visited mastering studios through the Grammy events. They were always my favorite. I remember not attending one because it was just a regular studio. The screen captures, for the mastering software, showed something similar to the spectrum filter in Abelton’s devices. It said to get used to analyzing a song in this view for the peaks and valleys. I’ll also listen to the CD that I bought on ear training for audio engineers to develop my awareness of pitch by frequency. I forgot my password and couldn’t unlock my demo version of Ableton to work on the remix. It’s Saturday, so I may not get any support this weekend. I think it is a stupid safeguard to put on the software. It is only valid for two weeks anyway. I started working on my original loops and my friend said they sounded good. I am taking pictures of the screen to recreate the settings later. I found that Retronica created an interesting sound for my note placement and the melody is a nice one. I like the way that it turned out. I hope that I can create some interesting compositions. Honestly, I hadn’t expected to be trying this so soon. While I’m not where I want to be with it, it is a promising start. 5/10/09 Still no word from Ableton with the password. It sucks to have lost it on a weekend. I put my files on the new flash drives and I’ll organize them soon so that everything is sorted and easy to find when I back them up. I’ll still use the old drive as my primary drive and back up directly to that one and my laptop. I’m testing the midi cables now. I got the Trigger Finger to work. I have to download the manual and figure out how to use it. I think I can use it with Ableton very easily. I can’t wait to use it. It’s 1am. I figured out how to use the Trigger Finger, at a basic level, using Ableton, and assigned and triggered some clips to test it. I will play with it more, as I develop my remix. It is easier to have the control surface to trigger clips that are not core elements of the mix. If the clips are not finalized and might be altered with effects during the mix, I would not map them to MIDI devices. If I set up scenes it would help trigger those as well. 5/12/09 I just got my password from Ableton. Count the days. I’m not happy with my remix. I have a nice instrumental but the vocals are not fitting in with any pop. They feel lost and spread too far apart. I a little pissed because I had a full day to work on it over the weekend and now I’m rushing and feeling unprepared. I would have been, had I not had this mishap. It’s also delaying other things that I had to do, in order to make the time now, so I’m a bit pressured. I have several deadlines that will be missed because they took so long with the password. I’m meeting with delays. The computer cursor is jumping when I need to have steady control. I’m getting phone calls in the middle of the mix and I’m extremely frustrated by the distractions tonight. Every other night, I get quiet and things work without a hitch. I’m just not getting the chance with this. After hours of struggling with it, my friends said not to be so hard on myself. I don’t know how it will be compared to everyone else’s, but I’m disappointed with myself. Regardless of how it compares to the other remixes, I wanted it to meet my standards. I know that I don’t have to be perfect all the time, but I really wanted it to be good. I’m bringing in the instrumental for the remix tomorrow. I feel like it sucks, but it may not. Everyone else has experience as a DJ or audio engineer and I know that mine will pale in comparison. My biggest accomplishment with it was the arrangement of the instrumental. At least I know that I can do that. I’ll keep working on it and see if I can create an original track for my songs. I don’t even know if we had to remix with vocals or just build a beat. I will need to keep working on the remix and see if I can get the vocals to fit what I wanted. 5/13/09 – Class #9 I’m up for judgment today. I hope it’s not too embarrassing. The first remix that was reviewed was amazing. He’s a DJ. I didn’t want to go after him, but I wanted to get mine over with so that it could be critiqued and I could relax. I felt it would suck by comparison. The teacher’s critique was not as bad as I thought. It needed filtering on the high-end and some EQ adjustments. When I put the lead vocals in, it will sound much better. The levels were low. He told me that when you export audio, you want to keep the levels as high as possible. He started to show how to EQ the WAV file and said that we would cover EQ and compression in a later class. Everyone turned in good work, but the first remix caught my attention the most. I told him to let me know when it’s on iTunes. -1 2 3 4 5 6-		Available online and in stores now www.kyranbooks.com
Articles March 2009 - Issue 1, vol. 1 The Business of News The Other Woman State vs. Private College Where Have All The Newsmen Gone? OMG…I’m the Grasshopper Hype and the Improper Brand Who's Pulling The Strings? Voyeurism and the Modern World The Thinker The State of Broadway Available online and in stores now www.designsbykyran.com
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	Follow my journey into music production in the Electronic Music Production Program @ Dubspot. www.dubspot.com	Do you need some real world advice? Write with your questions to webmaster@houseofloverecords.com