Post number 8!  ( I think)

It's been almost a year and I've barely written anything, yet so much has happened!

I am now a business owner, I'm worried I'll develop a Richard-Branson Complex.
Can Music alone make me the fortune that I'll need to have a house in every capitol city around the world?  No.

So, I went to Japan for 9 days.  Well, to say I went to Japan is slightly misleading as I stayed in Tokyo for 9 days and was sick for a large part of it....  videos to come I guess.

Its almost xmas and there can't be any time more demoralizing to a bank account than the end of DECEMBER. I'm not really used to all these presents and frivolities but I'm adjusting.  I immensely enjoy shopping for my Girlfriends gifts but have no skills in gracefully accepting others generosity.

I completed another month long run of a musical.  Jerry's Girls was on the menu this time.  16 performances of music by Jerry Herman for 2 and a half hours.  I know, I know right..... so yeah.

Guitars are being built.  That's cool.  Red and Pink.  Yay!

MASSIVELY awesome project of amazing-ness is in progress with my GF.  Possibly the most exciting music project I've ever been involved in.  Watch this space......and that one -->

In the interest of transparency I plan to make more regular accounts of myself here.  Why not, I have so much happening it's a waste not to share.

Storms

Inspiration comes in a different forms and artistic inspiration can often be the hardest to source.

I recently had a moment where I was slammed full force with enough inspiration (I hope) to see me through the remainder of this year, 2012.

Standing on a break-wall over looking the wide ocean as a tumultuous storm rode in on the back of a surprisingly calm and even sea, I was struck with feelings of being both small and tall next to the enormous energy of the world around me.

Although I knew that so much on this earth could strike me down I was felt a deep strength as if I wielded the ability to lash out at nature, dive strong and fast into the sea and battle my way back to terra firma where I could breath deep of the scented air rising off the back of the broad mountains.

Ok, then reality kicked in.

But I was still inspired.

This whole experience left me reeling over the colours that exists in the natural world.  Artists spend their whole careers dealing with colour and the way it can be combined and applied to various surfaces.  As a musician tones are my colours, digital media is my surface and my instruments and equipment are my brushes.

When dealing with recording I can not get enough of this little beauty.

It's a guitar pedal, yes, but it's ability to act as a usb interface has been a god send.  I use this black beauty to record my elec piano and bass which along side my usb condenser mic and inbuilt drum sequencing software gives me all I need to complete numerous projects.

I spent an enormous amount of time researching this product and many guitar gizmo geeks will be screaming "It's not top of the line!"  "the sounds are too synthetic"  " there aren't enough foot pedals"  SO WHAT

There quite a few products like this on the market but there is one thing they can't include and that is a 'creativity button'.

I like to work with limitations but not liabilities.

I see this simple piece of equipment as the door way to more sounds than I could possibly use in my career.  All of the guitar, bass, piano and elec piano sounds you will hear in WTHIS Productions films and music clips will be processed by this piece.   www.wthisproductions.com

 The original single that will be feature in the short film KARMA uses a patch I created to emulate the sound of the lead guitarist for Japanese rock group Scandal,

which I used in a completely different range of the guitar and it provided me with inspiration to complete the entire track in one night and it came out more like a track from US group Korn.

See?   Creativity cant' be packaged or programmed and isn't dependant on the fancy piece of kit you own.

So I encourage people to not fuss over the latest software upgrade or newest piece of equipment when it comes to creative pursuits.  

Work with what you've got now rather than procrastinating until you own something new.

I have many upcoming projects including soundtracks for 5 WTHIS Production's films, duets with my girlfriend Naomi, a vocal trio and a very special surprise.  Sharing these journeys will be a huge joy for me and it all starts with the equipment I use.

Peace out !

So much to say

Well it's been quite a few weeks since I wrote anything down and there is so much to say!

Where to begin?

Well a dot pointed list is always good, so here goes.

- Started a new University course, Bachelor of Music majoring in Piano
- Worked on producing WTHIS Production's short film 'KARMA' (coming in April 2012)
- Started teaching at the University of Newcastle
 -Set up a work shed where I will create movie props and modify, fix and build Guitars and Amps
- Started learning a third language, Japanese

Wow, looks really really boring and nerdy doesn't it?  Guess what.... that's because I am! haha


I also worked on another show at my beloved Players Theatre, this time taking a backseat role in the tech department.  It gave me a lot of time to reflect on my work ethics and motivations in regards to non creative projects and to plan for future academic strategies.

Procrastinator.  That was the conclusion I came to.  In my new role as a University lecturer and in the role of a first year student in a new course I am more aware than ever of my limitations in regards to discipline in academia.  Even taking an academic approach to my favourite and most skilled topic of Music seems to be met with the feeling of slamming my head against a brick wall, and disliking this feeling, I toddle off and find some of form of activity to pass time.

What kind of strategies can I take to be rid of this wet, woollen blanket that surrounds me when ever I have to be motivated in these areas?

Write in a diary?

Draw on a white board?  (That one used to work for me.)

Hire a personal secretary?  (Not sure what use they would be but it sounds like a fun idea.)

Perhaps hiring a life coach (or one of those steroid infused personal trainers you see at parks yelling and screaming at middle aged, saggy middled, salary types who believe that wearing an unflattering pair of track suit pants and a jacket will aid in the success of a workout) will help me?


I think the answer is passion.

Why did I start all this?

Where do I want it to lead?

Do I care about the smaller achievements inside the larger ones enough to ensure that the large ones will be achieved??  


So I go now off into the land of deep thought to decide exactly where my passions lies.  I'm sure once I find I will share it with anyone who will listen, that's just the kind of person I am.

Stay tuned for more "Bits and Pieces I Use" where I will try to get back to the point of this blogging caper and walk you through the various projects I'm involved in and the equipment I use.  But until then, peace out!!

Bits and Pieces I Use

A good workman never blames his tools.

Most people think of musicians and other music industry members as being airy-fairy, absent minded, irresponsible, lazy and a general waste of space.
But most people like music.
So......they like the product but have no respect for the people who craft it?

Now, I am NOT referring to The Beatles, Lady Gaga and the like.  They don't participate in over 80% of the work that goes into creating radio fodder.
How many of you can list the various roles involved in the creation of modern music?

With most of my musical offerings I must assume all of these roles.
Therefore I must utilise all the various tools required.
But, which tool is the most important??
Me, silly!

Anyway................
To begin with I need a medium to record onto.
This being the digital age I hardly find it necessary any more to slave a cassette player to another cassette player and using a pile of tapes and use an extremely confusing and time consuming method just to record my musical creations over many tracks using many instruments (yes, like many people this is how I learnt to multi-track record.  Trial and error and many curse words were my syllabus).

My DAW experience started with Cakewalk version 'something-old' (my first experience with midi editing and sequencing), rolled onto ProTools (live multi track recording is an interesting challenge) but I did away with that stuff which cost as much as the computer running it (almost) to purchase and I still enjoy all their benefits!

http://www.reaper.fm/ 
I currently find this piece of software is fulfilling all my needs.  It is a simple user interface that uses a layout familiar to all sound recording enthusiasts.  It is fast, simple and dosn't come burdened with hundreds of 'free extra's and 'loops' which are no good to anyone with half an inch of musical talent/taste.  It's functionality and after sales support is 2nd to 0.  I also have not any troubles with hardware compatibility, yay!   I have to thanks Steve for pointing this beauty out to me (even though he is now a GarageBand fanboy.... well nobody is perfect I guess, hey Steve? haha ).

I find many times when people are approaching specialists pieces of equipment or software that they never read the manual??
Why do Australians have such an aversion to reading a manual??
So much can be gleamed from spending the relatively small amount of time with these volumes of text and oh so many tricks can be devised for future reference.   Terminology, history of the subject, manufacturers recommendations and the like. Who doesn't want these things???  

Which brings me to another point.

Pre-sets.  Pre-sets.  Pre-sets.

How did I learn to set an EQ to mix a backing vocalist into the background of a mix or depth and clarity to the jumble of noise that emanates from a Jazz Bigband's brass section??
I studied pre-set EQ patterns in DAW plugins.
I studied with my eyes and my ears.
I studied with my I-M-A-G-I-N-A-T-I-O-N.
I studied with my hands.  I grabbed those dials (and with my speakers or headphones turned down slightly) I  turned things up, I turned things down, I shifted frequencies and I stood on my head while doing starjumps in time to the music I was mixing.

So don't palm off presets and don't think that just because you went and paid top dollar for a DAW that came with all the trimmings that it is the best thing for the job.
Train your ears, open your mind and be creatively constructive (not arty-farty) and then anything, including your slightly below average Nokia phone, is the best thing for the job!

Making Plans

Today was about thinking.

I had a lot of activities to do today and this allowed me to spend more time with my brain.  So I spent that time wisely.  Taking time out to be with just your brain, alone, is a fantastic experience.

I faced a dilema.
Obstacles are breeders of creativity and it was breeding time in my brain today but I will keep some of those ideas for a different day.

What did I decide?
It had to do with equipment.
It bred a new attitude to a project.
It was a great idea.
It will have to wait until next time to be revealed.