One Year Anniversary - Has It Really Been That Long?

Yes lads and gents... it has been one year.  One whole year....  If you can't believe it, how can I?

I specifically remember writing my first post here on The Local Natives one year ago tonight.  Except that when I was done with the post it was about 4am in the morning.  Tonight cannot possibly run on that long, and if you haven't had a chance to read the The Local Natives post, or listen to some of their music, then I implore you to do so.

In the meantime, I wanted to update the masses (all 15 of you) that I have been doubling down on my efforts on the music production side of things.  What does this mean you ask?  Well... as you may have noticed you haven't seen any finished products yet.  Why is that?  A couple of reasons..

1.  Mixing with headphones is very difficult.
    a.  The Bose cans I have been using are specifically designed to make crappy music sound good.  This is why my mixes are so ridiculous, but not the only reason.  So I am looking into purchasing some new KRK Rockit8s, and a new set of cans (Beyerdynamic 770s).  That should help in the mixing, as I also purchased a book to help in sound design and mixing.  Lots of reading!

2.  Ableton is 50x the tool I thought it was.  When I thought of mixing, I assumed it was just, you put all these tracks together, adjusted the volume, and boom.. song.  Not the case.  There are 50 different kinds of filters, EQing, Compressing, Mastering... you name it.  I was in way over my head, but luckily I really enjoy reading about this kind of stuff, and I am learning.  It is a truly incredible tool.

3. I have spent the vast majority of my time reading about Ableton, watching videos on how to make Dubstep beats like Skrillex, and trying to match the lessons therein.  It has been utterly fascinating, and it.. takes... hours....

This means that I have not really put too much time into actual production, I.E. creating songs that I want people to hear that I am not embarrassed to release.  I will say though that I am on the fast track to making that happen, way more so than I was ever before.  I have learned so much even this week, and I am absolutely starving for more.

It is so funny, you try and put a deadline on a hobby just to simply do it, and what ends up happening is that you make just as many excuses as to why you can't get that done as you would if you hadn't finished a work project.  I absolutely view this as a hobby (obviously), but I am committed to making this the year of acceleration.  I am going to be busting my hobby-ass to make this happen.  There are many things that I want in life, from the petty to the not so petty, but my biggest dream is to be able to create music.  2012 is the year.  No doubt.  Even if I don't complete all of an album, I want to be damn close to finishing one, EP or LP.

They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert.  I'm working on it.


So enough about me, what do you think about me...  onto some music.


GOLD PANDA - MARRIAGE (STAR SLINGER REMIX)

This song is absolutely as tight as it can be.  I am thoroughly impressed by some of the sonic techniques employed here.  I love the hat paired with the kick, as it really brings it through in the mix, and I think the snares that connect the kicks are just as compelling from a beat-standpoint.  I am obsessed with the melody, and I love the breakbeat style of everything.  Some of the synths in the breakdowns are a tad cheesy sounding, but the overall mix is truly impeccable.  I don't see it as muddy at all, and I think the musical showmanship is over the top amazing.  I think some of the analog sounds they use are incredible as well.  This really is a great beat to jam in the car on full blast.  Check it out..




ELECTRIC GUEST - THIS HEAD I HOLD

Calling all the Alt-rock fans.  This is a great jam.  I love the reverb/distortion they have on the vocals, and I think the overall composition is just a feel-good song.  You want something to pump you up in the morning on the way to the office?  Yeah, you're welcome..



Only two for tonight, but I hope you enjoy.

In the meantime, let me wax poetically here for a second.

What have I learned in a year?  I have learned that no matter what, I have no regrets about writing this blog.  Spending the time trying to find things that I thought people might like, and even opening dialogues about music simply because I mentioned I wrote a musical blog.  I have learned what other people enjoy about music.  I have learned about other genres of music, and how and why to appreciate them.  I have learned that just because a certain song incites an ear-gasm for me, doesn't mean it is the same for someone else.  Needless to say it has been ABSOLUTELY fascinating.  It also helps me stay somewhat dedicated to realizing a small dream, and it is something that I enjoy doing.  I will of course try to do it more often!

In a year, this small, obscure blog has had about 7,000 visitors.  I want to thank each and every one of you for stopping by, and I want to encourage all of you to leave your suggestions, comments, and ideas.  Not a one is any less important than any other.

Cheers,

-CS

Statefantry v1.2

Went ahead and made some updates to Statefantry.  It is starting to take a little more shape, but still working out some new-to-production soft spots.  I put in a new drum track, added the vocals, and beefed up the MIDI track a bit.

I am not sold on the mixing yet, as it seems to sound different when I play it directly out of Ableton, versus playing it from an exported WAV file.

Frustrating story of the night was me almost flipping out because I couldn't figure out why I kept losing sound quality between WAV to MP3 conversion.  I had the conversion encoder set at 128bit conversion, instead of the allowable 320bit.  That is nerd for "I was being a moron."

Critique away!

And as always, thanks for stopping in.

-CS

Youtube Playlist #1 - Want to know what's playing on my iPod?

You have seen most of this already if you have kept up with the posts, but if you want to cycle through some things, and skip some of the fat (my writing), then have at it!




Check it out!

Thanks!

-CS

Statefantry

This is that "song" I have been working on for a while now.  I am bringing you all a sample tonight, so that we can at least acknowledge that I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to get into production.  I whipped this video up quickly, and it doesn't have much to it, except for a minute of playback.  I took the vocals out because I don't currently appreciate their lack of creativity :)  I have the lyrics all set, it is just a matter of finding pitches that add an incredibly necessary depth that it is currently completely without.  I am not 100% sold on what you are about to hear in it's initial iteration.  We should just call this version 1.1, and we will just see how it goes from here.

Be prepared to be underwhelmed... like I said, I'm just giving up a very small slice :)  Let me know your thoughts!

Comments, suggestions, insults!  All are welcomed.

Thanks for stopping by.

-CS

Getting My DAW Sea-legs - Shooting in the Dark with... The Lark

So I am finally sitting down to get creative.  I have everything I need to really give this thing a go, and I have never been more excited.

I have just finished wrapping up my first "creation" on my brand spankin' new Digital Audio Workstation or DAW, otherwise known as Ableton Live Suite.  The intended goal was to spend a little time working through some effects, learning how to create tight audio loops, and seeing how well my new microphone worked.  I didn't really plan this little creation out, I just did it on the fly.  Hence you will notice that my very simple lyrics are quite dull (and probably deserve a LOL).

You might also notice that this little ditty is rather short, one-dimensional, ambient, not necessarily mixed all that well, and kind of strange!  Most of the mixing was done intentionally, but sometimes it is hard to tell how vocals will end up getting mastered.

It was inspired by a small portion of the soundtrack from the movie Syriana, which you may or may not have seen.  There is a really neat little harp-ish section of the soundtrack that I always found to be pretty catchy.  So I tried to emulate it, and then build some simple forms around it.

I am doubtful this little creation will interest any of you, but I might as well share the creative process from day one to day one-hundred thousand, otherwise this blog would be rendered useless.  I view this as an "INTRO" track, something akin to Life in Technicolor from Coldplay's Viva La Vida Album.  Not a full song, just a little slice of something to whet the musical palette.  I don't know if I will re-master this, or even try to use any of its elements in future songs.... just have to see how things pan out.

Just a heads up, its really weird.  But..thanks for listening... if you feel up to it!




P.S:  In case there was curiosity about which song from Syriana I was talking about.  Here it is.