Rain

Who needs a Christmas tree? I'd suggest investing a few bucks in a tuner next, though - at about 11 minutes in... 😬

Update - the Glyph was replaced. And ruined yet another session. It's going in a drawer and will be used only to archive stuff. What I'd really want to do, though...

Just spotted this on FB... PSP Chamber is available for free for all users with an active account at our user area. To get access to the plug-in simply log-in to your account. Wishing you a joyful and festive season! https://pspaudioware.com/products/psp-chamber

I could not possibly pick one, but Bridge Over Troubled Water would certainly be one of the top contenders.

I still have these though..

It all seems to be back to normal now. And I guess I can't really complain - that was the first real downtime I've experienced in 14 years. It's also the first time I was this careless, so I take part of the blame. Other than that, the only thing I recall having issues with is Line 6 Pod Farm systematically crashing my DAW way back then - and that's easily solved of course. That new Glyph seems to be a bit temperamental compared to my old WD. Its power supply was accidentally disconnected earlier and even rebooting the computer didn't fix things. It wouldn't even allow me to run disk utility on it. I had to eject it via software and then reconnect it. I can't count the number of times I accidentally disconnected that USB powered WD without ejecting it first. It's probably a weekly occurrence. I'd not really heard a hard drive in years, so I probably worry for no reason. Usually I walk in the studio and it's dead quiet, the only occasional noise comes from the street, but this guy I always hear, even when it's not working.

Last week, a new version of Logic was released, which required upgrading my computer to the latest OS or the previous one. I'm always weary of upgrades because, in my experience, performance always takes a hit on older machines. Not to mention I'd already been through one upgrade in June. But I I was really curious about the new Quantec reverb... I figured I'd do a back up and proceed, but then I started experiencing troubles with that. The back up process would stall at 53%. And that's when my old trusty external HD just vanished from the list of devices. I eventually got it back online, but it made me realize that, after 11 years, it might need to be replaced. So I ordered a new one from Sweetwater. Then I decided to just be stupid and go ahead and upgrade to the second most recent OS in order to be able to test that reverb... Things seemed alright for a couple of hours. But when I came back after a night of sleep, Logic took forever to launch and then wouldn't load my projects. I spent my entire night off troubleshooting instead of making music. First time in 14 years that I experience issues with my DAW. The irony is that the project I was working on used only Logic synths and plugins, as a challenge to myself. It is also the first time that I don't systematically bounce tracks. I know it's ridiculous but that's the way I learned to work back in the days to conserve CPU, so I usually commit to stuff as soon as I'm happy with the performance. And I usually print effects as well. In this case, everything in the project was still MIDI and real-time. Fortunately, I had exported stems a little earlier in the process because I wanted to be able to mess with them in Luna. So I had some of my stuff there. I spent much of my second night off trying to rebuild the mix in Pro Tools around the stems, but it just wasn't happening. So halfway through the night I took a leap of faith and proceeded to upgrade to the latest OS. A few Logic users I spoke with had ran into similar issues and that solved their problems. I was worried that this could not only not fix Logic, but hose my back up, Pro Tools. So I reluctantly proceeded. And indeed, that solved everything, even issues with other apps. The alternative and the back up plan was to restore my latest back up - dating from July, before I installed Pro Tools, the UAD plugins and all the goodies. So that would have meant a lot of time before I was back up and running. Of course, while all of this was happening, FedEx decided to take their sweet time and to take my new HD on a journey across the US so it only showed up once everything was back up and running... My first Glyph. Made me realize how tiny my old WD was despite being the same capacity. The Glyph's also noisier. Which isn't to say much, it's just that the WD was completely silent. As for the Quantec reverb... It's really cool. But I ended up demoing and buying Abbey Road chambers because it worked better on what I was working on. But I'm just so glad to be back up and running.

Was going through the old Logic certification books last weekend and I found this between the pages. Brought back memories... First sales rep who helped me - sold me my Alesis controller and portable USB monitors. Also, Sam Ash announced that they were reborn as an online merchant earlier this month.

You can't put the words guitar and flood in the same sentence and expect me not to make the connection... Man, he was on FIRE that night.

I know a lot of adult women who are into the Hello Kitty stuff. Actually, I've always thought they were the demographic HK was marketing to. But I'm really out of touch. The good thing is that Fender won't even have to worry about selling those, anyway - gear manufacturers go out of their way to endorse ladies, regardless of their talent (or lack thereof). Forgive my cynicism, here... Not that there aren't some great, young female guitarists - Gretchen Menn comes to mind, and I know a few here on the local scene too. Japan has a lot of metal girl bands too. Usually quite "kawaii" too.

Even if like me you have no interest in using AI to generate music, it's still interesting to see that in theory, as long as your music's out there on the web, you may be affected eventually.

Thank you guys. I don't often get the opportunity to receive feedback, so I really appreciate. (Big fan of Assemblage 23, too - it's been a while since I checked out the newer releases though, but Failure still gets played relatively often). I've managed NOT to re-record any vocals this weekend (so far). I think I will simply try to comp something and move on. If nothing else, I've learned a lot in the process. I've also started working on my own arrangement for the song - I challenged myself to use nothing but Logic's own synths and plugins for this one. The reasoning being that I suck at mixing but when I come up with something that's my own, I do a little better - as I did for that Billy Idol cover. And that one was done almost entirely with Logic synths (but built around a few key components imported from an old Sonar mix which made abundant use of Zeta and Dimension). In parallel, I've rebuilt the other mix in Luna, which I'm demoing. The reasoning for that is that I won't be as tempted to re-do this and re-record that, and to instead try to draw the line and approach it as an entirely different step and relying mostly on the built-in processing, thereby limiting my options. And, man, that virtual console looks and sounds incredible. I wish I had the talent to really take advantage of it.

Thanks guys. I've decided I'd try to make the best of what's recorded. I must have 6 or 7 takes of each part I've not deleted, and I will try to comp something up using those. Even though I could clearly use it, I refuse to use Autotune/Melodyne. But I should be able to salvage a somewhat ok performance. In the meantime, I was curious to try and see how far I could get just using one of the 'live" takes and pushing a couple of others underneath to reinforce it, adding a bit of compression and such. I've never really mixed vocals (not that I've properly mixed anything, mind you), so that too is a challenge. Apologies for the sour bits. The song's a cover of Covenant's Like Tears in Rain. Since this was about learning, I tried to remain faithful to their arrangement. I might put together a different version with my own twist on it because I have a few ideas for it. Again, it's just a rough balance, I'll work on the actual mix once I'm done with the vocals. There's a few things I'd like to overdubs, bits of synth and whatnot. Here's the original.

Agreed wholeheartedly. As a musician of course, I do have a certain curiosity. Whether it's Justice, or albums like Black Sabbath's Born Again or KISS' Hotter Than Hell - I would love to be able to hear the raw tracks. Every time I hear those two, I try to deconstruct them and understand what went wrong, how did they get that sound. It's become sort of a mild obsession. HTH almost sounds like they recorded part of the mix from the speakers in the studio... In other news though, after letting it cool off for a bit and listening to the previous attempts, and keeping this discussion in mind, I managed to put things in perspective. I went for a few more attempts this morning but remained very reasonable about it. I believe it has more to do with the energy and also the pronunciation (and that part is made all the more complex by the fact that the original was sung by a Swede and that I am dealing with my own French Canadian accent). And then sometimes some words and sentences are difficult to push through or bite into - the soft parts are in all the wrong places, you just can't lean into them properly. The chorus of that song is particularly difficult (to me) because of that. A lot of it is kind of slurred. The whole thing is a learning experience, though. That's not something I usually do. Typically when I do a cover, it takes off in an entirely different direction. This one I am trying to stick to the original arrangement as much as I can - and that part has taught me a lot. Which was the point. Ultimately, that's why I am making music. To learn things. At my age, and considering that most of it will go unheard except by my cat, there's really no other motivation. It's what I do, that's all.

I'm struggling with that addiction. 😁

This. I have a few songs that I have allowed myself to go back to and completely rebuild from my old Sonar archives. To be honest, in most cases, I've lived with them for so long that no matter what I try and how much "better" they should be, they rarely sound right. For all their flaws, I've become used to those so much that something's missing in the better mix. They just feel a little flat and unexciting. But there are 2 or 3 which actually ended up significantly better - although in each case, the process stretched over years and multiple attempts. One of those is a cover for Billy Idol's Flesh for Fantasy that I really dig. The original dates from 2007, but I re-made it in 2013 and again in 2017 I think. The problem is that it's still instrumental, and I would love to record vocals for it, but it's not in a key that works for me. And there's no way I'm spending another 15 years to rebuilt it in the right key. A friend who's actually a real singer offered to help me finish it, and I might ask her to. Sometimes I do miss the days when I didn't know better than to have every synth rendered to stereo with reverb and delay and things masking each other, and I would just shove everything through the stereo bus and call that my mix. And if the kick drum got buried, I would just add yet another track of a different kick... Now I have better gear, a better room to work in, and I pretend that I know just a little better, but I really don't. lol

Thanks for asking. Actually, I only did a few tests but my voice didn't seem to cooperate, so I quickly called it a night. But I did listen to a few takes from the previous week and I think I'm almost there - to a point where I can live with my voice without being particularly fond of it. Part of it is just a matter of singing more. And warming up. Which I've been trying to do a little more regularly. But there's something that's still locked in.

Well, at least there's SOME development. I bought the UAD Studio bundle this morning. And went back for the SSL bundle tonight.

I took me only two years but I finally figured out that I could cut that huge one in smaller pieces and add it to the side walls, instead of just having it taking place in the studio closet. My padded cell is complete. I can go insane now.

I didn't really realize it until I called it a day and sat down and realized that I'd been standing up all night. My feet were killing me.

Not all their stuff was bad. Amusingly enough, I stumbled upon this last week: https://cherryaudio.com/products/surrealistic-mg-1-plus

Being poor sure helped me not to forget the word realistic when I started playing electric guitar. This was my first "amp". We also had a über cheap Realistic keyboard with drum patterns that I used to cut some of my very first "demos". On our Realistic stereo combo, of course.

I'm drinking my "morning" coffee and getting ready for yet another session, and I figured I would re-read this and try to let some of that wisdom seep through that thick skull of mine. I just started the demo period UAD Spark and I'd really like to have time to actually play with those plugins - it's be great not to waste the entire night singing (what little I've tested this morning already compelled me to add the studio ed bundle to my cart).

I guess there's a reason I like instrumental electronic music so much... Yeah, that's take #382. And it wasn't even the last one. I recorded another 54 takes in Pro Tools afterwards (I needed a change of scenery). That's a whole night spent recording vocals for one song. Starting at around 11 pm and finally giving up at around 9 am. Not the harmonies, not overdubs, just the lead vocal - 2 verses, 2 choruses. I had gone through the same process a week earlier. And I will probably spend hours on it again this weekend. Granted, I'm not a singer, but that wouldn't make a difference. Same thing happens when I record guitars... It's just a case of me going - nah, I can do better. Then hitting undo and recording a new take, most of the time without even listening to the previous one. In 90% of the cases, there's nothing terribly wrong, no sour note, no error in the lyrics... I just want to do better. I also seem to feel that punching in would be cheating. It's not as if I were recording in a studio with an engineer and felt pressured. I have no deadline and no pressure, and I can record one verse at a time. So the least I can do is get it right. And that in itself is a curse I guess. Having been married to a phenomenal singer for a decade and being constantly surrounded by other extraordinarily talented vocalists is also a double edged sword. I can hear things I would have never noticed before when listening to vocalists - but the ability to hear and identify weaknesses and quirks doesn't mean that I have the talent to avoid or fix them. So it's often a case of - the vibrato on that note is a little off, or the enunciation is off, or that note doesn't "close" properly. Pretty soon, you're pulled into the realm of the microscopic. But I hear it, and I know that any singer will hear it too. Also, I have a perfect excuse. I haven't really sang in years. After I quit smoking the first time, I suddenly seemed to lose control over my voice, which was extraordinarily embarrassing. At least, now that's behind me, but I feel like I'm still finding my voice. So it does seem to improve a little, week after week. Sometimes I wish I could do what a lot of people working in electronic music do - just run my voice through a distortion and let it be. There are tons of bands that I like who do just that. I wouldn't want to hear what Front Line Assembly or Hocico sound like with regular vocals. But I can't seem to let myself do it. Maybe what I'm missing is a nice tube preamp, a great outboard compressor, or a channel strip. Or a better mic. Maybe I can buy my way out of that rabbit hole... So yeah... This is my office for the weekend again.

An old friend of mine said that without it, life would be a mistake.