what is going on in your musical life

Nice DJP. And NA, maybe you should host your own open mic/songwriting workshop with friends?

thanks ivy! it's been fun, i really like the songs they have and that type of stuff is a cool challenge on bass, trying to do little inventive things but you can't go ham and overwhelm stuff. the guitars/singing will always be the most important part of a band like that.

https://renegadepriests.bandcamp.com/track/i-dreamed-i-lost-my-hat

this is the best renegade priest song (for me) - ilxor cbesinger is the other member he does all the lyrics and vox, great lyrics imo which i cannot take any credit for

(uncleared and awkwardly edited fleetwood mac drum sample is me haha)

Had a real burst of creativity over the Xmas period and finished a bunch of things that had been floating around, unloved, for most of last year. Quite happy with the results - https://nowherians.bandcamp.com/

Last year I:
* replaced my old shitty synth with a Korg minilogue and i love it
* got a new gong
* played one show (solo, at a library, fairly well-attended!)
* continued practicing w my dad band and word has it that we have 11 songs now, hope to record properly in 2024
* this is not a lot but it's pretty good considering the pandemic/life stuff wiped out my musical life around Oct 2021

I made a playlist of songs I recorded last year, including a group jam w my campers/drum students from the summer, some songs that indicate I am dangerously headed toward Vangelis/MST3000 theme song territory, and what I think is a dungeon synth track in which I try to establish the microgenre of cronecore. Maybe I'm back?!?!!?

https://on.soundcloud.com/DfxFA

oh also celebrated my 10th birthday as a drummer

the playlist is the "good" songs (scare quotes intentional) -- i record them almost every time i practice. i think i am addicted to the instant gratification of hearing something immediately after making it.

I've thought about buying a Minilogue, would you recommend it?

lol cronecore. That's great LL!

I am very much trying to make cronecore happen, ngl

xp I love it! I am still figuring out all of the features/how to edit my own presets, but it's versatile, easy to use, and fun. I really like the visualizer display -- I didn't realize I wanted to see what my sounds were shaped like until I saw them. I bought a "pre-owned" (lol) one for $200 less than new too, and it showed no sign of any wear/tear.

Cool, thanks.

forgot something!
* contributed gong sounds to my coworker's solo project which will yield my first gong credit :)

now i want a gong

I want a tiny gong to put on top of drums and hit with sticks (inspired by Nate Wood). Actually I have a Balinese one that I sampled for this track, I will totally try that now.

I have two — one 26” and one 22” iirc
I love them!! Sometimes I stand right up close to them to feel the sound, I have the stands arranged so they’re at chest level to me. Pretty neat.

When I played the library show I let ppl play the gong (just one there) between sets and they seemed to enjoy making that much sound. Kids and adults alike tbh. (I cautioned everyone not to bang the gong.)

Get it on!

LOL

I got a Volca Beats and a Volca Modular for my birthday ^_^

I got a SSL Six mixer, because I needed more than one good mic preamp, and I was curious about the compressors, and I realized I can leave more stuff plugged in all at once, blah blah blah. Tiny Mackie-ish thing, but I've never used a mixer of this quality! Taking a few outputs out of my interface and doing a semi- out of the box mix really surprised me. Even though my interface can do mic/line/hi-z inputs, I didn't really realize how much of a difference it makes to do routing/gain staging on a little desk. A lot of fun abusing the talkback compressor as well. Would definitely recommend!

Jealous

I got this cute midi controller so I can automate multiple things at once using faders that feel nice (mostly for more live-feeling dub mixes).

https://themidimaker.com/products/sparrow-3x100mm-midi-47280

(I am also jealous of the SSL, are you running tracks out of the computer through it and back in?)

yep, I've done a little bit of that. nothing crazy, 4 outs, through the SSL back into the interface on another 2 tracks. you can do 6 realistically but technically 10 balanced ins are possible.

I have an Alesis Multimix 8, which generally works fine as both a live mixer and a recording interface - its only limitation is that the USB out is two-track instead of separated. Which I don't need anyway because I am usually recording one instrument at a time.

I really want to get back into making music. I've bought Ableton and I am in the process of making my spare room comfy and convenient enough to encourage me back into it.

I also think I need to get better at finishing work. Would anyone be interested in giving me some feedback on this avantgard(ish) dance track I started a little while ago? https://drive.google.com/file/d/12_EMl10d_m__yjW9DrE-P5HT3Gam24zt/view?usp=drive_link

Heh to my ears that sounds like a very straight-forward DJ tool. I put it on a couple times when doing other work and nothing caught my ear that I didn't like, cool track!

everything in my life seems to be conspiring against me going to the studio tomorrow: my roommate has covid, unseasonable warming in the atmosphere is usually the thing that gives me an automatic sinus infection... but i seem to have avoided both of these things and will be sitting behind a drumkit recording our new album in 24 hours. unbelievable. last time we recorded was almost six years ago

Imperfect conditions -> the necessity of the work feels more critical. It's gonna go great!

I have a to-do list for "new personal work" and top of the list is "clean the basement", lol

Are you tracking drums by yourself or as a band? Remember to relax, breathe, and have fun!

we've always tracked live and we're planning to do that again. which is good because the band chemistry is actually something that relaxes me. thank u both

i just have to make sure i get enough sleep tonight. good luck me

(i will be wayyy too excited to go to bed at a reasonable time)

<3 good luck ivy!

hope the session goes well!

tracking live makes such a difference

Break a leg ivy!

one thing I've really been into recording is something I saw on Never Mind the Bullocks Classic Albums episode where Steve Jones talked about how they would overdub the main guitar line twice, an octave below and an octave above, it sounds pretty amazing

Get some rest and have so much fun Ivy!

nothing exposes how you're not as good at your instrument as you think you are like recording. regardless i'm having the time of my life

so true about recording! I've been finding it liberating to record acoustically in a room as opposed to with a mic and noise gate etc

record's almost done! still has to be mixed. listening to the raw mixes rn. all my insecurities about my drum performance are probably rooted in my playing on an unfamiliar kit on which my kick pedal action turned out to be a little more rapid than i'm used to, we fixed it early in the sessions but i still feel it on the earliest tracks. no one else notices this at all btw and it's probably mostly in my head

anyway, with that out of the way!!! it's a fucking great record i'm very happy with it

(i could also probably solve all of my time fluctuation anxieties by recording to a click, but... i refuse)

ok, a few days removed from recording, listening to the raw mixes... folks, our album absolutely whips

hell yeah

wicked! that should make the mixing go easier.... :)

Congrats! Playing to a click has its own anxieties, and would ruin the magic of a band tracking live together. If you were recording by yourself, sure. But these days it's nice to hear something with imperfect time.

i've arrived at the much more positive thought: that even playing in imperfect conditions i was able to get usable takes that other people sound great. and again the further i get away from recording the less i notice... whatever it is i'm noticing... don't live in my brain folks... it's bad in here

that other people say* sound great

I'd say if you're already at that point a few days later then you're a zen master, it takes me much longer, lol.

Btw I've been puzzling over Swen's post for days...how do you record acoustically in a room without a mic??? :)

I'd say if you're already at that point a few days later then you're a zen master, it takes me much longer, lol.

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, January 31, 2024 10:30 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i am truly so grateful that we are not mixing for another two months

I've released another batch of my Ableton noodlings into the wild on Bandcamp. All on the house / breakstep / techno adjacent side of things: https://wascal.bandcamp.com/album/t-t-k-k-008