Key Of Grey

March 12th, 2010 - These days, producers write songs and songwriters produce their own songs. DAWs are so powerful, and with the great plug-ins out there to compliment them, a song written and produced in the basement can rival a commercial release with thousands of dollars into it. With people creating fantastic music on their own, many without any formal training, there are many different ways to go about building a track from scratch. Sometimes a synth line will set off my ideas, ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Aliph January 21st, 2010 - This month, the city started enforcing a Vancouver bylaw that bans the use of cell phones while driving. In order to be able to make calls legally, you must have a hands-free set. I, personally, applaud the law as I'm tired of being nearly run into when drivers can't make a corner without taking it two-lanes wide because they're turning with only one hand. However, many studies have questioned the effectiveness of handsfree sets as well. ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Thomas Mayer archive January 17th, 2009 - That fancy little log room in the picture above was designed by Piet Hein Eek for musician Hans Liberg. It's a tiny room on wheels that Hans can use to work on music, free from distractions. Whether it's in your bedroom, living room, or in a dedicated space, the area you work on music is quite important. Not only does it help to be organized with ergonomics in mind, but it must be ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Steven Snodgrass January 2nd, 2010 - For the new year, I've started writing an ebook on how to improve your songwriting. It will be a free ebook available to any who wants it and you can copy it, print it out, and send it to your friends. It won't be an epic thousand page tome, but it won't short either. I may post some of it as I'm writing to gauge the reaction to it as well. I plan on ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Grant MacDonald December 25th, 2009 - For those of you who celebrate Christmas, did you give or receive any cool music gear this year? Read More

Photo courtesy of Grant MacDonald December 22nd, 2009 - Tis the season as they say, and with only 2 days left to be a good consumer, shopping malls are getting nuts. As we edge closer to Christmas, the amount of holiday music grows increasingly concentrated. When I was a child, I thought this music was fun. Now, it seems like the music is there to remind us to get out and spend money. In the UK, people fed up with carefully planned marketing around ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Propellerhead December 19th, 2009 - Since the Triton I normally use to trigger MIDI is broken, I've been using a Korg MS20 controller (the one that comes with the Legacy Collection). In Reason, the MS20 is mapped as a standard keyboard. Unfortunately, the MS20 only has 3 octaves, and no dedicated buttons to change octaves. I can change octaves within the transport in Logic but I can't figure it out in Reason. It's a real pain when I'm using Redrum ... Read More

December 1st, 2009 - Since I've added electro to the list of music genres I like, I've become much more interested in using Reason to produce music. Watching the various Reason tutorials on Youtube has gotten me hyped up to use Reason's built-in synthesizer Thor especially. There are so many great sounding presets that it's hard not to find a sound you'll like. As well, Reason's pattern-based effects are very powerful. The one part of Reason that's terrible, and I'm sure why Propellerhead ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Tim O’Brien November 11th, 2009 - Thomas K. asks "I read your article on school and audio engineering. I'm just wondering where you went to school, where you first started out engineering, and how you made that transition. I'm currently going to school, and learning about audio production, and interning (for free). I have pursued a lot of what have turned out to be dead ends in my search for employment in the field of audio production/engineering. I'm sure you're ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Kufala November 3rd, 2009 - Many artists are choosing to release their music completely digitally these days, but there is still a case to be made for pressing physical CD's. For one, many fans want to have a physical object that represents their hard-earned dollars. As well, some people in the music industry aren't particularly internet savvy (you don't say!) and don't know how, or don't want, to visit the various sites you may have created an online EPK (electronic ... Read More