Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Tobias Steinhoff August 2nd, 2010 - Yesterday, while preparing a new project, I stumbled upon a remix I worked on last year. I created it because a friend asked me to; there wasn't any other real reason. It wasn't a remix of his music (although I am helping to produce an EP for his band currently), rather it was a song that he liked that he felt needed a remix. Often when people learn that I produce music and they themselves ... Read More

July 15th, 2010 - Today I worked on a quick mix for some singer-songwriter stuff I recorded a while ago. I'm sure you all know about Waves plugins. Well, what you may not know is that they have new plugins for people who don't know what plugins to use. For example, the CLA (Chris Lord-Alge) series has awesome 1176, LA2A and LA3A emulations, and there are also plugins available in his signature line with names like CLA Vocals and CLA Guitars. Let's take ... Read More

July 6th, 2010 - These days, web technologists seem to be hyped up about "computing in the cloud". The main idea of it is that we will only have devices that allow us to access the internet, and all our applications and files will be stored and processed in a giant rack of servers online. Some of the benefits touted are: (a) cheaper personal devices, (b) access to your files anywhere you go, and (c) powerful processing takes place on computers built ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Travy June 28th, 2010 - Remember when I said that I'd learn how to use Ableton Live by doing a mash-up that I'd already done in Logic? Well this weekend I sat down with Ableton and warped some tracks. I liked how easy warping was to perform in Ableton (I haven't yet installed Logic 9 to try the Flextime as a comparison), although when I sped up the track 25% (something I had done successfully in Logic), it sounded like ... Read More

June 16th, 2010 - While the staggering rate of evolution and revolution in computer-based music tools has allowed users to do more things, and faster than ever, one of the problems is too much choice. You would think that choice is a good thing, and to a certain degree it is; however, too many options can cause paralysis. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. You read about the latest plugins or improvements to the many DAW options out there, and ... Read More

Photo courtesy of AMagill May 4th, 2010 - Not everyone is blessed to be able to make their living from music. For a while, I worked solely as a songwriter but the money I made wasn't good enough to pay my living expenses, so I went back to working a normal 9-5. Now, I'm going back to working as a songwriter, and hoping what I've learned all these years will finally pay off. I'm not successful yet though, so I'm still working an ... Read More

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