February 7, 2011 – As you may have noticed, my posting hasn’t been as regular as usual. In fact, I haven’t even had a chance to check out the changes that were completed last week on the collaboration project!

There are some pretty big changes happening in my life right now, and some of it is music related. Even though I’m easing back into a music schedule, it’s hard to find time to actually write. Finding an appropriate time to work on writing has always been a problem for me. How do you find time to write music? Do you schedule regular Saturday afternoons? Do you work on it evenings after your day job? In between baby feedings?

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 are musically inclined, they’ll ask for help or a critical ear on their own stuff. I’m certain I’m not the only one; this no doubt happens to almost everyone that has worked in music professionally, and even for those who do it for fun. I like helping out; when I was just starting, I had many mentors and I like to think that I’m paying back into the karma bank.

Additionally, whether it’s helping someone with their own music, or if it’s creating a track for no other reason than being asked to, I find it rewarding to work outside of my own sphere of productivity. Remixing songs I might not usually work on, or helping with music that I might not otherwise have been exposed to; it helps me just as much as it helps them.

Have you worked on a project lately for a friend that wasn’t related to what you normally would work on? How was the experience?

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 the CLA Vocals as an example. You may not know how to use a compressor, but with the CLA Vocal plugin, there’s a fader that controls all the usual compressor parameters automagically. Want more compression? Turn up the fader.

These types of plugins are really the ultimate presets. Of course, they don’t always provide the perfect setting for every song, but all-in-all they sound surprisingly good. Many engineers would call it cheating, others just want something to quickly get the job done.

Personally, I like to flip through presets (ones offered by the manufacturer, and ones that I’ve created myself) to get a close approximation to the sound I have in my head, and then tweak it from there until it’s perfect. I find that it lets me get my ideas out faster, which is a good thing when you have a terrible memory like me.

How about you? Do you think it’s cheating to use presets?

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 for it, and not on a device that goes out of date immediately after you buy it.

This is an interesting development for people who produce music because, not only does having all your projects online make collaborating easier, it means that processor heavy productions can be taken care of off site; your personal computer will only have to be able to stream audio at an appropriate quality.

While there are an increasing amount of online music production tools, I don’t think any have gotten past the curio stage. Most don’t have many effects options, and don’t allow you to load your own plugins, and all are simplistic like Garageband. Obviously current online tools aren’t able to keep up with Ableton, Logic, or Protools, but they may someday.

My question to you is, do you use online DAWs currently? Would you consider switching to one if you could get the same work done as a locally installed DAW? Personally, I prefer keeping it all on my computer, but I can certainly see the allure. Maybe I’d switch when the technology is more mature and offers professional level routing. What’s your take?

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 crap. I think it had something to do with the priority Ableton puts on performance over fidelity, especially as it seems to do the calculations on-the-fly, rather than destructively like Logic and other tools.

Producer/DJ CJ Milli suggested that I use Audacity and speed up the track, and then re-import into Ableton. Jon Tidey from AudioGeekZine suggested offline plugins within Reaper and Protools. I think I’ll speed up the track in Logic and re-import it into Ableton. I may have to re-warp the track but that shouldn’t take long now that I’m know what I’m doing. Hopefully the fidelity will be decent, and I’ll be able to try out some of the cool tricks I’ve seen Ableton folks performing.

My question to you is, how do you deal with audio that needs to be stretched a fair bit and still retain the key? Do you have a favorite technique? Do you use specific software?

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 figure that you’ll wait until the new features are released. The problem is, even when they arrive, you won’t know how to use them effectively and learning something new when you have your tried and true methods seems like a bother.

This has happened to me with Ableton 8. Having seen all the cool things people were doing with it, I picked up a copy (btw, I noticed that they have a Live Pack you can download that features sets from established artists so you can learn from what they’ve done…pretty cool!). After installing it and going through some of the included tutorials, it has all but sat unused for the past several months. I’ve come to the realization that I cannot learn from books, nor do I learn well from classrooms or video apparently.

What I’ve decided to do is work on an unfinished mashup remix that’s been on my to-do list for quite some time. I figure this will give me the chance to do something that I’m good at in my normal DAW, Logic, and transfer the skills to Ableton. Because I’m not creating something from scratch, I can get a broader picture of how things work in Ableton versus what I’m used to in Logic. After I’ve gotten my feet wet, I can then start to explore Ableton’s deeper functionality.

How do you learn new music software? Do you read books? Tinker around? Watch tutorial videos? Do you have different techniques for different types of software (ie. software instruments, effects plugins, DAWs)?

What do you do to support your music habit?

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, or a melody will suddenly come to me while I’m trying to get to sleep. However the idea comes, I almost always start with the hook (either melody or sound), build drums to it, then add a bass (if the bass isn’t already the hook). Finally I’ll add instruments to lift choruses, and complimentary counterpoints to the main melodies.

I tend to come up with lyrics last, I find it hard to write a song to lyrics that already dictate a specific melodic rhythm. However some songwriters I work with create lyrics and smooth them around the melody and rhythm of the already created track. Everyone has their own way that they’re comfortable building tracks, and I’m interested in hearing how you go about. How do you typically build a song?

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. I can certainly believe this, as many of my friends get very distracted while even talking to a passenger in the car; it’s scary. The natural extension of this is music. Now, they’re never going to be able to pass a law that outlaws music in cars, but I’m sure you know people that get very distracted by music.

I have a friend that sings and actually closes her eyes. We’ve told her, and she’s aware of it, but she can’t help herself. Just knowing that there are people out there like that, and people who are even much worse, gives me the chills. Do you get distracted by having music play while driving?

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 a great space to inspire your creativity.

Obviously Hans has a bit more money than most of us, but if you could change, or if you don’t have one already create, your music space, how would you build it? What would you use for your design inspiration?

thomas mayer archive via Gizmodo