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

March 1st, 2010 - It's March 1st, and I don't have an album done for the RPM Challenge. As for the main task of writing an album's worth of material in 28 days, I failed completely. My main problem was that almost every song I wrote was for a different genre, probably a remnant from my days working in a song factory. Not only did this mean that there were never enough songs to complete a cohesive album, but most of the ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Brocco Lee February 26th, 2010 - With the strong growth in the population of DIY electronic wizards, it seems like almost everyday there's a new robot that can play music. Such roboticized musicians have served as more of a curiosity than anything; musicians haven't been threatened by robots taking their jobs just yet. So why is it that when Dave Cope unveiled Emmy, there were plenty of angry detractors, and even supporters were disturbed by the implications. Emmy (or EMI as ... Read More

February 16th, 2010 - I'm sure most of you know about the Sundance Film Festival. Well what you may not know is that they have a program that links film composers, or aspiring film composers, with veteran film composers and film makers. Each year, several composers are chosen to be mentored by established film composers, and get together with film makers to learn how to work together (if I make it seem like a battle, it sometimes can be). There are both ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Steven Snodgrass February 14th, 2010 - So it looks like I won't be completing the RPM Challenge. This is not to say that I won't be finishing a solo album any time soon, but at this point, it is unrealistic to expect that I'll be able to do it. With that in mind, I've turned my attention to orchestrating the release of a four song EP for a friend. He's never released anything and, in fact, I am one of ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Quintano Media January 23rd, 2009 - Hans Zimmer is one of the most prolific and well-respected film composers in the industry. Many of the memorable themes you hum from movies were created by him. He's the composer I most look up to when I write music. As such, when I get a chance to gain some more insight into his process, I jump at the opportunity. Since I'm not exactly in the position to meet him, the best resource I ... Read More

January 19th, 2009 - Last week, I lamented my inability to finish an album for myself. I've written songs for other people, and even songs for myself, but never any collection of songs that could cohesively be an album. It's always been on my to-do list, but I've never had the satisfaction of drawing a line through that entry. Dan Foley from PodComplex suggested that I take a look at the RPM Challenge. It is not a competition, and there aren't any prizes. ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Ivo Riemann January 13th, 2010 - So you've been working on that killer song for a while now. It seems every time you listen to it you get a great idea of how to make it better, or hear something that needs work. With something as personal as music, we want our songs to be perfect. But how will know perfect when we see it? How do we know we're done? That's a very interesting question. I never was a very ... 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 Oliver Chesler December 8th, 2009 - Have you ever stopped everything you were doing, and decided to write a song? Not because you had an idea for one, but just because you wanted to write? The problem is, when you try to force creativity, it often doesn't come. So how do professional songwriters generate huge catalogues? I'm nowhere near as prolific as David Foster or Timbaland, but I've found that the writers block is generally caused by too much possibility. By ... Read More