The Return of Spring: Post 1

I recently read an interview with producer Jay Bennett. He's of the opinion that one should never just "demo" a song. Digital technology is such that, often, "demos" turn into releasable works.

With that in mind, I guess you could say that I've begun work on my next studio project, The Return of Spring. To fans of MG4, this doesn't preclude or occlude any work that will be done on a full length MG4 album; I'd love to do one. Although, I have had a handful of songs ready for this "spring" album for nearly four years now. The time is here to commit and get this thing done and released.

I'm going to see how far I can get in my own studio before making the decision to go to another studio with better gear. I'll need to do two days at Here2Hear for drums, but, other than that, I may try my hand and mixing the album myself. I'll need to invest in a few pieces of mixing gear, but, by and large, I think I have everything I'd need.

Last weekend, I started recording a song called "Falling in Love Too Fast." It's been a staple of my acoustic set for about a year now. I'd like for this "spring" record to have a semi-acoustic feel, kind of like The Lessons of Autumn. I experimented with some hand drums and percussion to compliment the very percussive acoustic guitar part. I'm hoping to make the song sound like R.E.M.'s "Low" from Out of Time. Of course, I'll make the song a bit faster.

I rebuilt the "iso-room" in my hallway today to retrack the acoustic guitar. I mentioned the "tuning wars" I've been having and I solved them by, believe it or not, tuning the G and B strings slightly flat. I was pitching my strings sharp with the guitar part. I decided that the part was more important that the clinical "in tune" light. I also added some organ, but I don't like the pattern I've made just yet...I'll need to study the Mike Mills stuff on "Low" for reference.

Reason Adapted: Pandoras Box?

Yesterday, I received some promotional software for my studio.

It's a program called Reason Adapted for Digidesign. I qualified for it when I upgraded to Pro Tools 6.4.

Reason is a sequencing program that hosts five (or maybe six?) smaller sequencers, loop editors, and samplers. It has a program called ReDrum that allows one sequence drum patterns from pre-recorded samples. There are two synth boxes, a piano bank, and a sophisticated loop editing station. I mentioned in a previous post that Pro Tools 6 has a click feature. Reason Adapted plugs into the same INSTRUMENT patch as the click. Convenient.

After spending two hours learning the software and protocol, I asked myself: "Do I really need this program?"

No. No, I don't.

"Is it useful, though?," I said.

Yes it is.

If I were doing a remix record or required polyphonic synth patches for my music, I'd love this program. I read on the Reason website that the latest Prodigy album was written exclusively on Reason. I think it could be useful as a writing tool, but, by and large, I really don't need it.

The "pros" of the program are that it allows one to use less tracks in Pro Tools to do otherwise mundane things. Clicks, tambourines, and percussion can be seamlessly edited in Reason and applied to a Pro Tools session on its own, independent track. Also, the MIDI editing is much easier than with Pro Tools. I can loop patterns in the sequencer and edit them in real time or in post. No problem. Easy to use.

One "con" of Reason is that it's a big program. It will take a while to learn all of it's intricacies. But still, in 24 hours, I figured out how to program and edit a drum pattern and insert it into a Pro Tools session. Another is that, if I get hooked on it, I'll have yet another thing to upgrade and buy sounds for. My Discrete Drum loops aren't compatible with the loop editor...at least, I haven't found a way to make them compatible yet. Where there's a will, there is certainly a way.

That's what I think of Reason Adapted. It's at least more useful that the old Roland Groove Box. But then again, the Groove Box was really fun.

Sigh.

Tuning Wars

How many times does this happen to you?

You're all set to record. You have your mic placement just right. Your pre's and EQ's are perfect. You are about to record your best acoustic guitar take ever. Last thing to do: double check your tuning.

Everything seems to line up right on the tuner, but still it doesn't quite sound right.

Hmm. You tune again. The strings are right, but when you strum a D chord, something's slightly fishy.

Now, it doesn't sound horrible...it's just not perfect. It's not a guitar sound you'd want your great grandchildren to hear 100 years from now.

What's going on: bad intonation. It happens to the best of us. Sometimes guitars need a little adjusting. If this is a common problem for you, try taking your guitar to a luthier for a little "setting up." Give your guitar some love. He'll adjust the truss rod and slap some new strings on there for you. If you aren't happy with your acoustic (or electric guitar tone) this may be the best $50 you'll ever spend.

If you're sure it's not an intonation problem, there are a few common oversights when it comes to tuning the guitar that, if addressed, can improve your performance.

First, make sure you are "tuning up" to the pitch of the string. For example, if you are tuning your A string, let it slack a bit down to G and then tune up to the desired pitch. This allows for proper relative tension to arrive on the string. "Tuning down" doesn't work for a number of reasons.

Second, try putting some new strings on your guitar. New strings always play better than old ones. I'm guilty of letting a lot of time go before I change my strings. When it's time for recording though, nothing beats a two day old set of strings. It's important to let your strings stretch a bit before recording. Change your strings the day before your recording session for best results.

Third, are you bending your strings when you make your chords? A lot of folks do this. If you do this, try some different relative fingerings for your chords. Another trick is to select two or three strings to play from the six. Sometimes subtracting the chord from the song can create a bigger part.

I had some problems with my intonation today. I realized I was "pitching" the B string of my D chord ever so slightly. I solved it by re-approaching the part, using the method above.

Recordings are forever, so make sure you're at your best when the red light is on.

Upgrading to Pro Tools 6.4

Before I begin any new projects, I have to upgrade to the newest level of Pro Tools.

Man, this has been one headache after another.

I thought the upgrade would cost $75, per the cost of new newest version. I encountered a laundry list of hidden costs along the way. Take note if you want to see how Apple and Digidesign have teamed up to rip off the little guy.

I had been running OS 9 on my Mac. I had a version of OS 10.2 that was shipped with my computer back in 2002. I was told that this disc would be sufficient once I wanted to upgrade to OS 10. When I went to install Pro Tools 6.4, I received an error message indicating that I needed OS 10.3 to operate this version. I did a bit of snooping on the Apple site and couldn't find a simple upgrade from 10.2 to 10.3. So, I called tech support. It turned out that 10.3 was a separate OS that could be purchased at the low cost of $125. I told the operator how crappy I thought that was.

$75 snowballed into $200.

After I successfully got the OS to communicate with Pro Tools, I noticed something fishy once I opened a previous Pro Tools session: none of my plug-ins worked. Most of my plug-ins, or virtual programs (i.e. effects, compression, out-board gear substitutions), were free with my version of Pro Tools 5, but some of them I purchased from various companies. I did a simple adjustment to get my Waves and Digirack stuff to work. My Antares Auto-Tune, which cost $250 to begin with, wouldn't load. When I talked to tech support, I learned that I could get the version that would work with Pro Tools 6 for the low price of $99.

$200 snowballed into $299.

So, those are the hidden costs of upgrading to Pro Tools 6.4...just in case you were wondering.

Why upgrade in the first place? Well, I can operate at a higher bit rate and get a higher fidelity with my recordings. And, most of the other studios around here use 6 and it's a pain to retro format to 5. Also, the click feature is neat, but not worth $300. I've noticed much less crashing with my system in the past two weeks, so that's a plus, too.

Test Blog

Blog, Blog, Blog... blog