March 2011 Blog Posts (15)

I am excited to be here and meet new composers and collaborate on advice, knowledge, and ideas. I would love to know more about the best software programs to aspire to have such as Kontakt 4 etc, Traktor S4 is on my new list too and other such sampler and music software.

I am learning how to DJ to add and mix my vocals with to create more

club friendly music. I love to create Meditation Music, Industrial Ballads, Gothic Inspired Pop and along those lines of electronic music. I…

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Today I added some B3 stabs to the tune at the 3:00 mark. I think it adds some pizazz. Let me know what you think. For this version I put a lot of time into adjusting levels again and brightening up the upper mids. I think it's done now...  I added it to my play list.

That's TWO recordings finished and about…

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My new song that im writing is going to have four movements that basically describes my life so far. i posted movements 1-3 and am currently writing movement four. when listening to it i felt a very eerie on edge feeling to most of them, or sad. movement three is supposed to be particularly on edge because its my teenage years. i'm planning on writing the last movement on a more happier note. the reason why i am writing it is for my old high school's band. i am not a music major so please don't… Continue

Im just starting my first fugue as a project in counterpoint. Does anyone have any experience in this area who could offer some suggestions before I get started (since all I have at this point is my subject)?

Here's my first entry.  I wrote the music for a trailer, Fall of the Hunter's Moon.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWT-21xbMAI

I didn't write the flute part, but all the violin parts under it, about 7 lines and the jig are all original.  I then recorded them at my home studio.  I'm working on another trailer now, in Protools and Kontakt 4, after composing in Sibelius. Thanks, Sandy

I've learned a few things while mixing Ostinato Trip. I used the Katz method of parallel compression. Fantastic! Another great discovery- kick drum replacement. This technique allowed me to create a MIDI track which triggered any available kick drum sample. I combined the track with the new sample, with the original kick drum recording, with excellent results.

 

Now that I am comfortable with these two new techniques,…

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A friend recently shared a tragic story. His hard drive failed. Thousands of hours of work were lost, representing many compositions...     Something to think about. At the end of a mixing or composing session, I always copy the new files to a similar folder on another external hard drive. Hard drives are relatively inexpensive now. I urge you to back-up your work.

Check it out!

Yesterday I made some last minute additions- I manipulated some clips so that the tune actually has an 'ending'. It's similar to the Intro. The final touches on the ending involved adding reverb and adjusting gain envelopes for a 'smooth' ending.

 

A large part of yesterday's work involved making a sub-mix of the drums, minus the kick drum.

I exported the drum tracks to Audition…

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“Nothing will work unless you do” 

Maya Angelou quote.

This is to composers, writers, lyricists and music producers who are doing too much thinking, contemplating, dreaming, over planning, and yes, too much talking. I realized this when I completed a musical project around 6 to 9 months later than I should of. The joy of completing a project…

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I'm just beginning the process of adding reverb to individual tracks in this complex mix. It's a fun, but daunting task. I use the reverb processors that came with Adobe Audition and Sonar X1. There are at least 6 to choose from. Add to that a number of delay processors. It's been time consuming to try all of these. For one instrument, I used an 8th note delay followed by a medium-sized room reverb. I use two different approaches to…

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I'm nearing the final stages of mixing 'Ostinato Trip'. I needed to track some foreground lead guitar parts. I was reluctant to begin this task because these guitar parts are meant to complement Alpiar's amazing sax tracks, which are tasteful, rhythmically tight, and often blazingly fast. How would my guitar tracks stand up next to such an obvious talent? Rather than try to match or compete with his style, I went with a safer route of providing a contrast. I usually…

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Weird%20Waltz.mp3

 

This started out as a waltz, but then I decided it needed something else and went to 5/8.  I didn't really know how to end it.

"For Love of Liberty" featuring Halley Berry, Morgan Freeman, Samuel Jackson, etc and music by Larry Brown, Alan Lindgren, and John William Doryk won Gold at the Park City Film Music Festival. It has also recently been nominated for 2 MPSE Golden Reel Awards.

 

Just had to brag a little.