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Not what you were hoping for?
Here are some old original Christmas songs I composed/produced
Happy Holidays and all the best for 2010!
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In moving the studio recently and consolidating things, preparing for a more mobile production setup, I discovered some interestng items from my past. Over the years, I’ve been so busy pretty much non stop that I haven’t had a chance to go through old boxes and files that have been laying around. Well over the last month I have, and I found some pretty interesting memorabilia:
Floppy Disks with song files & sounds from my first productions (now in some landfill)
I also found an original copy of a magazine with a full page feature, also mentioning me that I got for one of the first artists I professional produced, Emeline:
Emeline in Vancouver magazine (edited scan from original)
Found lots of other very interesting things maybe I’ll share when I have more time.
There are a lot of cables when you have a midi based studio, even though I’ve gotten rid of a lot of analog equipment, and still am selling now as part of this process…
Audio, midi instrument, power, data, speaker cables for the studio
We’re supposed to be at the airport right now for a 2am flight to Vietnam to adopt our boy Evan, but I’m here writing this blog instead.
Guess the only thing you can be sure of when you embark on the adoption roller coaster is that you can never be sure of anything!
The group adopting from the orphanage before us is still there, waiting for their paperwork which has been delayed now for weeks.
Unless they get what they need completed and come home, we can’t go.
Even once that happens, we don’t know when we’ll go as new plans have to be made around Christmas and New Years holidays.
This will give me a much needed break, as I try to be patient and wait for those with the authority to do so let little Evan and the other waiting babies have a permanent family.
Until then, he’ll be waiting in the Orphanage in, Vietnam.
That’s right, after 3 great years, I’m moving my studio to my home next week. I had planned to blog about it much earlier, but then we were suddenly told to drop everything and go to Vietnam to adopt a baby (An update on that & what has happened in my next blog…).
Because I will be doing a lot more work overseas next year, I decided it didn’t make sense to have a separate studio here that is costing me when I won’t even be here! So I’m moving the studio to my home and will be working with a friends studio locally when recording is necessary in Vancouver.
It was a hard decision, as this was definitely the best sounding studio I’ve had, interesting as it was quite a simple setup, but there was something about the sound in there that gave this lovely air when mixing, and it had a comfy homey feeling when recording.
Had some fantastic times in there working with amazing artists like Elika Mahony, Heather Dore, Laura Harley, and Bahiyyih.
We custom built the studio as a double walled enclosure, and acoustically treated the walls, and put in wood flooring.
It seems every time I build a studio, the time I actually get to use it before something happens becomes less and less… Hopefully my next studio will last more than 3 years! I really thought I would be there and use the space for a lot longer than I did, but life changes.
In terms of how this will affect my work, things will be continuing as usual as far as what I can do and the quality of my work. I’ve made sure those things won’t be affected. What will change is my availability in Vancouver. If you want to work together on a project, make sure you schedule it now, because my time here next year will be limited!
In going through everything I have to prepare to move, I found some pretty amazing memorabilia from my music past… Im going to post some of those things in future blogs, so keep an eye out.
I’m also selling some vintage analog gear as I part with things I don’t use as much to make room for new additions that I need more now with my work and the way technology changes. If your interested in an Emax 2 sampler, Korg SDD-1000 delay fx, Behringer MX 2642A Mixer, or a Symetrix 528 vocal processor/preamp channel strip, then let me know.
I have to say, I’m really looking forward to all the time I’ll be saving not having to commute, and the money that will be saved as well. This has been a really tough year, and I really need a break and to make some major changes in the way I work, badly.
As I blogged about recently, Felisha and I are very excited to be adopting a baby boy from Vietnam in December. With one month to really prepare, and two weeks before we leave, we’ve been getting our home and our lives ready for the new addition we’ve been waiting for.
We’ve found Consumer Reports a great resource to find the safest products at the best deals, as well as some very generous friends like Joanne and Erika. I’ve built a crib, got some cool safari removable wall decorations, and lots of stuff we need for Evan and the trip ahead.
I was amazed by the amount of stuff they have for babies, everything you can think of, including a bear that when moved makes the sound of the mothers womb. Much of it one really doesn’t really need and is just taking advantage of new parents desire to stop at nothing to take care of their baby.
This has to be one of my favorites:
I’ll share some of the great books we’ve found in a future blog.
We’ve been on quite a roller coaster ride over the last 4 years in our attempt to adopt a baby. Things have not gone so well, but recently, we were proposed a baby from Vietnam. We debated whether or not to go through the pain of completing huge amounts of paperwork and preparations, not knowing if anything would come out of it, but thought we should take advantage of this opportunity and give it one more try.
We were told to expect the process to complete next year some time in Feb or March, but got the news last week that the baby is ready and we need to go to Vietnam on Dec 7th, 2009 to receive! We’re extremely excited and frantically making preparations that couples often have 9 months to do in one month (we didn’t feel able to prepare properly in the past not knowing what would happen with our previous attempts at adopting from Canada, China, and Korea…)
He is a boy and his name is Ut, but we will also give him the Western name Evan. He will be four months old when we get him and we expect to stay in Hanoi, Vietnam for at least 3 weeks to complete legal and immigration paperwork once we receive him.
At this point, any number of things could happen to change this adoption or prevent it from happening, and until the baby is back home in Canada, it is in no way official. So please keep us in your prayers.
More info to follow, just check back here soon.
For most of my life, like most people, I’ve gone to great lengths to control my things and make sure everything turned out the way I wanted.
Things never really turned out the way I wanted though at all, and I realized that my desire for control over life was exactly why I wasn’t receiving all the benefits I deserved!
I decided to start doing something totally different: Let a higher power have control, recognize and trust my instincts, and just accept things that come into my path. And amazing things started to happen! Amazing people and opportunities I never could have imagined started coming into my life, and they still are. My life is taking a very different path, and I’m heading towards fantastic things and a new balance and happiness that never would have been possible without relinquishing control, and waking up from the illusion of needing to be in control of everything in my life.
So you want to try it? I read a great blog post that will help you with this if you feel your ready to make some big changes in your life to have the amazing things that elude most people.
Zen Habits: “How to Give Yourself to Whatever the Moment Brings, and Forget Stress”
Here’s another great post about changing your life:
Derek Sivers: “Doing The Opposite Of Everyone Is Valuable”
I’ve been checking out some of the music apps out there for the iPhone, and my first thought was wouldn’t it be cool if someone could create something to emulate amazing but expensive music hardware like the innovative Tenori-On, and the Roland TR series machines. Well I searched, and there they were!
For Tenori-On like music making, there is TonePad, and SoundGrid.
For you classic techno music kids out there – If you liked the Roland TR series machines, or ReBirth on the computer from Propellerhead, check out the impressive TechnoBox from Audiorealism: 808, 909, 303 machine emulation and a cool new graphic interface.
I just think it’s amazing that for $5, you can get the sound and abilities of 3 hardware devices that would cost thousands of dollars to buy used on a phone.
I love technology!
Wired’s 10 Best Things We’ll Say To Our Grandchildren:
1. Back in my day, we only needed 140 characters.
2. There used to be so much snow up here, you could strap a board to your feet and slide all the way down.
3. Televised contests gave cash prizes to whoever could store the most data in their head.
4. Well, the screens were bigger, but they only showed the movies at certain times of day.
5. We all had one, but nobody actually used it. Come to think of it, I bet my LinkedIn profile is still out there on the Web somewhere.
6. 
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7. Our bodies were made of meat and supported by little sticks of calcium.
8. You used to keep files right on your computer, and you had to go back to that same computer to access them!
9. Is that the new iPhone 27G? Got multitasking yet?
10. I just can’t get used to this darn vat-grown steak. Texture ain’t right.
* Translation: “English used to be the dominant language. Crazy, huh?”
http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-10/st_best
An important part of my role as a music producer is to get the best possible performance from artists in the studio both technically and emotionally.
I find I often fall short in this area though because unless they are professionals who have done large live performances for many years, most vocalists are often unable to deliver to their full potential. This doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t give great performances, it just means they could have done even better.
This is usually because the vocalist is not in optimal physical shape. Your health and physical fitness level has a huge impact on your vocal performances in the studio, and of course live. Sure, how comfortable you are with letting go and giving your all emotionally in the studio is also very important. But to get a great performance, you really need to have a lot of power to deliver strong, clean vocal phrases. Without this power and energy, your performances will sound weak and shaky, quivering, particularly on the ends of longer words or sustained melodies and this drastically reduces the quality and impact of the performance.
Studio tools and tricks can rarely correct these problems effectively, so that’s why it’s so important for singers to keep in top physical shape if they want to give the best performance they’re capable of live and in the studio. Eat healthy food that gives you lots of energy, and adopt a regular cardio exercise routine at least 4 times a week.
Another recommendation, in addition to warming up properly before a performance and singing regularly in a choir, is opera training, or a great vocal coach such as Brennan Barrett, to help you get as much power as you can without exerting yourself more than you have to, and to assisting with effective breathing techniques that will give you better phrasing and power in the right places.
A producer can only do so much, and in my case, I can work a lot of miracles to make you sound great no matter what, but ultimately, I can only use the best you give me! Make sure that really is your best, as you never know who will hear your finished performance, or how far it will spread.
