In case you missed all the promotional efforts on Facebook and Twitter, I recently released my version of “Go Tell It On The Mountain” as a free download. Try one of the following links to get the song now.
Many thanks go to Lynn Graber of The Recording House for offering to record this Christmas song for free as part of his Christmas 2011 compilation. Six other artists recorded songs with Lynn. I’ve embedded their tracks below for you to enjoy.
As for my recording, I had a lot of fun working with Lynn at his swanky studio. We experimented with new microphone placement and techniques while recording the upright piano. I also was able to track harmonica using an Alesis iO Dock with an iPad and the Ground Up AudioAmps & Cabs iOS app.
“Go Tell It On The Mountain” by Scott Troyer
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by Autumn Ashley
“Some Children See Him” by Nathan Metz
“Emmanuel” by Larisa Grisham
“What Child Is This?” by Vanessa Ann Grisham
“Oh Holy Night” by Escaping Yesterday
“Free (A Christmas Song)” by Troy Erbe
Lyric Changes
In 1907, John W. Work, Jr. published a collection called Folk Song of the American Negro, which contained the first publication of “Go Tell It On The Mountain.” For those listening closely to my version of the song, some of the lyrics have been modified from the original. I altered a few of the words and added a couple lines. Some may want to stone me for changing a classic, but I believe the changes to be improvements that are faithful to our best understanding of the gospel. Review the lyrics on the discography page to see if you can find the changes I made. Let me know what you think via the comments section below.
Go Tell It
This song may seem old-fashioned or out-of-date, but here’s the thing: there are places in the world where people have never heard that “Jesus Christ is born.” They may know the name Jesus Christ (possibly as it is used as a profanity in movies or TV), or they may have limited information (or even disinformation) about this Messiah guy. In spite of the nearly omnipresent accessibility of the internet and prevalence of computers, smart phones, and iDevices, there are still many people uninformed about the central character of the Christian faith. Often, governments prevent their people from receiving information about Christianity or persecute their citizens for spreading the information.
One of the most notorious of these regions of the world is North Korea. With the recent passing of dictator Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean government is likely to change its policies in regards to religious practice. Please read this article from Vernon Brewer, president of WorldHelp, to find out how you can “go tell it on the mountain.” Then donate via this link.
I met my maker. I made him cry.
And on my shoulder he asked me why
His people won’t fly through the storm.
I said: ‘Listen up man they don’t even know you’re born.’
It’s an interesting concept. The wars between analog and digital rage on because they are systems separated by technologies that both have pros and cons. As technology progresses, what new pros and cons will we have to debate against older systems? Initially I answered with the following:
Realizing there’s much more to this debate than just a tweet, I thought I’d talk more about it here.
We Need Better Words to Describe How We’ll Make Music in the Future
In my original tweet, I used the phrase “Cerebral vs. Digital” to describe the future debate I imagine will happen. Maybe my choice of opposites wasn’t perfect. Better words can probably be found. This concept of diametrics I have in mind could be expressed in a variety of ways.
Cerebral vs. Physical
Solitary vs. Collaborative
Internal vs. External
Each of those word combinations is describing the same contrast of ideas. But how to best describe it?
In the (maybe not so distant) future, musicians will have the ability to directly output music from their heads. Technology will be developed that will allow artists to simply think/imagine/hear the music in his/her head and output this as audio and/or notation. This cerebrally generated “audio feed” could be routed (maybe even wirelessly) to a recording device to be documented, distributed, and sold. Theoretically, this process could happen as a live performance. The signal could be routed to a sound system for a concert, to an internet connection for worldwide streaming, or even directly injected (almost telepathically) into the head of a “listener” outfitted with the proper “receiver” device.
The possibilities are fantastic. Composers could direct an entire imaginary orchestra as they hear it in their minds. Dancers could dance to their own music in real time. Musicians could play exactly what they intend to play. Singers could sing in whatever voices they can imagine. Handicapped artists suddenly would be unrestricted by their handicaps.
This technological breakthrough in music will follow a path familiar to video games. With the Wii, Nintendo brought wireless motion-sensing accelerometer action to everyday people. The developers of Guitar Hero and Rock Band banked a lot of cash by making it really easy to “play” popular music without having to learn an instrument. Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox removed the need for a controller, allowing the person to become the controller. I don’t know who will create the first mind-controlled music technology, but somebody’s going to do it.
Brace Yourselves
Cool meant something totally different back then. Don’t judge.
As with any change, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, music will experience yet another Regrettable Period in which we have to learn how to use this new technology properly. I predict some gross and unsavory abuse of the technology, much like the ubiquity of terrible synthesizers in the 1980s or prevalence of auto-tuned vocals since Cher started believing in life after love. But some lucky artist is going to enjoy the honor of being known as the one that mastered this wonderful new system, thus becoming the “Grand Master Flash of whatever-this-thing-may-become-known-as.” Someone will figure out how to use it right, but it might take some time. In the meantime, wear earplugs.
Why We’ll Argue About This
At first, this newfangled gadgetry will be heralded as the end of “real” music and musicianship. The critics will say it’s too easy and not authentic music. Traditional composers and invested players will complain that no one has to learn how to write or play anymore. And much in the same way that digital was derided as a poor substitute for analog, purists will say that this cerebral form loses something in the process. Those arguments all might be right, but there may be a bigger issue lurking.
When the process of making music becomes entirely internalized it will be really great because of it’s purity and singularity of thought, but will it simultaneously suffer from lack of external influences? When digital recording became popular, the question was often asked by one artist or engineer to another: “Was this all done ‘in the box?’” – meaning: was the audio signal created, mixed, and mastered on the same computer? Early on, music created entirely in this fashion lacked the beneficial effects that analog systems inherently imparted upon the audio signal. Today, the line has been blurred by better technology, so it’s harder to tell if something was recorded analog or digital. Only engineers with “golden ears” can hear the difference (even then I suspect shenanigans). At any rate, the question still remains: What benefits will be lost due to the signal remaining “in the box” of your head?
Potential Musical Influences
People – The comradery, inspiration, ideas, criticism, differing views, and friction found when people work together often makes for better music. Being alone can lead to dead ends and boring or bad music. Collaboration can make beautiful things.
Hardware – Though they are inanimate objects, the instruments and devices used to make music come with their own inspirations, challenges, rewards, frustrations to overcome, and occasional good glitches. Sometimes a piece of gear has to be conquered and relinquishes its magic upon defeat.
Criticism – The critic is the archenemy of the artist, but every good story needs a villain. Without judgement, no work is ever as best as it can be. Words are often revealed for their folly only after they’ve left the head.
Movement – Music and movement are very strongly related. When making music, movement is both part of the instigation of sound, but also a reaction to the sound being created. Performance and dance are like cousins. So if movement is not necessary for the creation of music, what effect will that have on the final product?
Good Things Will Happen
A lot of things can go wrong in this new system, but a lot of things can go right too. Eventually we’ll work out the kinks. We’ll figure out the typical pitfalls. We’ll master this medium like we have with all the others. One day amazing music will be generated using nothing but musicians’ brains. I’m hedging a bet it will be the direct output of some ridiculously young Mozart’s mind that will blow us all away. Perhaps this new interface will teach us something about how our brains work. Maybe it will allow us to communicate more precisely on ever deeper levels. What if it develops into a new universal language? Hmm.
The audio device buffer underflowed. If this occurs frequently, try decreasing the “H/W Buffer Size” in the Playback Engine panel or remove other devices from the audio firewire bus. (-6085)
Occasionally this error pops up in Pro Tools, usually after I return from a meal in the middle of a long recording or mixing session. The session file will only playback audio for 1 second or less and then the error message pops up. Apparently, Pro Tools 9 is a workaholic and doesn’t like taking lunch breaks, at least when running on the particular combination of MacBook Pro, Mbox 2 Pro, and Western Digitalhard drive that I’m using.
Following the directions to decrease the “H/W Buffer Size” in the Playback Engine panel doesn’t seem to help. In fact, not only does decreasing the buffer size seems contrary to the suggested way to solve a buffer underrun, but it then sometimes throws this error message:
A CPU overload occured. If this happens often, try increasing the “H/W Buffer Size” in the Playback Engine Dialog, or removing some plug-ins. (-6101)
The Fix
I’ve tried a lot of things and the problem seems to be related to the hard drive and firewire ports. Here’s how I fix it.
Save and Close the session.
Quit Pro Tools.
Eject the hard drive used for recording audio.
Unplug the audio hard drive and Mbox 2 Pro (or the audio interface you’re using).
Wait 10 seconds.
Reconnect the audio hard drive and audio interface.
Restart Pro Tools.
Reopen the session and press Play.
If the session plays back without stopping, then it worked. If not, then I don’t know what to tell you, which reminds me of a “Deep Thought” by Jack Handey.
If you ever crawl inside an old hollow log and go to sleep, and while you’re in there some guys come and seal up both ends and then put it on a truck and take it to another city, boy, I don’t know what to tell you.
Hopefully this solution worked for you. Let me know if you’ve had the same problem, what hardware you are running and if this solved the problem.
This is cool. My inner nerd had to come out and dance for bit. This is video by Kyle Jones, a designer, animator and illustrator from Nashville. Check out his website here and follow him on Twitter. He decided to record himself playing guitar using his iPhone from inside the guitar. Genius. Rejoice with me, [...]
This is cool. My inner nerd had to come out and dance for bit. This is video by Kyle Jones, a designer, animator and illustrator from Nashville. Check out his website here and follow him on Twitter. He decided to record himself playing guitar using his iPhone from inside the guitar. Genius. Rejoice with me, all you audio and science loving geeks.
Pro Tools hardware is either not installed or used by another program. If you thought that having Pro Tools 9 installed meant no more “Hey, Mr. Engineer Genius, where’s your fancy hardware?” errors, then this nagging error probably came as a surprise. It did for me. Since installing Pro Tools 9, my workflow has allowed [...]
Pro Tools hardware is either not installed or used by another program.
If you thought that having Pro Tools 9 installed meant no more “Hey, Mr. Engineer Genius, where’s your fancy hardware?” errors, then this nagging error probably came as a surprise. It did for me. Since installing Pro Tools 9, my workflow has allowed me to jump around from my Mbox 2 Pro, Mbox 2 Micro, and MacBook Pro’s built-in sound card. This has been really handy while trying to finish up my album on the road. But, apparently, all that hardware hopping can cause the playback engine to get stuck in some funky states that don’t so work –if at all. See my previous post “FIX: Pro Tools could not set sample rate to specified value” for a similar issue.
Obviously, the problem has something to do with the playback engine. Since the error dialog only offers an ‘OK’ button, which closes Pro Tools, there doesn’t seem to be a way to work around the problem. There is not even a way to know what hardware Pro Tools is expecting.
Until now.
The Fix
I found a simple solution via this Sweetwater forum. The answer given there details how to get Pro Tools running on a PC, but I found that it worked for Macs too and without having to install any drivers. The fix is kind of like booting Pro Tools in safe mode. Simply hold the ‘N’ key while starting up Pro Tools. This will bypass the normal start up sequence and open up the Playback Engine window. Now you can select the correct playback engine and continue using Pro Tools.
In my situation, Pro Tools was looking for the last connected device (my Mbox 2 Pro), but since it wasn’t available it opted for the next available option: my MacBook Pro’s line input, which doesn’t make a very good playback engine.
Let me know if this fix worked for you.
Note
This problem may have been fixed in the Pro Tools 9.0.2 update that came out yesterday, though I’ve not been able look through the 9.0.2 Readme file in detail or to test this out on the updated software. I’ll update this page when I find out more. Since I still receive regular hits on this post, I’m assuming this problem is not solved yet. Maybe in a future update…
I’m making a music video and need your help! All Is Sideways is the title track of my upcoming album. It’s a song about trying to get home in a blinding snowstorm. I want the music video to be extra special by including footage you submit. If your footage is used in the final cut, [...]
I’m making a music video and need your help! All Is Sideways is the title track of my upcoming album. It’s a song about trying to get home in a blinding snowstorm. I want the music video to be extra special by including footage you submit. If your footage is used in the final cut, you’ll get a “thank you” in the video credits.
I’m looking for raw video that helps tell the story. Do you have video that capture ideas like disorienting and blowing snow, lonely winter nights, and the difficulty of traveling in bad weather? We’ve had lots of terrible wintery days lately and I’m sure that some of you caught bits of that on video. If so, please submit your footage via the methods below. Thank you!
Guidelines for Video Submission
The following items are important to read before uploading your video.
Original Content Only! I can only accept videos for which you own the copyright. Please do not upload video created by someone else. Neither of us need the legal hassles of copyright infringement. By submitting your video, you agree to allow me to use it in whatever way I choose (…which is to make it into to the world’s best music video evah!).
Bigger Is Better. Everyone loves HD video. There are so many good cameras available now. I’m hoping you can provide crisp, clean hi-res video. HD isn’t necessary, but it would be nice.
Raw Like Sushi. Please avoid treating the footage with a bunch of filters/effects. Just trim your video for length and submit. Everything will fit together better this way.
Keep It Short! Clips should be short and sweet (under 1 minute). No need for multiple gigabyte videos. We’re making a 4 minute video, not an epic Lord of the Rings film.
ZIP it! Before uploading, compress your video into a ZIP file. The file size limit is 100MB. For reference: the video embedded above clocks in at 59 seconds. The HD file I uploaded to YouTube was 79.2MB.
Be Relevant Make sure your video has something to do with the topics of snow, travel, night, and home. Videos of you playing volleyball on the beach will just make me wish I was on vacation and then I’ll get nothing done.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend David, a young and very talented musician/singer/songwriter, asked me the following question. Hi Scott! Hey, how many GB of hard drive space do you recommend for recording on a laptop? Thanks, David To which I responded: Hey David, The recommended practice for digital recording is to record to [...]
A couple of weeks ago, my friend David, a young and very talented musician/singer/songwriter, asked me the following question.
Hi Scott!
Hey, how many GB of hard drive space do you recommend for recording on a laptop?
Thanks,
David
To which I responded:
Hey David,
The recommended practice for digital recording is to record to an external hard drive instead of the internal drive. This is done for performance reasons. Recording to an external drive keeps your data separate from the rest of your computer data, allowing the computer to use the internal drive for the dedicated purpose of running the operating system. This also makes your recording data more portable for taking it to a studio and prevents trouble if you ever need to send your computer in for service (the recording data stays with you).
It is also recommended to use an additional external drive that serves as a backup so if anything goes wrong with a drive you won’t lose everything. So ideally, you would have two identical drives. They can be any size, but should be the same size. A typical song (2-5 min with 4-5 instruments with multiple takes for each instrument/voice) at 24 bit resolution and 48k sample rate will take up approximately 1-3 GB. If you’re lacking hard drive space, after the tracks are finalized the unused takes can be deleted, which reduces the file size of the song, thus giving you more room for additional songs. But as cheap as hard drives are these days, getting a decent sized drive shouldn’t be a problem.
The cost of external drives for computer-based recording is much cheaper than the cost of memory cards for hard disk recorders.
With all that in mind, I recommend buying 2 of the largest hard drives you can get within the budget you have. Remember, these drives should be the same size and used ONLY for your recordings.
Western Digital has good drives for reasonable prices.*
Modern recording takes lots of hard drive space. It’s easy to eat up several GB on a song of average length and track depth. I’ve filled a drive or two already with various recording sessions, Photoshop files, and media. Over the weekend I had to pick up another drive just so I can finish my [...]
Modern recording takes lots of hard drive space. It’s easy to eat up several GB on a song of average length and track depth. I’ve filled a drive or two already with various recording sessions, Photoshop files, and media. Over the weekend I had to pick up another drive just so I can finish my upcoming album. I went to the nearest big box electronics shop and picked up the the biggest drive with the best price. What I found was the Western Digital 2 TB My Book Studio LX. The size should be enough for the next year or so (let’s hope!) and the simple grey metal design suits my preference for the minimalist Mac aesthetic. Surprisingly, this is the first drive I’ve purchased that came preformatted for Mac OS. I know that some drives come advertised as such, but this was just a standard off-the-shelf one-kind-fits-all drive. Maybe this indicates a shift in the Apple/PC market share?
Western Digital enjoys the largest market share of consumer hard drive sales and is probably the most visible hard drive manufacturer in retail stores. They make affordable drives that work well. I’ve not had any issues with the WD drives I’ve owned (five and counting), so I feel good about purchasing from them.
The only thing that bothers me about WD is their pre-installed SmartWare software. It’s a huge can of donkey sauce. This multi-function bloatware takes up over half a GB of space, is loaded into the drive firmware (so it cannot just be formatted away), appears as a separate VCD that pops up everytime you connect to the drive, and cannot be completely removed without voiding the warranty. The only option WD gives the user is to download two more software packages, one that updates the firmware so you can run the second package that allows you to hide the VCD. Blehhhh…
The whole point I want to make is this:
Dear Western Digital,
I like you and your drives. I like the design, reliability, and affordability of your drives. I can’t stand your SmartWare. Please stop making it. If you can’t do that, then please make it an opt-in thing. If you feel you really, truly, just absolutely must preinstall it (instead of offering it available as a free download), then at least make it easy to permanently remove with just one or two clicks. I do not want to download more software to remove software I already don’t want. Thank you.
A regular and loyal customer,
Scott
Removing SmartWare
While removing the the VCD completely is possible and would be my preferred solution, doing so voids the warranty, which is extremely valuable should the drive ever fail. So in my opinion, doing something to void the warranty on the device that stores my invaluable data is a bad idea. Until WD decides that such action no longer voids the warranty, I cannot recommend this.
How to Hide SmartWare
WD doesn’t make it easy to hide the VCD. There are two major steps. You’ll need to download the firmware update for your particular drive and the VCD Manager. Visit the WD Product Updates page to find out how to hide the VCD for your specific device and OS.
Bad News First Perfect guitar tone does not exist. …at least not in a permanently defined state. It is always changing depending on context. There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution for guitar tone and the guy who is showing you exactly how to get “perfect” tone is either demonstrating his idea of a good sound for [...]
…at least not in a permanently defined state. It is always changing depending on context. There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution for guitar tone and the guy who is showing you exactly how to get “perfect” tone is either demonstrating his idea of a good sound for a very particular context or selling you something. Let the buyer beware!
I’ve seen a zildjillion YouTube videos and magazine articles in which an “expert” outlines in very fine detail the “preferred” gear or “professional” way to play/mic/mix. They have shown me how to dial in that Clapton tone, place ribbon mics like Eno, mix a hit song like the Lord-Alge brothers, mod my guitar and amp like SRV, and even dress like a rockstar. In each circumstance I think, “Yes, that might just work. I could sound like that, if I do everything else exactly the same way as Mr. Famous Rockstarpants.”
They have it right. It truly is the small stuff that matters. In fact, all these tiny details matter so much and there is such a vast quantity of them, that replicating such performances is nearly inconceivable. Every part of the signal chain plays a role – from player to instrument to amp to room to microphone to preamp and all the cables, power supplies, recording/storage media, surfaces, and recording/mixing/mastering engineers in between. Even weather, location, and moods can make a difference.
Needless to say, it’s nearly impossible to replicate that one sound by that one artist on that one record. So many factors are involved in the making of a sound, that in many cases the original artist that recorded it might not be able to make that precise sound again, even when given identical circumstances. (I’d like to point out that perhaps the very reason we enjoy certain sounds is because a beautiful moment was captured – something unique that will never happen again – and trying to recreate it verbatim would somehow make it less amazing. Frankenstein’s monster wasn’t very pretty, was he? I digress.)
“We all have idols. Play like anyone you care about, but try to be yourself while you’re doing so.” – quote attributed to B. B. King[citation needed]
And The Good News
Proper tone (the right tone at the right time) can be bought. You can pay for it with practice and critical listening. Good equipment is nice, but not necessary, as Jack White demonstrates so well in It Might Get Loud.
Like the video? When I first saw this dishwashing machine flashing “HO” I figured a Santa joke was better than the obvious alternative. I hope it made you laugh. As the video says, I’m getting really close to finishing my next album All Is Sideways. A lot of friends, family, and talented people have helped [...]
Like the video? When I first saw this dishwashing machine flashing “HO” I figured a Santa joke was better than the obvious alternative. I hope it made you laugh.
As the video says, I’m getting really close to finishing my next album All Is Sideways. A lot of friends, family, and talented people have helped me get it to where it is today. I could not have done it without their help! (Thank you!) We have a few more little bits here and there to touch on and then I can finally give birth to this beast! It’s been ages in the making, but I think it will have been worth the wait. I can’t wait to tell you more about it. I’ve learned so many things in the time it has taken to get to here and I think it shows in the record. I know that if I had hurried and recorded this material sooner that neither the songs nor I would have been ready.
Have a merry Christmas and look for the album in early 2011.
After upgrading to the newly released Pro Tools 9, I couldn’t open sessions or create new ones. I got this error: “Could not complete the Open Session… command because Pro Tools could not set sample rate to specified value..” I hunted around on the web and various forums, but couldn’t find a solution that fit. [...]
After upgrading to the newly released Pro Tools 9, I couldn’t open sessions or create new ones. I got this error: “Could not complete the Open Session… command because Pro Tools could not set sample rate to specified value..” I hunted around on the web and various forums, but couldn’t find a solution that fit. I found several items relating to Windows and Pro Tools 8, but nothing for a Mac running Pro Tools 9. After messing around a bit I figured out the problem was with my playback engine. Here’s how I solved it. Let me know if it works for you too.
Open the Playback Engine dialog under the Setup menu item.
From the menu bar select Setup > Playback Engine… to open the Playback Engine dialog window.
The problem is with the Pro Tools Aggregate I/O.
By default, my current engine was set to “Pro Tools Aggregate I/O.” It’s odd that this Pro Tools would leave it that way after an installation since AVID states that it is not supported in OS X.
Select your current playback engine.
The fix is easy. Simply select the right playback engine. Your options may differ based on your setup.
In my case, I usually would edit with my Mbox 2 Micro, but since Pro Tools 9 gives us so many more options for hardware compatibility, I selected Built-in Output. I was able to edit some vocal takes using my Macbook Pro’s speakers instead of pulling out my headphones. Nice!
(Wow, I haven’t updated my blog since May. Sorry! This entry is the remedy.) Life’s been busy – really busy. Many of you have been bugging me to record some material and I’ve been trying. But life on the road has made it very difficult for me to record. The answer: I’m taking time off from [...]
(Wow, I haven’t updated my blog since May. Sorry! This entry is the remedy.)
Life’s been busy – really busy. Many of you have been bugging me to record some material and I’ve been trying. But life on the road has made it very difficult for me to record. The answer: I’m taking time off from touring. For the past 3 years I’ve been non-stop traveling and playing shows and, frankly, it is time for a break. My goal during this “time off” is to finally lay down some tracks. I have such a backlog of material to choose from and quite a few irons in the fire, so I’m aiming to bite off manageable chunks.
If you’re not already a fan of my music on Facebook, go ahead and do so now. I keep in touch with everyone really well that way. Here’s an update I sent to my fans a few days ago that talks about one of the many “irons I’m heating up in the fire.”
This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending some quality time in the studio with my old bandmates. Our band, called Rudisill, formed in 2003 and performed under several monikers. In 2005 we put out a full length album called Carbon Paper Treaties, which featured 10 of our songs. We had many more songs (arguably some of our best) left to record when the band was forced into an indefinite hiatus due to our lives taking separate geographic directions. Though we’ve been apart for about 3 years, our hearts have always been in this music.
If you knew us back then and want to keep up to date with what’s happening in Camp Rudisill, click the link below to become a fan. Or if you are new to our music, but want to find out more about what I was involved with in the past (and hopefully will be in the future), click the link below.
A few months ago, I downloaded Sofa Control (available from Gravity Apps), a nice little app that allows me to use my Apple remote with any application. It works by mapping the buttons on the remote to the hot keys applications recognize. I haven’t really used this app very much, but a few days ago [...]
A few months ago, I downloaded Sofa Control (available from Gravity Apps), a nice little app that allows me to use my Apple remote with any application. It works by mapping the buttons on the remote to the hot keys applications recognize. I haven’t really used this app very much, but a few days ago I decided to try connecting Sofa Control to Guitar Rig 3 (available from Native Instruments).
After some trial and error, I managed to finally get it working really well. Now I can use my remote live to change presets, change tempo, turn effects on/off, and mute the tuner. This is really useful. I’ve found that I can place the remote in my pocket and still activate through my clothing, so I no longer have to reach down to my MacBook or stomp those loud foot switches on the Rig Kontrol (also available from Native Instruments).
1. Foot Controller Setup
Guitar Rig works with several different foot controllers and is fully customizable. You may have your foot controller set up differently, but for the sake of this blog, I’ll show you how I have my Rig Kontrol 2 set up.
RK Pedal: Usually volume, expression, or blend pedal (Sound)
RK KickDown: Effect parameter 3 (Sound)
RK Switch 1: Effect parameter 1 (Sound)
RK Switch 2: Effect parameter 2 (Sound)
RK Switch 3: Metronome Tap (Global)
RK Switch 4: Not Assigned (RK3 only)
RK Switch 5: Prev Sound (Global)
RK Switch 6: Next Sound (Global)
RK Switch 7: Tuner Silent Mode (Global)
RK Switch 8: Not Assigned (RK3 only)
2. Guitar Rig Hot Keys
Sofa Control needs hot keys to function with Guitar Rig, so first I had to assign hot keys to my Guitar Rig setup.
To assign a hot key, go to ‘Controller’ under ‘Options.’ Find the switch you want to co-assign a hot key to and click the Learn button. Press the key you want to make the hot key. Repeat this process for any additional hot keys. Hot keys don’t necessarily need to be connected to foot switches. Additional assignments can be made that are not linked to switches and are hot keys only.
This is how I assigned my hot keys:
RK Switch 1: , (comma)
RK Switch 2: . (period/fullstop)
RK Switch 3: t
RK Switch 5: [ (left square bracket)
RK Switch 6: ] (right square bracket)
RK Switch 7: m
3. The Sofa Control Script
I’m no programmer, but I was able to figure this out. I kept things simple by only mapping the pressed buttons. I may add functions to the held buttons in the future, but for now, this works great.
This gives my Apple remote the following functions:
Menu: Tuner Silent Mode Toggle
Play: Metronome Tap Tempo
Plus: Previous Sound
Minus: Next Sound
Left: Effect 1 Toggle
Right: Effect 2 Toggle
Note: Feel free to take this script and modify it as you need.
Open Sofa Control. Under ‘File,’ select ‘New Script.’ A new window will pop up. Select all the code and delete it. Copy the code below and paste it into that window.
(*
Description: Guitar Rig 3 Script for Sofa Control
Author: Scott Troyer
URL: http://www.scotttroyer.com
Mapping:
* Menu: Tuner Silent Mode Toggle (RF Switch 7 - Global - m )
* Play/Pause: Metronome Tap (RK Switch 3 - Global - t )
* Plus: Prev Sound (RK Switch 5 - Global - , )
* Minus: Next Sound (RK Switch 6 - Global - . )
* Left: Effect 1 Toggle (RK Switch 1 - Sound - [ )
* Right: Effect 2 Toggle (RK Switch 2 - Sound - ] )
*)
on rcActivate()
ignoring application responses
tell the application "Guitar Rig 3" to activate
end ignoring
end rcActivate
on rcPlay()
simulate keystroke "t"
end rcPlay
on rcMenu()
simulate keystroke "m"
end rcMenu
on rcPlus()
simulate keystroke "["
end rcPlus
on rcMinus()
simulate keystroke "]"
end rcMinus
on rcLeft()
simulate keystroke ","
end rcLeft
on rcRight()
simulate keystroke "."
end rcRight
Once you’ve pasted that code in, click ‘Verify.’ The code should reformat the text size and color.
Make sure both of these options are checked. Now select ‘Guitar Rig 3’ from the pop-up menu. The application icon will automatically be added to the box on the right and Guitar Rig 3 will be added to the Sofa Control menu.
Save the file and close the window. You are now ready to use Sofa Control with Guitar Rig 3.
Let me know if this post was useful to you! Merry music making!
Great. I’ve answered that question a hundred times in the day and a half that I’ve been home and I’m sure it’s not the last time I’ve heard it either. It’s hard to sum up a month long trip full of music, friends, and tourism in just a few words. So if you’re curious about [...]
I’ve answered that question a hundred times in the day and a half that I’ve been home and I’m sure it’s not the last time I’ve heard it either. It’s hard to sum up a month long trip full of music, friends, and tourism in just a few words. So if you’re curious about anything, you can check out my pictures from the trip which I have posted on Facebook.
My back is aching today. I think the train/bus/plane trip home took it’s toll on me. Still trying to recoup from jet lag.
I’m glad to be home for the holidays. Being on tour so much, I’ve missed Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday and some quality family time this year. It’ll be good to be around for Christmas and New Year’s.
I think the time is right for me to lock myself up in a room with my gear and start cranking out some album material. I’ve lots to do and have a bit of time free in the next few weeks.
I recently posted my first video to YouTube. I have zero friends at the moment, so if you are a YouTuber, head to youtube.com/scotttroyer and add me. Alright? The video I posted was just recorded today. Katie Nelson and I noticed how nice the natural reverb of the hotel stairwell was and decided to sing [...]
I recently posted my first video to YouTube. I have zero friends at the moment, so if you are a YouTuber, head to youtube.com/scotttroyer and add me. Alright?
The video I posted was just recorded today. Katie Nelson and I noticed how nice the natural reverb of the hotel stairwell was and decided to sing a few songs there this afternoon. Thanks to “The Magic of The Mac™” (my trademark on this phrase is pending), I could easily capture this video, edit it and post it within an hour. Quite fun. If I had a friend named Ed I would have let him edit the video because then I could have said, “Ed had edited it.” (HINT: Say that phrase out loud.) But alas, I have no video editing friend named Ed.
Yesterday, I got back the copyright Certificates of Registration for “I Turn to You” and “Evidence of His Love,” songs I wrote and Katie Nelson recorded for her latest disc called Speak To Me. I think the record turned out great. Go pick up your copy. To support the record release, I’ve been touring a [...]
Yesterday, I got back the copyright Certificates of Registration for “I Turn to You” and “Evidence of His Love,” songs I wrote and Katie Nelson recorded for her latest disc called Speak To Me. I think the record turned out great. Go pick up your copy.
To support the record release, I’ve been touring a lot lately as a guitarist for Katie’s band. We’ve got a big show up in Wisconsin next weekend at Lifest.
As for my music, not many solo shows as of late. Sorry to disappoint so many of my local frans. I hope to play the home town circuit again soon, but first I must visit some lovely people in other states and countries. I hope you don’t mind. Or maybe you’d like to come with me?
Recently, I was able to upgrade to a new MacBook®, which as you know is so nice. Yes, I’m quite the Mac fanboy. I can’t help it. The designer and user in me just can’t get over the simplicity and effectiveness of the Apple approach. No, I’m not getting paid for this gushing, but it sure would be nice if someone over at Apple sent me an iPhone®. Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge. Know what I mean?
With the MacBook, came a plethora of new possibilities as well. Old gear works better, new gear works great. I now have several record buttons of various types and a different signal chain for my guitar. As we say in Mexico, “¡Mexcellent!”
Well, enough for now. I must go. Tonight I’ll be catching a show. My friend and former bandmate, Charlie, is playing the kit for Sunny Taylor at her CD release party. Congrats, Sunny! Oh, and it’s Charlie’s birthday today. Hope you have a great berfday, you stank old raisin.
This is the big blog of my self-righteous rant/expression-of-my-probably-biased-but-I-hope-not views that I’ve been dreading to write because it divides people and makes someone the bad guy. I know not everyone will see it the same way I do, but I must get it off my chest. That said, I must admit, that when it comes [...]
This is the big blog of my self-righteous rant/expression-of-my-probably-biased-but-I-hope-not views that I’ve been dreading to write because it divides people and makes someone the bad guy. I know not everyone will see it the same way I do, but I must get it off my chest.
That said, I must admit, that when it comes to this debate about music, file-sharing and copyright, I lose heart. I understand the poor kid that wants to hear everyone’s music, but can’t afford to pay for the songs. I’m that kid. On the other hand, I also understand the poor artist that wants everyone to hear his music, but can’t afford to give away his songs. I’m also that kid. It hurts to shell out $15 bucks for a CD of an artist you really like, but it’s your choice to pay or not. Likewise, it also hurts to give away (or to have taken away) the sale of music that cost you so much time to write, arrange, record, replicate, distribute and promote. You’re powerless. If someone wants to take it, they can just take it and the artist doesn’t have to be compensated.
I’ve heard many of the arguments from both sides and recognize that yesterday’s music business model is going the way of the buffalo. To be honest, I’m more than happy to see most of it go. There’s a lot of jacked up stuff that gets in the way of good music, but the uncertainty of the future and the attitudes of some of the more vocal spokesmen on both sides, leave me quite nervous. There are many thoughts I would like to articulate, but I’ll attempt to provide you (free of charge!) an overview of my views regarding this complicated industry.
First, the monsters that most everyone would like to see slaughtered: the record labels. I am not signed and from what I’ve found out, I don’t believe I want to be signed unless the Right Deal* comes along. I’ve read enough about labels to know they truly are offering the musician a credit card at 70% interest which he/she has no control over the spending. It rarely ever works out for the signed artist, so it’s nice to see “the machine” (that Pink Floyd so appropriately villianized on their “Wish You Were Here” album) being dismantled. “Getting signed” to a typical “record deal” means waiving your rights to ownership of your songs, control over your image, and hope for your future unless you somehow manage to reach the elusive and rare “superstar” status. If and when you reach that point, you may be able to negotiate a deal in which you buy your songs, rights and freedoms back from the label at ridiculous rates. Does this remind anyone of slavery?
There are those valiant consumers of music, who, in good conscience, cannot stand to see another artist screwed over by the same old tricks of the label and want to do something about it. Who wouldn’t want to stick it to such a deserving man? And so the “good conscience consumer” gets his jab at “the man,” while still “showing support for the artist,” by ripping their friends’ CD’s and freely sharing their iTunes library. The problem is, it’s hard, if not nearly impossible, to screw the label and not hurt the artist. If the artist doesn’t sell albums and songs, the label will drop the artist – or worse yet – bind them indefinitely to a contract and force them to alter their sound to something that promises a better financial return (read: sell out / lose focus / turn the “suck” knob up).
So labels are all bad, right?
Sort of. But the flip side of this coin is that without a label, most artists (save for the spoiled little rich brat for whom daddy foots the bill) are not able to survive the tumultuous years of touring for little-to-no money (and sometimes even paying to play), nor ante up the cash for promotions and exposure, nor give away their music for free because it cost thousands of dollars to record and produce.
I recently spent several grand to record and replicate my first solo EP called “Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York.” I’ll repeat that – several grand. That’s thousands of dollars for an EP, of which a good majority of them will be given away as promotion. Those I do sell are must be priced so that people are encouraged to buy instead of rip, so there’s very little hope of recouping what it cost me to make them. I did manage to cut my costs tremendously by doing my own producing, design work, website, playing almost all of the instruments myself and trading my design services. I figure that I saved myself somewhere around $3-5K on my project. For those independent artists that must outsource everything, the cost of making a CD racks up quickly and much higher. It’s expensive to make a CD – a good one at least!
There is no option to not record, as songs are the wheels of the music vehicle. So, to offset expenses, most artists – indie and signed alike – must have multiple streams of revenue (merch sales, ticket sales, tips, other jobs and on rare occasion royalties), of which merchandise is usually the largest stream. Most venues, while not willing to put up with your “original crap,” thus forcing you to sneak your songs in between tired covers of Brown Eyed Girl and Freebird, pay you squat to entertain their patrons and some even charge you to play their venue, as if it’s a hardship for them to have you bring your fans in and buy beer from their fine establishment. As Metallica put it: “Sad but true.” Most bands merely hope to impress just a few rare souls enough to sell them a CD and maybe a tee shirt or two to help pay for gas to get to the next venue. Many run out of cash while on the road. And things aren’t getting any better, in fact, the many streams of income are running dry.
“Big deal!” some people are saying. “You’ve sold your recordings for a long time, but times are changing and that’s not going to work for you anymore.” They propose that musicians find new ways to bring in revenue. They cite examples of how actors, athletes and other public figures are turning to endorsements and marketing campaigns to supplement their incomes and suggest that we, the musicians, must do the same, because consumers no longer want to pay for our work.
Stop right there.
The proposal is to stop selling what you actually sell, whore yourself out to media and marketing companies to sell unrelated products, so that you may give away what you intended to sell in the first place. Now, I may be wrong, but as a society of honest folk, haven’t we established that we hate that? Don’t we buy our TiVo’s so we can skip the commercials – the very things that are paying for us to be able to view the content we really love? Don’t we hate when our celebs lower their ethical standards and emblazon a new perfume, clothing line, car, or widget with their name? Aren’t we, the democratically-minded citizens of a new and better world opposed to the exploitation of true art by big business? Don’t we lose faith in the noble pursuit of original expression and the artistic credibility of our creative minds when such “partnering” occurs? Or is it just me? Am I the only one disappointed by this? Because if not, we’re essentially asking for more areas of our lives to be inundated with advertising, marketing and branding.
So anyway… All of these difficult decisions are what musicians face every day. Granted, this mountain of challenging problems does help to root out the weak, the less talented, and those not fully committed to their craft; hardship separates the men from the boys, so to speak. But when survival is on the line, no amount of musical skill will put bread on the table without connections and resources to exploit that talent.
Thus, the dilemma.
Sell out or stay true? Keep going or give up? Believe in your gift or admit your delusion? Forsake food, family and friends or resign your talent for a life more certain? Pursue honorable avenues to release your music or lie, cheat and steal your way to the top? This is the internal debate of every musician; the struggle within ourselves. In the end, only the rich, ruthless, compromising and lucky survive for anyone to hear the their music.
“All across America, and increasingly, the world, people stand in line at their local Starbuck’s and happily pay anywhere from $1.70 for a shot of espresso to four bucks for the more complex caramel frappawhatever thingies. It’s not uncommon to fork out fifty bucks a month for high speed internet access, and around the same amount for cable TV. People pay four bucks to rent a new release DVD at the local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. A pack of cigarettes can go anywhere from four to nine dollars, depending on where you live.
Yet, increasingly, no one wants to pay for music, especially the recorded kind. CDs are quickly becoming relics destined to join cassettes, eight-tracks and vinyl in the tech museum. I don’t listen to CDs much anymore, my iPod is much easier; everything is already there, ready to listen to on the slightest whim.”
Currently, iTunes tells me that I have 1.6 days of music on my laptop. This is not my entire collection of music. I have hundreds of CD’s at home that I haven’t loaded onto my computer yet, which I estimate would put me somewhere in the 10.5 days ballpark. But even without all that, the nearly 2 solid days of music that’s on my laptop is more than I really listen to on a regular basis. I know people, several in fact, that are actively downloading as many songs (and now movies) as possible; it’s what they do in their free time. They don’t listen to much of what they download, or really any of it, because they’re too preoccupied with downloading more. The music merely serves as background tracks to the more important task at hand: acquisition of more 3-6mb files. I know not everyone is this addicted to their peer-to-peer network, but most people have more music than they’ll ever listen to. An appropriate analogy here might look like this:
You’re hungry. You need groceries. You go to the grocery store, pick up the few items you need for the week and can reasonably eat before it goes bad. As you get to the checkout line, you realize that instead of paying for it, you could instead go around back to the loading dock, load up a semi trailer full of food and drive home without paying for any of your truckload of groceries. Theft. Overkill. Waste.
My point is, don’t feel like you have to own every song on every album from every artist that’s ever lived. I know there’s pressure to be hip musically, to stay “in the know” about every new artist, to be the first to hear of that great new upandcomer, but the pressure is peer pressure (which is just #*@%ing stupid) and the pursuit is in vain. The truth is I have a limited budget for music and I’m assuming you do too. There’s no shame in that. Pick your battles. Buy the albums that you really want. Support the artists you really love. If you can’t afford the whole album, go online and buy just the song or songs you really want as you can afford them – that’s so easy now with things like iTunes. This way you get the songs you want and the artists still get paid, thus continuing the sustainable cycle of production and consumption. (Which btw, this is a very “green” and responsible concept. Really quite trendy too.) It may take time to get what you want, but so does everything that’s worth having. Learn to value – nay, treasure – the intellectual property that’s so readily available to you (never has there been more accessible to you in all of history!), instead of becoming a virtual warehouse for lo-grade mp3′s. Classic Quality vs. Quantity.
I know all of this is very messed up right now and, believe me, I want to find a better way, a way in which the artist and the listener are both satisfied. I wish that in reality it could cost less to buy instruments, to record songs, to replicate cds, to distribute music, to tour, to promote, to survive. I wish I could give away all my music all the time, but I can’t afford to – literally. I wish money were not part of the equation. But the equation still stands stiff and true, for both the artist and the listener: No money = no music. It costs somebody, somewhere, something. Ain’t no meal for free.
Support your favorite artists. If you want to hear covers, support the actual guy who wrote it, not the guy who’s forced to play it. Support that “original crap” – in fact, demand it. Buy their records. Buy copies to give to your friends. Buy the t-shirts too. Wear them. Pay to see shows. Buy drinks while at the show (if you don’t drink, soda and appetizers count too). Tell the venue you loved having the artist there and want to see them back. Promote the artist on your MySpace/Facebook/Blog. Every little thing you do makes a big difference to the artist. Without your support, your favorite artists won’t make it.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I’d love to hear yours.
*So you caught the asterisk! Good eye. Here is my idea of the Right Deal: I’m the artist. You’re the label. We coexist in a rewarding and beautiful symbiosis. I write the songs and provide the vision for my music. You provide insight, resources, connections, distribution and promotion. If I need something, I ask you. If you need something, you ask me. We talk. No demands, threats, backstabbing, or undercutting. No lying, cheating, stealing, or underhandedness. No mind games, power trips, raw deals, legal battles, or switch and bait tactics. Everyone behaves honorably and with respect to one another. We all benefit – emotionally, socially, musically, and financially – and through our hard work, the world becomes a better place. It’s all a very nice thing. That’s the deal I’m looking for. In the mean time, I’ll can be found playing music out there on the road with the much needed and even more appreciated help of my family, friends and fans. Thank you!
Currently listening:
Steal This Album By System of a Down
Release date: 26 November, 2002
How sick is that? Nature is such a perverse horror film. Enjoy. Tomorrow I’ll be heading to Wisconsin to play a show with Katie Nelson, Lynn Graber, Alex T., and Hoss. Should be a fun adventure. We’ll be recording Holly playing some violin for Katie’s album. Schweet. Tonight we practice. I got a sweet new [...]
How sick is that? Nature is such a perverse horror film. Enjoy.
Tomorrow I’ll be heading to Wisconsin to play a show with Katie Nelson, Lynn Graber, Alex T., and Hoss. Should be a fun adventure. We’ll be recording Holly playing some violin for Katie’s album. Schweet. Tonight we practice. I got a sweet new amp and cool little MIDI controller. Both are extremely portable and lightweight.
Yesterday, a bunch of my extended family got together to celebrate some family birthdays. My grandma got me a really great present: real sleighbells. you’re probably thinking, “What does Scott need sleigh bells for?” Good question. In case it wasn’t entirely clear, I write and record music a lot. Sometimes, (ok, nearly always) I want [...]
Yesterday, a bunch of my extended family got together to celebrate some family birthdays. My grandma got me a really great present: real sleighbells. you’re probably thinking, “What does Scott need sleigh bells for?” Good question.
In case it wasn’t entirely clear, I write and record music a lot. Sometimes, (ok, nearly always) I want to include sleigh bells in the track. In most situations where I’ve needed them so far, I’ve managed to fake them with some little bells I picked up somewhere and a few programmed rhythm tracks here and there. Now I can record the real thing. What’s even cooler is that Grandma bought the sleigh bells from an amish man, who made them by hand and lives near where I record (The Recording House in Grabill, Indiana). Don’t be surprised if these bells inspire me to record a Christmas album. Commence the gossip and rumors.
BTW, a friend bought Joanna Newsom’s new album Ys for me. This is her second album, which she has used to create a broad landscape of fable-ish stories narrated by her unique voice and harp, accompanied by an orchestra. It’s not an easy listen by pop standards, but it is an expansive and complex album worth exploring. I’ve listened through several times and keep hearing this album as a theatrical/musical piece set in a beautiful woodland scene. If you aren’t familiar with her music, try her album The Milk-Eyed Mender, which is probably much more palatable to the pop listener.
Currently listening:
Ys
By Joanna Newsom
Release date: 14 November, 2006
OK, I’ve decided that if I’m ever in the situation where the building is on fire and the only way out is the window and I have to drop a baby to the firemen below, that I would want the Colts wide receiver, Marvin Harrison at the bottom for the catch. That dude can catch [...]
OK, I’ve decided that if I’m ever in the situation where the building is on fire and the only way out is the window and I have to drop a baby to the firemen below, that I would want the Colts wide receiver, Marvin Harrison at the bottom for the catch. That dude can catch anything. I love watching him connect with a pass from Manning. I’m watching the Colts play right now. It’s great watching them win, especially against the Patriots. The Colts are ahead right now, and I hope they keep the momentum up.
Thinking about the burning building thing… My song “Wish I Woulda Learned To Fly” is on my new EP Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York. The song is about 9/11, the burning Twin Towers, and the many people who had to face the decision of whether to stay or jump. Tough choice. I’m still not sure what I would have done. I tried tackling the tragedy of this dilemma with a casual tone. It reminds me of Johnny Cash. Can’t wait for you all to hear it.
I’m done. The Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York EP is complete. Lynn and I finished the final mix early this morning. I’ll be shipping it off to DiscMakers for replication later today. I’m so excited to let you hear these songs. It’ll be nice to finally have some of my solo music to share. [...]
I’m done. The Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York EP is complete. Lynn and I finished the final mix early this morning. I’ll be shipping it off to DiscMakers for replication later today. I’m so excited to let you hear these songs. It’ll be nice to finally have some of my solo music to share. I finished up the album artwork today too. I think it looks pretty nice. More information to come soon…
I’m here in the studio wrapping up the final few hours of recording. Just laid down the vox for 3 of the songs and getting ready to pluck some acoustic guitar. Tomorrow is the first day of mixing. Always a good feeling. Earlier today I reformatted my laptop. Ahhh… nice clean hard drive. I feel [...]
I’m here in the studio wrapping up the final few hours of recording. Just laid down the vox for 3 of the songs and getting ready to pluck some acoustic guitar. Tomorrow is the first day of mixing. Always a good feeling. Earlier today I reformatted my laptop. Ahhh… nice clean hard drive. I feel like I just defragged. Dan, you know the feeling. I needed to improve performance for some final renderings and it was time to backup and reorganize my files too. I’m typing this little blog entry on what feels like a new computer.
Last night I rearranged my flat (that’s for you Nathan and Mick). Ever feel like doing that? I get in these moods, where I think, “That chair would really look better over there.” Several hours later, I’m knee deep in all my crap trying to figure out where everything is now supposed to go. It always takes a lot longer than I anticipate. The good part is that every time I do this, I get rid of something. So, the question remains: How many times must I do this until there is nothing left and I’ve reached Interior Design Nirvana?
While I was tearing my place apart I was watching the devil (aka TV). A commercial came on that said something to the effect of, “Home. Home is a wonderful place where all your stuff is.” [Video is of lady folding clothes in bedroom. She tries to stuff a sweater in the drawer.] “But sometimes there’s just too much stuff.” At this point I’m thinking the commercial is calling for Good Will donations or some other type of “donate your stuff to us” campaign. Nope. The commercial was for a furniture store. They were implying that instead of getting rid of stuff you should come buy more stuff to put your excessive stuff in. Isn’t that the American Way?
The reason I was actually watching TV was the Mets game. Did you see the catch that Endy Chavez made? Couldn’t believe it. That ball was gone, over the fence, and he jumps up and snags it before it disappears into the abyss. Then he thinks fast enough to throw to second to catch the double play at first. Nice baseball. That’s what it’s all about.
Hello, my most fashionable and excellent friends! How are you today? I, with the help of my good friend and master engineer Lynn Graber, have been feverishly at work on my “much anticipated” {smiley face – lol} solo debut EP. We’re near the end, I suspect, and thought that I should post an update on [...]
Hello, my most fashionable and excellent friends! How are you today?
I, with the help of my good friend and master engineer Lynn Graber, have been feverishly at work on my “much anticipated” {smiley face – lol} solo debut EP. We’re near the end, I suspect, and thought that I should post an update on how the recording process is going. I am pleased to report that Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York (the now official title of the EP) is turning out splendidly. We still plan on meeting our deadline and with a quality product in hand no less. Quite impressive considering we’ve lost a few nights of recording time due to random scheduling conflicts.
I’m at the studio with Lynn a lot and though both of us are extremely interesting and engaging people there are times when we grow bored. So by employing notoriously bad puns, Lynn and I have kept ourselves entertained through the occasional monotonous (no pun intended – although it has potential) parts like multiple takes and editing. So far it’s working and we’re becoming seasoned pros. So a few tips for you aspiring punsters: consistency is the key here. The trick is never let a phrase leave your mouth unless it has a pun somehow worked into it. It usually works best to follow it up with a nod and a wink or a forced laugh so that it’s clear you’ve deliver a tasty morsel of bad comedy. Groans and sighs are telling signs that you’ve really nailed a great pun.
Seriously though, I’ve had a lot of fun in the studio. I love seeing the big picture come together and how all the little pieces help make the magic happen. There’s something about the way all the parts add up to be something greater than what any one part could do alone. “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” As far as I’m concerned, there’s no better place to see the magic of the parts coming together than in the studio. And speaking of parts, I’ve managed to cram lots of little goodies into 5 songs. The list of instruments played on the EP is nearly as long as the hours we have spent recording, sampling, chopping, mixing, and grilling. (Gotta have a decent meal every now and then, right?) It’s a veritable smorgasbord of instrumentation. Delicious.
A few of my friends have dropped in to help me record. In addition to Lynn on the kit, Megan, Erin, and Jessica can be heard lending a hand and Don plays some horny parts. (See paragraph about puns above.) Since the EP has been a bit of a rush, I didn’t have time to call in a lot of my friends that I would like to record with me. However, I will be calling you all in for the full length album which I’ll begin work on soon. Expect a call.
Throughout this process I’ve managed to weather the inevitable storm of bi-polar-ish emotions that I’m sure all recording artists go through. It ranges from, “This is total rubbish. Complete and utter crap. I am a failure not only as a musician, but as a human being as well. Why am I doing this?” to, “This could quite possibly be the best song the world will ever hear. Wait until I unleash this on the unsuspecting public! Muwahaha!!!” Truth being told, the EP will probably end up somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, but the egotistical maniac inside of me hopes that you will declare, with lots of obvious fanfare, that I truly belong in the realms of Lennon & McCartney. On a side note, they say that there’s a very thin line between genius and idiocy. Hmm…
All considered, it’s been a very good time for me to be back in the studio doing what I feel I do best: writing songs. I hope you enjoy what I’ve made. You’ll be able to hear it all very soon.
Until then, in the words of Conan O’Brien: “Be cool, my babies.”
Scott
P.S. This photo was taken by Lynn with his phone. It’s me playing the B3 and switching the Leslie cab with my foot while my hands were occupied with some sweet chords. Whatever it takes, right?
This week, my friend Katie Nelson is coming down from Wisconsin to begin tracking some songs at The Recording House for her new album. I am excited about this, because: She wants me to produce the album. She has some really great songs. I love music/writing/recording. I helped co-produce her last album Do You Know [...]
Current mood: optimistic I just posted the first mix of GGOTT here. I had a lot of fun tracking this song at The Recording House with my friend Lynn Graber. He played the drums and did all the technical stuff while I played all the other parts – B3, bass, acoustic, electric, banjo, piano, vibraphone, [...]
I just posted the first mix of GGOTT here. I had a lot of fun tracking this song at The Recording House with my friend Lynn Graber. He played the drums and did all the technical stuff while I played all the other parts – B3, bass, acoustic, electric, banjo, piano, vibraphone, etc. I really enjoyed creating all the different parts in the studio and look forward to laying down some more tunes in the near future. Hope you enjoy the new music. I’d love to hear your comments.
#DJChat
Modern recording takes lots of hard drive space. It’s easy to eat up several GB on a song of average length and track depth. I’ve filled a drive or two already with various recording sessions, Photoshop files, and media. Over the weekend I had to pick up another drive just so I can finish my upcoming album. I went to the nearest big box electronics shop and picked up the the biggest drive with the best price. What I found was the Western Digital 2 TB My Book Studio LX. The size should be enough for the next year or so (let’s hope!) and the 
The only thing that bothers me about WD is their pre-installed SmartWare software. It’s a huge can of donkey sauce. This multi-function bloatware takes up over half a GB of space, is loaded into the drive firmware (so it cannot just be formatted away), appears as a separate VCD that pops up everytime you connect to the drive, and cannot be completely removed without voiding the warranty. The only option WD gives the user is to download two more software packages, one that updates the firmware so you can run the second package that allows you to hide the VCD. Blehhhh…
