May 18, 2013 Working in the box. "The Box" is what recording geeks call computer-based recording, using software that runs on general purpose computers (laptops, desktops, whatever). This stuff has been around for a long time. People still go on and on about their Amiga systems, but things only became really powerful sometime in the '90's. You've maybe heard of Pro Tools? I never cared much for working that way. Computers sometimes crash. They require constant attention to software and driver upgrades, and when you do the upgrades, there are often new problems introduced. Did I mention that computers crash? There's a sort of time-lag that happens that really bugs me. And then there is constant pressure to upgrade- faster computer, new interface protocalls, more features in the software, more "plug-ins". All of this strikes me as a colossal waste of time not spent making music, and money not spent on things that make the music more musical, rather than on things that let you fix mistakes. I have nothing against fixing mistakes, mind. I do hate filling my head with junk like driver versions and port addresses and a lot of other things that need to be taken care of just to get audio into and out of a computer. Which is why I've been using my Yamaha AW4416 digital workstation now for lo these many years. I've had one software upgrade and only two crashes in 12 years of use. That is pure gold. The trouble started when I wanted to record the piano part for a new version of The Great Ticking Heart as a MIDI file so I could, erm, fix my mistakes. I have a 1980's era Mac Plus which runs Master Tracks Pro sequencing software that I could have used, but it was on the far side of the room, so I used a DigiDesign MBox-2 interface (thanks, Andy!) connected to the house PC here in the studio just to git 'er done. For software, I use Reaper, a powerful yet suprisingly inexpensive recording program which handles audio and MIDI. Well, recording dates can be unpredictable. The next time we worked on the song I wanted to quickly throw down a drum part so I wouldn't forget the idea, so we put up a couple of mics and I played drums, recording them to the Yamaha. I was not happy with the timing on my first attempt and I recorded another take. Naturally, the first take had all the energy, and it sounded very interesting. But the timing was all messed up in a lot of places- what's a mother to do? I tried fixing it in the Yamaha, which is do-able, but I soon realised that it would be a lot easier in this case to use one of them thar computers to do this, so's I could visually see how things were lining up. Reaper can handle waveform editing, so I planned to transfer my stuttering drum track into the box and work on it there. Not so fast! The MBox-2 worked for MIDI transfers, but the audio section has been screwed up for some time and couldn't be used. I made it on over to my local Guitar Center where they had a good deal on that Tascam USB interface you see at the top of this post. (Let me tell you, if you work at GC and you see an old guy like me coming in and he asks for an exact brand and model of something, just assume he probably knows what he wants. Don't tell him you don't carry it if he's already checked online and knows that you have it in your location. And don't tell him that some other unit is much better when he's been reading the specs on these things since sometime before you were born. An' don't I sound like an old codger now?) Well, I brought it in and hooked it in and transferred my drum track into the box, and then 4 or 5 hours went by and now I know the real reason I didn't want to work in the box. It's like Joe says, Space Invader syndrome. I can't stop! I knew this would happen! I downloaded the Reaper manual- all 350 plus pages of it- and started reading today. I'll get back to ya in a couple of weeks... And oh by the way, I'll be posting up the edited rough track on my patreon site in a bit so if you become a patron you can hear exactly what I'm talking about.

May 14, 2013 It's about time somebody thought of this! All things in their time. I've always believed in this idea, and I've always admitted that I couldn't sell it. Last Groundhog's Day I shut down the exclusive "sponsors area" of Steam Powered, and nobody made a peep. So I'm going in with this Patreon deal, because as far as I can tell it's pretty much exactly what I'd been trying to do here. And I'll be glad to give them their 5%. They're clearly better salesmen than I am. Here's some of the buzz... Billboard TechCrunch Forbes I'm not sure if the content I give them must be exclusive, but it probably will be, just to keep the patreons happy. Maybe I'll continue to release lower-quality versions here. Also I'll need to get permissions from the artists who record here- but of course, that's always been the deal from this end. (Steam Powered is still the first listener-supported studio) Not sure if I can blog there... more later. (OK, it's later...) Go ahead- be patreonizing! I need to see how this thing works...

May 12, 2013 Those guys from Summer Thieves discovered Alisha online. (guys, uh, she plays the guitar better than us...) It goes without saying that she's better looking than any of us. And she sings just as good as she wants. Looking forward to recording her. Also looking forward to having Ruby back to record some new songs! Meanwhile I'm trying to put together a "media center" for my home. We just don't have a stereo in there, other than my old boom box, which is like, cassette-era. It sounds great, but... everything newer than Gang of Four is on a hard drive somewhere. I have an older pc which is going to serve as the control center for the thing. There's software originally created for the xbox called XBMC which gives you large text and remote control capabilities, and we'll view the thing on the tv set. I'm not sure how compatible all this stuff is going to be- I need a new video card to give me an HDMI port, and a new wireless card because the living room is clear on the wrong side of the house from the cable net, and probably a new audio card and a decent amp and speakers... I am truly suprised that there isn't a good integrated electronics system to do this stuff yet, but a quick tour of the local Best Buys revealed... nothing. Oh, there's all sorts of "receivers" and 5-way amplifiers, but nothing you could plug an ethernet cable into and tie into your local network or stream from the web. Am I missing something?

May 08, 2013 A new photo of the Sporting Hill Ramblers on their page, and can you name the town we're playing in? Thanks, Bob, for the pics! Joe stopped in last night with an excellent new approach to The Great Ticking Heart. Also, more work on Pete's project, added some percussions... actually used the talking drum for the first time since Playground! And to think I wanted to sell that thing.

May 07, 2013 good news, bad news... I was working on some music for Pete and got to try the technique of combining the live drum sound with the triggered drum samples. It worked really well! That's the good news- the bad news is that I must have weakened the small tom-tom head with all the messing around attaching and detaching the trigger sensor. I was wondering why that drum sounded crappy lately! My little tom was sad...

May 02, 2013 Working on a lyric... At the twilight of division The master of derision Rendered his decision As we were well aware Written up in papers Following the capers Finally it tapers to a Few lines of despair How could it be clearer You argue with a mirror Whichever you hold dearer Will be the thing you are Also, Joe and I are working on an updated version of Great Ticking Heart. We are throwing Joe on vocals...