I’ve finally had some spare time to update my portfolio on resosound.com.  I’ve thrown in more snippets of past mixes and productions,  and a few silly moments that bring back some fond memories.   Hopefully there’ll be some more time to do some writing soon,  there’s plenty to say and never the right time to say it.   And videos to shoot.  MakeProMusic is coming along,  and not too far off from finishing….

jrj

Studio folk get a bad rap for being unfit and never seeing the light of day,  and for good reason… we seldom see the light of day!   Unless of course you work at Sterling or RealWorld.  

So the more productive I am,  the less active I am.   I guess working on music is counter-intuitive to living?  

The quintessential office/studio chair is apparently the Herman Miller Aeron.  I prefer the Embody. 

What I like most about the chair is it lets me sit much longer than normal, which results in greater focus.  No longer do I sit down and immediately want to get up.   You can also recline and still have good posture.  Many users claim greater movement while sitting, if that makes any sense.  

And so,  I sit happily.  

And think about what sunlight must look like.  

jrj

www.resosound.com

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/the-loft-sessions-deluxe-edition/id490189307

jrj

I guess most of us do things out-of-the-ordinary in the summer. Vacations, events, activities… It’s unbelievably refreshing. Of all the seasons, though not necessarily my favourite, summer is my most needed one. Filling up the spectrum of life and living, catching up on the things that make us human and warm-blooded, I’m simply elated.

MakeProMusic has had some great shooting sessions, we’re 30% of the way there. Two really inspired artists are about to release some new music, Resosound will receive a facelift, and I’ll be traveling the world looking for the most curious and interesting people I can find. But not yet.

No, it can wait. Without fully savouring the warm, quiet evenings, long and drawn out sunsets, teaming leaves and swaying branches, outdoor gigs galore, friends and long-lost acquaintances, there’s simply no point in doing anything.

enjoy

jrj

MakeProMusic is designed to be a video reference learning tool that, well, helps you make pro music. There’s a lot of music being made, and I imagine there’s a lot of struggle getting ideas out how we want them. If the aspiring full timer, part time warrior, casual hobbyist, or seasoned pro have gone through anything like I’ve gone through, learning what the essence of recording music is, then this will be a total breath of fresh air. I wish I could have apprenticed with one of the top in the field, and then switched to 5 or six more legends, at the same time doing my own gigs to learn the ropes. I wish I would have had more discussions along the way with peers instead of just the feeling of competition in a smaller area. I wish everything and everyone I learned from didn’t always have this massive musical slant or huge opinions that, well, don’t objectively add up besides to say, ‘I’m just not into that.’

At the same time, ‘audio school’ doesn’t officially exist, in the sense that the profession itself is completely freelance, short of video-land. It’s expensive. In the end, you’re 30k worse off than before, and still have to go out there and test yourself to see if you even have a shot.

And do we even need audio school? If inspiration and creativity are king, any sort of ‘officiality’ kinda kills the whole unique approach-thing. Still, learning is learning, and information is information, and time is precious. I’m hoping to pack as much learning and information into something fun and visually satisfying that gets as close to one on one conversation as possible.

So far, it’s been technical headaches. Cameras, software, screen capture, audio examples, lightbulbs, prep notes, glare-proof glasses, release format, session logistics… it goes on and on. Every day some new wonderful puzzle comes up, right when I’d like to make some progress. But I think it’ll be worth it. Every minute of it. Last night, I turned on the lights, turned on the camera, and did the intros to the basics section. Basics are, well, boring and superfluous, they’ll need a good spin to guarantee anyone’ll actually watch em. And those are the kind of challenges I love.

Stay tuned, it’s on its way.

jrj

She sings jazz on the side, and writes artsy pop tunes, or is it the other way round? Either way, her voice and personality are truly delightful.

How did I meet Helen? I think I was her accompanist for a few mornings while she taught vocal lessons. Not at all my favorite kind of gig, with my sight reading skills and all, but she made it fun because, well, she cared. Actually, that sums her up perfectly. She cares. She has plenty of marvelous opinions to share, both through her music and in conversation. It’s election time right now, and oh how I wish she were eligible to vote (nothing sinister, she’s from across the pond, where she got all her charms!), we’d get some wonderfully fiery insight from her.

About the music. I’ve done two recordings with Helen, one of originals, and one of standards. I’d have to say what really stands out in these two records are the vocals. She’s just a great, inspired singer. Jump over to her site here, and check out two songs, Midnight Sun off the jazz record, and As I Picture You from her originals. These are the kinds of things a recordist can only hope for doing a session: inspired, great sounding music. And it’s all her.

Oh Helen, if only you were on iTunes I could put the fancy link right here __________, and people could just zap it up! But of course, Helen’s music isn’t for anyone. It’s for those who appreciate art.

jrj

Helen apparently would much rather love it if you emailed her for a disc, which she would probably personally deliver. It’s worth it, just to catch the accent

helenwhitesings@yahoo.ca

I think it’s the future.

I was at a bit of a loss when Laura Gow, new assistant in training, needed some software to start learning on. I just don’t do cracked software, and the thought of getting someone new into that kinda thing from the get-go was fundamentally as un-educational as it gets. I’m on a Mac 24/7 with occasional Parallels use, which also meant we’d be on different systems. I remembered a colleague of mine talking about an open-source program called Reaper, and said, “Hey try it out. I think it’s free.”

After mixing a new Kat Penfold single on it, I’m excited. Not so much about all the cool features, or how it has the secret to making great music simply by sneezing on the keyboard, (for that, tune in to MakeProMusic tba), but because of the category it’s in.

See, making music on phones and ipads is still pretty primitive, and, well, bad. The phone’s great for picking up a random sound and is the king of portability, and don’t get me wrong, the fact that Garageband is on iPad now is pretty dang cool, but we’ve actually lost a lot of freedom in the portability. We can’t record any sound, any synth, any way. One of those three, if not all, gets severely compromised and it just doesn’t beat the classic funky mic/funky interface/funky laptop/knapsack combo. It’s even easy programming piano tracks with your computer keyboard.

With Reaper, the barrier to entry is once again lowered dramatically. You end up having practically the most flexible pro app being the cheapest and most easily accessible. Now that’s exciting. That means that everyone that comes in the door to learn can start immediately for free, and after 30 days, a tiny fee to keep the software team eating and making the app better.

So no need for ipads n phones, or money. It’s all about learning and experimenting, and, well, creativity and style.

It ain’t the easiest program to learn, and because there’s about 8 different ways to do any one thing, and 4 of those are either buggy or don’t work, it reinforces the need for a personal workflow more than ever. I took a good 3 hours and recreated my custom mix console with it, and if I hadn’t, I never ever would have been able to stay creative for even a second while getting used to the controls.

But it’s the future.

jrj

You may not be aware, but the tortoise has had a bit of a rough ride throughout the last few hundred years. According to one of my favorite shows, QI, it didn’t even get a proper Latin name because they were, well, so delicious. And now Carl’s using picks made from the shell. Alas.

But this tune’s coming along, time to mix soon…

jrj

Juno win!

Anywho, Greg’s album sounds great, he got a lot of people involved in the project, and it got the recognition it deserved. Way to go man.

jrj

Working on a new Kat Penfold tune, “One Day”, with Julian. Brian showed up near the end to grab his amp “Paul”. We’re drinking regular green tea, not the super awesome kind you can find at the Canister or Davids Tea.