composition

How to resolve silent loops in Logic 8

Ever since I upgraded from Logic Pro 7.2 to Logic Studio (including Logic Pro 8), I've had issues with silent loops, where only the last repetition of a loop is audible, despite all being on the screen and un-muted. This appears to be random and I can't quite figure out how to replicate the bug. However, the error does occur on a regular enough basis to be very annoying. I'll give an example of when it works and how I've figured out to resolve it.

Error  read more »


Venn - Episode 2

Episode 2 of Venn has been released.


 read more »


Using Compressors to increase attack - Musical Creativity 45

Expander Screenshot

Compressors are regularly used to tame errant dynamics or to increase the perceived volume of a track. As well as squashing the audio, the compressor can be used to bring out some elements more than others.

Letting the attack through  read more »

Venn - Episode 1

Episode 1 of Venn has been released. View the episode online for free.  read more »

Use the wrong preset for a better sound - Musical Creativity 44

Opto compressor for drums
Opinion is divided as to whether presets in plug-ins are useful. From my perspective, they can be useful short-cuts to a starting point, but I'll usually need to tweak the parameters, sometimes quite extremely. I'm usually happy just starting from scratch, knowing what result I want to achieve.

However, I love putting an ordinary audio track through a plug-in and working through the presets, especially those presets that it's not designed for.  read more »


Venn Episode 1 in the works

I've recently received the video for the 1st episode of Venn (the previous release was a pilot and called Episode 0)

Again the episode is by Spinneyhead Presents. Episode 1 picks up from that and plays on the theme of the celibacy bet. The content is better than Episode 0, the scripts are better and from my perspective, the audio is so much better. It's definitely better than the first series, Memory.  read more »


Use of Tremolo - Musical Creativity 42

I've talked about tremolo as a musical feature before, this time I want to go into more detail.

First things first, let's sort out the guitarists: I don't mean using the tremolo arm/whammy bar or whatever you want to call it ("handle" as my girlfriend called it - and no she won't be picking up my guitars for a while). The whammy bar creates a vibrato feature, not a tremolo. Vibrato alters pitch.

Amplitude  read more »


43 Reasons for Collaborating - Part 4 - Musical Creativity 41

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13. Meet Other people

13a avoid being recluse

Composing music can be a solitary activity. For some that works, for others it can be a lonely experience. Whatever the perspective, it can quickly turn into isolation. Collaborating with others reduces the isolation.

13b friends

I've met most of my best friends through music and music-related activities. Some of the people I met as acquaintances have turned into good friends over time.  read more »


43 Reasons for Collaborating - Part 3 - Musical Creativity 41

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7. Finances

Even arranging a loan with your bank manager is a form of collaboration. Ok, it's a purchase of a product by you from them, but if responsible, then the bank should be acting in partnership with you. I'm working on a few projects where I can see finances becoming an issue in the medium term. I could also see a few of the project members funding their own areas. None could fund the whole project, but as each could fund their own area, the project could still work. It's like pooling resources but more controlled.

8. Opportunities  read more »


43 Reasons for Collaborating - Part 1 - Musical Creativity 41

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A short series of articles on collaborating with other people to make your music better, make it heard or to help them move their music forwards.

 

1. Recording

1a Engineer  read more »

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