#audio | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘#audio’

Start to Stop Again

Posted: February 3, 2016 in My Tunes
Tags: #audio, #guitar, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #personal, #recording, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #studio, #writer

There were a string of original tunes in the early 1980’s. Some you have heard here already. These were very profound times in a lot of ways. Real work worlds. Kids. Relationships. Marriage. Responsibilities. Debt.

This song was not written in one or two sessions. It took quite a long time to make this fit together. I Often find snippets in other writings and combine with others to make a full song. This is one that I may have done that with as there are so many different topics and observations. Part of my challenge in writing songs people can relate to is being able to state the obvious in a clever, funny or different way. So I would think of these ‘one liners’ and write them down. Some were my normal trite stuff, but a few were well said and became part of these lyrics.

I like to play a few different ‘voicings’ or positions on the 12 string and take advantage of open strings or cool octaves when I can. (it also reduces the hand-cramps you get when holding down all those strings!!) In some chord changes you can play the same chord in different positions back-to-back and it sounds like you are playing different chords. The guitar part is sparse and melodic. It sets the mood during the intro. Allowing the intro chords to ring out with a slow rhythm lets the 12 string shine all the more. The lyrics paint a pretty good picture of life experiences I had during that time.

Don’t think you can’t help out my friend. Because we try, we control the end!

Perspective is Amazing

Posted: January 29, 2016 in Opinions and Observations, Uncategorized
Tags: #audio, #brother, #creative, #love, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poetry, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #writer

As I look back on the songs and projects I have been involved in I also want to share with you projects from the core of artists I grew up with that influenced me to do more and get better in my craft. I have a good number of writings to pick from.  Here is a set of lyrics from my older brother David.  I have mentioned him a few times already so I wanted to give you some examples of his writing.

This is a song called “Singing Wheels”.  It was written in February of 1977. We have a lot of themes about driving and being on the road.  We often contrast between city life and nature as we are drawn almost equally to both. The song has beautiful chords and the melody is haunting with a fluid motion that fits the lyrics quite well.  I will post the song in the future.  At this point, the boy is able to see the man he became!  Perspective is amazing from decades later.

The lights of the city spread like stars below me

Traffic swirls around me as I leave.

And time moves slowly in a car that’s moving swift

I guess you call it relativity.

If the boy I was could see

The man that he became

He’d be pretty happy I suppose.

But the best things about him

Were just ballast for the flight

His hopes are dim and his dreams are tame.

And while Singing Wheels spin over whispered lullabies

My car eats the highway in the rain

Windshield wipers tell a tale rhythmic and serene

And thunder mourns the crying of the skies.

My Heart is Silent – A Song in the Making

Posted: January 21, 2016 in My Tunes, Uncategorized
Tags: #audio, #band, #demo, #music, #musician, #poetry, #recording, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #writer

I had a theme for lyrics slowly coming together for the last few days. On the edge of being complete I centered on the idea of how wonderful and supportive it is to have your loved ones with you to start each day. To wake up together and face the challenges and the glory of each day. Yeah, I am a romantic in many ways, but those are the things I think about when I don’t concentrate. For me – THAT IS THE KEY. My lyric and melody ideas come from observation and experience, not from a lyric making template and time schedule tune-creator cookie cutter band in your box session.

I sat, as I am now; sitting at my computer looking out the window and my small yard. Birds at the feeder, squirrels trying to get what the birds spill, and most often a gentle breeze. And I came up with the first chorus in 30 seconds or so. It just summed up the things that make me happy with what I have done so far in my life and why looking forward is so precious.

The second verse was another theme that became clear once I had the idea for the chorus. I have had a few conversations lately with friends and family with a noticeably different view of the future. AS I get older and plan the future as much as possible I realize now some of the things I am planning will be the last time in my life that I will probably do it again.

I don’t look forward to doing things for the first time as we did growing up, I am looking forward to the last time. And that brought me to the second chorus; I look forward to watching children and grand children learning and doing things for the first time. (Helping when you can and staying the hell out of the way for most of it!)

The first and last verses try to summarize a belief that I have; If you are quiet and listen to each other, you will earn their love.

Now that I have written the lyrics and shown to a friend, he put a great song and melody to it. We are going into my studio over the next few weeks to arrange the song and record a rough demo. Then we will have other friends add finishing parts (like vocals again…. anyone know a great vocalist??!!) and do the final recording and mix.

I thought it would be fun to post the various stages of this project so you can see a little how these things develop from concept to final mix. I will post the lyrics now and promise not to share too many variations as this is a trial and error process with lots of suggestions and compromises.

For now, the lyrics:

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“My Heart Is Silent” © MSK 12-30-2015

I will close my eyes

If you will be there when they reopen.

My Heart Is Silent

Still listening to thoughts you have spoken.

As the Firsts in life

Moving full circle to become their Last,

Looking forward is

Much quicker than unwinding the past.

My Heart Is Silent

My needs are few;

A space to breathe

And living with you.

Waiting for you

Unwilling to think you might not return.

Letting you go

I’ve always known your love is something I had to earn.

My Heart Is Silent

My needs are few;

Watching children grow

And living with you.

I will close my eyes

If you will be there when they reopen.

My Heart Is Silent

Listening to thoughts you have spoken.

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 21 – Outside Looking In

Posted: December 30, 2015 in live Sound Reinforcement, Live Sound Reinforcement Series
Tags: #audio, #band, #guitar, #music, #musician, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #stage

If we start from the stage things actually be come easier.  If the mixing or sound board is the hub of processing sounds, the stage is the hub for generating sounds!  Most Live Sound Reinforcement events would benefit if the engineer spent more time here.  It is not uncommon for the sound guy to spend fifteen minutes making sure the kick drum has every frequency needed pumped up loud enough to message your spine (and ear drums) but they take two minutes to set up the stage monitors.  And most do that right after the band sets up  - – – – – when there is no music playing!

So let’s take a minute and walk up on stage and see what it physically looks like.  If you are familiar with the band you have a good idea of acceptable arrangements:  Overall dimensions.   Where are the riser(s).  How tall are the ceilings. Where are the AC outlets.  You may not be able to direct where the performers set up in a number of cases but you can influence some.  Where should the drums/keyboards/horn section go.  Where is a good central place for the snake (multi-connector cable connected to the mixing board).  Where do the monitors go (unless using in-ear monitor systems).  For me, this is also a good place to determine where the house speaker cabinets and amplifiers are placed.  BTW, if you are not familiar with the band or act make it a practice to find out.  Go to their website or media page. Get an idea of what they do live, if you can.  Ten minutes on-line will save you a bunch of headaches if they turn out to have specific requests for their instruments or performers.  I can also tell you from personal experience if you go up to Player C and say, “Hey, I got that adapter you need for your axe”, the player is going to notice the effort.  They will relax and you can let them know they are in good hands.  Getting the band’s cooperation is not necessary.  It is not in the books.  In some situations it might even be a waste of time.  I will still try every time.  Getting their cooperation…… sets up a great performance.  Then I focus on stage sound…..  and most band members will go out of their way to help during sound check and throughout the performance before 20 minutes of equalizing the kick drum.

Now that you have a good idea of the dimensions and set up requirements, place each performer in the best location and set up their respective microphones and monitors as needed.  Set up House gear and test.  From the mixing board, use a ‘talk-back’ microphone sent to the stage monitors to test and communicate with the performers.  Band members might feel like they are inside a cage at the zoo, looking out at the visitors!  Sometimes all you can see are the stage lights in your eyes.  The venue may be quite dark.  So the more comfortable they feel; the more like rehearsal you make it feel, the better the blend among performers.  The better the blend, the better the whole event will unfold.

Going forward I will go over a few details and outline this process to make it easier as well fun!

________________________________________________________________

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 20 – Stay Focused on # 1

Posted: December 17, 2015 in live Sound Reinforcement, Live Sound Reinforcement Series
Tags: #audio, #band, #mixingboard, #music, #musician, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #technology

Through the beginning to the end of the last chapter, we have concentrated on the hub or the central nervous system of a Live Sound Reinforcement assignment.  I have been focusing a bit on live performance in a typical band or musical event.  We now understand how most equipment for the House PA, the stage monitors, effects, and even lighting systems use the mixing board as the central hub.  The mixing board’s usefulness does not end there!  Once equipment is set up, connected, turned on and confirmed functional, most of the adjustments made for the rest of the evening will happen because of changes to the mixing board.  It also becomes the Master Device, and all other connected devices are ultimately controlled by the mixer.  The sound engineer is the ONLY person that should touch the mixing board.

The next logical step would be to describe the components of the House PA system and how much power (or how much money do I need to spend….).  After all, this is what most people hear, right?

Obviously, I set up as a trap question.  The answer seems obvious.

If I said, “I sound like a broken record”, most young readers will not know what that means! But I will repeat myself on certain themes and I feel one a’ comin’!  The next important thing is not the House PA and the number of speakers and amplifiers you need.  Most small venue mixing engineers go straight for the house and main systems, completely ignoring the most important ingredient guaranteeing a great performance.  We will avoid that trap now and focus on the stage and more importantly – the musicians on the stage.

When bands practice, they ultimately find a good use of space and volume so each member can achieve the two primary goals;

1) Hear myself (usually louder than any one else.  This is not ego and we will get into that later)

2) Hear the other performers (usually not as loud as the performer wants to hear him/her self!!)

Once they settle in and can accomplish the above – practice is comfortable and productive.  Each member can hear themselves and can also hear enough of the other members to blend with them.  If you saw a live symphony orchestra and all you could hear were the trombones, it would seem like an awful performance.  If you were a musician in the orchestra and all you could hear were the trombones……………

Now we can go back to the band members standing on a stage or venue they have never seen or played in……   and now understand that this is a very real challenge, and the smaller the venue… the smaller the budget.  Lack of Resources can be difficult challenge to overcome.

In larger venues it was quite normal to have a smaller mixing board off to the one side of the stage.  All the instruments and monitors would connect to this mixer, and it would ‘split’ all channels and send them equally to the House mixing board out in the audience area.  (it can also be used to send signals to a recording van parked outside).  The sound engineer on stage makes the band members happy by concentrating on the performers but does not affect the signal going to the House board.  That way the House Engineer has full control of the unaffected incoming channels from the stage board.

Good enough for now and in the next few sections I will focus on the stage sound and mix.

A Lack of Concern

Posted: November 23, 2015 in MUSIC, My Tunes, Uncategorized
Tags: #audio, #band, #guitar, #keyboard, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #personal, #recording, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #studio

For another look into the times, Lack of Concern is a gem in a time capsule.  These were good times.  I was still working at the music store.  Playing with toys, buying a few here and there and energy I can only imagine looking back, LOL!   It was a period where a lot of music was written and performed. Lots of projects.  Learning as much as we could.  Showing it to others!  That was the fun part.

The words in a number of my songs are important to me.  In the same way I have been told that aromas and fragrances can help recall a specific event in the past, lyrics do for me.  They are a portal that allows a connection to create itself again. With that memory brought to the surface I can recall many of the events that inspired thoughts that somehow managed to become poems or lyrics. I surround myself mentally in the time.

“Tease me with the truth, baby, don’t tempt me with a lie” is one that puts me back at that time, in that mood.  This song contains a number of those portals.  This song asks the basic question; … ‘do you know what you are doing and still do it, or are you completely unaware of what you are doing?”. I just love the upbeat arrangement in this song. For this song I had the Yamaha DX7S, their updated model and a drum machine. My wife Ellen and I do the vocals. I play acoustic rhythm guitar parts and Shawn my buddy! comes over to play the lead and decorative guitar parts. I just let him run wild during the entire song and pick the gems to accent parts of the song. This may be the only time I have recorded this song. It is also one I rarely play out, but I think it is catchy in its own way.

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 20 – The Musicians on the Stage

Posted: November 10, 2015 in live Sound Reinforcement
Tags: # mixer, #audio, #band, #effects, #guitar, #microphone, #mixingboard, #monitors, #music, #musician, #sound, #Soundengineer, #speakers, #stage, #technology, #venue, #writing

The next logical step would be to describe the components of the House PA system and how much power (or how much money do I need to spend….).  After all, this is what most people hear, right?

Obviously, I set up as a trap question.  The answer seems obvious.

When bands practice, they ultimately find a good use of space and volume so each member can achieve the two primary goals;

1) Hear myself (usually louder than any one else.  This is not ego and we will get into that later)

2) Hear the other performers (usually not as loud as the performer wants to hear him/her self!!)

Good enough for now and in the next few sections I will focus on the stage sound and mix.

March of 1990 – Pushing Forward

Posted: November 5, 2015 in Uncategorized
Tags: # mixer, #atari, #audio, #band, #create, #digital, #keyboard, #music, #musician, #personal, #recording, #retro, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #studio, #synthesizer, #tech, #technology, #writer, #writing, #Yamaha

I guess I never really came up with a name for this tune. Sometimes I will write lyrics and give it a working title. I do the same thing with musical pieces I am working on before there are dedicated lyrics assigned to the tune. As I continue to work on a piece, the name often changes when chords are matched with a set of lyrics. On rare occasion it happens at the same time, and that process is a little different – and easier! This is one of those weird situations where I never got to either, and this has always been referred to by the date….. March of 1990.

March in this case also has a double meaning. It is the pull away from the Winter season where I live. The steady movement of new life. The pace of growth that cannot be stopped. The instrumental tries to match that drive and frantic pace of the season. Driving rhythms, collage of melodies, bouncing themes – and then to dynamics and a reflection of what is now past. Then back to driving growth. That is what I think about as I listen to this tune. Even now, heading to Winter, I feel that March pushing forward.

Back to the Atari 1040 ST, I am sequencing all parts for this tune. I believe I added a new tone module from EMU called the Proteus 1. This was an amazing machine and I have not found anything as good and simple to use as the Proteus series. It was really cool for two major reasons in my opinion. 1) the sounds were just awesome for the time and there were lots of sounds on board. 2) the operating software used was just made for MIDI geeks like me. It was very simple and allowed the Proteus 1 to create splits, layers and zones, but it easily allowed you to access all 16 MIDI channels at the same time. I could write a few articles on this alone, but for now it meant you could assign a different sound to any or all of the 16 channels independently. As described in the MIDI series, this was great because you could use channel 1 for piano, channel 2 for organ sounds, channel 3 for strings, channel 4 for brass or orchestra sounds, 5 for flutes, 6 for sound effects, 7 for guitar sounds, 8 for solo instruments, 9 for the bass guitar sound, 10 for the standard drum channel and still have channels left over. Playing out in bands and in the studio with this was just a dream.

MIDIMike

Windows 10 – My Frustrating Journey

Posted: November 2, 2015 in Opinions and Observations
Tags: #audio, #computer, #frustration, #music, #musician, #personal, #story, #technology, #updates, #Windows10, #writing

I have been a bit distracted lately. I have a computer at home that I use to record music and to create the sounds I use with the MIDI controllers. That is all I use it for. I update the recording software and the plug-ins that I use, but other than that I have not done any updates since I got everything working reasonably well. I subscribe to; don’t fix it if it ain’t broke……..

My office computer is another story. I keep it up to date – within reason – and I try to get all the current drivers, etc. I use it for everything you use a computer for including playing my audio mixes and working on videos. So I recently upgraded to Windows 10.

Immediately I could not play audio files or video clips with attached audio. Nothing changed on the sound card and it shows everything working properly. Try to play an audio or video file though and the music player crashes. I gave Windows some feedback. I am dead in the water. Almost a month ago I got another update (I am checking daily if not more often for an update that will fix this bug) and it worked. No problem playing audio or videos.

Two days later no audio again. I sent more feedback and no helpful response in return. Not unexpected. I work for a company that uses software updates for our products and I understand how a few can be affected but almost everyone else does not have an issue or problem. Things are very complex these days and even though devices and programs are GENERALLY easier to use, they are dependent on so many other factors and variables. I go through the trouble to Reset Windows 10 and install all my programs again. Still no audio. A few days ago there is an update and I can again play audio. Last weekend I was playing music all the time in celebration (yeah, I was in a kind of ‘cold turkey’ for you more senior readers….).

Today I log in and no audio again! ARRRGHH! I try to be patient but I think I am ready to trade my Windows 10 in for my old Windows 7! Sometimes it’s all a numbers game.

Mr. Charlie Told Me So

Posted: October 22, 2015 in My Tunes
Tags: #12string, #acoustic, #audio, #band, #cover, #creative, #creativity, #greatfuldead, #guitar, #music, #musician, #performance, #personal, #recording, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #studio, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer, #writing

Thinking about a recent post where we shared our first concert experiences, I was reminded about my first concert to see The Grateful Dead. I was fairly young and the environment was overwhelming and exciting.

We used to play one of their songs called “Mr. Charlie”. The Grateful Dead are off beat by nature and this is one of their songs most people have not heard. I recorded this cover song a couple years ago and decided to pull it out of the ‘deep-freeze’ and post it for the fun of it.

When I was in cover bands, we were pretty much forced to play main stream or currently airing songs. I would suggest the unknown songs often but understood when we played only a few. This one never got the approval either, but the core group used to warm up on this one and I just like the flavor of the song.

Credits to The Grateful Dead. This is my Ovation 12 String guitar and I do a little harmony. Hope you have a little fun with this as well.

MidiMike

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

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MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#audio’

Start to Stop Again

Perspective is Amazing

My Heart is Silent – A Song in the Making

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 21 – Outside Looking In

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 20 – Stay Focused on # 1

A Lack of Concern

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 20 – The Musicians on the Stage

March of 1990 – Pushing Forward

Windows 10 – My Frustrating Journey

Mr. Charlie Told Me So

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Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#audio’

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