New mic in the studio !!

Today, on the last day of 2008 I bought a new microphone: the famous Rode NT2a. Ever since I got a new soundcard, with phantom power for condenser mics, I have wanted to do decent recording. I bought a relatively cheap condenser Marshall MXL990 a few months ago but it didn't yield the results I wanted. Then I heard a recording from the Entr'acte label, EVOL - Punani Rubber Ist, which featured acoustic recordings done with this mic and I was sold to it.

The past few weeks I did some market research and am convinced that this is (of course within this price range) the best mic to get. Soooooo, tonight I will do some recording of the new year's bonfires with both the MXL and NT2a. See how that will work out.

This weekend I will try to set up a nice recording cubicle in the studio so that I can record with unwanted reflections or outside sounds.

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On to the next phase

Well, I have gotten through all of the compositions of voice and piano once again and decided what can stay and what is to be abandoned (50%, mainly of the vocal works). I am currently rendering all of the (provisional) master mixes so that I can assemble them into one whole. There's some administration involved here. I have timed the parts that are to be incorporated so that I have an idea of the total body. Currently it's 50 minutes of material: 2/3 is piano related, the other part poetry.

The next phase will involve mainly deciding upon the order and what material I need to make to collage it all together. Most times this leads to new insights and thus more adaptation of the existing material. Other work is bringing all works in the right volume balance, working out small details (ticks, clicks, etc), polishing the sound, and create a perfect master mix. And I have been working on this for some 12 months already.... But I'm glad that I have been able to get a grip on the stuff again.

I still need to find a common denominator for all of this. When I started I had a smokey pub in mind where drunken poets recited their latest drivel, sometimes accompanied by weird piano playing. As a sort of physical metaphor to connect these two main soundsources. At the moment I'm open to other suggestions (by myself), though.

Other good news is that it looks like I've found myself a publisher for all this. I can't tell you what label it is, because it's not a signed deal yet. Later.

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Back to the beginning

Wow! I had a really interesting afternoon, yesterday. I was working on piano no.2 which was already in its ninth state (2.9). I listened for the nth time when I realized that it had become just too intricate. The structure had become dull and even, without any highlights. I made a bolt decision and decided to go back almost to the very beginning: version 2.2. I took a different turn by not working out and detailing further but cut away that part that I had a bad feeling about anyway. One part of the composition was based on a sample of Alexander Goehr's [ Nonomiya ]. Although the sample was alright, I didn't like that I blatantly used it, without any work from myself. So I skipped that whole thing. In its place there now is a piece of the vocal works. So now the structure is quite clear: A B A B which might become A B A C B to make it more interesting. It's not finished.

Anyway.

I also attacked the piano part which I had been struggling with all those months. I rendered it and took it into Audiomulch and used some granular discoloration (GRM). Then I placed it back into the structure. Below are two samples: one of the original piano part and one of its current state.

[ 2.2 original ]
[ 2.2 new ] (2.10)

This was certainly a lesson for me. Kill your darlings, once again.

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2009: more audio examples

I just (re)installed Autorender. It's a exe script that is fabricated in AutoHotKey. This one helps me encode samples to mp3 and upload them to my webserver. That way it's a piece of cake to quickly show you provisional results. I tested it today and works like a charm. It only works in conjunction with Reaper by the way. You can download from [ here ].

Now that I've got this one straightened out you will hear more snippets than ever before.

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V.O.X. no.3

Okay, so here's two shots of the vocal series. I refer to all of the other messages with the vox tag for further explanation.

download [ 2.1 ]
download [ 3.2 ]

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S . A . T . I . E. No. 3

Been working on a veiled piano piece, the third in row. I thought I'd have you people have a bite. It's Xmas, so why not? The piano part has been more or less stable for 6 months now. I have been doodling with the volume levels and such. The biggest addition is the 'veil' that has been cast over it. It's a three layer recording of people visiting a museum.

Listen to version 3.6b through [ this link ].

For once I wanted people to react to it, but it seems I can't get that option working. I will be working on this and other works for the next few days. I will also upload a snack of the vocal series.

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Paris 2008

Was in Paris this weekend. Visited Orsay (boring...), Picasso (overwhelming as well as confusing), Beaubourg (gruesomely expensive but with an exquisite exhibition of Futurist art) nót the Louvre. We díd visit the Grand Palais which featured a free exhibit of video art. The grandeur of the Grand Palais is shown in the video above. Enjoyed that very much and did a lot of recording at the metro, the Notre Dame, the museums and general city.

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S . A . T . I . E

Been working on two piano pieces today. Number 1, which is now at its 11th version and number 2, of which there are now 9 versions.

Thinking about the criticism that the earlier versions received I have been working on ways to get rid of that. And all the time keeping my personal artistic scope intact. This morning I started working on acoustic 'veils' with which I can 'cover' certain parts without immediately hiding them or cutting them out. This has led to a few interesting experiments which still have to be drilled down deeper.

So, what happened? I started with number 1.10 and covered that up with an acoustic veil. First trying that with a synth sound but soon that failed (too synthy) and so I started preparing veils that are made from granulated parts out of the original composition. I am not quite satisfied with it but it looks promising. I now have to experiment with cutting out parts of the 'veil' or bringing up double layers.

Number 2 is treated differently: the original piano sounds have been broken down so badly (with GRM tools) that they are barely recognizable (although still there). I have added some interplay with always rewarding dfx reverb.

And thirdly I have prepared a veil that consists of acoustic recordings that I made during my trip to Morocco. I haven't applied it to any of the other compositions yet, but I will. Later. First I will make a trip to Paris, this weekend.

I read a review about a Satie recital in the newspaper today which patly described his music as lateral, pointless and anti romantic (all positive criticism, by the way). In a sense, this can be said of my piano pieces as well and so currently the project has been baptized as a 21st century SATIE project. Naturally there's a lot that can be argued against it, but what the hell. I'm the artist, I can be anything I want. N'est-ce pas?

Salut!!

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Studio days coming up

I will be working in the studio more in the next few weeks. Of course. I will more spare time and that will for a large part be spent creating and finishing musical pieces. I will keep everyone updated on these pages. I think I will also publish a work that until now was very rare: "Maybe A thousand Buddhas..." which was composed as a sound component to an exhibition. Keep coming back.

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Wander almost finished

The Wander master is almost finished. Frans and Freek both approved the bits that I had thrown at them. That took a few days, but luckily (not!) my studio pc was broken down so I wasn't really waiting. The power supply of the pc stopped working. So I replaced it with a new, bigger one. Then my video card (DVI-D) started acting up. And after I got that working Windows simply told me that my configuration wasn't up to it. Bugger!

Anyway, I continued with the master yesterday. I added a sublayer of bass with the PV transposer VST plug. Just one octave lower in the background to add a bit of zoooommm. Now the sound is wider and deeper. I still have to work on the details in the higher frequencies. And then I am waiting to cut the whole into tracks. And go!

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Scratch did it

I have been listening a lot to one of the latest releases of Lee 'scratch' Perry, Repentance. By himself Perry is already legend, of course. A madman., age 70. But a brilliant one, or perhaps one of those figures who always get picked up by someone who takes care of them. Perry seems to be doing well, despite his juggled mind.

Anyway: Repentance is a masterpiece. Not only because of the lyrics and the grooves and such but because the production is really damn good! It rocks, it funks and it still is crystal clear. Every instrument is at the right spot with the space it deserves. Wow!! The producer is a certain Andrew W.K. who appears to have some fame but I don't know anything about him. Hmm, checking him out on the Web doesn't really give him a ticket for one of my parties. Jeezz, this is the typical overloaded, no headroom US rock. Read more about the production [ here ]. But you'd better just listen to the album.
This is Perry's 54th album release, btw. Considering the moroness of AWK's other music Perry's influence on the production must have been biggggg!

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wander master tests

I have been reconstructing the Wander master. Most basic: I split the file up into three frequencies: 0-200hz, 200-2,000hz, 2,000hz and up. The middle and upper frequencies have been split into a left and a right part. The middle is slightly off center, the higher again somewhat more. I have done this with the js/stereowidth vst that's natively present inside Reaper. The result is that I have more control over the track and that it all sounds a bit deeper and wider. The middle also has some reverberation, just enough to make it somewhat smoother (something that was requested).

There are two sections that I have given more attention. I have sent Freek and Frans the files for their scrutiny. You can taste them here (while they last :) ):

section 1
section 2

They are rather big, so be careful.

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