…If you are put off by a passion for music and all of the technical geekdom that goes into making it happen. Your attention may wane and your eyes may glaze over… you have been warned.
So, what have I been doing on my (sort of) vacation? Painting the bathroom that I started two years ago? Nope. Getting the Hi-Def and digital service for the TV I bought in January? Nope. Taking care of doctor appointments, dental appointments, bank accounts, car servicing, etc., a.k.a. known as getting your life together while you have the opportunity? Nope.
What I have done so far is have daily communication with work, culminating in doing payroll from home yesterday (starting at 5:30 am), finishing just in time for the cable guy to show up and try (“try” being the operative word) to fix our wireless signal. Payroll got done and like the good geek that I am, I told the cable guy how to fix the problem… why did I even call for service? Anyway, work demands continued to persist, so I had to make a declaration that I was no longer reading my email and I was going act like I was on vacation. Remote log-in disconnected, not answering work calls… enough.
Now I am free to continue to put more time into what I have been doing, on and off, since last weekend – putting together my home recording studio. When I owned a home in New Jersey (1986 to 1998) I had a full home studio and I had a blast doing a lot of composition and recording there. The format at the time was cassette, so if I am to resurrect any of it, I have a lot of converting to digital to do. I had to leave behind a lot of equipment for my move to Maine (a home studio in a B&B just doesn’t work), so I have only a few essential pieces remaining from that setup – and a lot of stored music files on 3 ½” disk that I have no way of reading in a format that I no longer have the software for. Hello, Musician’s Friend…
Musician’s Friend has a catalog and website that turns me into a kid in a candy store. Since I play several instruments, there is always something I “need.” I have been pretty successful in deleting the emails with advertised specials (mostly), but now that I am intent in getting a scaled down studio together, the credit card has been used and abused.
So what have I put together so far? Ok, here’s the geeky part:
So, what have I been doing on my (sort of) vacation? Painting the bathroom that I started two years ago? Nope. Getting the Hi-Def and digital service for the TV I bought in January? Nope. Taking care of doctor appointments, dental appointments, bank accounts, car servicing, etc., a.k.a. known as getting your life together while you have the opportunity? Nope.
What I have done so far is have daily communication with work, culminating in doing payroll from home yesterday (starting at 5:30 am), finishing just in time for the cable guy to show up and try (“try” being the operative word) to fix our wireless signal. Payroll got done and like the good geek that I am, I told the cable guy how to fix the problem… why did I even call for service? Anyway, work demands continued to persist, so I had to make a declaration that I was no longer reading my email and I was going act like I was on vacation. Remote log-in disconnected, not answering work calls… enough.
Now I am free to continue to put more time into what I have been doing, on and off, since last weekend – putting together my home recording studio. When I owned a home in New Jersey (1986 to 1998) I had a full home studio and I had a blast doing a lot of composition and recording there. The format at the time was cassette, so if I am to resurrect any of it, I have a lot of converting to digital to do. I had to leave behind a lot of equipment for my move to Maine (a home studio in a B&B just doesn’t work), so I have only a few essential pieces remaining from that setup – and a lot of stored music files on 3 ½” disk that I have no way of reading in a format that I no longer have the software for. Hello, Musician’s Friend…
Musician’s Friend has a catalog and website that turns me into a kid in a candy store. Since I play several instruments, there is always something I “need.” I have been pretty successful in deleting the emails with advertised specials (mostly), but now that I am intent in getting a scaled down studio together, the credit card has been used and abused.
So what have I put together so far? Ok, here’s the geeky part:
A small workstation with rails for rack mounting synthesizers and effects modules
My old analog (cassette) Tascam 424 Portastudio multi-track recorder (4 tracks)
A new(er) Tascam DP-01 Digital Portastudio multi track recorder (8 tracks)
An M-Audio pre-amp
My cherished Proteus 1 (256 rock/pop sounds) and Proteus 2 (256 orchestral sounds) synthesizers
An ART FXR Elite Multi effect rack
A Korg K61P controller keyboard
A M-Audio 88 hammer action, weighted key digital piano/controller keyboard
An Oberheim Strummer (emulates strumming action for synthesized guitar sounds)
Cakewalk Home Studio recording and sequencing software
A Fender Strat electric guitar (is there any other?) and Fender amp
A 1968 original Ovation 12 string acoustic/electric guitar that I have owned since 1973
An Epiphone mandolin
Shure 545SD and 5565 microphones
Sony Studio Monitor system
Sony Studio headphones ( to keep David from... well, to keep David...)
Is that enough? Hell, no… Ordered and on its way:
Alesis mixing board with built in digital signal processing (are you still with me?)
Yamaha synthesizer (cheap, but an easy way to add more sounds)
Various wires, cables, and replacement ac adapters that seem to have gone missing in all of my moving from place to place
While that may sound like a lot, here is what I left behind in my moves:
Three classic synthesizers (two Korgs and a mini-moog) and an A-frame keyboard stand
A piano
A Tama drum kit
Korg drum machine
A flute
An Alto Sax
A violin
Two dulcimers
A Crate 1000W PA system
A wireless microphone headset
Microphone stands
Various percussion toys…
And a room that was able to accommodate all of this (eyes glazing over, are they… skimming over the details?)
That is all well and good, but you may ask, “where is the output – I don’t hear any music?” All in good time… it takes a while to get this all together, get the electronics talking to each other, practicing, composing, recording, mixing down to stereo – and then you will hear the music. I promise.
In the mean time, I am covered in miles of cable that looks like spaghetti on steroids – and loving it.
5 comments:
So, uh....ya say you've been meaning to paint the bathroom for two years? My oh my, has it been that long that you've been in that house?
I wasn't going to read it...but I just knew I'd know something about what you're sayin'...I was wrong. But I recognized Musicians Friend...My son's drumset came from there. Nice company...great shipping results. I got a Yamaha keyboard, too! Small world, huh? LMAO...I'm sure you're in seven heaven. Go boy, go!
I'm all for anything that makes you happy (once you get everything talking the same digital/analog language)and alleviates by even one small measure the stresses you face at work--or here at home since they won't give you a moments peace--each and every day.
mmmmmmmmm Spaghetti!!!
Yeah,I took from it what I wanted.
I love music...but have no idea of the hows and whatses...ignorance is my bliss :-)
If only you could connect and disconnect people as easily as you could cables we might actually have a greatest hits album by now . . .
I love you... I swear I could have an orgasm just from talking about music... Music is my only refuge, or at least I feel that way about it... I've been hangin' out on imeem.com uploading music, listening, etc... I love sharing music and music knowledge with people, I actually feel like myself when I do, it seems to be the only way I really feel connected.
I swear... I'm puttin' money aside, whenever I get my shit 2gether, for all the music equipment I NEED! If I don't do something with music in my life it will be a travesty. I need to get an MPC (which is a beat making production system, samples and loops,etc.), any form will do. I have 2 turntables and a mixer, a Casio (I don't remember the make), still more records, CDs, cassettes, etc... All left behind in Jersey. Oh! Oh my god!!! And you left all that behind there?!! Oh my god I'm gonna cry! That's Love! ;-)
I can play music by ear, but I'm not trained... I just like to vibe out. Though, at least in the type of music I'm looking to produce, it's good to have more chords and percussion to do some layering.
Ha, so I get that Mr. Dave has a threshold for hearing music played constantly? I have a pair of headphones that I must wear in the vicinity of Bart, because otherwise I tend to drive him crazy. Hehehe. ;-)Matter of fact, I have them on now.
Thanks for the info on the website... I'll check them out when I'm ready to do some purchasing.
The thing about equipment though?... I really don't like hooking all of it up, dealing with all that wiring... I just wanna jump right into the music, but all that crap makes you have to wait! I get frustrated with it! So I understand, and I'm anxious to hear the results. See now I really have to make a trip out to Florida... We could produce something 2gether? I could do a hip-hop remix for one of your classics? ;-) Well, hopefully, one of these days.
Oh my god!!! Tascams, Moogs, Korgs, Fender Srats... Oh my! Seriously, I would just sleep in that room... Do you have a couch in there?
You know... so many musicians have their own music posted on MySpace, imeem, YouTube, iTunes, etc... I seriously expect to see you do some sort of thing like this. It's in your blood, it's what you HAVE to do! More than a salvation from work, it's your love! (Besides the obvious Mr. Dave:-) I know I NEED to do the same, and I will, I WILL make it happen!
When I didn't have, or there weren't any, instrumentals of songs that I really liked... I would make my own instrumentals. Either playing it by ear and recording it or by looping the beat on cassette (Recording the break, pausing, bringing back the record, recording the same break, etc. etc...) Sure it would take hours, but I loved it and that's why I did/do it... Because I LOVE it! So, you have to keep this going!
O.k., I'll stop now... but you unleashed a monster on this one. ;-)
(((BIG HUGS))) & LOVE FOR "MR. THOM" (Let us know when you get your ground controls working;-)
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