Whats Happening in the Studio This Week?
Saturday 1st June
To the Stratosphere & Beyond Work continues on Space Shuttle as I add the finishing touches to this and start bouncing MIDI to audio. This one took way longer than expected and I'm not over the moon with it. I could spend many weeks tinkering with it, as I have been recently, and not really adding any value. I think at this point, it is a case of diminishing returns and there is a time when you need to move on to something else. That time is here and I've set upt he template for 'Spaceship', the next track on the album that tells the story our our epic jouney into space. |
Saturday 18th May
To the Stratosphere and Beyond
It can be frustrating composing your own music sometimes. Nothing seems to gel and it seems you are taking one step forward and two steps back! Its been a bit liek that recently with the Space Shuttle track as I went backo to the beginning to add some harmonic interest. Hmm! Still not happy with it and I'm way behind where I thought I'd be in May. By the way, what happend to March and April! Did we get sucked into a time vortex where time speeds up! Is it just me or has this year just whizzed by at a rate of knots!
Anyway, enough frivolity. When am I starting the next track and what is it? Good questions. The next track is called Spaceship and is based on the Virgin Galactic adventures into space. I'm aiming to get the DAW template set up this week and start the composing process the week after.
To the Stratosphere and Beyond
It can be frustrating composing your own music sometimes. Nothing seems to gel and it seems you are taking one step forward and two steps back! Its been a bit liek that recently with the Space Shuttle track as I went backo to the beginning to add some harmonic interest. Hmm! Still not happy with it and I'm way behind where I thought I'd be in May. By the way, what happend to March and April! Did we get sucked into a time vortex where time speeds up! Is it just me or has this year just whizzed by at a rate of knots!
Anyway, enough frivolity. When am I starting the next track and what is it? Good questions. The next track is called Spaceship and is based on the Virgin Galactic adventures into space. I'm aiming to get the DAW template set up this week and start the composing process the week after.
Saturday 27th April
To the Stratoshpere and Beyond Over the last few weeks, I've been busy with other projects but I've managed to get some time to go over those sections that just weren't resonating with me. With this in mind I've been working on orchestral arrangements and taking out some of the synth sections. This has got potential and the fusion of orchestral, synth and acoustic instruments has worked well for me in the past. I'll keep exploring this to see where I go with it. |
Saturday 6th April
To the Stratoshpere and Beyond Over the last week, I've been working on Space Shuttle once again. The structure is complete but there are a few sections that I'm not that happy with. So I'm going back through the various sections adding harmonic interest, tweaking sounds, exploring new ideas and so on. I've spent a lot more time on the Korg Triton this week, which has been a great workhorse for me over the years. There are some really great sounds on this and I find it easy to edit sounds quickly. |
Equinoxe 4
I'm going through each section and adding more parts. I've created two versions of this. The first one is based on the original so lots of lush warm, phasing strings and pads. The second one is based on the La Defence concert in Paris back in the 90's. Yes, I was there, along with 2 million other people. This version is a little different, particularly in the intro, and its one of my favourites. So this week, I've been exploring the Mellotron as this features on the original Equinoxe album. Not the real one though! . No its the Arturia virtual Mellotron. I believe the orignal Mellotron was developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963 and to buy a secondhand one these days would cost a small fortune! |
Saturday 30th March
To the Stratosphere and Beyond Over the last week, I've been working on the last section of the Space Shuttle track which is all about the glide back to base and the landing. I've recorded lots of musical ideas but it's not there yet and what I find in these scenarios is that I start to throw things out when I revisit them a fews days later. But that's OK! Its all part of the creative process. So this section is about the glide approach and the landing, which concludes the mission for this space shuttle. So the music for this needs to be upbeat, but with a bit of tension on final approach, and then victorious as they safely tocuh down. |
Covers and Remixes
Equinoxe 4 Yep, still working on this but the structure is complete and now I'm in the process of editing, refining and mixing. This last week has been focused on getting the final section completed, so this has involved lots of phased pads and strings using Arturia's excellent Solina V. I've also fired upt he Roland JD800 once again and I've created some excellent phasing pads that have a lot of movement and will sound great on this track. |
Saturday 23rd March
To the Stratosphere and Beyond Over the last week, I've continued to work on Space Shuttle track and some new synth sounds for the lead line in the 2nd chorus. I've used the Arturia OP-Xa for this and really happy with the sound. I've also been working on a bridge section and this was one of those ocassions where the creativity is flowing and the ideas just seen to click into place. This section is about the comms blackout on re-entry which is always a few minutes where mission control might be holding their breath for a few minutes as the seconds tick by. Its coming together well. |
Saturday 16th March
To The Stratosphere and Beyond
Over the last week, I've been in the studio working on a new track called Space Shuttle. At this stage, its about creating the overall structure of the track with the intro, verse, chorus bridge and so on. I start this process by creating a storyboard. What are the various stages of the journey for the Space Shuttle in this track. Yep, it's going up to space at a rate of knots, but there is much more to it than that! A typical shuttle mission has multiples stages as follows:
To The Stratosphere and Beyond
Over the last week, I've been in the studio working on a new track called Space Shuttle. At this stage, its about creating the overall structure of the track with the intro, verse, chorus bridge and so on. I start this process by creating a storyboard. What are the various stages of the journey for the Space Shuttle in this track. Yep, it's going up to space at a rate of knots, but there is much more to it than that! A typical shuttle mission has multiples stages as follows:
So I'm thinking how I can map each of these stages of the mission to music in each part of the track. I don't want every verse and chorus to sound the same because each of these will be mapped to a different part of the mission. So I need to introduce new elements and create harmonic interest as the track progresses. This is how I compose my music to a storyboard. |
It's been a week of progress too, as the creativity has been flowing and I've recorded the launch sequence, the first verse, chorus and bridge. Its early days and not every week is as productuve, but it all heading in the right direction.
Covers and Remixes I've also continued working on my cover of Equinoxe 4 by Jean Michelle Jarre. The original track is over 7 minutes long so this is quite a lengthy track to recreate. I also don't have the sheet music for this track so I'm deconstructing the notes section by section and then re-recording them with a bit of my own interpretation along the way! But it's enjoyable as this is one of the tracks that inspired me to buy a synthsizer all those years ago! |
Sauturday 8th March 2024
To The Stratosphere and Beyond
I'm working on the track Concorde and this week, recording some ideas for the first bridge section using Solina Strings
Covers and Remixes
I'm also working on my cover of Equinoxe 4 by Jean Michelle Jarre. My favourite version of this track, apart from the orginal, is the one played at the La Defence, Paris concert. Yes, I was there too and what an experience that was!
New Instruments in the Studio
Saturday 23rd March
This week has seen the addion of an iconic synth in the studio. You simply can't mistake the sound this synth makes. As a Gary Numan fan since the eighties, I'm excited to finally add this synth to my collection, albeit a virtual version. Yes, its the synth respoisble for that famous Numan sound on Cars, its the Polymoog, however, the VSTi version is called the PolyMode from Cherry Audio.
This week has seen the addion of an iconic synth in the studio. You simply can't mistake the sound this synth makes. As a Gary Numan fan since the eighties, I'm excited to finally add this synth to my collection, albeit a virtual version. Yes, its the synth respoisble for that famous Numan sound on Cars, its the Polymoog, however, the VSTi version is called the PolyMode from Cherry Audio.
Saturday 16th March
impOSCar2
I always wanted the original Oscar analo synth in the eighties but they are pretty rare these days! The impOSCar2 from GForce Software reimagines this British classic and takes it to new sonic heights with new innovative features and enhancements.
Projects in the Pipeline
Video for Out at Sea.
Live performances of Changing Tides.
Orchestration of The Storm, Out at Sea, The Rescue and Homeward Bound.
Orchestral recording of these track.
Live performances of Changing Tides.
Orchestration of The Storm, Out at Sea, The Rescue and Homeward Bound.
Orchestral recording of these track.