We are the music makers - producers?

Just popped something new on SoundCloud, no masterimg just dumped straight out of ableton.

https://on.soundcloud.com/uPXTf

Sounds great mate, well balanced and all working well together

Cheers bud, happy with how it came out. Things are generally better if I just smash them out in a couple of days instead of dicking about.

Yeah I hear you. I've got an E.P. coming out on a small up and coming net label in March. To say it was a difficult birth would be a huge understatement. I doubted myself the entire way through it, imposter syndrome, intrusive thoughts, all coupled with huge technical issues the entire time, and a deadline looming. I'm glad I came out the other side, but I think back to a few years ago when I used to knock out a tune in a week and think what's changed?

As soon as you have a client (which the label sort of is) and a deadline then it becomes a job so I'm not surprised you stressed yourself out.

I've set myself a goal of getting an ep out this year as well, just for myself mind so there's no stress, just the other end where I'll be using my job, kids and life in general as an excuse as to why I can't move my arse and get it done.

Glad you came through it all, look forward to hearing it, get a post up when it's out!

I'm off to grab one of these today, the only bit of kit I could find to help me cue Logic Pro for gig situations that's pedal board friendly. Might also need to buy a slightly bigger Pedaltrain now. 💸

@EB I'm getting mad anxiety, self-doubt, imposter syndrome about this new stuff I'm about to start dripping out. Was totally happy with the tracks until I announced the project. Stupid brain!

I think the singer is going through a similar thing, she was totally happy with the mixes a week ago and now she wants to bury her vocals in reverb and delay!! 🤦‍♂️

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That little pedal works! I'm just gonna have to be careful and only stomp the button on the left as the one on the right takes Logic back to the start of the track. 😬

Next on the shopping list is a stand for onstage that'll hold a laptop as well as an Akai MPK Mini keyboard. Any ideas?

We have a few of these at work, the pull out thing is quite sturdy. It may work depending on how hard you bash the MPK.

https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg08387/arm-notebook-twin-pivot/dp/CS14619

Unfortunately that ain't gonna work, it needs to be free-standing so I can do this while I'm wearing a guitar. I can find a laptop/projector stand easily enough but finding a clip-on tray that the MPK will fit on is proving difficult. No bashing, just the occasional UFO sound effect probably. 🛸

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dsjuPZsNwQ

Last boring question, promise.

I'm planning to run backing tracks from my MacBook Pro, in terms of live sound, will the mini stereo jack suffice? BITD when I'd run backing tracks off a DAT that just went out to the desk via a stereo phono cable. Should be fine, no?

Ordered a laptop stand, it arrived yesterday but was total shit, so flimsy, plastic tubing!! Got something else that looks much more solid. I also picked up a little desktop laptop stand which I'll use to raise the computer so I can slide a mini keyboard under it. Almost ready to tread the boards. 🙃

It’s more stuff but I had a similar setup with a small rack case sitting on a normal keyboard stand, with the laptop sitting on top and some gear on a pull-out tray in the rack… Have to be a bit careful of leverage/centre of gravity but it packs away nicely.

The cheapo Amazon stand that turned up was super wobbly, totally unfit for purpose. Yeah, I'm very conscious that it'll have to pack away neatly. Trying to keep gear to a minimum. If I wanted to be really portable I guess I could use my phone! I think that'll be the super-duper emergency backup plan.

I would want something more mechanically sound and replaceable if it breaks… Either a little external soundcard or a DI.

Hanging a long mini jack lead out is asking for trouble, although I’m sure it’s done!

Maybe there's a mini stereo to stereo XLR/jack adaptor around, I'll check it out. I'll just run the cables down the stand and gaffer them to the floor. What's the worst that could happen? 😁

I didn’t describe that well so I’ve drawn a picture - incredible skills I know 😂

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That's quite a rig! I've ordered this today, should do the trick for a MBP and a little keyboard. Also found mini stereo jack to XLR adaptors so that'll probably be a good investment too.

I'm more accustomed to turning up with an amp and a guitar and letting the sound person do the rest!

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I've got an E.P. out today on a local net label. It's been a while since I put anything out, I've been jamming with the modular/hardware set up and doing that live in a duo for a couple of years so have not really found the time to record anything.

These tracks all started off life in the hardware/modular realm. See what you think! Cheers

https://subplantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/possible-states-e-p

Popped up on my Bandcamp earlier, thought it was you. Nice tunes!

Thanks!

Playback rig all sorted, this Samson laptop stand is proper, tough as fuck. Excuse the dog mess.

Okay, lights! I know this may not be the right place to ask, but... Cheap strobes/helicopter lights, psychedelic oil light show, how? I'm guessing a TV projector for the oil show but can you get cheap MIDI or audio controlled strobes? Any ideas?

I'm thinking oil show over us and the stage and hip level strobes pointing straight out at the audience.

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Are you going to use a seperate stand for the lights or rig them on that stand?

It would have to be a separate stand, I'm just trying to imagine what would look best. Some cheap helicopter lights off MarketPlace (placed on top of guitar amps) might be best.

A Google search for liquid light show protectors yielded very little apart from a Kickstarter that ended in November. The company that make that, Opti Kinetics, also manufacture the Solar 250 which looks fantastic but probably out of my price range. I've sent them an email, let's see what they say.

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We used to use a midi to DMX (lighting control standard) converter and run lights from within ableton - there may be better ways to do it tbh. Even cheap strobes will have DMX now.

@RonAsheton midi to DMX is really the only way to go if you want triggered lighting.

However if you’re just looking for something that gets the job done and looks ok (think any small venue, wedding, disco etc) without a dedicated lighting tech then they’ll just be using a standard programme built in to many of the lights available on the market.

If you do go down the DMX route you’ll need a laptop with some lighting software on, I’ve used OpenDMX before with works nicely with LightKey (Mac dmx software), which can also sync midi timings through via Ableton which is handy to trigger scenes or light changes whilst playing.