I’m hard at work on Suncake Lounge Vol.2 to get it to a point where I can leave it for three weeks while we visit South Africa next month. That point is somewhere where enough has been done that it inspires me when I want to start work on it again, but with enough loose ends that I know where to start work as soon as I’m back. I’ve heard some writers never finish a chapter before they call it a day, so it’s easy to pick up where they left off. Makes sense if you think about it.
Happy day! What Comes Around is now also available for iOS devices including the iPhone. It requires the free RjDj app, and both the free and full versions are available as additional download from within the app. Alternatively, get the free version or the full version from the RjDj website.
Yesterday, I ventured out and into a rehearsal room here in Taichung to record live drums for Chris Bailey and my upcoming Suncake Lounge Vol. 2 album. I always have a little trepidation when working with live drums, because I’m so used to working with drum loops. Recording live drums and working with the resulting seperate drum tracks is another beast altogether. But I like to think that there’s no right or wrong way when it comes to recording, as long as you end up with usuable results – and in this case we most definitely did.
Drummer Dave Ramey kindly agreed to drum on the album on very short notice and very little time to prepare. He did a sterling job though and we powered through the 15 tracks with a single take for each. I’ll probably end up cutting loops from the recorded material, taking care to keep most of the fills and flourishes that Dave added – these have really made the tracks come to life.
We worked with the kit that was in the rehearsal room. It’s obviously not the best kit in the world, but I really like the flavor it brings. There’s something loose and vintage sounding about it. The same goes for the room itself – it’s not going to give the same results as a dedicated drum room, but it has its own character.
I brought in my M-Audio Fast Track Ultra and recorded on 5 tracks straight to Sonar X1. I miked the snare with an SM-57 and the kick with a locally made Superlux PRO218A that I bought for this session. I used the Zoom H2 Handy recorder as a stereo overhead. Finally, I had an Audio Technica AT4033 a couple of metres back as a room mic. Now that I’m mixing the drum tracks and after working in detail on the seperate kick and snare tracks, I’m finding the room mic really useful for blending the sound back together and adding some cohesion again. I’ve also added a dash of reverb from the freeware epicVerb VST, again to add a sense of cohesion.
[audio: http://moshang.net/audio/Dave_Ramey_100bpm.mp3] Download the mp3
So far I’m pleased with the sound of the drums in isolation, but there’s still going to be a lot of fiddling to get the drums to suit each individual track. I may also blend in some of the loops that we’ve using for the tracks up to this point – just for variety, if nothing else.
I have just released a new full-length album called What Comes Around. It exists only as an app for iPhone and Android, and it remixes itself on every listen. Listeners also have the option of turning on the microphone and letting the app mix in environmental sounds. Have a listen to the free version doing its thing below.
For iPhone and other iOS devices, first download the free RjDj host app. Both the free and full versions are available as additional download from within RjDj. Alternatively, get the free version or the full version from the RjDj website.
For Android, get the 5-song free version from the Market here, and the 14-song full version here.
Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome!
Here’s a video of What Comes Around doing its thing on a walk in the park.
I’ve managed to thank two of them in person on this forum, but again a huge thanks to the creators of the free software that makes this album possible, Miller Puckette (Pure Data), Peter Brinkmann (libpd), and Chris McCormick (PdDroidParty). I’ve left details of my process on this forum (towards the bottom of the page). Big thanks also to Robert Thomas who helped me make the album available on the RjDj Network.
Over the weekend, I started to get familiar with Pure Data, a free programming language for music and visuals. I was first introduced to Pd by Lee Chun in 2008, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it at the time. I’ve since discovered awesome tutorials for Pd on YouTube (the ones by Dr. Rafael Hernandez are especially great) and it’s really helped to demystify Pd for me. Watch this space!
Happy day! 
