What a big statement for a title right? A revolution is a pretty big thing. One of our most popular blog posts set out to declare the iPad would change the way we perform, create, and produce our music. In alot of ways we can say the iPad has done that, but there’s still lots of room to go. In a way the iCloud and Lion announcements have got me back into dreaming mode. There are four new features I’m particularly interested in and I’ll explain why I think they’ll revolutionize the way we make music.
Before you upgrade to Lion you’ll want to check out this post to see if your software is compatible
Gesture Tracking
Apple revolutionized (again with the powerful words…) the way people experience media, browse the web and use non-PC devices with the iPhone and iPad. The touch gestures just work. I’ve seen my nephews use an iPad and an iPhone without needing any explanation. That’s when you know something “just works”. With Lion, Apple is working to further integrate multi-touch gestures into the PC. You reach out and “almost” touch what you’re working with. We use all the same gestures we’re used to working with but now on our laptops.
Imagine what this could mean for producing music. Your DAW could integrate multi-touch features into the program easily. Two finger swipes take you back and forth between Session and Arrangement view. Maybe four fingers down, opens up clip view. Swiping from left to right adjusts the volume of your track. Swipe around the trackpad to set your filter frequency. Record the automation by “drawing” your automation curve on your trackpad.
What if two fingers started playback. A two finger swipe to the right jumped to the next song/marker? A swipe to the left takes you to your previous song. Three fingers sets your tempo. Four fingers stops your track. The possibilities are endless. Maybe instead of looking at iPads to control our DAW’s, we’ll look at using our trackpads in a more in-depth way. Combine your iPad and your trackpad and you’ve got the ultimate DAW controller.
Air drop
Do you ever have a thumb drive when you really need one? I know I don’t. When you’re sitting around and working on songs with your friends, or creating a set-list for Sunday that you need to get to your drummer, you’ve got to go find your thumb drive. Now you can just open your mac, drag the file to your drummer’s picture representing his mac and off the file goes. No need to worry about the thumb drive. It’s just there. Open your mac and transfer the files while you finish setup. No need to let the file transfer to your thumbdrive and then get it to your drummer. This could be a good solution for those of us that are used to using dropbox for file sharing, but maybe the internet isn’t great where the church meets. Maybe airdrop will do file transfers the way i-chat file transfer should have. Here’s to hoping file transfers get the Apple, “it just works” treatment.
Auto-Save
Oh wow.. this is huge. Sure, there are programs that do this now, and that’s great. But how about the feature being built into the OS? How about Ableton adding the function in? We already have a file-recovery system for when our favorite free-ware plugin crashes Live, but what about never having to worry about saving again! You’re working on a loop for Sunday late Saturday night (I know YOU’D never do that…) and the coffee and Red bulls are wearing off. You haven’t saved in a few minutes and one C chord too many, it’s time for bed. You go to close live, and because of the ungodly amount of caffeine keeping you awake is clouding your judgement. You choose to close Live without saving.. Oops. There goes that great remix of As the Deer (Maybe it’s a good thing it crashed after all?) With auto-save we don’t have to worry about our files. We just create. We record and we play music. “Command S” is so 2010.
iCloud backup and file transfer
Maybe I saved the best for last. iCloud’s implementation of the cloud for backup and file transfer is pretty snazzy. It works in the background without us having to learn/re-learn anything and again…just works. Apple is allowing Developers to build the option to send files to iCloud into their programs. So now the game is changing. Imagine opening Live to work on a file. You’re working for a good 45 minutes and you’re making some good progress. You’ve got to stop working for some reason (there’s a rob bell webcast on) and so you go to check it out. Remember we’ve got Auto-save so Live automatically saves your file. But because it’s connected to iCloud your files are magically making their way to the home in the sky (really a giant building in NC).
Let’s say the Webcast with Rob Bell went well, so you get together with your seminary buddies to discuss it over a Piper sermon. After your Theological conversations, you turn to discussing your great new dub-step track. You didn’t render out an mp3 to play for them, so you borrow your buddies laptop. You open his version of Ableton Live and log into your iCloud account. Of course by then Ableton Live is sold in the Mac App Store, so if he doesn’t have it, you can log onto your account and download it to his computer. Within a few minutes your Live session with all your clips and all it’s dubstep goodness, is now playing for your friends. Make some changes, tweak the mix, and then close the program. The changes are backed up to the cloud for you to wrap up the mix at home.
Okay so clearly some of this would take place in the distant future. (Rob Bell and John Piper in the same day? Not even Steve Job’s could make that happen)Sure Ableton isn’t in the App Store yet, and downloading all those clips from the cloud could take a while. But all this functionality is simply waiting to be implemented into Live (9 maybe??). With the release of Lion and iCloud it’s all possible. The future is closer then we think. With Lion and iCloud its even closer now.
These are only a few of the features of iCloud and Lion that could change the way we make music. What are you most excited about?
Here’s part three of our interview with @thebwack. We chat about the making of Church Music and how the Crowder Band approaches using loops. Before you check out the article make sure to check out Part 1, and Part 2.
What role do loops play in the Crowder Band? How do you guys treat the idea of using loops?
It’s totally different for every song. I think our philosophy is that we’re going to try and perform as much as we can live. For me as a drummer its just another way of looking at drums. I guess for me the role is subdivisions, its like adding a whole lot of cool subdivisions, and layers. You know in the studio I really like the sound of two or three drumsets all playing at once, so alot of times the loop is either other drum kit parts i’ve recorded or extra beats that I’ve programmed. Alot of it is just trying to get that electronic or urban sound. And for me its a way to play on the beat a little more.. I don’t want to feel restricted to the feeling that if I’m not laying down the backbeat, no one is. I want to feel like if I want to go away from that and not lay down that strong backbeat I know that the loop is providing that.
This record is kinda the first record where we are really starting to blur the line between the drummer and the band and the loops. The way we are performing it, there’s really not that division anymore. There are so many elements of what you would typically call the loop, that are being played by members of the band. Its like we’ve taken over the loop and are now performing the loop, and its not really a loop at all.
Like on Shadows I don’t really play the drum kit at all. I’ve got electronic pads, I’ve got an arcade button box i built (midi controller), and for the entirety of the song I’m just triggering all the sounds that were programmed, and there are no loop beats going on. Mark is playing one of the beats too.
How do you go from what you created in the studio to what you do on stage? How do you decide how will we play this live?
Thats a few days per song process it seems like. We got up in the barn about a month before the tour and just went through song by song and worked it out. If you watch some of these new songs, you’ll see everyone is multi-tasking, and theres not really a lot of moments where anyone is just standing around with nothing to do.
We really wanted everyone to be involved in all the sounds. I’ve got the Protools file opened up and we’re going through and listening to each part, because a lot of times 1,000 sounds will go into the record and by the time its mixed maybe only 250 of those sounds are really out front in the mix. So we go through and solo stuff and figure out what we are going to do live. I know what Drum parts were played and Dave and Jack and Mark know what Guitar parts were played, so its about going “okay so who is free in the bridge to do this synth”? Everything else we give to Mike D. and Hogan. It’s just time and effort, and then playing it over and over again.
We love Korg Nano keys. We’ve got like 20 of them, and they are all spread out over the stage. There’s times where Mark walks back to the drumset and theres a Nano Key there and he’s playing synth parts that are running off Sylenth on my computer. There’s stuff all over the stage to give people the ability at any moment to play those parts of the song.
At what point in the demoing and recording process do you guys bring the loops in?
We’ll for this record it was first, it started with loops. It started with Reason files that if you listen to them by themselves sound like techno instrumental things and we used those as the foundations for writing the lyrics.
This album doesn’t really feel like a post-production album it really does feel like the loops are part of the band.
Thanks, that’s what we were hoping for.
What was the coolest new thing you guys did for this record?
The robot. Have you seen Steve the robot? You know we’re talking about all this layering and there were a lot of drum sets going on in the record doing al ot of parts, and pretty much during the making of the record the question was asked so what are we gonna do about these parts?
Everyone was pretty sad, like- “We aren’t just gonna track this are we?” Theres gotta be something and I jokingly said I’m gonna build a robot.
I think when you say robot everyone thinks humanoid, something that looks like c-3po… but in my head i think of the BestBuy vending machine you see at the airport, thats a robot. Something taking a task that takes a lot of people to accomplish and it does it for them.
So when I’m thinking of a drummer robot I’m thinking of a player piano, this will be a player piano but a player drummer, like auto-drums kinda thing. I just wanted something that would play those other beats on an acoustic drum set and kinda be a visual representation of those beats, but still sound like a machine.
I posted this video of steve and the website Hackaday ended up re-posting the video. It’s funny to me reading the comments on Hackaday because a lot of the comments are “you know if you put some error in there and like changed the velocities it would sound more human.”
But my thing is – “Why would I want my Robot to sound more Human?”
We would play it if we wanted it human. I want it sound like a machine gun. You know really stiff, really technical. And it works better on some stuff than others.
You know Solomon from Family force 5? We were talking at a conference the other day and he was saying that it is beautiful because you don’t always need velocity. Some of the best beats don’t have velocity. Thats the joy of the 808 stuff. The original 808 drum machine had 3 steps of velocity but most of the beats are just full on.
Yeah most people can’t walk away from a record and say they built a robot.
Yeah i do have to give credit to these two engineering students in Waco that are friends of mine (Eli Hernandez and Josh Caldwell). I went to their school during their breaks over two months and they machined the metal parts and turn rough sketches into real designs. They are great.
What tools do you use to create and use loops?
Well i think it is still the trifecta: Ableton, Reason and Protools.
I think I’m kinda getting away from Reason, not for any reason other then I’m starting to get into VST synth stuff like the Sylenth thing is incredible. I’m also getting more into protools because I’m trying to spend more time making stuff out of recorded sounds. Those are the three main ones.
There’s a group called D16 group, they make these really sweet drum machines and plug-ins. You know in Reason on the Scream Distortion how one of the settings is “Digital” the 8-bit degradation thing, they’ve got one called “Decimort” thats really great. It reminds me of some of the Owl-City stuff where its like some of the drum sounds seem to be out of phase, like the bit-rate has been dropped just a hair, this Decimort thing is pretty close to that sound, I’m really into that.
Whats the one piece of Gear, Hardware or Software that you can’t live without? If you had one piece of Gear you could take with you on a Desert Island, what would it be?
My laptop. I guess that’s kinda cheating but.. thats my desert island gear. Or you know one of the new Miko’s would be cool. It’s like the computer and everything you need in there. I don’t know though my laptop is cool because I can do everything on it and take it anywhere. I don’t even have a desktop computer – its my laptop. I plug it into Pro tools and its my full on recording system.
This wraps up part 3 of our Interview with Bwack. If you missed Part 1 or Part 2 make sure to check them out! If you’d like to stay up to date with what’s happening with Loops in Worship, sign up to join our Mailing List, to the right of this post. Also while you’re here check out the rest of what we have to offer. And as always feel free to drop us an email if you’d like!
Here’s Part 2 of my interview with @thebwack. If you haven’t checked out Part 1 yet, go ahead and get caught up before you check out this article. In this post we chat about how he approaches playing with loops, and he offers up some tips for drummers. This is an article you’ll want to share with your drummers. Make sure to hit the Re-Tweet or Facebook Like buttons to the right of this post to quickly share with your team.
What advice can you give to drummers that are playing to a loop, to make the most out of it.
I think like you’ve said before, playing “with” loops and not “to” loops is key. When we started messing with the whole loop thing, we bought a metronome and started playing with that. It was uncomfortable for a few months. There was a process of learning to follow something thats true, thats an absolute. You realize “I tend to rush when we’re going into a chorus”, or “I tend to drag when we’re ending a song”, so you learn a lot about yourself and how you play-playing with a metronome.
And the same thing with a loop. It’s about getting to a point where following a metronome and a loop is so comfortable that you don’t have to think about it. Thats what I try to do. I try to be at a point where when we’re playing I’m not thinking “am i with it” i’m just thinking “this is fun and this feels good”. I know when i’m starting to slide off a little bit but for the most part its just ingrained and natural.
I know a lot of drummers will practice with a click and then take the click out and bring it back in to see if they could stay with the click, to practice their timing. Did you ever do that?
Well no, I think thats kinda silly. If you’re trying to see if you can play without a click to a given tempo that might be a good study, but really I’m gonna play with a click 90% of the time. The songs we don’t use a click on we do it because we like the feel of the movement and not having to be tied down. Like You Are My Joy, we never do that to click, we’re just going for it, and some nights it’s a little fast, and some nights its a little slower, and sometimes the choruses are faster then the verses but we like the kind of energy that lies in that. That’s a song that needs that feel. All the other times I’m gonna be playing to a click so I just want to know – can I stay with the click?
How do you approach playing with loops?
For me the first thing I try to do if theres a significant beat in the loop is try to play something different than the loop and something that compliments it. For Example, on Beautiful Collision the drum beat on that is pretty solid and driving and very pronounced. I made the loop part the secondary beat and third beat. They are similar but completely different. They are kinda playing in between notes. In that song its about playing something thats not contrary to what the loop is doing but complimenting the loop while not playing the same beat.
I’ve found there are few times that I’m playing the exact same thing as the loop, as far as kick drum energy and snare energy.
It can be dangerous because if you’re not 100% locked in it can become very apparent. So playing something complimentary but different from the loop, you can create energy that comes from all the layers opening up and working together.
As an arrangement too, loops are a great way to add dynamics and make certain parts of a song really grow and blossom and other parts stay very minimal. Especially if you’re running to a click with a loop, there can be times that everything but the band drops out but since your on a click when that loop comes back in it is really powerful and more evident.
One thing I appreciate about your drumming is that you’re not afraid to play four on the floor. When you do a four on the floor thing, how do you approach it.
To me, four on the floor with a loop is pretty static. So you’ve got the four on the floor, the big kick drum that everyone is bobbing their head to and if there wasn’t the loop element playing this really static thing, then I probably would feel the necessity to do the open hat (disco thing) or subdivide somehow. But if thats what the loop is doing then I can feel the freedom to let my hands be the speaking force. You know something thats not just static but something thats moving and changing and dynamic. I just try to have fun with it… and having a loop lets me feel like I can have fun.
Check out the Peter Gabriel DVD “Secret World Live” with Manu Katche (Drummer). They are using loops and the way he plays the Drumset around the loops is incredible. Basically the loop is driving the song and he’s complimenting it. It changed the way I thought about playing with loops. It was like “this is why you have electronic elements in the band. Same thing with most of the early Alanis stuff, the drummer isn’t laying down this solid time, its more about being a layer. Stewart Copeland was someone that could take a four on the floor beat and turn it into something with a lot of driving power. To me he was the epitome of a pop drummer. He took pop music beats and made them exciting.
Don’t miss Part 3 of our Interview with Bwack, Tomorrow at 10 AM EST on the blog!
Last fall I had the privilege of checking out the @crowderband on their Church Music tour. It was one of the most fun, and most technologically advanced concerts I’ve been to. Thanks to a good friend of mine, I was able to sit down with the Infamous Bwack (@thebwack), and chat about all things music, Crowderband and Ableton Live. It’s partially because of the music of the Crowderband and the electronic elements Bwack brings to the table that have encouraged me to get involved in electronic music, and especially how electronic music can natuarlly be integrated into a Worship Setting.
In the process of moving to a new state, and starting a new job, the editing and posting of the interview fail to the wayside. Thanks to a recent vacation and plane ride, I finally got the interview typed up and edited. I’ve split the interview into 3 different parts, that will be posting Today, Thursday and Friday. It’s full of behind the scenes info on how Crowder Band created their new record, and gives us a little bit of insight into the brain of the guy who literally created a drum-playing robot!
How did you start playing music?
I had a neighbor growing up who was a drummer. When I was in 5th grade she offered my mom a drumset and I started playing and taking drum lessons. I did 3 years of private lessons learning basic beats and rock and roll stuff. I joined the band in High School and played in the marching band, jazz band and the Orchestra program. All my friends were playing in funk and ska bands-It was one of those “band of the week” things were you’d play in a band for a week then you’d break up and a few more guys would come in. There were probably 30 musicians in my high school that were all really close and so at any given time there were probably 5 or 6 bands.
So because of all the different bands you were in, did you end up playing alot of different styles of music?
Yeah quite a few. I went to college for Jazz for about a year, and then I transferred to Baylor, which is were I met Crowder. I did music there for a few semesters as well. While I was there I was listening to Peter Gabriel. He was doing a lot of loop stuff, and Alanis was getting popular and she did alot of the electronic stuff as well. I was really getting into the idea of using loops. It allowed the drummer to do less-but more at the same time. Basically-you don’t feel like you’ve got to lay down Kick on 1 and snare on 2 and 4 all the time. Alot of those drummers were getting away from just the typical drum beat, because there was something else going on that was allowing them to experiment more with what groove is. Its almost like having 2 or 3 drummers in the band, I loved it.
How did you get into using loops and doing programming stuff?
There was always this desire to play with loops, but it was this far off distant, mysterious thing. How do you do that? I kinda knew what a loop was… you know it sounded like a distorted drum kit, it was drums that had been effected someway to sound less like drums. This was actually right about the time I was getting involved at UBC with the Crowder band and through some conversations with David we decided…yeah lets give it a shot. So we picked the song, “Waves of Mercy” (Every move I make)-you know old school 90’s worship song and we decided to make a loop for it. So I set up in the back room of our church and I’ve got Dave’s Korg M-1 Keyboard -which was like the standard of early 90’s Keyboard workstations, and I’ve got the drumkit pulled up on it. It was going through Jack’s Pedalboard into a Roland 202 sampler. So… I’m gonna make the first Crowder band loop ever. I programmed this regular rock beat and got a few pedals going and found a sound I liked. With the sp 202 you’ve basically got to hit record and stop at exactly the right time to get it to loop correctly. So I go get Crowder and said, “Hey I’m close to getting it where I need it, I just need someone to move the Wah.” So Crowder comes up and does the Wah. We figure out a cool wah pattern and I’m trying to get the 202 to record it just right. We got it figured out and we actually ended up using it for about 5 or 6 years.
What are you listening to these days musically?
Thats a good question. I haven’t bought a lot of records recently. I’m trying to think of what I’ve bought. There’s this Prog Metal band “Coheed and Cambria” I’ve been listening to their first two records a lot. I started with their first record and I’m reading the comics. If you don’t know, their singer Claudio Sanchez writes comics that all their lyrics of all the band’s albums are centered around. So its kinda like Sci-fi space trilogy stuff. I read the comic books and loved them, and so I bought the first record and spent some time with it, and right now I’m in the middle of the second record. It’s cool though cause they think of their music as a soundtrack to this epic comic work that the singer has done. Thats been my most recent music purchase.
And the Owl City stuff is just so pleasant to listen to and so great. Its kinda like “Thanks Owl City for making the second and third postal service records we never got”. I was a huge Postal Service fan, and I think i’m an even bigger owl city fan, because I think its more natural for him. I’m big into the Owl city stuff.
Thanks for checking out Part 1 of my Interview with Bwack! Make sure to check out Part 2 tomorrow @ 10 AM EST
I‘ve been working hard on trying to eliminate a phrase from my vocabulary, “It’s pretty good for Christian_______”. How many times as Worship Leaders do we say, “The album’s pretty good for Christian music”? Put that music in the light of whats popular or even “Mainstream” music and it falls apart. If what they are saying is that important, why does it often get presented in a less than flattering music and lyrical context? Thats why most of the “Music you Should be Listening to” posts you see around here aren’t for CCM. I still try to listen to Worship Music to find new songs to use in church, but its hard to remember the last Worship Album that I found that I legitimately enjoyed musically.I don’t say that to be a negative nancy, or to try to discredit people’s expressions of Worship, but to simply provide you with a bit of context that I judge the music I listen to.
I was excited when I heard about Lecrae. I had heard his name for a few months, but didn’t really check his music out. I heard about the incredible version of “Our God” on the new Pasison album. I checked it out and didn’t really care for it. I liked that he rapped during the song, but it felt forced. It didn’t seem like a natural fit. I’m a huge supporter of using something other than acoustic driven, white-guy music in Worship services, but this attempt didn’t go over well with me. Lecrae’s Rehab album was a different story though.
I really like Rap music. Yes I’m white. I’m not pasty white, but not far from it. I like James Taylor and Starbucks, but I love rap music. What’s great about Lecrae’s album is that it isn’t good for Christian Rap. It’s good for Rap. The music is great, you want to crank it, and the lyrics are deep and honest. It’s catchy but full of truth. It’s full of honesty. I mean..like David in the Psalms honest. Check out this section of “Just like You”:
” I was created by God but I ain’t wanna be like Him, I wanna be Him. The Jack Sparrow of my Carribean. I remember the first created bein’, and how he shifted the blame on his dane for foolish in the eatin’. And I look at us all out of Eden. Wearing designer fig leaves by Louie Vuitton make believin’. But God sees through my foolish pride, an how I’m weak like Adam, another victim of lucifer’s lies. Then in steps Jesus. All men were created to lead, but we needed somebody to lead us. More than a teacher, but somebody to buy us back from the darkness, you can say He redeemed us. Taught us that real leaders follow God, finish the work cause we on our job. Taught us not to rob, but give life. Love a wife like He loved the Church, without seein’ how many hearts we can break first. I wanna be like you in every way. So if I gotta die every day, unworthy sacrifice, but the least I can do is give the most to me. Cause bein’ just ike you is what I’m supposed to be. They say you came for the lame, I’m the lamest. I made a mess, but you say you’ll erase it. I’ll take it. They say you came for the lame, I’m the lamest. I broke my life, but you say you’ll replace it. I’ll take it.”
If you’re looking for something other than the typical white-guy CCM music we’re used to hearing, check it out. As I was writing this article I found out he had a newer CD, Rehab: The Overdose. I’m downloading it now. If it’s half as good as Rehab, I’m gonna love it. After that I’ll probably listen to some more JT, watch some Grey’s and pick up a brew at Starbucks. Just another day as a white guy.. “You mean I’m gonna stay this color?”
I get asked a lot about what gear I suggest, and what gear I currently use. Here’s the gear I’m currently using. If you have any questions about gear that would best suit you drop me an email and let’s chat!
Ableton Live Suite 8- I mentioned the other day that I’ve simplified my setup to using Ableton Live as my sole DAW. It’s working great. The instruments and sounds that come with Ableton Live Suite 8 are incredible. I use Operator for all my pads, and use the uniques features of Instrument Racks to create custom patches, that are really fun to play. Sampler is great when I’m re-sampiling material to use again, and I can convert it into a simpler patch so I can share with friends that don’t have Suite 8.
TouchOSC for iPhone-I’ve recently decided to check out TouchOSC (iphone/iPad) again, now that they support Core MIDI. Before I was using Automap by Novation when I would Remote Control Ableton using my iPhone. I was some what pleased with the results, but my patience has been tested recently. It seemed to disconnect frequently, and wasn’t working as smoothly as it once was. I’ve been using TouchOSC recenly and I’m really liking it. I love that I can use the Editor software to create a custom patch that suits my needs. The connect seems to be really stable, and I don’t seem to be having any issues. I’m very seriously even considering just using TouchOSC as my main controller instead of the APC 40, because of the visual real-time feedback. More on that later!
Macbook Pro 13″- Just a generic Macbook Pro 13″. I thought going from a 15-13 I’d be disapointed but the smaller size is easier to carry, and the speed is great. I just got my RAM upgrade in the mail so I’ll be going from 4-8 GB’s of RAM this week.
KMI Softstep- I bought this controller to upgrade from my Behringer FCB-1010. So far I’m very happy with the results. It’s incredible what a controller that is bus-powered and fits in my backpack can do. It’s incredibly lightweight and durable. I can use the editing software to customize each pad and send exactly the data I want to send to Ableton Live. And each Pad can send multiple commands. A multi-touch controller for my feet! Pretty cool. Again.. more on this later!
Akai APC 40- This thing is way more then just a DJ Controller. If you use Ableton Live frequently I’d suggest checking this guy out. Every command you use frequently, to record or playback your audio/MIDI is really easily accessed here. It’s great for Mixing audio, for controlling clips, and oh yeah.. it’s not too shabby for performing either! Like I mentioned above the main thing I’m missing from it is visual/real-time feedback (I control Ableton from my computer and the controller reflects the changes, or seeing what clip is what, by the name). Even if I do convert to an iPad running TouchOSC as my main controller I’ll still use this in the studio and while creating tracks.
Akai MPK 61- I love this keyboard! The keys respond great. If you’re a legit piano player, you’ll probably want to stick with something that’s weighted but for me mainly playing Pads it works great. The controls are easy to get to, and comes with plenty of faders, knobs, and pads to control Live to the Max!
Digidesign Mbox 2- I’m not in love with this box. I’m still in the hunt for another bus-powered multi-output interface. The main advantage this interface has for me is there are quite a few around me, so I always have backups. And honestly it’s been very stable. I’ve had issues with every other interface I own recently ( M-Audio Firewire 410, and Presonus Firepod, and a few others I’ve auditioned..). This one seems to hold up well, but I need more then 2 outs.
Sennheiser Ew 300 IEM- I always thought wireless in-ears was a bit of Diva thing. Especially when using them with an Aviom. For me they’ve become an essential part of my setup. They’re incredibly easy to get around the menu and get setup exactly the way you want. If you’re a Worship Leader and you need to get around easily (to listen to the mix, work with the band, etc..) you should pick up a set of these ears. If I had to give them up now, I’d be greatly disappointed, they work like a charm.
Mono 365 DJ Case- I’m in love with this backpack. Yes.. a backpack. I’ve gotten comments from people that it looks like a Rocketpack and a few other fun ones, but I have every piece of equipment and every cable, every document I need at all times. Oh yeah.. and I have backups as well. I do alot of different types of things, to teaching Ableton classes, playing keys, playing guitar, coaching bands, to writing, etc.. So I have to be able to quickly switch gears, and have to have the materials I need on hand. With this case I have all that and more. I’ll be doing a more indepth review on the site soon.
ToneHammer Emotional Piano - I love the darkness and warmth of this piano. I’m not sold on it’s stability though. I’m not sure if it’s Kontakt Player (from Native Instruments) or if its the Piano Samples themselves. Because of the stability issues I’m having I can’t perform with this piano, but it sounds great when I’m creating tracks. It’s been on every track I’ve created since I got it.
Sample Logic Acoustix- This is a great Partner Instrument from Sample Logic and Ableton Live. It loads up really easily within Ableton Live. The presets are pretty incredible sounding. It gives you the incredible sounds Sample Logic is know for without the price tag, and while working comfortable with the Ableton Interface you’re used to seeing. Not all the sounds could be easily used in a Live Worship Service, but they work great for sound effects, hits and creating tracks.
Iomega eGo Mac Edition 500 GB Harddrive - This is a great little harddrive for transferring files back and forth between computers, and for backup. I’ve become a backup obsessed man. I try to keep all my files in a few places just to be safe. This harddrive is fast, portable and has enough various connections that it works on various computers.
This is the main gear I’m currently using. This tends to be a continually evolving list. I’m looking at a new Interface. I’ll most likely be getting some non-free (here’s some great free) plugins soon. I’ll be switching to running all my tracks and loops off Glyph drives for stability and the extra speed. You can see with the gear I have, I’m not completely pleased with all of it in all situations. That’s the funny thing about gear. What’s great for me, isn’t nesseasily great for you and your situation. I’d love to help you and your church decide on what gear is best for you. Drop me an drop me an email so we chat about it.
Lately I’ve converted to using Ableton Live as my SOLE source of audio playback, recording, and creation. That’s right. No Reason, No Protools.. only Ableton Live. There’s some things I don’t have from Pro Tools, some sounds I don’t have from Reason… but I’m not missing them. My workflow is refined, my sounds are improved, and they are all generated from Live.
Eventhough I use Ableton Live for everything now, it’s nice from time to time to venture into other areas, and new sounds. It helps keep you on the cutting edge of technology and keeps you grounded. (Still use your software of choice and create a kicking workflow-but don’t forget there’s more sounds and software out there!)
One way to explore sounds is through the use of Plugins. Plugins are generally in 3 formats, VST, AU, and RTAS. We can use both VST’s and AU’s in Ableton Live, so there’s no need to mention RTAS in this article.
Here’s a few of my favorite plugins that money CAN’T buy. That’s right these are completely free, and they are great!
It’s hard to describe the fun you can have with this synth. The bass lines and leads are killer. It can function both as a mono and poly synth, but leave it in mono mode and crank out some nasty leads and bass lines.. Too much fun!
This plugin is almost as fun as actually playing my Juno 60. The basses are super thick and the strings and pads lead to great areas of 80′s epicness! you’ll have tons of fun.
LIve cut is a plugin that functions similarly to Live’s Beat Repeat. It seems to take beat repeat and glichted beats to a whole new level. One of my favorite things to do is drop it on a drum track, then route that audio to a new track, and let it run for a few minutes. Record the results then go back and find your favorite glitches and build a beat around them.
What are your favorite free plugins? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
A few weeks ago we talked about a few ways to speed up your Loop Production Process . One of the suggestions was to create your own Presets. What do you do after you create those presets in Ableton Live? What if you find a few sounds you really like, where do you store them? Learn how to create a Custom Presets Folder in Ableton Live, so that you can store your favorite sounds and custom presets to use across all your favorite Live Projects. You can view the small version below. If you want to see it in HD, or if you’re having trouble with the video below, check it out on Youtube.
I‘ve got to admit, I’ve uttered those words before. It gives you a sense of satisfaction, a sense of exclusivity. “Oh, you like my pad sound, I made it. You can’t just buy it”. There’s lot’s of validity to the thought. You create sounds that are custom tailored to your needs. They respond to how YOU play. They fill out the space in your band. It’s a great idea.
A few weeks ago I was spending sometime rummaging through the Live Suite Library for a project. I was listening to the included sounds and trying to discover the sounds that work well, and those that don’t. I discovered theres alot of great great sounds in the library. I went through and saved a few presets into my Custom Presets folder to remember for later.
Here’s the point: When it comes down to it, It doesn’t matter if I’m using a preset I created and designed, or one thats part of the Ableton Library. The congregation isn’t going to worship more or less because of my preset. God isn’t going to be honored more because I created my own sounds.
The truth is…It doesn’t matter how or even IF you use loops. I’ve always felt there are good, better, and best, ways to use loops. But if you’re running loops of an iPod, your congregation probably won’t know if you start running loops out of Ableton Live. If you’re using Fruity Loops to create your loops, will your church membership double when you start using Reason?
Here’s the take-away. If you feel called to use loops, if you feel its something God has put on your heart to pursue-then do it. Now. Don’t wait till you can afford Ableton Live. Start using an iPod. Do what you have to do, but start. You and your band will notice as you upgrade to Ableton and become more flexible and less time consuming, but the point is.. start doing it now, with what you have.
If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’ll probably remember this post a few months ago about the Tron Soundtrack. It’s been one of my favorites for the past few months. I noticed this morning to much delight that there’s now a remix album of the Tron soundtrack. And it’s an offical remix. If you’ve wondered what the Tron soundtrack would of sounded like if The Glitch Mob, Moby, Kaskade, and The Crystal Method worked with Daft Punk, then here’s your chance. And that list of people is only the beginning. If you were a fan of the movie, the soundtrack, electronic music, or you’re just looking for something new and upbeat to listen to, then this album may be it for you. Check it out Today!
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Why Lion and iCloud are going to revolutionize the way we make music
Posted by Will on Jun 8, 2011 in Gear | 0 comments
What a big statement for a title right? A revolution is a pretty big thing. One of our most popular blog posts set out to declare the iPad would change the way we perform, create, and produce our music. In alot of ways we can say the iPad has done that, but there’s still lots of room to go. In a way the iCloud and Lion announcements have got me back into dreaming mode. There are four new features I’m particularly interested in and I’ll explain why I think they’ll revolutionize the way we make music.
Before you upgrade to Lion you’ll want to check out this post to see if your software is compatible
Gesture Tracking
Apple revolutionized (again with the powerful words…) the way people experience media, browse the web and use non-PC devices with the iPhone and iPad. The touch gestures just work. I’ve seen my nephews use an iPad and an iPhone without needing any explanation. That’s when you know something “just works”. With Lion, Apple is working to further integrate multi-touch gestures into the PC. You reach out and “almost” touch what you’re working with. We use all the same gestures we’re used to working with but now on our laptops.
Imagine what this could mean for producing music. Your DAW could integrate multi-touch features into the program easily. Two finger swipes take you back and forth between Session and Arrangement view. Maybe four fingers down, opens up clip view. Swiping from left to right adjusts the volume of your track. Swipe around the trackpad to set your filter frequency. Record the automation by “drawing” your automation curve on your trackpad.
What if two fingers started playback. A two finger swipe to the right jumped to the next song/marker? A swipe to the left takes you to your previous song. Three fingers sets your tempo. Four fingers stops your track. The possibilities are endless. Maybe instead of looking at iPads to control our DAW’s, we’ll look at using our trackpads in a more in-depth way. Combine your iPad and your trackpad and you’ve got the ultimate DAW controller.
Air drop
Do you ever have a thumb drive when you really need one? I know I don’t. When you’re sitting around and working on songs with your friends, or creating a set-list for Sunday that you need to get to your drummer, you’ve got to go find your thumb drive. Now you can just open your mac, drag the file to your drummer’s picture representing his mac and off the file goes. No need to worry about the thumb drive. It’s just there. Open your mac and transfer the files while you finish setup. No need to let the file transfer to your thumbdrive and then get it to your drummer. This could be a good solution for those of us that are used to using dropbox for file sharing, but maybe the internet isn’t great where the church meets. Maybe airdrop will do file transfers the way i-chat file transfer should have. Here’s to hoping file transfers get the Apple, “it just works” treatment.
Auto-Save
Oh wow.. this is huge. Sure, there are programs that do this now, and that’s great. But how about the feature being built into the OS? How about Ableton adding the function in? We already have a file-recovery system for when our favorite free-ware plugin crashes Live, but what about never having to worry about saving again! You’re working on a loop for Sunday late Saturday night (I know YOU’D never do that…) and the coffee and Red bulls are wearing off. You haven’t saved in a few minutes and one C chord too many, it’s time for bed. You go to close live, and because of the ungodly amount of caffeine keeping you awake is clouding your judgement. You choose to close Live without saving.. Oops. There goes that great remix of As the Deer (Maybe it’s a good thing it crashed after all?) With auto-save we don’t have to worry about our files. We just create. We record and we play music. “Command S” is so 2010.
iCloud backup and file transfer
Maybe I saved the best for last. iCloud’s implementation of the cloud for backup and file transfer is pretty snazzy. It works in the background without us having to learn/re-learn anything and again…just works. Apple is allowing Developers to build the option to send files to iCloud into their programs. So now the game is changing. Imagine opening Live to work on a file. You’re working for a good 45 minutes and you’re making some good progress. You’ve got to stop working for some reason (there’s a rob bell webcast on) and so you go to check it out. Remember we’ve got Auto-save so Live automatically saves your file. But because it’s connected to iCloud your files are magically making their way to the home in the sky (really a giant building in NC).
Let’s say the Webcast with Rob Bell went well, so you get together with your seminary buddies to discuss it over a Piper sermon. After your Theological conversations, you turn to discussing your great new dub-step track. You didn’t render out an mp3 to play for them, so you borrow your buddies laptop. You open his version of Ableton Live and log into your iCloud account. Of course by then Ableton Live is sold in the Mac App Store, so if he doesn’t have it, you can log onto your account and download it to his computer. Within a few minutes your Live session with all your clips and all it’s dubstep goodness, is now playing for your friends. Make some changes, tweak the mix, and then close the program. The changes are backed up to the cloud for you to wrap up the mix at home.
Okay so clearly some of this would take place in the distant future. (Rob Bell and John Piper in the same day? Not even Steve Job’s could make that happen)Sure Ableton isn’t in the App Store yet, and downloading all those clips from the cloud could take a while. But all this functionality is simply waiting to be implemented into Live (9 maybe??). With the release of Lion and iCloud it’s all possible. The future is closer then we think. With Lion and iCloud its even closer now.
These are only a few of the features of iCloud and Lion that could change the way we make music. What are you most excited about?
Interview with @theBwack (pt.3 ) Behind the Scenes of "Church Music" and the Crowder Band
Posted by Will on May 20, 2011 in Chatter | 0 comments
Here’s part three of our interview with @thebwack. We chat about the making of Church Music and how the Crowder Band approaches using loops. Before you check out the article make sure to check out Part 1, and Part 2.
What role do loops play in the Crowder Band? How do you guys treat the idea of using loops?
It’s totally different for every song. I think our philosophy is that we’re going to try and perform as much as we can live. For me as a drummer its just another way of looking at drums. I guess for me the role is subdivisions, its like adding a whole lot of cool subdivisions, and layers. You know in the studio I really like the sound of two or three drumsets all playing at once, so alot of times the loop is either other drum kit parts i’ve recorded or extra beats that I’ve programmed. Alot of it is just trying to get that electronic or urban sound. And for me its a way to play on the beat a little more.. I don’t want to feel restricted to the feeling that if I’m not laying down the backbeat, no one is. I want to feel like if I want to go away from that and not lay down that strong backbeat I know that the loop is providing that.
This record is kinda the first record where we are really starting to blur the line between the drummer and the band and the loops. The way we are performing it, there’s really not that division anymore. There are so many elements of what you would typically call the loop, that are being played by members of the band. Its like we’ve taken over the loop and are now performing the loop, and its not really a loop at all.
Like on Shadows I don’t really play the drum kit at all. I’ve got electronic pads, I’ve got an arcade button box i built (midi controller), and for the entirety of the song I’m just triggering all the sounds that were programmed, and there are no loop beats going on. Mark is playing one of the beats too.
How do you go from what you created in the studio to what you do on stage? How do you decide how will we play this live?
Thats a few days per song process it seems like. We got up in the barn about a month before the tour and just went through song by song and worked it out. If you watch some of these new songs, you’ll see everyone is multi-tasking, and theres not really a lot of moments where anyone is just standing around with nothing to do.
We really wanted everyone to be involved in all the sounds. I’ve got the Protools file opened up and we’re going through and listening to each part, because a lot of times 1,000 sounds will go into the record and by the time its mixed maybe only 250 of those sounds are really out front in the mix. So we go through and solo stuff and figure out what we are going to do live. I know what Drum parts were played and Dave and Jack and Mark know what Guitar parts were played, so its about going “okay so who is free in the bridge to do this synth”? Everything else we give to Mike D. and Hogan. It’s just time and effort, and then playing it over and over again.
We love Korg Nano keys. We’ve got like 20 of them, and they are all spread out over the stage. There’s times where Mark walks back to the drumset and theres a Nano Key there and he’s playing synth parts that are running off Sylenth on my computer. There’s stuff all over the stage to give people the ability at any moment to play those parts of the song.
At what point in the demoing and recording process do you guys bring the loops in?
We’ll for this record it was first, it started with loops. It started with Reason files that if you listen to them by themselves sound like techno instrumental things and we used those as the foundations for writing the lyrics.
This album doesn’t really feel like a post-production album it really does feel like the loops are part of the band.
Thanks, that’s what we were hoping for.
What was the coolest new thing you guys did for this record?
The robot. Have you seen Steve the robot? You know we’re talking about all this layering and there were a lot of drum sets going on in the record doing al ot of parts, and pretty much during the making of the record the question was asked so what are we gonna do about these parts?
Everyone was pretty sad, like- “We aren’t just gonna track this are we?” Theres gotta be something and I jokingly said I’m gonna build a robot.
I think when you say robot everyone thinks humanoid, something that looks like c-3po… but in my head i think of the BestBuy vending machine you see at the airport, thats a robot. Something taking a task that takes a lot of people to accomplish and it does it for them.
So when I’m thinking of a drummer robot I’m thinking of a player piano, this will be a player piano but a player drummer, like auto-drums kinda thing. I just wanted something that would play those other beats on an acoustic drum set and kinda be a visual representation of those beats, but still sound like a machine.
I posted this video of steve and the website Hackaday ended up re-posting the video. It’s funny to me reading the comments on Hackaday because a lot of the comments are “you know if you put some error in there and like changed the velocities it would sound more human.”
But my thing is – “Why would I want my Robot to sound more Human?”
We would play it if we wanted it human. I want it sound like a machine gun. You know really stiff, really technical. And it works better on some stuff than others.
You know Solomon from Family force 5? We were talking at a conference the other day and he was saying that it is beautiful because you don’t always need velocity. Some of the best beats don’t have velocity. Thats the joy of the 808 stuff. The original 808 drum machine had 3 steps of velocity but most of the beats are just full on.
Yeah most people can’t walk away from a record and say they built a robot.
Yeah i do have to give credit to these two engineering students in Waco that are friends of mine (Eli Hernandez and Josh Caldwell). I went to their school during their breaks over two months and they machined the metal parts and turn rough sketches into real designs. They are great.
What tools do you use to create and use loops?
Well i think it is still the trifecta: Ableton, Reason and Protools.
I think I’m kinda getting away from Reason, not for any reason other then I’m starting to get into VST synth stuff like the Sylenth thing is incredible. I’m also getting more into protools because I’m trying to spend more time making stuff out of recorded sounds. Those are the three main ones.
There’s a group called D16 group, they make these really sweet drum machines and plug-ins. You know in Reason on the Scream Distortion how one of the settings is “Digital” the 8-bit degradation thing, they’ve got one called “Decimort” thats really great. It reminds me of some of the Owl-City stuff where its like some of the drum sounds seem to be out of phase, like the bit-rate has been dropped just a hair, this Decimort thing is pretty close to that sound, I’m really into that.
Whats the one piece of Gear, Hardware or Software that you can’t live without? If you had one piece of Gear you could take with you on a Desert Island, what would it be?
My laptop. I guess that’s kinda cheating but.. thats my desert island gear. Or you know one of the new Miko’s would be cool. It’s like the computer and everything you need in there. I don’t know though my laptop is cool because I can do everything on it and take it anywhere. I don’t even have a desktop computer – its my laptop. I plug it into Pro tools and its my full on recording system.
This wraps up part 3 of our Interview with Bwack. If you missed Part 1 or Part 2 make sure to check them out! If you’d like to stay up to date with what’s happening with Loops in Worship, sign up to join our Mailing List, to the right of this post. Also while you’re here check out the rest of what we have to offer. And as always feel free to drop us an email if you’d like!
Interview with @theBwack (pt.2 ): Tips for Drummers
Posted by Will on May 19, 2011 in Chatter | 1 comment
Here’s Part 2 of my interview with @thebwack. If you haven’t checked out Part 1 yet, go ahead and get caught up before you check out this article. In this post we chat about how he approaches playing with loops, and he offers up some tips for drummers. This is an article you’ll want to share with your drummers. Make sure to hit the Re-Tweet or Facebook Like buttons to the right of this post to quickly share with your team.
What advice can you give to drummers that are playing to a loop, to make the most out of it.
I think like you’ve said before, playing “with” loops and not “to” loops is key. When we started messing with the whole loop thing, we bought a metronome and started playing with that. It was uncomfortable for a few months. There was a process of learning to follow something thats true, thats an absolute. You realize “I tend to rush when we’re going into a chorus”, or “I tend to drag when we’re ending a song”, so you learn a lot about yourself and how you play-playing with a metronome.
And the same thing with a loop. It’s about getting to a point where following a metronome and a loop is so comfortable that you don’t have to think about it. Thats what I try to do. I try to be at a point where when we’re playing I’m not thinking “am i with it” i’m just thinking “this is fun and this feels good”. I know when i’m starting to slide off a little bit but for the most part its just ingrained and natural.
I know a lot of drummers will practice with a click and then take the click out and bring it back in to see if they could stay with the click, to practice their timing. Did you ever do that?
Well no, I think thats kinda silly. If you’re trying to see if you can play without a click to a given tempo that might be a good study, but really I’m gonna play with a click 90% of the time. The songs we don’t use a click on we do it because we like the feel of the movement and not having to be tied down. Like You Are My Joy, we never do that to click, we’re just going for it, and some nights it’s a little fast, and some nights its a little slower, and sometimes the choruses are faster then the verses but we like the kind of energy that lies in that. That’s a song that needs that feel. All the other times I’m gonna be playing to a click so I just want to know – can I stay with the click?
How do you approach playing with loops?
For me the first thing I try to do if theres a significant beat in the loop is try to play something different than the loop and something that compliments it. For Example, on Beautiful Collision the drum beat on that is pretty solid and driving and very pronounced. I made the loop part the secondary beat and third beat. They are similar but completely different. They are kinda playing in between notes. In that song its about playing something thats not contrary to what the loop is doing but complimenting the loop while not playing the same beat.
I’ve found there are few times that I’m playing the exact same thing as the loop, as far as kick drum energy and snare energy.
It can be dangerous because if you’re not 100% locked in it can become very apparent. So playing something complimentary but different from the loop, you can create energy that comes from all the layers opening up and working together.
As an arrangement too, loops are a great way to add dynamics and make certain parts of a song really grow and blossom and other parts stay very minimal. Especially if you’re running to a click with a loop, there can be times that everything but the band drops out but since your on a click when that loop comes back in it is really powerful and more evident.
One thing I appreciate about your drumming is that you’re not afraid to play four on the floor. When you do a four on the floor thing, how do you approach it.
To me, four on the floor with a loop is pretty static. So you’ve got the four on the floor, the big kick drum that everyone is bobbing their head to and if there wasn’t the loop element playing this really static thing, then I probably would feel the necessity to do the open hat (disco thing) or subdivide somehow. But if thats what the loop is doing then I can feel the freedom to let my hands be the speaking force. You know something thats not just static but something thats moving and changing and dynamic. I just try to have fun with it… and having a loop lets me feel like I can have fun.
Check out the Peter Gabriel DVD “Secret World Live” with Manu Katche (Drummer). They are using loops and the way he plays the Drumset around the loops is incredible. Basically the loop is driving the song and he’s complimenting it. It changed the way I thought about playing with loops. It was like “this is why you have electronic elements in the band. Same thing with most of the early Alanis stuff, the drummer isn’t laying down this solid time, its more about being a layer. Stewart Copeland was someone that could take a four on the floor beat and turn it into something with a lot of driving power. To me he was the epitome of a pop drummer. He took pop music beats and made them exciting.
Don’t miss Part 3 of our Interview with Bwack, Tomorrow at 10 AM EST on the blog!
Interview with @theBwack (part. 1)
Posted by Will on May 18, 2011 in Chatter | 0 comments
Last fall I had the privilege of checking out the @crowderband on their Church Music tour. It was one of the most fun, and most technologically advanced concerts I’ve been to. Thanks to a good friend of mine, I was able to sit down with the Infamous Bwack (@thebwack), and chat about all things music, Crowderband and Ableton Live. It’s partially because of the music of the Crowderband and the electronic elements Bwack brings to the table that have encouraged me to get involved in electronic music, and especially how electronic music can natuarlly be integrated into a Worship Setting.
In the process of moving to a new state, and starting a new job, the editing and posting of the interview fail to the wayside. Thanks to a recent vacation and plane ride, I finally got the interview typed up and edited. I’ve split the interview into 3 different parts, that will be posting Today, Thursday and Friday. It’s full of behind the scenes info on how Crowder Band created their new record, and gives us a little bit of insight into the brain of the guy who literally created a drum-playing robot!
How did you start playing music?
I had a neighbor growing up who was a drummer. When I was in 5th grade she offered my mom a drumset and I started playing and taking drum lessons. I did 3 years of private lessons learning basic beats and rock and roll stuff. I joined the band in High School and played in the marching band, jazz band and the Orchestra program. All my friends were playing in funk and ska bands-It was one of those “band of the week” things were you’d play in a band for a week then you’d break up and a few more guys would come in. There were probably 30 musicians in my high school that were all really close and so at any given time there were probably 5 or 6 bands.
So because of all the different bands you were in, did you end up playing alot of different styles of music?
Yeah quite a few. I went to college for Jazz for about a year, and then I transferred to Baylor, which is were I met Crowder. I did music there for a few semesters as well. While I was there I was listening to Peter Gabriel. He was doing a lot of loop stuff, and Alanis was getting popular and she did alot of the electronic stuff as well. I was really getting into the idea of using loops. It allowed the drummer to do less-but more at the same time. Basically-you don’t feel like you’ve got to lay down Kick on 1 and snare on 2 and 4 all the time. Alot of those drummers were getting away from just the typical drum beat, because there was something else going on that was allowing them to experiment more with what groove is. Its almost like having 2 or 3 drummers in the band, I loved it.
How did you get into using loops and doing programming stuff?
There was always this desire to play with loops, but it was this far off distant, mysterious thing. How do you do that? I kinda knew what a loop was… you know it sounded like a distorted drum kit, it was drums that had been effected someway to sound less like drums. This was actually right about the time I was getting involved at UBC with the Crowder band and through some conversations with David we decided…yeah lets give it a shot. So we picked the song, “Waves of Mercy” (Every move I make)-you know old school 90’s worship song and we decided to make a loop for it. So I set up in the back room of our church and I’ve got Dave’s Korg M-1 Keyboard -which was like the standard of early 90’s Keyboard workstations, and I’ve got the drumkit pulled up on it. It was going through Jack’s Pedalboard into a Roland 202 sampler. So… I’m gonna make the first Crowder band loop ever. I programmed this regular rock beat and got a few pedals going and found a sound I liked. With the sp 202 you’ve basically got to hit record and stop at exactly the right time to get it to loop correctly. So I go get Crowder and said, “Hey I’m close to getting it where I need it, I just need someone to move the Wah.” So Crowder comes up and does the Wah. We figure out a cool wah pattern and I’m trying to get the 202 to record it just right. We got it figured out and we actually ended up using it for about 5 or 6 years.
What are you listening to these days musically?
Thats a good question. I haven’t bought a lot of records recently. I’m trying to think of what I’ve bought. There’s this Prog Metal band “Coheed and Cambria” I’ve been listening to their first two records a lot. I started with their first record and I’m reading the comics. If you don’t know, their singer Claudio Sanchez writes comics that all their lyrics of all the band’s albums are centered around. So its kinda like Sci-fi space trilogy stuff. I read the comic books and loved them, and so I bought the first record and spent some time with it, and right now I’m in the middle of the second record. It’s cool though cause they think of their music as a soundtrack to this epic comic work that the singer has done. Thats been my most recent music purchase.
And the Owl City stuff is just so pleasant to listen to and so great. Its kinda like “Thanks Owl City for making the second and third postal service records we never got”. I was a huge Postal Service fan, and I think i’m an even bigger owl city fan, because I think its more natural for him. I’m big into the Owl city stuff.
Thanks for checking out Part 1 of my Interview with Bwack! Make sure to check out Part 2 tomorrow @ 10 AM EST
Music you Should be Listening: 5/17/2011 Edition
Posted by Will on May 17, 2011 in Music you Should be Listening to | 0 comments
I was excited when I heard about Lecrae. I had heard his name for a few months, but didn’t really check his music out. I heard about the incredible version of “Our God” on the new Pasison album. I checked it out and didn’t really care for it. I liked that he rapped during the song, but it felt forced. It didn’t seem like a natural fit. I’m a huge supporter of using something other than acoustic driven, white-guy music in Worship services, but this attempt didn’t go over well with me. Lecrae’s Rehab album was a different story though.
I really like Rap music. Yes I’m white. I’m not pasty white, but not far from it. I like James Taylor and Starbucks, but I love rap music. What’s great about Lecrae’s album is that it isn’t good for Christian Rap. It’s good for Rap. The music is great, you want to crank it, and the lyrics are deep and honest. It’s catchy but full of truth. It’s full of honesty. I mean..like David in the Psalms honest. Check out this section of “Just like You”:
” I was created by God but I ain’t wanna be like Him, I wanna be Him. The Jack Sparrow of my Carribean. I remember the first created bein’, and how he shifted the blame on his dane for foolish in the eatin’. And I look at us all out of Eden. Wearing designer fig leaves by Louie Vuitton make believin’. But God sees through my foolish pride, an how I’m weak like Adam, another victim of lucifer’s lies. Then in steps Jesus. All men were created to lead, but we needed somebody to lead us. More than a teacher, but somebody to buy us back from the darkness, you can say He redeemed us. Taught us that real leaders follow God, finish the work cause we on our job. Taught us not to rob, but give life. Love a wife like He loved the Church, without seein’ how many hearts we can break first. I wanna be like you in every way. So if I gotta die every day, unworthy sacrifice, but the least I can do is give the most to me. Cause bein’ just ike you is what I’m supposed to be. They say you came for the lame, I’m the lamest. I made a mess, but you say you’ll erase it. I’ll take it. They say you came for the lame, I’m the lamest. I broke my life, but you say you’ll replace it. I’ll take it.”
If you’re looking for something other than the typical white-guy CCM music we’re used to hearing, check it out. As I was writing this article I found out he had a newer CD, Rehab: The Overdose. I’m downloading it now. If it’s half as good as Rehab, I’m gonna love it. After that I’ll probably listen to some more JT, watch some Grey’s and pick up a brew at Starbucks. Just another day as a white guy.. “You mean I’m gonna stay this color?”
Pick up Rehab on iTunes
Pick up Rehab on Amazon
Pick up Rehab:Overdose on iTunes
Pick up Rehab: Overdose on Amazon
What are you currently listening to?
My Current Setup
Posted by Will on May 16, 2011 in Gear | 12 comments
I get asked a lot about what gear I suggest, and what gear I currently use. Here’s the gear I’m currently using. If you have any questions about gear that would best suit you drop me an email and let’s chat!
Ableton Live Suite 8 - I mentioned the other day that I’ve simplified my setup to using Ableton Live as my sole DAW. It’s working great. The instruments and sounds that come with Ableton Live Suite 8 are incredible. I use Operator for all my pads, and use the uniques features of Instrument Racks to create custom patches, that are really fun to play. Sampler is great when I’m re-sampiling material to use again, and I can convert it into a simpler patch so I can share with friends that don’t have Suite 8.
TouchOSC for iPhone-I’ve recently decided to check out TouchOSC (iphone/iPad) again, now that they support Core MIDI. Before I was using Automap by Novation when I would Remote Control Ableton using my iPhone. I was some what pleased with the results, but my patience has been tested recently. It seemed to disconnect frequently, and wasn’t working as smoothly as it once was. I’ve been using TouchOSC recenly and I’m really liking it. I love that I can use the Editor software to create a custom patch that suits my needs. The connect seems to be really stable, and I don’t seem to be having any issues. I’m very seriously even considering just using TouchOSC as my main controller instead of the APC 40, because of the visual real-time feedback. More on that later!
Macbook Pro 13″- Just a generic Macbook Pro 13″. I thought going from a 15-13 I’d be disapointed but the smaller size is easier to carry, and the speed is great. I just got my RAM upgrade in the mail so I’ll be going from 4-8 GB’s of RAM this week.
KMI Softstep- I bought this controller to upgrade from my Behringer FCB-1010. So far I’m very happy with the results. It’s incredible what a controller that is bus-powered and fits in my backpack can do. It’s incredibly lightweight and durable. I can use the editing software to customize each pad and send exactly the data I want to send to Ableton Live. And each Pad can send multiple commands. A multi-touch controller for my feet! Pretty cool. Again.. more on this later!
Akai APC 40- This thing is way more then just a DJ Controller. If you use Ableton Live frequently I’d suggest checking this guy out. Every command you use frequently, to record or playback your audio/MIDI is really easily accessed here. It’s great for Mixing audio, for controlling clips, and oh yeah.. it’s not too shabby for performing either! Like I mentioned above the main thing I’m missing from it is visual/real-time feedback (I control Ableton from my computer and the controller reflects the changes, or seeing what clip is what, by the name). Even if I do convert to an iPad running TouchOSC as my main controller I’ll still use this in the studio and while creating tracks.
Akai MPK 61- I love this keyboard! The keys respond great. If you’re a legit piano player, you’ll probably want to stick with something that’s weighted but for me mainly playing Pads it works great. The controls are easy to get to, and comes with plenty of faders, knobs, and pads to control Live to the Max!
Digidesign Mbox 2- I’m not in love with this box. I’m still in the hunt for another bus-powered multi-output interface. The main advantage this interface has for me is there are quite a few around me, so I always have backups. And honestly it’s been very stable. I’ve had issues with every other interface I own recently ( M-Audio Firewire 410, and Presonus Firepod, and a few others I’ve auditioned..). This one seems to hold up well, but I need more then 2 outs.
Sennheiser Ew 300 IEM- I always thought wireless in-ears was a bit of Diva thing. Especially when using them with an Aviom. For me they’ve become an essential part of my setup. They’re incredibly easy to get around the menu and get setup exactly the way you want. If you’re a Worship Leader and you need to get around easily (to listen to the mix, work with the band, etc..) you should pick up a set of these ears. If I had to give them up now, I’d be greatly disappointed, they work like a charm.
Mono 365 DJ Case- I’m in love with this backpack. Yes.. a backpack. I’ve gotten comments from people that it looks like a Rocketpack and a few other fun ones, but I have every piece of equipment and every cable, every document I need at all times. Oh yeah.. and I have backups as well. I do alot of different types of things, to teaching Ableton classes, playing keys, playing guitar, coaching bands, to writing, etc.. So I have to be able to quickly switch gears, and have to have the materials I need on hand. With this case I have all that and more. I’ll be doing a more indepth review on the site soon.
ToneHammer Emotional Piano - I love the darkness and warmth of this piano. I’m not sold on it’s stability though. I’m not sure if it’s Kontakt Player (from Native Instruments) or if its the Piano Samples themselves. Because of the stability issues I’m having I can’t perform with this piano, but it sounds great when I’m creating tracks. It’s been on every track I’ve created since I got it.
Sample Logic Acoustix- This is a great Partner Instrument from Sample Logic and Ableton Live. It loads up really easily within Ableton Live. The presets are pretty incredible sounding. It gives you the incredible sounds Sample Logic is know for without the price tag, and while working comfortable with the Ableton Interface you’re used to seeing. Not all the sounds could be easily used in a Live Worship Service, but they work great for sound effects, hits and creating tracks.
Iomega eGo Mac Edition 500 GB Harddrive - This is a great little harddrive for transferring files back and forth between computers, and for backup. I’ve become a backup obsessed man. I try to keep all my files in a few places just to be safe. This harddrive is fast, portable and has enough various connections that it works on various computers.
This is the main gear I’m currently using. This tends to be a continually evolving list. I’m looking at a new Interface. I’ll most likely be getting some non-free (here’s some great free) plugins soon. I’ll be switching to running all my tracks and loops off Glyph drives for stability and the extra speed. You can see with the gear I have, I’m not completely pleased with all of it in all situations. That’s the funny thing about gear. What’s great for me, isn’t nesseasily great for you and your situation. I’d love to help you and your church decide on what gear is best for you. Drop me an drop me an email so we chat about it.
What gear are you Currently using for Loops?
The best plugins money CAN'T buy!
Posted by Will on May 11, 2011 in Gear | 1 comment
Lately I’ve converted to using Ableton Live as my SOLE source of audio playback, recording, and creation. That’s right. No Reason, No Protools.. only Ableton Live. There’s some things I don’t have from Pro Tools, some sounds I don’t have from Reason… but I’m not missing them. My workflow is refined, my sounds are improved, and they are all generated from Live.
Eventhough I use Ableton Live for everything now, it’s nice from time to time to venture into other areas, and new sounds. It helps keep you on the cutting edge of technology and keeps you grounded. (Still use your software of choice and create a kicking workflow-but don’t forget there’s more sounds and software out there!)
One way to explore sounds is through the use of Plugins. Plugins are generally in 3 formats, VST, AU, and RTAS. We can use both VST’s and AU’s in Ableton Live, so there’s no need to mention RTAS in this article.
Here’s a few of my favorite plugins that money CAN’T buy. That’s right these are completely free, and they are great!
Tal Elek7ro
It’s hard to describe the fun you can have with this synth. The bass lines and leads are killer. It can function both as a mono and poly synth, but leave it in mono mode and crank out some nasty leads and bass lines.. Too much fun!
Tal U_NO_60
This plugin is almost as fun as actually playing my Juno 60. The basses are super thick and the strings and pads lead to great areas of 80′s epicness! you’ll have tons of fun.
TAL U-NO-62
The Juno 60′s big brother (though some still swear the 60 is warmer sounding). It’s just as fun as the 60 to mess with.
TAL-Bass Line
Need phat bass lines? Look no further!
Live Cut
LIve cut is a plugin that functions similarly to Live’s Beat Repeat. It seems to take beat repeat and glichted beats to a whole new level. One of my favorite things to do is drop it on a drum track, then route that audio to a new track, and let it run for a few minutes. Record the results then go back and find your favorite glitches and build a beat around them.
What are your favorite free plugins? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
Video Blog-Creating a Custom Presets Folder in Ableton Live
Posted by Will on Apr 15, 2011 in Transitioning your Band to Using Loops | 0 comments
A few weeks ago we talked about a few ways to speed up your Loop Production Process . One of the suggestions was to create your own Presets. What do you do after you create those presets in Ableton Live? What if you find a few sounds you really like, where do you store them? Learn how to create a Custom Presets Folder in Ableton Live, so that you can store your favorite sounds and custom presets to use across all your favorite Live Projects. You can view the small version below. If you want to see it in HD, or if you’re having trouble with the video below, check it out on Youtube.
"I don't use Presets"… and other non-sense
Posted by Will on Apr 11, 2011 in Transitioning your Band to Using Loops | 1 comment
I‘ve got to admit, I’ve uttered those words before. It gives you a sense of satisfaction, a sense of exclusivity. “Oh, you like my pad sound, I made it. You can’t just buy it”. There’s lot’s of validity to the thought. You create sounds that are custom tailored to your needs. They respond to how YOU play. They fill out the space in your band. It’s a great idea.
A few weeks ago I was spending sometime rummaging through the Live Suite Library for a project. I was listening to the included sounds and trying to discover the sounds that work well, and those that don’t. I discovered theres alot of great great sounds in the library. I went through and saved a few presets into my Custom Presets folder to remember for later.
Here’s the point: When it comes down to it, It doesn’t matter if I’m using a preset I created and designed, or one thats part of the Ableton Library. The congregation isn’t going to worship more or less because of my preset. God isn’t going to be honored more because I created my own sounds.
The truth is…It doesn’t matter how or even IF you use loops. I’ve always felt there are good, better, and best, ways to use loops. But if you’re running loops of an iPod, your congregation probably won’t know if you start running loops out of Ableton Live. If you’re using Fruity Loops to create your loops, will your church membership double when you start using Reason?
Here’s the take-away. If you feel called to use loops, if you feel its something God has put on your heart to pursue-then do it. Now. Don’t wait till you can afford Ableton Live. Start using an iPod. Do what you have to do, but start. You and your band will notice as you upgrade to Ableton and become more flexible and less time consuming, but the point is.. start doing it now, with what you have.
What are you waiting for?
Music you Should be Listening To: Tron Reconfigured
Posted by Will on Apr 5, 2011 in blog, Chatter, Music you Should be Listening to | 0 comments
If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’ll probably remember this post a few months ago about the Tron Soundtrack. It’s been one of my favorites for the past few months. I noticed this morning to much delight that there’s now a remix album of the Tron soundtrack. And it’s an offical remix. If you’ve wondered what the Tron soundtrack would of sounded like if The Glitch Mob, Moby, Kaskade, and The Crystal Method worked with Daft Punk, then here’s your chance. And that list of people is only the beginning. If you were a fan of the movie, the soundtrack, electronic music, or you’re just looking for something new and upbeat to listen to, then this album may be it for you. Check it out Today!
Purchase Tron : Legacy Reconfigured on Amazon
Purchase Tron: Legacy Reconfigured on iTunes