Inbetween...inner sleeve notes

This album is an extension of the music I created on Journey and Transient.
Every album brings it own challenges and with this one it meant doing
everything in Linux. That meant recording, mixing, mastering and all
the artwork.

Although the album created a considerable (but enjoyable) learning curve the album was recorded within a short amount of and by working in Linux with the Ardour DAW, the recording process became quicker and streamlined.

The album is all guitar and I chose to use effects pedals instead of plug-ins.  I firmly believe that the type of guitar, the effects you use and the way you play
influence the song and what it becomes.  Effects in the mastering and mixing
stage have been kept to a minimum.

There's a few other things about this album. Firstly the tuning of the guitar
was done at 432 Hz (instead of the usual 440 Hz).  For me it gave the guitar a
"sweeter" sound.  There's considerable conversation on the interweb
about 432 Hz tuning.  Secondly, there's looping. Something I've started to explore more and have really enjoyed.

This is a very stripped back album and it's been a joy to create something quite
minimal and to be conscious of the spaces in between the notes and chords.

Enjoy

BJ Boyd  Dec 2016

Ambient

For a while now I've been wanting to complete an album exploring ambient and soundscape textures. I also wanted it to be one continuous track (the album goes for an hour). It was also designed as music to be played in the background or maybe for relaxation, therapy or studying.
Every album throws new challenges at me and my new album "Ambient" was no exception.
I decided to use a new DAW (digital audio workstation), Cubase Elements. The reason was that I've been in the process of stripping down my set-up. I've also been in the process of moving from a Mac to a PC. I'd become disillusioned with some other DAW's and wanted to use some different tools to make music.
As I've continued to make music, I've realised that I don't need thousands of loops, synth sounds or effects and settings I won't use. I wanted something more minimal that I could use more efficiently. Now with any new DAW there is a learning process and this time was no different.
I started off with a few synth pads and built up the album from there. Primarily I used the synths built into Cubase and added some Native Instruments synths from there.
As I got closer to what I felt was the end of the end of the album, I decided to add some treated guitars which I feel helped with the sonic texture of the album.
I added an additional texture, which was rain & birds recorded using the microphone on my smartphone.
As an experiment I'm happy with the outcome, however working with an hour long track did become a chore at times. In the future I expect to work with smaller tracks (say 4 X 15 minutes) and blend them together.
I don't expect to create another album in this vein for a while, but you never know.
My album ideas tend to happen quickly and quite spontaneously.




available only at
http://noisetrade.com/bjb/ambient

inbetween...

It's been a while since my last posting...

The album Sojourn has been completed and released, I have a new ambient album (primarily synth) in the works (out shortly) and have started working on a new guitar based album "inbetween the dreams & waking".

With "inbetween..." the album title came first and I wanted to move away from the beats and loops I had explored with Sojourn.  Every album I create takes me in new directions. I've recorded using a 4-track digital recorder (Heartland), recorded directly into Logic Pro and Ableton Live and I've recorded into a Boss BR800 when I got tired of spending time dealing with software instead of making music.  

I've dubbed inbetween the dreams & waking "the Linux album". Linux is a computer operating system that is not MAC OS and not Windows.  I really wanted to strip back the way I make music. Some of my favourite music includes demo recordings, out-takes, live takes and improvisations.  I wanted to make an album that was more immediate, not caught up in a multitude of software and that was mixed and mastered using basic tools.

Initial recordings were done on an old computer using the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) Ardour, running with only 160GB.  I wanted to see if I could re-purpose an old computer, having successfully run Linux on a 5 year old macbook.  However, once I started to add a few effects like reverb, delay and compression the computer started to buckle.  So next I purchased a more up to date (but 2nd hand) desktop computer with a solid state drive and replaced Windows 10 with Linux Mint. This made the world of difference.

My guitar effects are primarily through the use of guitar pedals instead of adding guitar effects later via software and virtual amps. This works fine for me because often a particular sound or effect dictates the direction of the song. I got rid of my Thunderbolt audio interface (which I loved, but they are only supported on mac machines and I have read that Thunderbolt will no longer be supported).  I have a new USB interface which works a treat with Linux.

Even the artwork I have created for the album so far has been created in Linux using GIMP, a "image manipulation program".

Although I've spent considerable amounts of money on hardware and software to make my music, I now believe that you don't need expensive computers and software to make music.  I also don't like it when companies design computers that can't have the RAM or memory upgraded or laptops where you can't even replace the battery.

So I've re-purposed an old computer, simplified and downsized my recording process and I must say it's been the most enjoyable and rewarding time I've had recording music for a while.

From Transient to Sojourn

A week ago I released Transient, my latest album, a journey primarily exploring ambient guitar.
With every album I like to take a completely new approach. And so with Transient I learnt how to use guitar effects pedals, I went back to using a hard-drive recorder (for most tracks),  I dabbled in looping, improvisation and minimalism.
A distraction in recording happened in February, when the RPM challenge happened, recording a 35 minute album in 3 weeks (it was meant to be 4, but I lost a week as I had to post the completed cd to the US).   The irony was that after that it still took the the best part of another 6 months to finish the Transient album despite having 75% of the album already done by the time the RPM challenge came about.
So after the last few weeks of mixing and mastering Transient I felt the desire to record again. 
I simply plugged my guitar in and recorded an improvised track straight into my DAW (digital audio workstation).   So I thought, what if my next album was done by recording tracks straight into my DAW and using minimal effects, so instead of using guitar plug-ins or lots of effects pedals, I basically recorded clean and used the effects (not guitar specific) in my DAW to create my textures and soundscapes.
I've been using Ableton Live over the last few years primarily for my synth recordings but had found it limiting for guitar. I bought some guitar plug-ins but never really used them much and preferred the sound I got out of pedals. Now what I've discovered was that actually using effects pedals helped me to better understand effects and a signal chain. A lot of my preferred sounds on Transient and RPM had come from reverb & delay pedals.   So my plans for the next guitar based album will be to have minimal clean guitar sound initially and then use the built-in effects in Live.
My first experiment is a new direction. The plan is to also minimise all the mixing etc. to keep the tracks reasonably raw and true to their original form, also to shorten the time from recording to release to avoid reworking the tracks.  Here's the first track. Enjoy


https://soundcloud.com/bjboydmusic/sojourn-demo-310815

The Shortest Day of the Year

Well it's the winter solstice here in the Southern Hemisphere.
I wanted to record a track today and release it as a live recording.
This year has been about learning new things musically. Not only playing and technique, but also recording.
Today for the first time I recorded by live micing up the amp instead of recording directly into a portable recorder or into an audio interface.
I was joking with a musician friend of mine about the time spent mixing songs. I could do a hundred mixes of a song and I may be the only one who notices (or cares) about the differences of the subtleties of the mix. So the basis of this track was to record it, mix it and upload it in one day.
I'm trying to learn new ways of recording and actually enjoying playing the songs and not being attached to a particular version or sound of song.  Experimenting with different sounds, guitars, effects etc. makes way for some "happy accidents".  More about capturing the performance and a mood.
Eventually I would like to also perform some of my work live. I've been experimenting with looping, which is the tool that could make performing my songs live a possibility.
This track also puts me one step closer to finishing the Transient album.  It's really an album about transition. It's been recorded using a variety of tools, including different daws, portable recorders as well as using different software and hardware. A lot of it is experimental by nature. But it also takes me back to those things that excited me about making music. Discovering new sounds, creating something from scratch, creating a mood. 

Here's the unused cover of the track.
You can download the track at

https://brendanjboyd.bandcamp.com/track/shortest-day-of-the-year-live-single

33 1/3 RPM - the 3 week album

Well today I just finished my new album "33 1/3 RPM" as part of the RPM challenge to record an album from scratch over the month of February.
Nothing like a 40 degree day to keep you locked inside at the mixing desk (I should I say mixing DAW?). 
I had to primarily create a new album from scratch. Not only was the timing a challenge (as I lost a week due to having to mail the cd to the USA a week before the due date), but having to come up with new musical ideas as well as learning how to use new guitar pedals and effects.
Early on I decided to record all the music to a hard drive recorder. This was about being able to plug in and play and experiment,  and not be bogged down by dealing with software.  It also meant my effects were coming from my pedal and guitar, to minimise having to worry about adding effects later. 
Most tracks came together pretty quickly.  The process was to get all the recordings down and then do the mixing as a separate process, instead of record a track, mix it, record the next track etc.
The last week or so has been about putting down the last 2 tracks, cleaning up the tracks (ie getting rid of guitar buzz, humming etc.) and working on the final mixes.  It's been pretty intense.
Nothing like a deadline to get things done. 
One of the problems was cleaning up the tracks, there's only so much you can do with EQ (but you can do a considerable amount).  Having trialled some noise reduction software I found that none of it really worked the way I expected it to (and I'm talking about some reasonably priced gear).  I started to work with some old software I purchased ages ago,  and by using that I was able to get the task done.  It's that thing about learning to use what you've got... and use it more efficiently.
Mind you, not all the software was plain sailing.  The mastering software worked fine, but the files exported as AIFs, which could not be opened in Itunes or some of my other software. Some file converting software I have been using for years let me know today that my "free trial" had  expired. Bad timing, given that I only had a few hours to spare.
So after an attempt to convert the files online (only to find out that they wouldn't open once completed), it was back to my DAW (digital audio workstation) to reload the files and export them as AIFFs.
So finally I was able to burn the disc, print off the cover and post it off. 
It's been a good challenge. Would I do it again?  Sure
The finished album will be released on my bandcamp site by the end of the week.

Transition

I am currently hard at work on the Transient ambient guitar album.
It reminds of how the album is ever evolving. Having listened to a rough demo of recordings the other night I realised how some of the old works are very different to what I'm recording now. Some are more elaborate with synths and strings and beats, while the more recent works are much more stripped back and minimal.
Over the process of 12 months quite a few other things have changed. Firstly, the recording process. Recording using a audio interface into my Mac was fine, until I realised I was spending all this time working with the plug-ins and software in my DAW.  I spent more time wrestling with the technology than actually playing.  I purchased a 8-track recorder and even dug out the old 4-track recorder that I initially recorded Heartland on.  I even recorded a version of Silent Night on that using a Strymon Big Sky that made it to the Strymon Happy Holiday Sounds list this christmas
http://www.strymon.net/2014/12/22/happy-holidays-2/.
I sold a guitar, bought new ones and spent time actually playing again without being attached to recording everything.  This has allowed songs to develop as well as morph into new ideas for other songs.
I've had a multi-effects pedal that I haven't really used a lot and recently I've been learning the art of looping (not that I expect any looping on this album).  I also started picking up some stand-alone effects pedals and I started to find a sound for the album, as well as paying more attention to notes, after-tones and the spaces in between notes. I don't believe in the cut & paste theory for building a song, I like to record the performance and work with that instead of taking a verse from one version, the intro from another etc.
This is the second time I thought I was close to finishing the album, but I've realised I'm probably only 40% of the way through.  And that's ok.
Although I expect Transient to be released in the first half of 2015,  for the time being I'm focusing on the journey and not the destination.