First off, apologies for this post for being so late! On Sunday, I was in Edinburgh celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with friends, which was amazing. A heinous amount of food was eaten, of course, but it meant that I didn't have time in the evening.
The other part of this post is dealing with Chemistry related work stress. At the moment there is a whole lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. My usual stress reliever is to write/play music or go to the gym, but the irony is that I haven't had time to do these things with my workload. But, in a recent development of optimism, I'm sure it'll be sorted.
What is tiding me over is the fact that I've decided on components for my desktop, and now it's ready to be ordered, which is probably far too exciting. I've also been showing my flatmates PC Minecraft, and I think they're hooked, so this should be very fun.
I will also be linking my entry to Metal Guitar Gods 2013 to this blog when I've recorded and uploaded it. It would mean a great deal if you could drop some votes and shares!
As ever, comments, criticisms (if you think I should be talking less about myself, let me know!) and feedback are always welcome! Thanks for reading.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Monday, 7 October 2013
Technology & Money
Welcome back to the writings of my dysfunctional thought patterns. Again, this post is a day late as I've had a lot of things to do.
This post is an update on musical happenings and also a request for feedback.
My laptop has started to blue screen a lot when using my recording software. Updating the drivers usually is a temporary fix, but it's made me consider getting a desktop computer. Don't get me wrong, the idea of mega processing power and general smoothness had appealed to me a lot before, but now I can justify it a bit more. A bit. Now what I'm actually considering is building a tower myself by buying individual parts, so if there are any sites anyone can recommend for comparison, hit me up in the comments section.
Doing a bit of research on this already also caused me to rage a bit at how expensive Apple products are, as Macs are good for media etc. But, considering I could buy the parts for a pretty powerful desktop for ~£600, whereas the cheapest Mac laptop is around £700, I decided I wasn't prepared for this. Not to mention the iPhone being around the same price, for whatever reason. I also met the same problem with Alienware, with the price being disproportionate to the usefulness.
As far as music is concerned, I've been tweaking and fiddling with tones and have just about recorded 2 tracks for my album, with a great deal more still to write. Some kind of teaser might be uploaded soon so I can get feedback from everyone. I'm also considering entering the Toontrack Metal Guitar God 2013 competition, so be prepared for some plugging when I start submitting and please get involved!
As always, comment with anything you want to say, ever. I'm very approachable and usually can reply straight away! Thanks for reading.
This post is an update on musical happenings and also a request for feedback.
My laptop has started to blue screen a lot when using my recording software. Updating the drivers usually is a temporary fix, but it's made me consider getting a desktop computer. Don't get me wrong, the idea of mega processing power and general smoothness had appealed to me a lot before, but now I can justify it a bit more. A bit. Now what I'm actually considering is building a tower myself by buying individual parts, so if there are any sites anyone can recommend for comparison, hit me up in the comments section.
Doing a bit of research on this already also caused me to rage a bit at how expensive Apple products are, as Macs are good for media etc. But, considering I could buy the parts for a pretty powerful desktop for ~£600, whereas the cheapest Mac laptop is around £700, I decided I wasn't prepared for this. Not to mention the iPhone being around the same price, for whatever reason. I also met the same problem with Alienware, with the price being disproportionate to the usefulness.
As far as music is concerned, I've been tweaking and fiddling with tones and have just about recorded 2 tracks for my album, with a great deal more still to write. Some kind of teaser might be uploaded soon so I can get feedback from everyone. I'm also considering entering the Toontrack Metal Guitar God 2013 competition, so be prepared for some plugging when I start submitting and please get involved!
As always, comment with anything you want to say, ever. I'm very approachable and usually can reply straight away! Thanks for reading.
Monday, 30 September 2013
How to Get a Good Djent Tone (Part 1)
So this will be the first of my promised "tips" posts. It was meant to be yesterday, but I decided to take advantage of the bank holiday weekend by contracting a cold, so I didn't feel up to anything last night.
So. Djent tones. I'm going to make the assumption that if you're reading this, you own a guitar already, I wouldn't know the various specifications of guitars that are particularly good for this style, but this post explains the next steps.
I create my tone based around three different areas: physical pedals, POD Farm and Ableton Live Lite 8.
As you can gather, this equipment costs a lot less than say, an AxeFX (~ $2000). I'm not saying it's as good, obviously that would be an outrageous claim. What I am saying is that with some time invested in getting to know your equipment, you can achieve a very pleasing and professional sounding tone.
Over these posts I'll outline the various things I do in each of these areas to achieve a good tone. In the meantime, my Soundcloud is on the right panel if you want to hear what I've been putting together and see if it appeals to you.
As a sign off, I will say that Roosterteeth is the best cure for any illness.
So. Djent tones. I'm going to make the assumption that if you're reading this, you own a guitar already, I wouldn't know the various specifications of guitars that are particularly good for this style, but this post explains the next steps.
I create my tone based around three different areas: physical pedals, POD Farm and Ableton Live Lite 8.
As you can gather, this equipment costs a lot less than say, an AxeFX (~ $2000). I'm not saying it's as good, obviously that would be an outrageous claim. What I am saying is that with some time invested in getting to know your equipment, you can achieve a very pleasing and professional sounding tone.
Over these posts I'll outline the various things I do in each of these areas to achieve a good tone. In the meantime, my Soundcloud is on the right panel if you want to hear what I've been putting together and see if it appeals to you.
As a sign off, I will say that Roosterteeth is the best cure for any illness.
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Hitting the Books
First of all, I'd like to say that I was really happy with the comments and views I received after my first post, it was more than I thought! So thank you to everyone!
Tomorrow I start my 3rd year of my degree, and, I'm going to be honest, I am pretty terrified. This is the first year which will actually count towards my final result, though that's fine by me. The scary bit is placements. In 4th year we do a year's work experience with a company either abroad or in the UK.
This is an amazing opportunity, but the interviews and organisation that this requires is pretty daunting. Especially all in the first few weeks. My posts during this time may become a bit bogged down with this, but hopefully not too much!
In other news, I was added to the Steam group "Gaming Addicts Community", the name of which I found hilarious, though it suits me to a tee. I have also started work on album writing, something that I've wanted to do all my life. I don't have access to professional studios, so my home equipment will have to do. There'll be teasers and various things to follow. I'll also have a post on home recording! Also, if anyone has listened (or does listen) to any of my tracks and wants a guitar tab, don't hesitate to ask in the comments!
I also started playing Dead Space 2 a couple of days ago, absolutely amazing game and incredibly terrifying. Top.
As always, comments are welcome, especially if anyone has any questions like the ones I mentioned, or any other. Have a good week!
Tomorrow I start my 3rd year of my degree, and, I'm going to be honest, I am pretty terrified. This is the first year which will actually count towards my final result, though that's fine by me. The scary bit is placements. In 4th year we do a year's work experience with a company either abroad or in the UK.
This is an amazing opportunity, but the interviews and organisation that this requires is pretty daunting. Especially all in the first few weeks. My posts during this time may become a bit bogged down with this, but hopefully not too much!
In other news, I was added to the Steam group "Gaming Addicts Community", the name of which I found hilarious, though it suits me to a tee. I have also started work on album writing, something that I've wanted to do all my life. I don't have access to professional studios, so my home equipment will have to do. There'll be teasers and various things to follow. I'll also have a post on home recording! Also, if anyone has listened (or does listen) to any of my tracks and wants a guitar tab, don't hesitate to ask in the comments!
I also started playing Dead Space 2 a couple of days ago, absolutely amazing game and incredibly terrifying. Top.
As always, comments are welcome, especially if anyone has any questions like the ones I mentioned, or any other. Have a good week!
Sunday, 15 September 2013
First Steps
So. I am starting a blog. This, being my first post, will be a short one about who I am, what I do and what I hope to achieve through blogging.
To start with, I am a 20 year old Chemistry student in Glasgow. I play, record and produce "bedroom" tracks (Celestial Fury on Soundcloud) in my spare time, as well as playing a hell of a lot of video games.
I'm fortunate enough at the moment to live with two of my best friends in the world, which allows for endless banter and fun (one of whom has a blog too).
These posts may be weekly or monthly, depending on how much is going on in my life, but I hope maybe to impart knowledge on how to record metal (specifically "djent") tracks without spending close to £2000! Other than that it will be general musings, gaming chat, music chat and hopefully something for people to peruse while procrastinating.
Comments are, of course, welcome!
To start with, I am a 20 year old Chemistry student in Glasgow. I play, record and produce "bedroom" tracks (Celestial Fury on Soundcloud) in my spare time, as well as playing a hell of a lot of video games.
I'm fortunate enough at the moment to live with two of my best friends in the world, which allows for endless banter and fun (one of whom has a blog too).
These posts may be weekly or monthly, depending on how much is going on in my life, but I hope maybe to impart knowledge on how to record metal (specifically "djent") tracks without spending close to £2000! Other than that it will be general musings, gaming chat, music chat and hopefully something for people to peruse while procrastinating.
Comments are, of course, welcome!
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