Animoog for iPad is on sale for $9.99 (normally $29.99)
Animoog for iPhone is on sale for $0.99 (launch special)

I often use Animoog as a perfect example of how iPads are becoming legitimate performance tools. The sound, interface, and ability to customize sound easily rivals apps that would cost hundreds of dollars on a PC. It’s a steal at $29.99, and in my mind, a no brainer at $9.99.

From the website:
Animoog is Moog Music’s first professional synthesizer for iOS devices, and was the first music app in history to hit number one in the App Store on the day of release. Additionally, in the 2011 App Store Rewind, Apple named Animoog one of the best apps of the year.

Powered by Moog’s new Anisotropic Synth Engine (ASE), Animoog allows you to move dynamically through an X/Y space of unique timbres to create a constantly evolving and expressive soundscape. (read more…)

AmpKit+ (iPad) is on sale for $9.99 (normally $19.99)
I sold all my pedals and pedalboard a while back and replaced them with this app.

From the website:
AmpKit is the ultimate guitar amps, effects and recording app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch*, now with next-generation tone and simulation improvements that deliver by far the best-sounding, most realistic guitar tone on iOS. (read more…)

JamUp Pro by Positive Grid LLC is on sale for $9.99 (normally $19.99)
Buying this one myself. Can’t rightly say how it compares, but it seems to be getting good reviews.

From the website:
JamUp gives guitarists access to a new level of authentic tones, sound-on-sound looping, and incredible jamming experience on your iOS device.

JamUp provides access to total 24 hybrid amps, stomp-boxes and modules, 16 user presets, sound-on-sound phrase sampler, iTunes Jam Player with time stretching feature, metronome, chromatic tuner, and will expect continual update features. It’s simply the most convenient way for jamming and recording, without having to setup or switch in and out a variety of equipments. (read more…)

Looptastic HD by Sound Trends LLC is $0.99 (normally $14.99)
Definitely for those interested in DJ’ing. With the ability to import your own loops, there are some interesting performance possibilities here.

From the website:
Create your own non-stop remixes and electronic compositions in an incredibly intuitive way. Simply drag and drop some loops, mix it up with a DJ-style mixer and add effects with Touch Pad control. Record your moves and export the performance as CD-ready audio files or to your SoundCloud account. Contains over 900 loops across major dance styles (Trance, Hip Hop, Dubstep, Ambient, Breakbeat, Drum ’n’ Bass, Minimal, Progressive House, and Reggaeton, etc). (read more…)

Loopy HD is $0.99 (normally $7.99)
Just bought this last night. It’s a great practice tool, now accepts midi controls and allows you to import loops. I think this could have some serious performance/layering possibilities.

From the website:
Create music by layering looped recordings of singing, beatboxing, or playing an instrument with a savvy, sophisticated, tactile new looper that totally reinvents the formula. (read more…)

iPad2 Garageband Smart Guitar Classical Solo

Featured Programs
Geo Synthesizer – Jordan Rudess: Wizdom Music, LLC
MidiBridge – Audeonic Apps
SampleTank – IK Multimedia

Geo Synthesizer controlling SampleTank via Midi Bridge – Part 1

Geo Synthesizer controlling Sampletank via Midi Bridge – Part 2

Celtic Melody – Layered Sounds using Geo Synthesizer and Samplewiz

Description from the iTunes Store:
Geo Synthesizer is a musical instrument and MIDI controller. A collaboration of Wizdom Music’s Jordan Rudess and Kevin Chartier (MorphWiz, SampleWiz) and Rob Fielding (Mugician), Geo Synthesizer is an incredibly expressive musical instrument specifically created for a multitouch surface.

A comprehensive Geo Synthesizer manual is available at: http://www.wizdommusic.com/GeoSynth/manual.html

Jordan says: “Since touching a preliminary piano keyboard on an iPhone screen and realizing the amazing potential for musical expression on a multitouch device, I have been inspired to create next-generation musical instruments for iOS. Geo Synthesizer is a dream come true in many ways. It is the fastest truly playable iOS instrument that I have put my hands on to date. I can fly through the range of an instrument while expanding on the kind of advanced pitch control we introduced in MorphWiz. As someone who grew up with synthesizers, I can tell you that pitch bending has never been this good!

“Geo features many of my custom sounds and in addition, Geo is also a MIDI controller, so you can use it with any external midi instrument or virtual MIDI. Virtual MIDI allows you to control an app running in the background on the same device! A great feature of Geo is that internally and externally we send independent voices on each note played, so as an example, you can pitch bend one note and not the other, or add unique expression on every note! I can’t wait to see the YouTube videos of all of you guys rocking out with Geo Synthesizer!!!”

Features:
- ability to load waveforms from SampleWiz presets
- octave rounding for effortless soloing over large ranges
- whammy slider with absolute and relative modes
- 12ET, 24ET, 53ET, and 665ET temperament options
- mono, string, and full-polyphony modes
- tuning and transposition controls
- snap speed control to affect how quickly the instrument pulls notes in tune
- playing surface options for number of rows and columns on screen
- octave and fifth harmonics synthesis options to rich, organ-like sounds
- gain control to add distortion to the sound
- FM and touch FM controls for timbal variation
- mono out for use with guitar amps
- sine, sawtooth, square, and custom (SampleWiz) wave options
- attack and release controls
- synthesis body control
- lowpass filter with resonance
- stereo delay
- reverb
- MIDI output with polyphonic note bending and multiple configuration options to allow compatibility with a wide range of hardware and software synthesizers
- performance menu lets you make your own custom menu so all the controls you need are always right at your fingertips
- 40 presets carefully selected by Jordan Rudess, including patches from Jordan’s personal sound library

There are no acoustically treated walls here, only the hum of the air vents behind me, the white noise from a baby monitor in the next room. There is no audio engineer turning knobs, no contract promising lump sums when my next album is complete. In fact, my only claim to fame is a YouTube video of me covering someone else’s song. At the time I write this, it has 22.494 views, amazing to me, but practically nothing when compared to what is out there.

In the midst of writing a five year plan for my musical ambitions, I’ve found a greater issue to ponder. What would I consider success? What meaning would I find in this new found discipline? Why do I write?

Well, here is one angle. Music is a form of personal expression. It is something that allows the player to portray something that is uniquely them. Sure, there are critics, standards that we compare ourselves to, but when you are playing music you have written, no one can tell you that you are playing it wrong. There are no rule books when you use your own words, strum your own chords. Even if no one likes it, it is still yours to express.

Maybe because it is such a personal thing, something that comes from the heart, that we identify so closely with, it becomes the goal to find people who do like it, to find some kind of measurable success, some kind of recognition within a community of like-minded individuals. We all want validation, to feel like the person we are and, by extension, the things we create, bring some meaning into the world.

I’m an IT Help Desk Analyst. Chances are, if you brought me your broken Mac, I could fix it for you. Anyone else who has read the books, taken the classes, spent the time working in IT could fix it for you also. There is nothing unique I can do to your computer that someone else with the same training couldn’t do for you also. I’m sure this is true for all the musicians who find themselves counting the hours as accountants, doctors, construction workers, administrative assistants, pizza delivery drivers. They do what they do because it pays the bills. They play what they play because it says something important about who they are, something that transcends the roles they find themselves in. Those roles we slave so many hours of our lives away to. It only makes sense to dream of a role that is in line with what you feel to be true about yourself.
So I guess what I do because I imagine a life where what I do is in line with who I am, where what I have to say through music might also be my main contribution to the world, might also be the means by which I support my family. There are a lucky few out there who have found all these things falling into place. And I admire them… and I keep coming back down to the basement, firing up my gear, trying new things, learning about my equipment, hoping….

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but the first mile may not be that inspiring...

One week into my five year plan, and I’ve learned so much… not all of it good. First, there’s nothing like a major head cold to kill momentum. Second, deciding to be more serious about pursuing a career in production music does not mean that suddenly everything will change and you’ll have all the tools and knowledge you need at your disposal. It doesn’t mean that there will be more time every evening to work on things. In fact, the only thing that has changed has been an increased awareness of how little time there is for this new goal. I’ve essentially appointed myself a second job (albeit one that revolves around something I love) with no pay, no upper management, and no discernable roadmap for how to navigate the coming months.

There is a certain psychology behind what I’m experiencing right now. I’ve been playing music for years. This path is not truly a new one for me. The only thing is new is that I have declared my intention to find discipline and direction. That, in itself, is an inspiring thing to do. What follows is the realization that those are things I have been lacking, and that they won’t find themselves. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep, but the first mile that follows may not be all that inspiring.

Ok. With that out of the way, on to some of the things I’ve learned this week, in no particular order.

I am capable of writing, recording, and finishing a piece. Over the course of three nights, I wrote a piece titled ‘Cruise the City Lights’.
Hear it at SoundCloud.

For me, it’s been a model of everything I need to keep in mind moving forward. First, it’s easy to get a general idea about something and lay down a few tracks to express that idea. Second, the initial excitement that comes with that fades as you get lost in the details of cleaning up the parts, mixing them down, editing, embellishing, etc. Third, the details may be hard work and a bit tedious, but you need to plow through them before immersing yourself in new ideas and new songs, or all you’ll have is a pile of half finished tunes. Part of the discipline must be that you commit to sitting down to work, to meet the goals you set, before setting new ones.

In my mind, no song is ever done, because I’ll always hear something that needs fixing. At some point, you just have to say “I’ll keep that in mind for the next one.” When it was all said and done, though, I mixed it down, listened to it three or four times, and felt good. It has a beginning, a middle, an end, and I’m one tune into my thirty tune goal for year one.

There are major differences between singer/songwriter tunes and production music. Songs you hear on the radio can have a lot of changes in tone and mood. They follow a predictable structure (ie verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus) and can encompass a lot of different sounds in a small space. Music for film/television has a more focused goal of presenting a single tone, setting a mood, and then trying to keep things interesting with slight variations. A lot of what you hear in the background in TV shows is simple, consistent, and focused. There also tends to be a lot more space, because the music serves as a backdrop for what is happening in the show. Tunes with a single instrument or just a few sounds may not be as interesting to someone by themselves, but can do a lot for setting a mood. I heard a lot of floaty piano tunes and simple, spacious guitar licks as I listened this week. I heard a lot of ads with arpegiatted synth sounds and simple pads.

On a side note, I keep seeing references to Robin Frederick’s book “Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV: 114 Tips for Writing, Recording, & Pitching in Today’s Hottest Market.” It has been recommended as something that would be beneficial for instrumental composers, like myself, as well. I picked up a copy on Amazon yesterday and am eagerly awaiting it.

I have to work with what I have and not what I want. I love acoustic guitar, I love singing, I love natural sounds. I record in an untreated basement with noisey air vents, humming computers, one of those electronic rodent repellers that puts out high frequencies that we supposedly can’t hear (I hear them). My setup is anything but conducive to recording live sounds. It’s a goal of mine to figure out how to make the best of that, but for now I need to take the room out of the equation. This means electric guitar, midi keyboard, sound libraries, synths. I think a big part of starting out is looking at the tools you have at your disposal, and finding projects that take advantage of them. It’s easy to get lost in the list of things you’d like or have, and to say “I need to get this first.”

There is no magic ticket to creating a good mix… but there is a wealth of information out there for anyone who does some looking. I bought myself a one month membership to AudioTuts+ ($9 well spent) and have been browsing through some of the premium articles there. There’s a lot of information to go through, but I’ve already picked up a few great pointers. There are also some great articles and posts at:

Home Studio Corner.com Mixing Resources
Audio-Issues.com

There is a lot to learn about the business end of music. Stating the obvious, I’m sure. There’s too much to write about today, but I started to immerse myself in the mysteries of copyright, exclusive vs non-exclusive libraries, different PRO organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC). I did find a few good sites for my first steps into this world.

A few articles talking about exclusive vs nonexclusive libraries, retitling, etc:

An article at Film Music Magazine in favor of non-exclusive
‘A Voice From the “Dark Side”: Confessions of a Retitler’

One at Production Music Association that talks about the dangers and disadvantages
‘Should You Sign With A Non-Exclusive Retitled Library?’

And here’s an all-around good site with lots of business related articles – MusicBizAcademy.com

I can’t do this alone. Networking is not just about making business connections. It’s about finding others who have similar shared experiences, who know your struggles and can truly appreciate your successes. I’ve met some great people online this week, and am also realizing that I need to find some collaborators here in Kansas City who can keep me motivated. I know a lot of good musicians, and need to be reaching out to them as I move forward. For me, a huge part of why music is enjoyable is that it’s an interaction, either because you are sharing it with an audience, or because you are communicating through music.

A lot of music has a call and answer type of theme to it, where melodies are repeated by different instruments, or conversations are had between different sections. It’s a good thing to involve other musicians so that you are not always ‘talking to yourself.’

There are productive ways to use Social Networking. I’ve been a Facebooker for a while now, but never really understood the value of Twitter. On a whim, I started playing around with it this week. Low and behold, a lot of the taxi folks and music folks I have been interested in knowing more about are on there! And they’re posting helpful links, nice little tidbits of information about their process, and inspiring bits of news. Who knew… it’s not just about someone you don’t know posting that they are standing in line at Starbucks.

Anyways, that’s my week one roundup. Here’s hoping that week two will see an end to my head cold, another tune under my belt, a few good realizations, a few contacts.

Photo: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In my last post, ‘What is a Five Year Plan?‘, I talked about some of the things that led me to want to find more structure with my musical pursuits, and define for myself what a Five Year Plan is.

So here, presented in it’s rough form, is my first draft of my Five Year Plan. Being that today is officially day one, I am already starting to implement it. As I get farther along, I will post any revisions and things that I’ve learned or needed to add. If you are reading this and have any advice to share, or questions, please do share in the comments below, or by contacting me directly.

Primary Goal and Mission Statement

At the end of five years, I intend to:

• be making a secondary income from music
• have developed a clear plan on how to eventually quit my day job, and transition into making a living by writing production music for film and television.
• have all the tools I need to record, produce, and master my own music. That’s not to say I’ll be able to record a full band, but that I can produce the music that I am setting out to create, with samples and limited miking
  

Secondary Goals

At the end of five years, I should:

• have 150 quality recordings in my library, with some of those having been signed.
• have attended the Taxi Road Rally at least once.
• have gotten some local airplay with a few of my singer/songwriter tunes and collaborations

Primary Goals for Year One

At the end of year one, I plan to:

• have 30 finished quality recordings under my
  belt.
• have rejoined Taxi when I hit the 20 song mark, and been actively submitting them.
• have a better understanding of how to create final, polished, recordings. (recording, mixing, mastering, etc.)
• have a better understanding of the business aspects and what it truly means to be a music production artist (learn about copyright, professional organizations, distribution, self-promotion, marketing, etc)
• be an active member in the online music community, and help contribute to the growth of others through my experiences, both on the forums and through this web blog.

Here’s my rationale for 30 works in the first year. I figure there are 52 weeks in a year. I’d like to start out by shooting for one song a week, but the learning process up front is going to be slow, as well as the recording. I want to give myself plenty of head room so that I do not set myself up for disappointment from the start. I also need time to learn about, and perfect, the art of finishing things. I have a growing pile of half-finished attempts that my inner critic has ripped into bits. My goal for my first new attempts in year one is to keep things simple, clean, and brief. If I can get some finished pieces, maybe I can build enough confidence to tackle more complex and longer pieces.

My goal for each piece is going to be that it is at least 90 seconds in length, unless the specific task calls for something shorter (ie I have seen listings for 60 second cues with button endings). I will also try to not fixate too much on diversifying every piece. It seems that the goal of production music is to set a tone and stick to it. Too many changes in mood and tone can make it unusable from an editor’s standpoint.

A List of Tasks for Year One:

• Keep a worklog of my music-related activity so I can see where I’m spending my time, and whether or not I need to re-adjust my priorities.
• Start a spreadsheet to track my recordings, and use descriptive titles, as well as keywords or tags, so that I can see where I need to diversify
• Keep a notebook for jotting down ideas, things to try, websites with useful information, observations, etc
• At least once a month, take part in some kind of professional development activity. A few examples might be watching Taxi’s uStream live, reading through a Premium tutorial at AudioTuts+, or watching recording tutorials at Lynda.com. Ideally, it might also mean getting out into the world and attending songwriting workshops, or visiting my friends at NSAI.
• Spend at least an hour a week reading, researching, and learning about recording techniques
• Spend at least an hour a week listening to music in the styles I am trying to compose. Keep notes on anything I hear or learn.
• Spend at least an hour a week truly practicing and working on my musical technique for both guitar and piano. (not just playing, but running scales, exercises, etc).
• Spend at least 30 minutes each week reading and researching business-related issues (ie some questions on my mind right now are copyright, ASCAP vs BMI, how to distribute music, where to learn more about libraries and how they work.)
• Spend at least 30 minutes each week reading and commenting on music forums. See what others are working on, listen to what peers are sharing at Taxi, try to contribute when I can.
• Make a pointed effort to listen to the background music as I watch movies and TV, and make notes on what I hear. Try to find out about artist’s and publishers for the songs that really grab my attention.
• Don’t watch so much TV.

My Golden Rule: Be Kind to Thyself

I may not meet all my goals. There may be weeks when life gets in the way. I have a son and wife at home. It’s not so much a goal as a necessity that I find a way to balance my musical journey with my time being a father and a husband. So I need to learn to forgive myself when things don’t go as planned. The key is just to re-commit constantly, be dedicated to the long haul, forgive of my failures, and be aware of the successes. Discipline does not have to mean self-judgement or ridicule, only the daily renewed intention to improve and produce.

So, there it is, in it’s rough form.  What do you think?  Any suggestions, advice, experiences?  Please share them.

Photo: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"A journey of a thousand miles can also begin with a bit of paperwork."

I have recently returned to the online world in hopes of networking and finding some direction with my music. My son turned fourteen months old last week. His arrival has been the most incredible experience and has given me a new lease on life. While I wouldn’t trade that for the world, it has put in perspective how lacking other aspects of my life have been, primarily my day job as an IT Contractor.

We all have some innate sense, no matter how deeply buried, of what it is that brings us joy, what ‘fate’ had truly intended for us. Though life situations may lead us astray, and obligations may take precedence over desire, the universe has a way of continually nudging us in the direction of pursuing a ‘true calling’. For me, there is no doubt that it is, and always has been, music. In all things, it has been my comfort, my great joy, and the one creative well that never runs dry. Whether I have the talent to make a career of it remains to be seen, but there is no harm in trying. I have been playing and singing in some capacity for the last seventeen years. Why not make a more directed effort at developing what I already pursue and enjoy as a hobbyist?

My problem, like many others, is that I have never truly sat down to define what a career in music would look like. While surfing the forums at Taxi.com and JPFolks.com, I came across several mentions of the Five Year Plan. The general idea is, that, anyone who has a serious intention of making any real income from music needs to commit themselves to the long haul. They need to set both long and short term goals, and have benchmarks for judging their own progress. They need to look at not just the creative side, but the business of making music, and allocate some of their time to it’s study. They need to network, promote, affiliate, and get themselves involved in the industry they are trying to break into. So my primary question now, here on day one, is “What Does a Five Year Plan look like?”

I’ve found a few references while searching ‘five year plan’ online, but have yet to stumble across a detailed explanation of what is involved in developing one.

There are a couple of really great threads at the Taxi Forum where this is discussed:

Making Significant $ with Film/TV Music
What exactly is a five year plan?

So here is my working definition of a Five Year Plan:

A Five Year Plan, simply, is a mission statement of what you would like to have achieved at the end of five years. It is also a list of specific goals, and tasks, that will act as mile markers for you to judge your progress in achieving that goal.

And why I believe it is important, especially when the goal involves achieving success in the music industry:

• For those seeking placement in music libraries or deals through organizations like Taxi, the process can be a long one. Even with a successful forward or license, it can be years before you see a cent in return. Without a long-term plan, it would be very easy to lose sight of this and give up in the first year.
• It is easy to get lost in music creation, working and re-working pieces over and over in an attempt to satisfy that internal voice /critic we all have… the one that tells you it’s not good enough to share yet. With short term goals and deadlines (even the ones you set yourself), there is more of a drive to complete projects and move on to the next.
• Creating music is only one aspect of having a career in music. There are a lot of things to know, and setting a schedule for learning them is crucial. Without defining what those things are for yourself, the tendency will be to focus only on what you know, or only on the aspects that you enjoy. This isn’t to say that the journey needs to be all work, but that there needs to be a discipline to it.
• Lastly, it is good to have set goals, so that you can recognize them when they are achieved. It is easy to lose sight of how far you’ve come if you never stop to reflect on your accomplishments. Being able to see things being checked off the list can give you the motivation and confidence to keep moving forward.

In my next post, I will try to define what my five year plan is and give some of the specifics for what the first year might look like.

If you chance to stumble across this, please feel free to contribute below. What does your five year plan look like? Have you found any good road maps for success, or resources that talk about setting goals?

I just posted a beginner’s Photoshop tutorial at ArtLifeMind, detailing how to turn a color photo into a pencil sketch. Hopefully, this will be the first of many. The tutorial also includes a YouTube walkthrough, which you can view above, or in HD on the ArtLifeMind Youtube page.

Visit ArtLifeMind for the complete tutorial, and downloadable files that you can use while working along

The Web Series was inspired by a series of interface images that I created for a digital wallpaper site, dreamingtheweb.com.  While there’s no great meaning behind them, most of the images incorporated a fractal background with 3D faces or figures.  The final images were created by mapping fractal artwork to flat planes and 3D objects, which were then rendered in Bryce 3D. 

An example of the ‘Deep Within the Web’ background before it was imported into Bryce 3D and mapped onto a flat surface.

A screenshot of the final layout in Bryce 3D. Bitmaps and lighting placement gave the illusion of texture on the 3D objects.

The Final Picture