Image via Wikipedia

As I have been attempting to light the engines of my musical being, with the objective of creating (more like releasing many years of musical ideas, concepts, etc…stored away in my internal attic), I have found that my biggest obstacle has been finding the right workflow for me.  The technologies, tools and techniques have changed so drastically since I last attempted to lay anything down to tape (case in point…”tape”) that the fact that I date myself in saying that pretty much says it all…I need to re-invent and re-learn how to materialize that which I am looking to express.

Indeed, I have in many respects become a novice in this space while at the same time carrying with me the experience I do have and the instinct I have carried through my life and at the core of my being as a musical person.  Knowing that I am in this particular place, I have been struggling with my own shortcomings as one who has gone into the proverbial weeds looking for the most efficient way to accomplish the tasks of musical creation, yet emerging with a ball of complexity that has consistently paralyzed my efforts and ultimately, albeit temporarily, stifling any spontenaity—and creativity—that I had when I started.

What I have discovered is that I need to keep it simple and use the tools that I have.  When I look at my current arsenal, I see that I have more than enough tools for the job and that I need to create a workflow that will promote creativity and support spontenaity.  This is not a technological barrier, rather a mental one.

As I have been mentally, even prayerfully, preparing for this “re-emergence” into my own, I started work on the first cut this morning.  I was almost shocked to see that the tools I have had for some time, and being software based are up to date, allowed me to lay down and arrange the first layer of “flooring” for this tune in about 30 minutes.  This has completely fueled my excitement and resolve to do this in a way I have not experienced in, well, years!  I still have a learning curve ahead of me as I start to wrap my head around and learn these software packages that I have had (beyond hitting the record button…), but I can clearly see now that my initial goal of 1 song a month is very attainable.  Additionally, the tools today not only remove the technological obsticles, but also provide creative tools to release the ideas and relieve the creative pressure built up inside.

So, what is this workflow, you ask?  Well, at this point I have 2 phases that I am initially implementing (that is the software developer/designer in me talking…); the first is to simply get the concepts into a “tangible” form, and by that I mean on tape, er, disk.  To do this I am using Sanoma WireWorks’ RiffWorks.  What this allows me to do is lay down the ideas modularly and assemble them along a timeline to essentially create a musical wireframe upon which the details of the song can be built.  This tool allows me to work on 4, 8, 16—any number of bars at a time in a looping manner, layering ideas or simply layering several takes of the same idea until I have something that clicks.  The flexibility of RiffWorks allows me to create today’s equivillent of a “demo”, or pre-production tracks.

Once I have the tune laid out in RiffWorks, I can then export the tracks to Sony Acid Pro 7, my DAW of choice.  From here I can get to work on the tracks that will eventually end up in the final product.  Acid is a an animal that I have barely touched as far as its far reaching capabilities are concerned.  There will be much more in the future about my experiences with this package as things progress.

Another technology, which I have been using for close to 10 years, is digital modelling of amplifiers, signal processing and even my instrument.  I am a very loyal, hard-core Line6 user and have implemented my entire gear chain using this technology.  This allows me to have a seemingly unlimited arsenal of amplifiers, speaker cabinets, “pedals”, gutiars, microphones, etc…that I can carry with me in one hand and on my back.  I have used this configuration during these years gigging with Sokmonkey and have been able to crush the tone every time.  In fact, everyone except the drummer in the band uses Line6 for their backline, giving us complete control and quality of sound without the quantity of gear.  This, combined with in-ear monitors, is a perfect example of how technology has allowed us to exponentially change our workflow by providing superior sound quality that only takes roughly 20 minutes to set up on gig nights, letting us focus our creative (not to mention physical) energies on actually creating music, and that almost effortlessly.  At the end of the day, we all do this out of passion and the pure enjoyment and satisfaction of creating, performing or recording music, and today these workflows, when thought out creatively, have transformed the platforms available to practice this craft.

So, in the same way that we designed the workflow for Sokmonkey, which worked well beyond our imaginations when we set out to implement it, I am setting out to create—to reinvent—my workflow for the studio.  If this morning is any indication, this surely has the potential to be everything I hope it will be, and more.

//T

This morning it looked like only a lucky 250 developers were invited as part of the first wave of the MonoDroid invitation-only developer preview after it was announced that they were initially going to release 1024 invitations right out the gate.  Apparently there was concern on the part of some members of the MonoDroid team about the potential workload that would be created by bugs being submitted by over a thousand eager developers which led to the decision to initially release the significantly reduced number of invites.

As of 6:15 CDT today, it looks as if they released another block of invites, or maybe I was really lucky to be part of the fist wave and just got mine late.  Either way, no complaints here–my download just completed so I am off to play with MonoDroid.  I will be posting my experiences as I dive into the preview bits.

//T

Long time friend, Patrick Rhone, is an evangelist of minimalism among other things.  This is a concept that, while beneficial–even critical, in many cases–to various personal successes, I struggle to maintain.  My very nature, and even more so the habits I have developed over my lifetime thus far, represent a resistant force that has battled with the need to simplify and organize my efforts in work and life.

The desire to make steps toward adopting minimalist principles and concepts has been commanding my attention in recent months as I approach a crossroads in my life and career.  I have the tendency to fill the proverbial plate with more than I can consume, followed by overwhelm and distraction by another seemingly more exciting project–all before the overloaded plate had any chance of success.

I have spent some time as of late following Patrick’s blogs, including Minimal Mac and Patrickrhone.com.  I came across a post he wrote talking about minimal word processors.  This is a concept that I have been aware of yet never took the time to investigate…until now.  I am a PC by trade, designing and writing software on the .NET platform for a living.  Patrick, who is a self-proclaimed Apple fan-boy (and an indisputable technical master in the Apple space), obviously produces subject matter from the iOS-based application persepective.  So, what’s a Windows guy like me to do?  Google for alternatives, as I often do.

WriteRoom is the original Mac version after which DarkRoom is modelled.  I am using DarkRoom to write this post, and I have instantly fallen in love with the experience of writing on a completely blank piece of screen real estate (except for 4 directional arrows used for navigation of the page text), free of the countless distractions that typically plague me in my writing efforts.  This extremely simplistic tool has not only provided an incredible writing environment, it has illuminated the possibilities minimalist workspaces offer and how these concepts actually bring peace, focus and productivity that foster quality and creativity, which in turn fuel synergistic growth.

And all that from a simple tool…

Well, not quite, but you get the idea…

Thanks Patrick!

As is in keeping with my pattern of execution, I pile too much on my plate and end up barely making a dent in it before zeroing in on another project.  It is this vicious cycle that often leaves me spinning wheels and getting nowhere.  So, I am setting my goal of writing and/or recording one song a month, just so I can get these rusty gears moving and relieve the pressure built up that is almost 2 decades of music ideas in my head.

I am shooting for August to be the first month of this project.  Feel free–no, feel compelled–to hold me to this;  encouragement inspires and delivers returns for both sides  I will keep updates coming as things get going.

T

We’re heading out for a much needed vacation, visiting family and friends in Puerto Rico.  This will be a great opportunity to test out remote podcast recording configurations and live streaming from the “field”.

The regularly scheduled shows will be coming live from San Juan for the next 10 days…I love this stuff, so it will still be vacation

//T

As I have mentioned several times, and probably will several more, that the first decade of the 21^st century has accurately been dubbed “The Decade from Hell”.  This has held true for me as with countless others.  However, as we begin the fourth month of a new decade, I find myself renewed in several ways with an optimism and hope that I have not felt since I was younger and idealistic.

I am no longer “younger” nor idealistic, yet the passions that I held close have been taken out of storage and I am breathing new life into them.  It is these passions which fueled me then and are fuelling me now.  These passions surround music, a life-long love for aviation and my faith.  Along with the resurrection of these passions comes a lifetime of experience(s) that sheds a new, and even more realistic, light upon them which shows what the possibilities are now, and those possibilities are incredibly exciting!

It is amazing how things fit together and the opportunity that life gives us each and every day.  As we enter this Easter weekend, it is only appropriate that this reflection be shared and realize that we always have a choice and a chance to be renewed.  It is my desire for you all to experience this renewal as we continue into a new decade…and beyond.

Much of my spare time is devoted to developing web sites and content for those sites.  These efforts have gained momentum in the past couple of months with the development and initial “soft” launch of several sites, including Shepard Road, The Smart Musician, Audiointel, Webventors and the re-launch of this site.  However, it has been the development of concepts and the content that will make these sites what they will become that has taken the majority of the effort.

What I have discovered is that there is so much that is around us that we don’t realize that can provide topics to share and talk about, things that are related to our passions, interests, hobbies, work, etc…things that we really enjoy talking about.  So when somebody says they have no idea what they would create a site for or to write about, just tell them to look around

As these sites progress, I will share little pieces of that work here.  Now, off to work…and fun

//T

Recently, all my efforts surrounding what seems to be an endless stream of web development projects and opportunities have put my personal site into the distant background.  During this time I have shifted my hosting and web content management (CMS) tool to WordPress, which is enabling me to do everything SO much easier.  I finally got to the point where even I, as a professional Microsoft .NET developer, who has always said “…I can write that myself..,” said “…it’s so much easier, and quicker…” to take advantage of new tools, even if I am not familiar with the “plumbing” underneath.

All that said, this is just a heads’ up that the content from the old site will be moved here shortly, as time allows…after all, one has to have personal space as well, right??

//T