Picture this… You’re sat in your car on top of the Yorkshire Dales admiring the rolling hills in all their glory. There’s you in the driving seat with your Macbook, your wife’s in the passenger seat with her Ubuntu Netbook, one of your friends is sat outside on the grass with his iPad and another one of your friends is sat next to him with his Windows 7 Laptop. Oh… and not forgetting your daughter whose sat in the back of the car with her Nintendo DSi.
So… there you all are, totally remote with only the sweet fresh smell of a Yorkshire Summer to warm your spirits. There’s no Starbuck’s or Wetherspoon’s with Wi-Fi ‘hot-spots’, no Ethernet ports to hard cable into, no electricity. Just a mobile phone mast one mile across the valley.

So ask yourself, can everyone of those 5 devices access the internet right there?
Well yes they can.

Today my Mobile Network broke free from the shackles of it’s USB dongle and entered the world of true mobility. I’ve been aware of the 3 networks ‘Mi-Fi’ modems ever since they released the generation one version a couple of years ago. Yet at that time they were over-priced, under-tech’d and basically, not desirable enough for me to pursue. So here I am, a few more years down the track with my Mobile Broadband and in receipt of a Huawei E585 Wireless Modem at the reasonably priced sum of £37.

In a nutshell, it’s a Wireless Router that once you stick your 3 SIM card in, gives you full internet-enabled  Wi-Fi networking functionality ANYWHERE. Yes…. you heard me right – take your mobile wireless LAN with you wherever you go.
(The only stipulation for the ‘internet-enablement’ is that you must be near enough to a 3 Mobile mast to receive a signal of course, yet with 99% of the UK covered plus widespread coverage throughout Europe and the rest of the world, the sky really is the limit) I should mention the battery life as well. On a full charge you get around four and a half hours of continuous use; more than enough for an afternoon lazing around on the top of a dale. Charge time once back at base takes around one hour.
Did I mention it also has a MicroSD slot and can function as a NAS? oh yes. All those configurations and admin tweaks that you net admins love to poke about with under the hood are right there to configure and lock down to your hearts content, DMZ’s, IP filtering, 256-bit encryption, deep root diagnostics etc.. All accessed via the browser of your choice from whatever operating system is currently taking your fancy. This tiny little shiny black pebble that would fit in your shirt pocket is tomorrows technology today.

Mobile Networking is moving forward. I’ve blogged in the past about HSDPA+. There’s 4G and even 5G in the pipeline. As more and more elements of our lives require high-speed data transfer the Mobile companies are listening and know that they need to meet the demands of the consumer. They are the companies that are still making money throughout the recession and economic downturn and they are the companies that have the money to invest in R&D and penultimately, the continual upgrading of the Mobile Infrastructure and our ever-increasing demands for faster packet transfer.

So a final thought but of a more music production nature. I’ve previously touched on ‘Virtual Studio’ technology and hooking musicians up in real-time across the internet. You can probably guess where I’m going with this…
There you are sat half way up the Dales with your Mobile Recording Solution recording in real-time your session musicians who are jamming their grooves on Bondi Beach in Australia. Yes, that really is 100% achievable and at a cost even a student could afford. Marshall McLuhan’s Global Theater truly has finally come of age. Now if that doesn’t spur your creativity on then you clearly need to get out more, but just remember to take your Mobile LAN with you!

In today’s Modern Studio environments there are what I see as 3 ways to play the ‘Keys’. Firstly, there’s the Original – a dedicated hardware Instrument such as a Grand Piano. A standalone piece of equipment that is purely analog. The sound it produces comes entirely from itself and what it is made of, which is predominantly wood, strings, metal plus all those other relevant counter-parts that go to make up it’s fabric.
To record such an Instrument requires the capture of the sound it produces and resonates out of it’s body as the musician plays it. A straight forward process – set up your Microphones and record it.

The second key playing method I see as Electric (or Electronic), for example a Fender Rhodes Piano. Here the technology has progressed from the pure analog state of what is found in the Grand Piano to the introduction of electrical circuitry and the ability to take a ‘line out’ and ‘Di’ it (Direct Interface) straight into your Recording environment. You still have the ability to ‘mic’ record such an instrument but it normally involves taking a line out of the instrument into an amplifier, then mic’ing the amp and capturing the recording that way.
Any Instrument with the ability to take a ‘Di’ out of it and capture the sounds it produces falls into this 2nd key playing method. From Synthesisers to Drum Machines to the previously mentioned Fender Rhodes. Be it onboard pre-programmed sound banks or vintage valve circuitry, if the unit produces it’s sound ‘in-house’ and provides the ability for capture then this is the category I label it in.

The Third way of playing the ‘keys’ is increasingly becoming the most common in today’s Modern Recording Studios – The Keyboard Controller. Here you have a Controller that unlike the synthesiser or Electric Piano, has no onboard sounds yet is purely a control interface for the Soft Instruments housed within your DAW. Yes, the world of Software Synthesis is well and truly rocking the planet these days.
As the purists finally give in to the great leap in technological advancements there comes a point when true emulation of an analog instrument is reached. I’m pretty certain we are their now anyway. Just to name but a few – Digidesign A.I.R Velvet Electric Piano, Arturia Arp 2600 V, Scope Prodessey, Steinberg’s The Grand. And so the list goes on and on.

I’ve been a ‘Soft’ musician since day one and yes, I’ve noticed an increase in quality ten fold. The soft instruments I have access to nowadays are nothing short of mind (and speaker) blowing. So what’s the crack then?
Well… I’ve finally realised what I’m lacking. A piano interface that actually feels like a real piano. Up until now the sheer thrill of the noises that the soft synth’s produce has always been enough to satisfy my appetite. I’ve had numerous Keyboard controllers and Synthesisers from the majority of those famous brands – Roland, Akai, Novation, M-Audio, Korg etc. and yes, they’ve been great fun, feature rich and full of all the dials, sliders and mod wheels that every Digital Producer wants.
However, I have never been truly satisfied with the keys. They’ve always been plastic, they’ve always felt well…you know, sub-standard. I’m at a stage now where I want to progress with my Piano playing. I want to truly feel the expression in my fingertips. I don’t just want to sound like a Grand Piano I want to feel like I’m actually sat at one.
So cue the Studiologic VMK-188 plus from Fatar. It’s on my radar and will be coming to a Studio in Yorkshire very soon. Check it out yourself and make your own mind up. For me, this is the perfect Controller to take me to the next level.

In the beginning it was Cubase. Version 1.0 running solidly on the Atari 1040 STE. I’ve more processing oomph in my digital watch these days than a whole rack full of STE’s could offer. Still, there’s no way I’m going to flame Cubase and it’s humble origins. It was then and still is a Legend and Steinberg fully deserve their status amongst the ranks.
As I’ve said in early posts, I’ve spent many years rolling along the Cubase Highway following it’s progressions; developing my techniques with the technological advancements each new Version would offer. When I switched to the Macbook in 2007 though I also switched to Pro Tools and left Cubase by the roadside.

So there I was, All Pro Tool’d up and feeling like I was sat in some high-octane Studio in downtown LA. Initially all went well, you know, just like when you first start dating a new lover. Neither can do no wrong and as you start getting to know each other a little more intimately you begin to build up a picture of the ‘real’ beast you have got into bed with.

So what’s this then, am I flaming Pro Tools now? Well no I’m not.

I’ve spent 3 Years with Pro Tools now. There’s been ups and downs just like in any relationship but all in all, She’s treated me well and we have made some sweet music together and will definitely continue to do so. Every Engineer, Producer, Slicer, Dicer etc. Has his own way of working. Some love Hardware, Some like it Soft, Some make Music out of rubbish they find at the local tip. Whatever floats your boat. Personally my nirvana is a mixture of Hard and Soft Studio Environments which I would envisage is the same as 90% of the Music manglers out there.

I upgraded to Cubase 5 at Xmas. I thought I needed it. I missed her. We’d spent so many years together, how could I have just abandoned her by the roadside in favour of the more talked about American rival. So back she came, with all her new features and offerings of endless musical mash creation. Woah, now just hold on a minute their love. Do I really need you back in my life?
Well the long and short answer I have discovered is No. So her bags are packed and she’s off to a new home with Jim over in Leeds.
Cubase 5 is a Monster. It’s got it all and more. But that’s just it. So has everything else. I’m sorry Ms Cubase but I can’t feed your constant demands anymore. I like your new look but I’m sorry, I’ve been cheating on you for years.

Let me tell you about Pro Tools and it’s shortcomings. Well, for me anyway, the biggest gripe is the lack of delay and latency compensation on the channel strips during recording. A simple explanation of this is that I am unable to run any plug-ins in real-time during the recording process on the armed capture channel. For me, recording dry is colourless and totally uncreative. Having plugs processing your signal in real-time during capture and audition seems totally necessary. Imagine a guitarist having to play a wah-driven riff into the box dry then add the wah-effect later. A slightly misleading example as the wah pedal will of course be in the signal chain before the capture unit but you get my drift. Plug-ins equal creativity and they should be available anytime, everywhere.

So what’s my solution?

Well, I’ve got to say I’m still happily having an affair with the sexy swedish blonde that I’ve come to love as Propellerhead Software. She will let you do anything, anywhere at anytime. She’s solid as a rock, more creative than a box full of art students and pretty as a picture. With Reason 5 and Record 1.5 due out in a few weeks I’m already stocking the fridge with extra beer for those dirty late night sessions.
She’s my kind of girl. She’ll happily team up for a twosome with Pro Tools via the Rewire protocol, then when we’ve finished our sweet musical love making she’ll seamlessly export all my stems out with one key-stroke so I can pipe them into Harrison Mixbus.
So that’s me. Three women on the go and each one of them totally satisfied. As I am.

Ahh… the sweet sound of Reggae. You’ve got to love it.
Yesterday I started traveling through my recording archives in search of the Reggae tinged tracks I’ve composed over the past 10 years. I’ve dug out at least 15 tracks to take through the next stage of production which equates to a solid hour of back to back Reggae music. So that’s going to be my next project and next album release.

I feel very fortunate in having 10 years of untapped, unreleased recordings to access. I have never actually counted up how many projects (songs) I have on the back burner but I’m guessing somewhere around the 400+ mark at least. I’ve always wanted to do a pure Reggae ‘esque’ album and it certainly feels good knowing I am now at that milestone and able to do this.

Anyone who knows me and my music knows that I do tend to lean towards the ambient electronic side of things. I have no explanation for that. I guess you just are what you are and I must be a chilled out sine wave.
I’d definitely say my parts equate to a lot more than that. I’m a staunch music lover and like pretty much anything with even a slight musical connotation. Still, now that I’ve got the Record Company set up and Digital Distribution in place I think it’s a great time to tighten up my Genre-molding when constructing releases.

The first release ‘La Isla de Yorksha’ is a clear beach based electronic voyage. It’s a nice 37 minutes of introduction electronica. It’s me just quietly sliding into place with some listening pleasures for those who enjoy the sun. It’s not the Stone Roses nor is it Whitesnake. It’s a Yorkshire man, his laptop, some synthesizers, an acoustic guitar, some vocals from a passing songbird all wrapped up in the memories of beaches from Central America to the Mediterranean. For release 001 I think it’s as good a place to start as any.

The next release is definitely going to be 100% Reggae (ish). I’ll aim for Xmas as a release date but it all depends on how it develops during the next stage of it’s cycle. The songs are already their but I think I should seek out some vocal talent to accompany the sweet reggae tines. There’s a legend in Costa Rica who goes by the name of Rafa who I know would love to step up to the plate but there’s the small issue of a few thousand miles between us. You never know, I may be able to persuade Fat Jim in El Llano to snare him for some vocal takes. lets see.

After that, who knows. Maybe a Deutsch -Tek Bleep Album? A Dark Electronic voyage? A 21st Century D&B journey? They’re all to come, it’s just in what order.

Our very first Digital Release has finally arrived.

La Isla de Yorksha is a 10 Track Mini-Album (I say Mini as it’s 37 Minutes long, is that Mini?) It’s a pleasant electronic listen with enough surprises to make the listening experience a conscious one. There’s no set program, the tempo’s go from the low eighties at times upto the late 120′s for some of the more upbeat sections.
It’s focus is for the discerning traveller and journeyman. Music should be able to travel well.

The music does have the Sunshine in mind. Balearic, South American, Yorkshire Sun. It’s all in there somewhere. You should feel it’s warmth coming through at times. Keep a look out for it.
There’s the Sunshine of Gozo in there also and the sleepy coastal village of Marsalforn with it’s idilic pace, dusty meadows and glistening coastal views. There may be the odd digital crackle – call it machine dust. Even the bible had typo’s.

The track listing is as follows:

Acapulco (Twinned with Aysgarth) 4:23mins
Beautiful Girl 2:51mins
Cooks Choice 3:37mins
Coastline 2:44mins
Singing 3:38mins
Studio76 3:47mins
United States of Yorkshire 3:44mins
Textures 3:58mins
Tijuana 3:21mins
Kill me in the Morning Sun 5:01mins

Total Running Time = 37mins.

All work recorded, composed, arranged, modulated and mastered by Submarsound.
Released from the Yorkshire Sunshine Electronics Record Company.
Preliminary Release date forecast for Monday 26th July 2010 from iTunes, Amazon, HMV, Tesco, Facebook, Android plus a number of other Digital Distribution Outlets. Confirmation of this release date will be made nearer the time.

Some of the spare Tracks I have left over from this release I will be publishing on this website for free download over the next couple of weeks with the run up to the release date. Now that I’m not talking to micro-chips 24 hours a day I should be able to actually keep the world more informed. It’s one thing being a slave to the dials and the circuits but it sure feels good to finally come up for some air. It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Yorkshire today.

Most Electronic Music Producers spend plenty of time working with Audio Loops and Samples. Loop-based Music is unquestionably the backbone of 99% of all Electronic Music compositions heard today, be it Drum Patterns, Vocal Snippets, Guitar jolts or whatever; Looping something generally takes place.

There has of course in the past been critics. A lot less these days but it’s always been the old die-hard stick-in-the-muds who seem to tar anything electronic as worthless and made by a robot. Ah well, each to their own and all that. We love Loops. Does that make us any less Creative or Musical? On the contrary, the amount of fun and creative expression you can produce from loop-based productions is endless in it’s offerings.

Propellerheads Reason really blew the lid off Loop Based Sequencing right from it’s first appearance and the legend that we now love and know as the Dr.Rex Player. Due to Reason’s Rock solid ability to perform, throwing 10 or 20 Rex players in the Rack at a time has never been an issue, only a pleasure! Yet the Dr.Rex Player has had it’s limitations, and you could say that it’s a touch long in the tooth now. If you compare it with say Structure in Pro Tools which has a much more detailed engine.

I have been known to Rewire over to Pro Tools just for Structure occasionally just for that extra zing and tweak-ability but as I’ve always said, I find Rewiring a necessary evil at times and much prefer to have just one DAW going at any one time. When you first own a car you drive it to it’s limits whenever possible. Over time you realise that this is not the way to go. Anyone whose fried their first car will no exactly what I mean. Anyway, cars aside, the world of Rex is getting a Heart Transplant.

Rex Mangling is soon to be taken to even greater heights of flexibility with the launch of Dr.OctoRex. Just one of the new tools coming to Reason and Record’s Upgrades due from Propellerheads in Sweden this Summer.
Check out the Video. If you Rex and Loop you will be stoked.

Maybe your new to Rex? You could always let our Wave Machine produce a Remix Pack for you so you’ve got your very own Rex’s to get you on your way. Rexellent news all round I think

Screenshot of Dr.OctoRex:

Released today – a true classic. Rebirth for your iPad.

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure to be acquainted with Rebirth I recommend a visit to the Rebirth Museum HERE
3 of the most innovative and widely used pieces of Electronic Equipment ever to grace the world of Audio Production all rolled up into one super smooth, super reliable application. I’m not going to go into the in’s and out of these legends but it’s needless to say, the Roland TB-303, TR-808 and TB-909 are to Dance Music Producers what rain and sunshine is to farmers.
Propellerhead Software retired Rebirth in 2005. Undoubtedly due to the development of Reason and it’s paralleled distinction in so many areas. Yet here it is back for the Touch Screen Generation and bringing with it endless possibilities for Music Creation wherever and whenever.

The iPad has barely had time to get it’s nappy changed and already it’s bouncing around the world of Music Production with so many possible uses and integrations it’s future is already guaranteed. Every Studio over then next 12 months will have an iPad performing some kind of function. It’s an almost done deal.

From Mixing Desk emulations through to Virtual Instruments (such as Rebirth) the iPad is already making Producers drool at the thought of cost-effective, hands on control for your Workflow. No longer are you tied to the Mouse or sat wishing you could afford one of those over-priced Bespoke Control surfaces. Development has already started by a number of enthusiasts. Check this video out  – Record + iPad
Propellerhead Software, the creators of Reason, Record, Recycle and of course Rebirth have always had their eyes clearly focused on the road ahead. They’ve got their critics (the infamous ‘Reason’ sound that was like Marmite the first time you A/B’d it) but Record really put them on the map as a real contender. They seem right on the money with the iPad integration and definitely something that we will be fusing into our Mobile Development Project. We have embraced Propellerhead Software right from the offset and cannot thank them enough for bringing such creative and rock solid applications into our lives.

There’s no way I can see the iPad totally replacing all other control surfaces in your Digital Studio (I couldn’t imagine having to use it as a Midi Keyboard Controller) but as a complementary unit such as a touch screen controller for the SSL desk in Record, That’s going to be a wonderful and pleasant asset. Hands on all the way, you’ll be almost able to feel the frequency changes in your fingertips.

This week I finally arrived at the finishing post with some of my HD Video footage. Although I’ve been shooting pure HD for the past 18 months; processing it and rendering it has always been a heavy task.
Since the upgrade to Snow Leopard, Final Cut Express 4 seems to have come into it’s own and really does seem to run so much better. I could still benefit from a faster machine but the Macbook is coping and so HD delivery has now arrived. With the HD production line flowing, the final stage of the workflow was to get the movies uploaded and embedded in HD. I have evaluated 2 possible sources for this, Vimeo and YouTube.

Firstly Vimeo.

Now Vimeo definitely seems to like to promote itself as the ‘film makers’ site. They offer 2 kinds of membership – Basic and Plus. The Basic account is free and allows you to upload 1 HD Video per week. However, embedding the movie into your website in HD requires a Vimeo Plus account with a cost of $59.99 per annum. The uploaded film footage does look decent on the Vimeo site (check out this example) however, I wanted HD embedded on my site and I’m a bit reluctant to pay especially if I could get a similar service for free elsewhere.

So… Secondly onto YouTube HD.

YouTube have only recently started offering HD streaming so as with anything new you instantly become sceptical. My first upload conked out at 91% – oh dear I thought, that $60 fee for Vimeo suddenly became more acceptable. Anyway, i slept on it all and tried the HD upload to YouTube the next morning and it sailed up without a hitch.
Now unlike Vimeo, YouTube seems to take a while longer in post-processing your movie even after you’ve uploaded it. My advise would be to log off and leave it an hour after it’s successfully uploaded. My return 1 hour later – all the encoding had finished and I could not only watch but also embed my lovely HD movies straight into my website for no Fee at all. This is great I thought, there’s got to be a catch? Well… up to now I see no catch. There’s not even those tacky advert banners appearing at the end just a nice subtle ‘replay’ button. See for yourself over at our Video page HERE

So there we are. HD embedded Video streaming off someone else’s server, with no advertising and no cost at all. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me! I should point out… my Capture source was 960×540 so with some slight up scaling a bit of the sharpness is lost. Still, it’s a vast improvement on SD and DVD and again, for a free media channel it’s more than adequate for showcasing some soundtracks. After all, it is primarily about the Music

For a while now I’ve been contemplating some kind of DAW Control surface as I’ve moved more and more ‘into-the-box’.
On Saturday I finally parted company with my trusty Roland RS-5 Synthesiser. It’s served me well and has brought me endless hours of pleasure and some very pleasant sounds; but it’s just too long in the tooth for todays SoftMusic Environments.

There’s bumper loads of offerings out there now, all fighting for your business and offering you complete parameter control of all your Favourite DAW platforms and Vi’s including Pro Tools, Cubase, Reason, Logic, Ableton and so on. I’ve watched endless Promo Videos, Demo Videos, Read Forum Posts and Visited Manufacturers home pages and I’ve finally settled on an Axiom Pro 49.

It’s got shortcomings that I’m already fully aware of but it’s positive’s completely out-weigh these minor gripes for me.
It’s biggest selling point is the ‘out-of-the-box’ integration with Pro Tools 8 and Cubase 5. No Parameter mappings required just plug, load and your off. I can’t think of a better way to fire up a Recording Session than just that. Much as I like faffing and digging about in the engine room I’ll be more inclined to do so now that the majority of control is already mapped to my hardware.

Price did come into my determining choice. Of course, it comes into everything and it’s usually associated with Quality and Features. Overall though, it looks ‘different’ which is always good. It has proper sized Piano keys which is also a nice feature. The Faders are probably it’s weakest link but this is one of the shortcomings I am aware of. I don’t ride faders constantly so I’m sure these 40mm rides will be adequate for me.Yes of course, Motorised Faders would have been lovely but that’s when the cost/feature ratio starts to take effect. (Same with a Jog Wheel… something for my next level purchase)

One of the The Flagship DAW Control Surfaces that I do admire is the Mackie Universal Control. Definitely something I will look at again in the Future. This really is Pro-Class Control for the ‘In-the-Box’ Music Producer. I can see a number of units similar to this one making it’s way into our Markets during 2010. For now though, I’m just going to enjoy the moment with the Axiom and work my way into this two-way relationship at a steady pace.  As a replacement for my unused Roland RS-5 Synth, I’ve got some Technology that’s light years ahead and communicates perfectly with my Computer. I feel like I’ve been on Swap Shop and Won.

Other Products I have considered and researched were:

Steinberg CC121 | Alesis MasterControl | Behringer BCF 2000 WH | Euphonix MC Control | Novation SL 49 Mkii

Well after a good couple of weeks preparation – gathering together updates from the Internet for all of my DAW apps, Cross-Checking Compatibility Charts and dipping in and out of various forums; My Snowy DAW Build is installed and running like a dream.

I’ve put in a lot of preparation for this. In-fact, I can’t recall a more study-heavy migration. I had Pro Tools, Cubase and Propellerheads Builds to prepare. Plus all of my Tertiary Virtual Instrument Bundles and Effects Modules to Validate. I just wanted everything to work right from the offset. My preparation and Methodical approach paid off and after a days installing, patching and tweaking I now have a Killer DAW Platform sat happily on my Macbook waiting to Serve – Including the delicious Cubase 5!

I’ve been away from Cubase since SX3. I decided to make the jump over to Pro Tools in 2007 and although it’s served (serving) me well, it’s just never seemed to do it for me. I’ve patched it and plugged it to death and yes, it’s got some amazing features and sounds, but it’s just never given me the workflow that Cubase offers.

So last night… there I was. Back at Steinberg Central after a 3 year absence and it felt great. I can see me spending most of my time in Cubase rather than Pro Tools from now on. German Technology just seems to deliver so much better than American Technology. The Swede’s do a good job also though – Reason, Record and Recycle are all Sat Happy in the Snow:-)

The only thing I’m really lacking is a dedicated Audio Editor. I’ve canned Crossover and the notion of Patching an old version into it. I might take a look at Wavelab Essentials 7 when it gets released or a version of Bias Peak maybe, I’ll see how it goes. With 3 High-end Builds of Cubase, Pro Tools and Record all installed I doubt I’ll be needing one soon.

OS X 10.6.2 + Cubase 5, Pro Tools LE 8.0.3, Record 1.0.

Snow Jacket required.