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The Chill Factor

For some time I have wondered why I got emotional or got chills / goosebumps when listening to exceptional pieces of music. So a little bit of research tells me that this reaction is called ‘frisson’ (pronounced free-sawn) and is a French term meaning “aesthetic chills”. It is only experienced by approximately 50% of people and is generally in response to music, art or listening to a great speaker but emotional music is the biggest trigger. Results from personality tests on a number of people showed that the listeners who experienced frisson also scored high for a personality trait called “openness to experience.”Studies have shown that people who possess this trait have unusually active imaginations, appreciate beauty and nature, seek out new experiences, often reflect deeply on their feelings, and love variety in life. Some aspects of this trait are inherently emotional (loving variety, appreciating beauty), while others are cognitive (imagination, intellectual curiosity).I am so glad that I am in the 50% that have this experience because I can say that when it happens it is wonderful.

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Music

One of my tracks used in a U.S. Travel Vlog !!!

Well I just found out that one of my tracks has been used in a U.S. Travel Vlog and I’m so thrilled and excited about it !!!!! They asked about a year ago if they would be able to use it and I said yes but it’s only just come out. The link is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81tGpKfU4SA

Makes it all worthwhile.

Categories
Daws

Ableton Live, Part 2

So there I was with a huge bank of sounds, instruments, tracks and effects plus Max For Live and Plug-ins but where do I start. At first it was a bit overwhelming to be honest.  I had craved this and suddenly I had it and had absolutely no idea what to do with it lol. I guess in a way that’s fairly natural especially if you’re just an enthusiastic amateur like me. But features like Max For Live which I knew very little about are a huge subject and facility to master on their own.

I decide in the end to YouTube myself to near death in an attempt to increase my knowledge and skills. Day after day searching for more and more info about every aspect of Ableton Live 10 Suite. Of course the only problem is that for every decent YouTube video on a subject there are probably about 20 really rubbish ones but you have to watch them or part of them to find this out. 

Anyway after a period of learning a topic and applying it to a riff or sample tune my skills did start to improve, even at my age, I suddenly knew what ‘sidechaining’ was and ‘warping’ and loads of other useful features that can make track sound so much more professional and that was great. Two years on and I’m still learning, my music has changed and become a mix of live keyboard and guitar together with lots of samples, drumbeats and natural sounds which I love to use. My journey continues and every day i feel so lucky that I can sit down in my little home studio  and create something totally original that belongs to me !!!! 

 

Categories
Gear

My Amazing Loop Station

I love Roland gear, and in 2011 I bought my RC-300 loop station. I was really excited and I was one of the first people in the UK to get one.  Not sure why I wanted one so much maybe it was this performance by KT Tunstall on Jools Holland in 2004 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ize44.

Anyway, after 9 years I still love it as much as I did back in 2011. It’s a great tool to have and one which can sometimes inspire great creative moments.

Categories
Gear

My Guitar Synthesizer

I wanted a Roland GR55 for about two years before I could afford to buy it. I finally got it on the 2nd July 2016 at a cost of £525. I had watched numerous YouTube videos of the GR55 in action and I was desperate to start making music with one. Once received I immediately started having issues with it and fairly soon after I had received it I had to send it back to Roland because there was a problem with either the GK In socket or the GK3 lead that goes from the guitar to the GR55. Anyway it was fixed under warranty and I got it back after about 2 weeks. Unfortunately the reality of ownership and using it hasn’t lived up to my expectations. In the four years that I have now owned it I have never used it on any track that I have recorded. I’m desperately disappointed in this as I hankered after it for quite some time before I finally got it and paid a reasonable amount of money for it. Sorry to say it’s effectively an expensive paperweight  in my home studio 🙁

Categories
Daws

Ableton Live, Part 1

I first started using Ableton Live Lite when I purchased my Novation Launchkey 61 a few of years ago in 2017 when it came packaged with the keyboard. I was hooked straight away. I already had a copy of FL Studio 12 (Fruity Loops) at the time which I had been dabbling with for a while. I found it quite good and enjoyed creating with it but I have to say when I started using Ableton Live it was a game changer for me. From that moment when I first started using it I knew that I would have to get the Standard edition which I did at a cost of £207 on 22 Dec 2017 !! It immediately opened up so many more options to me. For example I now had 5 instruments instead of 4, 1800+ (10GB) Sounds instead of 1500+(5GB), 34 Audio Effects instead of 21 but most importantly I went from 16 Audio and Midi tracks to UNLIMITED !!!!!! I mean you have no idea the elation I had when I loaded Standard on my computer for the first time and suddenly I could create as many tracks as I wanted. There were other differences too such as 256 audio inputs and outputs instead of 8 etc etc. 2018 was a very creative year for me and I had countless hours of fun with my DAW. Of course that wasn’t enough because by now I had heard of things live Wavetable, Sampler, Convolution Reverb, Echo and a whole host of other audio effects, software instruments and packs that Standard didn’t have. You guessed it, I had to have Ableton Live 10 Suite, it was the only way to go. Finally in January 2019 I bought Suite for £269, which is a lot of money to me, and finally I was in heaven! More in my next post when I talk about my year of discovery with Ableton Live Suite.