The Outlier Saga…

The Outlier saga begins in March, 2018. I had retired from a job I had for thirty years to devote more time for music and video pursuits. I scrapped my web hosting service, began learning WordPress, set up a new website, fired YouTube, Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn, learned a new video editor (Filmora), began a blog, and just walked away from anything that I could not support. Also, we began a two month home renovation, so it was a very transitional time, indeed.

Now What?

Now, we began by getting a couple of sounds together… I chose Waverazor to get a bass we can drop in when needed. Then, I added a couple more sounds using Waverazor (again) and Syntronik. SampleTank 3 is a VST I often use, and this time is no exception. These plugins are made by Ik Multimedia. I chose a 16 instruments-worth of sounds that I think might work. My philosophy is simple- use a lot of instruments for small stretches. If I’m bored, you’ll be bored, right?

I needed to have a title track for my new album-“Outlier”, so now what? First, I had to shove away the clutter by getting the Skyypilot website back up, start a blog, switch my video host to Vimeo, learn Filmora (for editing my videos), and began to use some new, essential Waves plugins.

Let the Music Begin!

After choosing 87 bpm (beats per minute), let’s let the music begin! I just started out on Waverazor and got sounds for the two tracks that those two instances occupy. Then, I picked a sound that Syntronik would trigger. These samples are from vintage synthesizers, so that’s always interesting. Putting old sounds with new is a good thing for we short-attention span folks! No instrument is totally set in stone at any point (in my view).

OK, now I let the recording roll along and sparsely fill the space with sounds and little themes that I attempt to stitch together. After starting and stopping for about 8:37, I decide to end the free-form with a little rock.

I put a rhythm and two slide electric guitar parts through Amplitube 4, another fine Ik Multimedia product for guitar and bass processing. You can completely change any guitar tone AFTER the recording-invaluable!

I decided the bass parts would be shared with a sample from Ethno 2 , Waverazor, and Waves’ Codex.

Get a Groove Going

Time to get a groove going on the Outlier saga… I put together midi loops from Waveform 9, DrumCore 4, and various odds and ends. Usually, I have a couple of different-sounding midi kits that blend together. I selected drum kits in DrumCore 4 and one of in previously chosen SampleTank 3 instruments.

Now, I put my simple blues guitar theme on it- two slide and one rhythm guitar. Next, I added a simple bass part, trading with a Waverazor instrument track. I filled in a couple of chord progressions with SampleTank 3 instruments and percussion from Waveform 9.

Taking Shape

This song is taking shape. Next, I wrote the lyrics to rock section- “Walk Away”. After singing along a few times, I have a melody in a framework.

The end has a call and response thing going on. I decided to be the three piece one-man chorus, so there you go…

The Choices…

All the choices we have in audio plugins are staggering. I use mainly Waves and IK Multimedia plugins, but I’ll describe these and the others more in depth as my blog slogs on… You have to “fish or cut bait” at some point, and live with your choices.

I’m finishing up this 16:30 monstrosity soon…

To be continued,,,

Mental Chess

When it Works…

When I want to really feel humble, I play mental chess. Software is great when it works as written, but there are those times… Get out the chessboard!

First of All…

First of all, let’s cover a great video editing program- Filmora. I had been using Windows Movie Maker. It served it’s purpose when first getting the hang of making my videos, but was outdated and I needed greater flexibility. I’m not the best video editor, but this thing works great! You can download it and try it free. I did, liked it, and bought it ($60).

Filmora has a lot of features for video/audio formatting, effects, transitions, filters, social sharing, including direct exporting to YouTube , etc. They have many easy-to follow videos to get one started. You can put picture-in-picture, split-screen, fly in titles, captions, and much more into your video. I really like it.

Sure, Filmora is not the fanciest, most expensive option out there, but it works great for me. The learning curve was relatively flat. This was more like playing checkers than chess.

Moving Along

So, moving along, I had a relatively minor issue with a VST plugin, and proceeded to dive in and really screw things up. I spent a good deal of time trying to correct it. Mental chess has begun.

Almost all computer problems can be solved by elimination. So, you keep trying different solutions, and eliminate what doesn’t work. This forces you to be both creative and logical. It drives you crazy, but the process is what I call “mental chess”. When your problem finally is solved, it’s exhilarating!

When All Else Fails…

Most of the time, I can back out of the problems, but when all else fails (as was the case here), I have to uninstall the program, then reinstall it. It’s a pain, but sometimes there is no other choice.

Using your mind to logically solve software problems keeps you on your toes. There’s always something to learn. That’s what the human brain is for, after all!