I thought I’d give you an update as to what I’ve been up to lately. Links to all places mentioned below can be found in the menu above. Piano lessons. I am still teaching piano lessons via video conferencing software on the internet. I am also available to teach in person lessons in Micanopy. Computer […]
Category: Reaper
Update: Be very careful where you put your metering plugins when mixing. It turns out I had Insight one step before the final mix. As a result, my mono mixes are now about -2 to -2.5db softer than the stereo sounds, not the same as the article below says. This is acceptable, though not ideal. […]
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Choir Labs contest
Choir labs contest From time to time I enter various arranging or mixing contests. Recently Spitfire Audio – a British company that makes very good sound libraries – sponsored a contest. They make available various free libraries, one of which is based on the Eric Whitacre choir. The contest was to compose and record music […]
No Time To Relax Track 9 from my album Sampler. It can be found wherever digital music is available A melancholy piece featuring pads, light drums and vocalise melody to start with. Then the track adds in some synth leads and synth bass part. The end echos the feel of the start. The Gravity sound […]
Continuing with my series of liner notes for my album Sampler, we get to track number 8. This is a darker sounding track. It consists of 6 instruments and various effects. You can find all of my albums anywhere digital music is available. First up is the Bass, the Padaboom patch from the Substance library […]
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Exciting times (track notes)
Continuing my liner notes for my July 2018 album “Sampler” Track 7, Exciting Times, was my first experiment on doing something entirely from loops. Not audio loops, but MIDI loops. The entire track was produced from MIDI loops. I use to subscribe to a magazine that included a download link or a DVD that had […]
Sampler Beginning The Adventure (This is the first of a series of articles about the tracks in my new album Sampler) The album is available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon MP3 The first track is called Beginning The Adventure. As a side note, I have to say that coming up with titles for my music is […]
Current news I’m always looking for subjects to write about here or tutorial to do on YouTube. Please use the comments section to give me some ideas. I’ve not shown a map of where people are buying and performing my sheet music for some time, so here’s the latest (as of Mar 31, 2018) I’m […]
Wonder what this might be? var·i·e·gat·ed ˈver(ē)əˌɡādəd/ adjective 1) exhibiting different colors, especially as irregular patches or streaks. Botany: (of a plant or foliage) having or consisting of leaves that are edged or patterned in a second color, especially white as well as green. 2) marked by variety. Think definition number 2. Coming soon…….
It is always good advice not to switch to a different DAW if you are comfortable and familiar with another one. And, if you aren’t getting the sound you want from the DAW, spend the time learning that DAW before considering switching. Even so, sometimes it’s worth looking at other DAWs if they have a […]
Summertime It’s always slow in the music world in the summer, at least for me. Everyone’s out and about and the last thing they want to do is buy sheet music. I guess most people don’t buy CD’s to begin with, but even digital music (MP3) slows down in the summer. Even my piano students […]
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MIDI project
Among my regular activities as a musician, I was hired to work on special MIDI project. I thought you might be interested to hear some of the details. There are a number of churches that have organs but nobody to play them. Many of the organs are midi capable but the midi files they can […]
Komplete Ultimate 9 Native Instruments Komplete Ultimate For those that might be new to the world of creating music all on your computer or new to the world of synthesis and sampling, I thought a brief mention of what I use would be in order. There are many very good comparable products available from many […]
Session Strings Pro Animator Revisited Back in 2011 I did a YouTube video showing the Animator function of Session Strings Pro. It was a quick overview and not terribly detailed. At the request of a few people, I’ve come back to the Animator to take a more detailed look. The video is intended as a […]
UPDATE January 2016. Miroslav Philharmonik version 2 was released in December 2015. Based on the SampleTank 3 engine, the user interface is a thousand times better than the version reviewed below. I can actually use it without having to pull out the magnifer. There are new sounds and key-switching instruments are also provided. The instruments […]
I’m happy to announce that I’m now teaching piano lessons and general music lessons via the internet. Please pass the word on to all you know. I mainly teach piano lessons, but I am also available to teach Composition, Music Theory, Sibelius 7, Reaper DAW and Native Instruments Komplete 8 (with the various software like […]
Don’t forget, ALL of our sheet-music is now available at our website for FREE! I’ve uploaded a new video to YouTube. This is another with animated fractals. If anyone has questions about how I do the fractals, leave a comment and I’ll give the details. The background music being used is my own composition. I […]
Frozen Look A new MP3 file is available at the website. Titled Frozen Look this recording is somewhat ambient, definitely electronic and even a bit meditative. The inspiration for this title was a handbell arrangement I made a number of years ago of a less familiar hymn. I took that, made minor changes to it, added […]
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Fractal Art – New video
Fractal Art New video on YouTube I’ve always liked fractal art and the seemingly infinite possibilities that one can make with them. Now with faster computers and some free software, one can make 3D animation fairly quickly and easily. So, I found some still 2-D images I liked from various formulas I tried and I […]
I’ve uploaded a new video to YouTube. This is a recording of the piece What Wondrous Love Is This that I arranged for orchestra. The hymn tune is from the early 1800’s in Appalachia and is found in Southern Harmony, 1835. It is still used today in many churches and instrumental versions, like this, are also used in […]
This video is now available on YouTube. In it we look at how to use the Reaper DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) along with VST software instruments and MIDI to record and produce a song. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc1kkJQcLyQ?hl=en&fs=1] This features VST instruments Plex2, FM8 and Massive. The piece is entirely done in MIDI. The video also looks […]
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Abbey Roads 70’s Drummer
Native instruments released a big update, almost like a new version, of their entire Abbey Roads Drums series. The names now add the word Drummer to them. The new versions add the mixer and grove parts of their Studio Drummer product. The entire series update includes the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and Modern drums. I put […]
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Skanner instrument demo
Not too long ago, Native Instruments released a free instrument based on their Reaktor platform. It is called Skanner. I put together a quick demo of the instrument. The recording uses only instruments from Skanner.
New Video I’ve uploaded a new video to YouTube. The soundtrack is an original piece originally written as a school assignment (years ago) to accompany a section of a cartoon. It has since undergone some revision. The music was written for Flutes (including Alto), Saxophones, French Horn, Trumpets, Guitar, Electric bass, drums and piano. The somewhat […]
Two new mp3 audio recordings have been added to the music catalog. Chord Flavors The first, Chord Flavors, is a recording of the original composition Chord Flavors. It is a flowing, rhythmic transition between various chords. This transition and interplay of chords ends up making for a nice melody as well. If you’ve followed any of […]