It's so nice to be playing in a band again after all these years.  Though I went a long time where I seldom jammed with other people, I have definitely matured quite a lot as a musician, and as a human being in general.

My guitar tone and singing are improving too.  For the longest time, I was only using my Digitech guitar pedal for distorted tones, but lately I've toned it down gain-wise; I can get a sound that can clean up fairly well, but is brutal enough for ÌvÍETAL.  I've even been enjoying the fuzz tone, which I had always hated (again, lower gain).  I've really been experimenting with the effects too, and trying to create extremely weird sounds that are still musical.

New Studio Upgrade!!!

I just bought myself the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, and so far I'm super happy with it.  Finally I can record with 24-bit/ 96 kHz, whereas before I was using a 16-bit/ 48 kHz soundblaster.  The TASCAM 564 Portastudio I had plugged into that sound card was pretty nice, and is still one of my fanciest pieces of gear; however it makes a bit of noise whereas the FT Pro is nice and quiet.  Plus, I really like those cool jacks that fit 2 different kinds of plugs.  I've never had those until now, and I'm more excited about it than I should be.

When I first got into home recording about a decade ago, $20 mics from Radio Shack were good enough for me. In the past couple of years however, I've been a lot more serious about my studio, though I still have a problem with the financial discipline required to obtain sweet new gear.

The other day I was on Kijiji, not looking for a mic at all, but I found 3 of them anyway. A guy who lives about a block from me had 3 Shure mics for sale: SM58 for $60, beta 58 and beta 57, each for $120. I had $120 so I picked the beta 58.

I have to wait a couple weeks to buy a cable, but that's okay. My studio's packed up right now anyway, due to some work being done in the basement. I've heard nothing but good things about these mics and I can't wait to try it.

I recorded this in the summer of 2004. If it sounds a little sloppy, it's because it was a bit rushed; I was working long hours (shingling roofs, not recording), and I had to get this done, squeezing all my spare time into this project. It only took a few days, actually. I know it's not that great of a recording, and I've done better ones since then. However, at the time, it was the best I'd ever done and still remains one of my finest compositions. In case you haven't figured it out, I am proud of this piece.

This remix was done using Reaper, mainly as a way to ease the software's learning curve by not having to worry about writing and recording something new. I guess you could say I was trying to use it as a turd-polishing kit.

As a way of playing around with, and getting used to Reaper, I'm currently remixing an old favourite of mine. "Amethyst Dawn" was recorded on 4-track cassette in 2004. One by one I am transferring each track of tape into the DAW. Originally I had mixed down to 2-track tape and then made a digital copy.

Today I signed up for PodcastMachine.com. This is my first upload. My daughter and I wrote a song together. She was 8 at the time. I recorded this version with no lead vocal track so that she can practice with her karaoke machine. So far, the best-sounding recording I've made. Also it's my first all digital recording, though some of the drum samples are from analog sources (hence the vinyl crackle).

I'm enjoying a bit of a vacation at the moment.  My wife is in Mexico until the 10th, and so while the kids are asleep or absent, I can spend all my time in my studio if I want to.  And believe me, I want to.  I'm not playing guitar or writing music, or recording anything I've written; I'm getting some Digilog™ vinyl ready to take on the road.  I'm thinking an 80-minute metal compilation is a good idea.  i'm ripping a few Manowar tunes as I type this.  There are only a couple of really epic tunes on their first album; other than that, I'm going to use the best songs from other metal compilations.