Twilight Meditations 2 - Pre-Production Update

Wooohoo!

Sounds have been selected. Gigastudio 4 has finally died a horrible death, so I'll be using two other PC's loaded with Kontakt, Waves and Omnisphere to fill in. Going to have to figure something out for Giga Violin though. NOTHING can touch that sample and it's only workable in Giga4.

Any suggestions?

96 Khz is the sample rate, the DVD session is plotted, and once I have roughs of all the music I'll pass them to the better half of me to see if they inspire anything.

I become excited :)

Soon

Jack

Twilight Meditations 2 - Pre-Production

Heya gang. Yup, I'm in the middle of putting together instruments and ideas for a second release, tentatively named Twilight Meditations 2. I know, very creative naming. Heh

Anyway, I intend to do this release a bit differently. Specifically, I'm going to record it so that it can be mixed and released in 5.1 surround. I also have a very sexy and talented photographer and graphic designer that I think I can bribe into doing visuals so this can turn into a multimedia relaxation release.

Plans are to make its flow somewhat similar to the last release, starting at around 70 BPM and slowing to 58 BPM, but sticking there. So instead of a gentle slope down then slope up, this will be a very gentle slope down. Hopefully listeners will be able to fall asleep. I know a couple of people who suffer from insomnia and I'm eager to see if this is successful in helping with that.

I'm going to try a bit more with the piano this time. There was a lot of piano in some of the pieces from the last CD, but after listening to George Winston's new age stuff, I realized that you can really carry the material with very limited instrument choices.

I plan on using some more world instrumentation as well, some of the textures that are produced when you combine instruments from two totally different regions of the planet are unique and strangely familiar. There will be some experimentation. If you have any ideas of what might be neat to try, please by all means post some suggestions.

I have a prelemenary release date of quarter 1 2010.

My best

Jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - CD Complete

The Night is Over, The Day Begins

Its fitting that the final track, which I guess technically falls outside the meditation part of the CD, is called The Day Begins.

I've never liked mornings.  If you really know what I'm like, then you'll know how much of a night owl I am.  I work better, play better, read more, etc. while the moon is in the sky.  There is a feeling that I can't describe knowing that I'm one of the few up in my part of the world.  Elsewhere, on other continents, people carry out their days, much like we do, while we sleep.  When twilight comes for us, they begin their day.

When the alarm clock beeps to wake me up, at 8am, I used to despise it.  I hated alarm clocks.  I am a grouchy morning person most days.  But then someone dear to me explained something that I will never forget.

The day comes, and with it comes the thankfulness that i've made it through another night, and can awaken, my life continuing for another day.  Its exciting, empowering and extremely profound.

So even if I still flip off the alarm clock and growl at it, I remember the important fact that hadn't occurred to me until it was explained to me in my mid thirties.

We've awoken, we're alive, and its a brand new day.  What will happen to us today is unlike anything we've ever been though before.  Isn't that worth a smile for the morning?

see you soon

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Final Mix Day Two

Well, the mixes are literally being torn through.  Besides some aesthetic  instrumentation changes, volume redraws and some minor reverb tweaking, I think the disc is really gonna work.

At least I hope so  O_O

There is a major thunderstorm going on outside, and I usually unplug the whole studio and run for the living room, but I'm on a roll, and it feels like I can't stop now.  All thats left to mix is twilight dawning and then its a move to the recapitulation tracks.  I think two will do it.  I'm going to estimate the disc will time out to right around an hour or so.

Thanks so much for staying with me you few, it really means a lot when I get comments on this stuff, otherwise i'd feel so alone.

See you late tonite,

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Night 7

The meditation section of the CD is complete.  The last track, Dawn Breaks...er..Daybreak.  Hmmm.   Which sounds better to you?  Anyway, it renews us with the promise of the new day, and all of the wonderful things that come with it.

The empowerment I have felt these last seven days has been truly remarkable.  It has, technical issues notwithstanding, been an effortless process.  Gone are pretty much all of the ideas in the sunrise cd folder, which was my rough ideas session to draw from, but this is the way the disc needed to come out.  I didn't fight it (much).  Heheh.

I plan to write 2 more pieces tomorrow, to sort of Sum up all of the themes that have been explored in these pieces.  I stayed away from repeating themes in each of the songs, because I really wanted time to explore as many "hooks" as possible.  Some of the pieces start very upbeat, and slowly wind to a pastoral end.  Some stay at an even keel.

I listen to these seven tracks and realize that there is nothing left to say musically.  Oh I could go on and on here, but my yammering is just verbal comments on something that must be heard.  Its kind of like the Matrix, only the real Matrix is better than anything I could ever come up with.

I hope to, in the future, work with a certain editor I know, to set some of these pieces to video.  Deep Blue and Star Trails especially could make good fodder for this creative editor who has mastered animation, stop motion, live action, etc...

Tomorrow I mix four more pieces and the CD will be complete.  Critical listening will take place Wednesday, and with any luck, it will be FTP'd to Discmakers shortly there after for replication.

I've seen some of the preliminary artwork that Jenn has done, and it is both incredible and inspiring.  Deep Blue was written because of one of her ideas she showed me.  She has some alternate covers as well, I asked for the other ones to be possible other albums.  But we shall see.

I think I may have said everything I need to with this one project.

See you tomorrow

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Final Mixes Started

Wooo!  Mixing track one "Twilight Falls".  It was a lot less work than I thought it was going to be.  Just 3 clicks that needed removing, some eq, compression on the strings (damn Cello players) and some note replacement.

I once told a friend that mixing this stuff was pretty straightforward because all of the instrumentation was recorded really well.  Thats just the volume though.  Reverb time (trails) are really important in this type of music.  Generally, I find the busiest section of music and make sure that the trail of the previous note doesn't interfere with the next note on.  It prevents soup...which is sometimes desirable.  But right now I'm in the mood for a steak and eggs.  We'll get into that sometime, if we talk in person.  Steak and eggs music instead of soup.  Dear Lord where has he gone now?

I'll mix three today, three tomorrow and finish 3 tonite and tomorrow.  infinitequest.com goes live friday, which means that my 16th release date needs to be adheared to (eep!)

We shall see.

:)

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Night 6

Have you ever look up at the sky, regardless of the the darkness, and see those dark clouds? They're almost painted on the sky, the high ones, that hardly move.  I can gauge their movement in relation to their position with the moon (if there is one).  A slow beat accompanies this movement, a glacial, almost planetary movement captured, moving imperceptibly.

As the album winds down with this and another piece, I feel a full circle completing.  An emptiness inside me has been filled, and meditation will take on a new significance for me, and I hope you as well.  While not a meditation CD by even the loosest definition, I still feel it can serve multiple purposes.  The final piano line, complimented by Flute (alto), Oboe and Clarinet sums this piece up nicely.

I appreciate you few who take this journey with me.  I appreciate you just nodding your heads and smiling when I get...over metaphorical and stray into the ethers of weird.  Heh.

The final two pieces will complete tomorrow and wednesday.  The album is mixing Wednesday and Thursday.  After that, it is out of my hands and into yours.

My very best,

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Night 5

Sometimes, when I am up extremely early, the sky loses it's dark starry aspect and becomes the deepest blue imaginable.  The night is coming to the end, as the sun will inevitably make its way to the horizon...but not yet.

Deep Blue is set in Eb, a very expressive key that I don't often write instrumental music in.  The strings and winds especially shine in this piece, providing a warm bed for the acoustic guitar to lie in.

Toward the end of the piece, I am finally able to unveil my  secret weapon.  Gigaviolin.  Short of having a virtuoso violinist sitting in my studio with a Stradivarius and 20k in Mikes, this sample set for Gigastudio is so expressive it makes me wish I were a string player.

After speaking with Jenn a bit today,  we realized that the tempo map for this CD needed a bit of thinking through.  I originally wanted a solid hour, with a gentle rise of tempo right up until minute 59 of the disc.  Picture a Long gentle sloping U that doesn't quite get to where it started at the end.  This is when I was convinced that this would be a meditation cd.  There is a difference between meditation and meditative, and I am falling solidly into the latter category.  So, after quite a bit of thought, and some bribes to my brain of coffee and donuts (yum), I was able to ratchet this piece up at the end to almost the same tempo as I started in the CD.  We're not gonna go all the way up, because I wanted people to be a bit more relaxed since starting the listening.  It will make sense though, so you don't have to go past minute 45 to get a full Meditation in, if thats what you are using it for.  So consequently, the last track (or two) will be at original tempo, and just keep us at a nice even pace.

What happened to the original sessions I should be working with, already sketched out and good to go?  I have no idea.  I think Jenn and my 8 core conspired on some unconscious level to make those sessions disappear.  Its okay with me though, this journey is so enjoyable, I feel like it could be therapy.

Also, and I don't know why, the end reminds me of my children.  I think the hopeful, child like theme repeated by guitar, violin and oboe is theirs somehow...

Track : Deep Blue

Runtime : 7:30

Tomorrow and tomorrow...

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Night 4

At night, when its a clear night, I like to look up at the sky, and try to see the dimmest stars I can manage.  These stars are, generally, farther away than the brighter ones.  The light reaching me from them is old, sometimes ancient.

Its a profound experience looking into the past this way, and many emotions occur.  One that is most significant is sadness.  I am sad because I am seeing something that will never be seen at that moment, in that way again.  I am sad that I will never be able to reach those stars in my lifetime, and wish I could look upon them from distances not impeded by my earthbound self.

To me, sadness is not a bad emotion to have, at least in this sense.  This is because it is not only sadness I am feeling, but happiness, joy and humble emotions I can't put into words.  These things all remind me of my life, and those around me, and the simple beauty that can be observed up there and here and on earth.

If you can see this, you are alive, and the stars are looking down at you. Why not have a glance up at them?

Track four : Star Light

Runtime : 8:17

See ya tomorrow :)

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Night 3

Morning Gang :)

Night Three!  After taking two very much needed weekend evenings off, its back to work here on the album.  This evening, I found myself looking up at the metaphorical stars.  I remember as a kid looking into the night sky and see shooting stars going as far as horizon to horizon.  I remember they were some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

I felt it fitting to name this slow piece Star Trails because it evokes a small measure of the feeling those shooting stars gave to me.

I started with some heavily edited reverse piano and bell sounds, and progressed to more traditional elements for the middle of the piece.  I've noticed that I've been following a pattern without realizing it.  I favored the artificial and synthy elements in the beginning of the piece, and then moved to the traditional elements.  This piece was no exception.  Though a really pretty voice patch picks up the second theme at the end, simplifies it, and then piano takes us out.

The most enjoyable part of this is right around a minute.  I layered this little piano pattern with a staccato piccolo, playing the same notes in the same octave.  Its a little playful and sets up the first of the stars playing across the sky, those childhood moments when you realize there are amazing things in front of you, and the golden tickle of the excitement you feel.

It clocks in at a respectable 6:33.  I was going to lengthen it by repeating the first section but with different instrumentation, but if you feel like you said something right the first time, why say it again?

Know what I mean?

See you tomorrow night, and thanks for reading.

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Night 2

Morning Gang

Well, its night two (well, morning two) of the final Twilight Meditation CD project.  Even as I complete the second track of this CD, I'm starting to feel a bit... apprehensive about finishing it this week.  These last two nights have been really magical.  I don't want it to end.  No one is awake, almost in the whole world, at least from where I'm sitting, and the sounds that the computers and the modules are making just make me so happy.  This Fazioli sample (Piano) is so beautiful I want to go buy the real thing.

Anyone have an extra 250k they can lend?  ;)

Anyway, no more misty, I'm a guy for God's sake.

Track two, tentatively named Vapor on the Fields, clocks in at 8 minutes.  It draws just a touch from the last theme in the first track, but it goes to different and varied places.  Some of it is very warm, especially in the middle, with adagio strings in a very low register.  Its almost pastoral.  The predominate instrument in the piece is a Classical Guitar.  I'd say I did this because it sets the harp, Fazioli Grand and Strings nicely, but I really did it for Jenn, cause she said she loves the instrument.  So do I.

The CD continues to thumb it's metaphorical nose at me at completely deviate from what I had planned to record.  I think I'm getting okay with it though.  I opened my manuscript for the first time and ACK! wrote the piece out with a pen!  Had to, too many changes and I was getting lost at some points.  Sleep deprivation and orchestration, man, any composer will tell you they go hand in hand.

Tonight finished early, which I am thankful for, because I have an evening scheduled with some good friends tonight, and I want to enjoy myself without too much fatigue.

See you Sunday :)

jack

Twilight Meditations Sessions - Night 1

Morning Gang

Well, i've been working on my Meditation CD project for a while now.  Release date is quickly coming, and Jenn told me how long they need to turn around duplication.  So, its full steam ahead, in which will no doubt be an interesting week of midnight sessions.

It actually all started the night before last, with temporary additions to the studio.  I added an 88 Key controller (Yamaha S80) and some extra computer power for those really cpu intensive sections.  There are also three VERY cool mikes setup (thanks Jim!).  A Blue Woodpecker (Ribbon Mike), AKG 414XLII and a Earthworks condenser.  These are setup strategically in no particular fashion or reason, scattered about my studio, ready to capture whatever instrument or weird object,...or breath.. at a moments notice.

Since the majority of the album is written, either sketched in sessions or in my head, very little music really needs to be written.  Just orchestrated, mixed, mastered and out the door right?

Eeep!  I wish it would have been so easy.  Because as soon as I downbeated (is that even a word?) the first bar of the first track, I realized that it was going to go its own way with no consideration for what I've already done and what I wanted.  Yes, the CD has taken off of its own accord and now is laughing at me as I scramble to re-write, re-orchestrate, etc the entire Disc.

Ah, love being a composer, don't you?

Okay here's the scoreboard.  CD = 1 .   Jack = 0.

Okay, I didn't come away with nothing.  I have a rough mix of a completed first track, tentatively titled Twilight Falls, and it clocks in at 5 minutes.  I did have a different name for it, ask Jenn sometime, she'll laugh...at me...again ;)

See ya tomorrow

jack

Soundtrack Review - "Fittest - Original Soundtrack"

“Fittest – Original Soundtrack” Review 

Dreams of Cobalt : One of the greatest challenges an electronica composer faces is to make their pieces lifelike and not-robotic (unless that’s what they are going for). Zircon continues to exercise his strong beat sensibility with Cobalt.  In your face high hats give a solid tempo to this varied synth infused piece.  From odd flanged/detuned pianos (really cool by the way) to more classic synths reminiscent of Oberhiem xpanders and Arps, he has created a wash of ear candy in this D Minor work.  The breakdown at the end of the piece sets up the next piece nicely. 

Photosynthesis:

With Photosynthesis, Zircon demonstrates the right way to incorporate electronica elements with hybrid orchestral and ambient textures.  Marcato strings and syncopated Marimba dance together with lo-fi, “freeze” elements.  One thing I have noticed about his work, Zircon enjoys the wide sweeping bass sawtooth and pulse waves, which really work for has unique style of music.  He is definitely not afraid to use his mod wheel.  Vaguely reminiscent of some of Wayne Lytle’s work, Zircon demonstrates his mastery of all synthesis types.

Cellular:

Very aptly named, Cellular starts as a gentle peek inside your Motorola phone, and then in true Zircon fashion, steps into a pulse-wave-arpeggios, strong back beats, with various synthesis techniques taking their turn at soloing.  This piece will definitely have you taking your battery out of your cell phone in the hopes of finding something that can vaguely be this cool.

Baroque Virus:

Shirking a massive pipe organ at any of your favorite churches/concert halls, Zircon demonstrates that orchestral elements benefit when a cutting synth patch takes the lead.  Pipe organ is given a short cameo in this piece, before a energized harpsichord riff tackles it and rips it screaming from the score.

Looking Glass:

Ming the Merciless makes a very short cameo in the very beginning of this piece, before it is covered in arpeggios and crystallized synth stabs.  Noise shots imply the snare sounds which show up later in the piece, and a haunting 8 beat theme, shorted to four beats as this piece progresses builds a tension that is nearly subliminal.  The piece evolves from here, and each element is given the opportunity to show not only where it belongs in the whole mix, but also as a soloed entity.

Fusion Master:

Fused Hip hop and electronica is difficult to do.  Fortunately Zircon is no stranger to fusion, and his groovy clav hits and off beat ride bells make this piece a real treat to play a game to.  It is a welcome relief to hear that gamers can look forward to some fun music, as heavy and thematic can get old after you’ve developed calluses on your thumbs from playing 12 hours straight. 

Psychesphere:

Incorporation of world instrumentation into current musical themes seems relatively common place these days.  Zircon has not bashed the sitar and tablas over our heads in this piece, but that does not mean that they are not present and integral.  However he executed the Sitar solo at 3:20, it is clear that he can express himself in both North American and Asian musicality.  Where else can he take us?

Morsecode:

Well, he’s takin us to Jazz Fusion.  Neat.  His piano playing chops cannot be brought into question as he demonstrates strong pedal technique with his solid left hand, and his octaves on the right scream  Jazz/Fusion done right.  As before, he calls upon a varied library of synthesis techniques to “replace” what you may expect to hear, with something that works just as well.

Star Command:

An aural assault upon your senses, do not listen to this piece without serious ramp up.  I’m serious.  I hope for your sake you are well into your third or forth hour of play before you’re hit with this one.  It is…well, it is.  That’s all I have to say.

Overall : 

Once again Zircon has demonstrated a mastery of style, substance and technology.  He pushes his craft with every title he releases, and “Fittest – Original Soundtrack” is no exception to this rule.  Released by Zircon Studios and Blue Door Productions, it is now available on iTunes. This soundtrack gives us a sneak peek into the XBOX 360 arcade title “Fittest” available this quarter.

iTunes Store - zircon - Fittest - Original Soundtrack---

 See you Soon

j

 

Game Design and Concepts

It goes without saying that knowing your job is essential to thriving in the business place.  I mean, duh, of course you should know your job.

But what about other people's jobs?

In our industry, some of us are focused strictly on production.  There are others who's strength lies in post production, or even pre production.

Take the latest project i've gotten myself into.  I am a small part of a larger whole, developing a video game MOD.  (I still don't know what constitutes a mod since we've rebuilding the game from the ground up :)

Music, SFX and a little programming.  That's my job.  Its split between two providers.  Game Music Inc and Bad Dog Digital.  But how essential is it for me to understand the low level game engine?  Or the SDK iteslf for this game?

I believe the answer is, quite essential.  Since my work is only a small part of the larger whole, in order for me to integrate that part into what comes before and after, I need to understand other's roles.

Instance:  The voice over recording.  We're doing that, we will work off of a script that will be provided by the level designer.  After those voice parts are complete, how do they get into the game?  We can't just stuff them into the audio assets folder and link it to the level, because the scripted action requires lip-synch between the character's textured lips and the voice over.  Is that my job or the programmer's?

Ah yes, blurred lines.   Thats why I love what I do :)

In this case, it will be the level designer's bag, since he's really doing all the scripting and I don't know how the action( Camera angle, movement) is supposed to go.

Since I know the larger part, greater than mine, I can ask these questions and best serve the others working on this project, because I understand what they need, not what they do.

Till next time

j

3...2....1... Kontakt

How many of you use Kontakt in your host sequencer? 

I’ve been plagued by an issue that has existed both in and out of Protools for the last year and a half.  I’ve spoken with customer support many times and they have said that its an issue with Kontakt and most DAW sequencing software. 

Here’s the issue, and please, feel free to chime in if you are having the same issues.  Kontakt opens, I click the little folder icon on the top left to open the browser and then stuff starts to get weird.  The pointer icon starts toggling back and forth between the arrow and the wristwatch (a throw back from earlier operating systems pre-OS x.  I guess NI misses the wristwatch). 

Closing the folder gives me a nice steady arrow.  What gives you say?  I have no idea.  One email and two phone calls to tech support, and I am given the stock answer that pro-tools and logic’s audio settings are to blame. 

Okay, in the words of my youngest daughter:  Fine. 

On a whim, I opened Kontakt 3 in stand-alone mode.  Sure enough, the problem persists.  This is going way beyond Protools or Logic’s” auto save function answer. 

I’m going to call tech support on Monday, and there will be answers.  I will post them here when I get them. 

As of the posting of this blog, there is an update of Kontakt pending Soon ™. 

Best

Jack

Update : Sunday January 18

Success:  A little research goes a long way.  Research into the depths of my brain.  A buddy way way back told me that if Pro Tools ever acted funny, try trashing the Preferences file for it.

I trashed the plist for Kontakt 3, no more hourglass/arrow oscillation.

I hope this revelation helps someone out there.

Best

j