George Octave

band in a box

2009-10-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

Band-in-a-Box is a powerful and creative music composition tool for exploring and developing musical ideas with near-instantaneous feedback. Over the years many features have been added to Band-in-a-Box - Notation, Piano Roll, Lyrics, Melody Tracks, Harmonization, the StyleMaker, and StylePicker. The Soloist and the Melodist are popular "intelligent" features; the Soloist generates professional quality solos over any chord progression, the Melodist can create songs from scratch with Chords, Melodies, Intros, Solos, and even a Title!

let's get psychedelic

2009-09-25T02:26:00.000-07:00

a really cool effect i use a lot is the reverse fx.
you can hear it a lot on john frusciante's solo albums or on the latest red hot chili pepper album - which is in my opinion a real masterpiece -stadium arcadium.
you can try a psychedelic solo for example. record your solo. simply reverse it with the plugin. add some reverb on the reversed solo-track. reverse it again...listen :)
really cool effect isn't it? you can also do it with your vocals. sounds like voices in spooky horror flicks.
a very cool vsti to do this is this here:
KVR-Audio Backman
or you can do it without any vsti.
export your solo. open it with the windows audiorecorder. Click on effects. Do the reverse. Add Echo and save. then do the refverse again and save. Open your Host DAW and import the reversed echo solo-track. enjoy ;)

Plugin Bundle

2009-09-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

This is a very good plugin bundle. The leslie FX of mda became my homerecording standard plugin when i start editing my organ. Really good sound...this bundle is for free, and very useful. so download it and try... enjoy

http://mda.smartelectronix.com/

Amazing ground breaking Software

2009-09-12T05:41:00.001-07:00

This is really groundbreaking, even when I heard about it, seen it and even as I've worked with this plugin i couldn't believe it. It's astounding. This plugin gives you a universe full of new possibilities, even if everything is right in your mix you could use it to experiment around. I never thought that what this software does, would be ever possible. It's groundbreaking and totally awesome. but watch the clip and see it!

T-racks Mastering Software

2009-09-12T05:33:00.000-07:00

T-Racks is a high-end deluxe mastering and mixing software suite of 9 dynamics/EQ processors with analog modeled, vintage and digital gear. Totally amazing and another mast have in your home-recording studio. Easy to handle and tons of presets make the work with that plugin damn easy. 5 of 5 stars in my opinion.

time for some bass

2009-09-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

another really useful virtual instrument comes from steinberg. It's called virtual bassist. I use it for some funk sounds, because slapping and thumbing sound very realistic.
easy to use, and the plugin contains premade grooves which goes perfectly along with Groove Agent - another great steinberg vsti. So check out the virtual bassist. Have fun!

Amplitube Fender

2009-09-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

For all Fender heads and all people who just love this timeless, fantastic tone of Fender this plugin is a must have.
awesome.Fantastic plugin, must have for all homerecording musicians.
check it out!

So create music at home

2009-09-11T11:53:00.001-07:00

this is "the wind cries mary"-cover from jimi hendrix. But you can see the plugins i recommended to you! Sounds good, doesn't it? So it isn't that hard to make good sounding music at home. All you need is knowledge,right software and right plugins.

Equipment for this song and plugins used:
- Fender Stratocaster American Vintage '57 -
- Ik multimedia Amplitube VST (amp simulation processor) -
- EzDrummer VST (drum) -
- Cubase SX 3 (sequencer) -
- Reason (NNXT bass) -

the drum machine

2009-09-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

I love bands like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Ten Years After, Cream, Deep purple, the kinks, the Yardbirds or Black Sabbath. And they have all one thing in common. Vintage drumsounds. There are a few ways to emulate or copy the drum sound of this era with analoge tapes or compressors, but one very easy way to do it is with Toontracks Vintage Rock EZX Plugin. So check it out. Was your first thought also "whole lotta love?". So check it out. Very usefull plugin for every homerecording studio.

Some more good news!

2009-09-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm a guitarist, so I'm very interested in guitar amps and how they sound. But unfortunately I haven't that big budget on my side to play with these amps and have that sound i want to have live. But I can have it on my records. I'm using Native Instruments Guitar Rig since the first version and it was amazing. It's very easy to use and very comfortable just to mess around a little bit with the guitar sound in your song. Before I choose the sound of my guitar on the track i try some possibilities and I do NOT have to record it again with another amp. So this is Guitar Rig. So check it out! Very useful software and plugin for your home-recording studio!

But guess what? there are other programs too. I also like to use a Plugin called "Amplitube". I prefer it when i want a little bit distorted sound or little bit overdirven sound or a really clean sound or even to emulate the sound of Jimi Hendrix in Amplitube's Jimi Hendrix Edition. So check out these program.

And as always there's also free stuff like these programs. I relly like Guitar Rig and Amplitube and stuff like that, but if you want to try some programs like these or don't know really if you need plugins like these try the demos of these programs first or download Freeamp (as in the name) for free. Just google for Freeamp.It should look like this here! Have fun!

Time for some Plugins!

2009-09-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

Really good delays and reverbs are coming from hardware. But if you don't want to buy some expensive effectrag you could easily create delays and reverbs with Plugins. BUT there are a lot of delays and reverbs out there - and many of them aren't good. Delay isn't delay and reverb isn't reverb. One of my favourite alltime effect package is for free, and it's amazing. Fantastic plugins with a lot of presets. You want to give more room to the drums? no problem, just add the "drum room"- setting to the channel of your drums and thats it. Your looking for a good phaseshifting effect or want a flanger on your guitar track? No problem at all. And DO check out the Compressor!

Check out this site: http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/

you can get all this free plugins here: http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/download.php

Hope you'll enjoy these Plugins!

FL Studio 9 will be released in september

2009-09-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

FL studio 9 will be released in September. I've recommended this DAW a few posts before. So If you're still searching for a DAW try FL studio (formerly known as Fruity Loops). You can download demos all over the net. Version 9 is a full functionable DAW station for all kind of music. It's pattern-based so often prefered for electronic music, but it's also very useful for rock and pop productions and homerecording. You cannot play drums? so FL Studio will do it for you, record your tracks, import it to FL studio, open the drum machine and start editing the drums for your song.

When i mean drums i don't mean this 90s electro cumputer drums, i mean real sounding drums. You can import Vsti's very easily into FL so it shouldn't be a big deal to load for example Toontracks EZ Drummer Vintage Rock into Fl Studio and start producing a cool sounding rock-song. Give FL Studio a chance, you will love it. Very easy to handle, very good workflow and very easy to produce music with it. That's all folks

Start your homerecordings with a bundle less than 200 bucks!

2009-09-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of Bundles for home-recording newbies out there. you can easily start producing with equipment that costs 200 bucks and less. But you should attach important to a bundle that contains an interface with at least 2 input channels, with +48V Phantom Power, headphones and a mic. Sometimes these bundels contain also a recording software which goes perfect along with the interface of the bundle. If you don't need a mic and headphones and you already work with a DAW you have choosen, it makes sense to buy just an interface you like. The interface is very important, i would call it the heart of all your in future recorded songs.

Audacity - the free, open source audio recording and editing software

2009-09-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

"Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems."

I use Cubase as I've said, but I want to present Audacity because it's free. So before you start to buy a non-free DAW you can try Audacity and experiment around. All Digital Audio Workstations are similar, so if you work a little with Audacity you get familiar with the DAW of your choice.
The quality of the sound isn't reliant on the DAW you use, but on the interface, the mics and the instruments you're working with. Audacity is a very good software to start with. So plug-in your guitar or bass or whatever you want and start to record and get behind the techniques of recording step by step.
If you want so, you can upload it to kompoz, as i've proposed in the last post.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

time to work, time to learn

2009-09-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

so whenever i have time i like to work on my own projects or help other people on their projects. there's one very very good site out there with a very friendly and cool community. it's called kompoz. they're very fiendly and you can learn that much. very good musicians and ideas are around there. i recommended it strongly to learn how to create a song, to get ideas from other musicians and to work together without pressure of time. just sign-up and be creative. All you need is an Audio-software like GarageBand, Cubase or even freeware software like Audacity, doesn't matter. record your idea, upload it to kompoz and invite people or wait until they join your project. i really like kompoz and i like to work together with other people and share ideas and talk about music. you can produce, mix, master or play instruments, can talk about songs, make ideas, everything is welcome. So thumbs up for kompoz. try it - learn from it and have fun!

www.kompoz.com

the daw and the interface

2009-09-11T02:46:00.000-07:00

So if you are ready to start your music production at home,
you need a DAW first. DAW stands for Digital Audio Interface.
I recommended Software like Logic, Sonar, MusicMaker, Cubase, Pro Tools or anything
like that.(It's also a matter if you are a Mac User or a Linux User or a Windows User).

I personally use "Guitar Pro 5" for Song ideas, and write it down to midi and listen to the idea.
than i make a simply demo in FL studio. I recommended that program because it's
pattern-based, so it's very easy to handle and to make fast demos out of your songs.
It's a very powerful programm after all. It's perfect to structure your song and your ideas and making a "map" of your song.
For recording the tracks i use Cubase. Some like it, some not. I work with Steinberg's Cubase
the last 5 years so I'm familiar with that, and it works fine for me. For mastering I use Steinbergs
WaveLab. A very good program and you can boosten up the quality of your songs once more.
So you can choose between different DAWs. Trying out a few is a good idea. There are a few Freeware
DAWs and they are good too. You need them just to record your tracks. Not for mixing or Eqing or
stuff like that. A very difficult decision is, when it comes to Hardware.very important. The interface.
I tried a lot the past years, just like Guitar Port 2, or the Alesis IO2, the K-Matrix and
i ended up using the Edirol M-16 DX. Works best for me, cause i need a lot of tracks and i record with a lot of mics,
cause i also do mobile recordings for whole bands.It's easy to use and work with. So you have to think
about what you need, what the interface should do for you, and how you want to work. If you want to record
a whole drumset at home, you need a least, 6 to 8 channels. So it's a bigger Interface.
So If you just want to record a guitar track and your voice in your room at home but you want
good quality, a two-channel interface works fine for you. Think about and buy wisely.
I recommended to buy a Interface which can do "a little bit more" for you, because your
needs in making music will also increase time after time.

The world of music

2009-09-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

hi there!
today i start this blog about virtual instruments,
recording, producing and mixing music, about plugins and software
that you could easily create music on your pc or notebook.

so there are a lot of free plugins out there, but just a few are really
usefull. most of the really good sounding and realistic software isn't free,
but it's worth the price. With these plugins you could easily create fantastic
sounding music, in any genre. It is also possible to copy or emulate sounds of
past decades of music. So you want your drums sounding like the drums of Bonham?
You like the Led Zeppelin sound. It's no big deal. It's just a question of time and
knwoledge how good your music will sound in the end.
And there are other questions i think a lot of:
DO we need real musicians today?
DO we hear the difference between a real drumset and a sample-based drumset from
the machine?
DO we need this little mistakes and humanities in music letting them sound more
organic? and if so, can we emulate these faults?
the most important thing about making music is the idea.Then you should structure your idea.
More often than not the best songs are very simply. So keep it simple.