oh, f*ckin' canada.
yo.
i'll talk more in depth about the generalities of my trip at the other spot, but i'll just stick this here for now.
i could live there, dog.
that's my word. i could see myself living there. the city- at least what i saw of it- wasn't particularly spectacular, but i could see it being a great place to get your create on. 'specially if you're a music fiend. i'd need mad appendages to count the number of record stores and music related boutiques on Queen St. ALONE.
anyway.
i went up there to connect with my Goodness homies, and i did. them dudes showed me a good time and i'm crazy appreciative. if you cats are reading, thanks again. i'm really excited about what the future holds for us, yo. we're *RIGHT* there. just a few strategic moves away from being in the position to live off this stuff.
needless to say, this was definitely a good trip, if only a teaser for trips later on. i'ma try real hard to make it back up over labor day. this time i won't forget my passport, either. lol
business is doing good. i've been contacted about work from 3 diff sources, and thru the fine orchestration of C. "The Executive" Dyce, i have an opportunity to submit music for a remix of a certified classic artist. i just sold 2 beats and the checks are "in the mail". buzz is good, i think people at least know i'm serious about what i do, and for the most part, when it comes down to it:
i love creating music more than everything else. we'll see how true that statement holds when i start making my small fortune, but at this point, it's rock solid. hearing beats i did with verses on them being blasted in another country is better than a few dollars in the pocket, yo. y'all don't hear me though.
___
so it's about time to start adding to the equipment arsenal. my kit list on the far right has been sitting idly at mediocre since i started this blog, with a few excelsior additions here and there, excluding the mic. i mentioned copping the tascam fw-1804 and the ART Digital MPA Gold pre-amp, but as those are high ticket items, it's taking me a little longer than expected to cop. besides, to make the tascam a working component, i've gotta upgrade the PC to be firewire ready. it's due for an over haul anyway, so i'm going to drop a few dollars on a new motherboard, max out the ram (4GB son, fuk with that) stick in a new h/d and pop a AMD 64bit chip in there, something in the 2.2ghz+ range. i expect that will run about 3 or 4 bills.
when i was up in toronto, i saw the most beautiful midi keyboard controller: the novation remote25.
the keys feel great. it's not very expensive and it's got plenty of knobs for automation and what not. it's battery/usb/AC powered. handsome design and it's 2 octaves of REAL KEYS (up until this point i've been playing EVERYTHING on the pads, including basslines and simple lead lines. i even played the rhodes part on "To Detroit With Love". not fun. )
secondly, i have to cop this:
the akai mpd 24. this is a thinly veiled reaction to being trumped soundly by m-audio's triggerfinger, the versatile, tactile, expressive alternative to akai's first offering, the no frills mpd16.
the mpd 24 has transport controls, a complex multi-line lcd display, 8 knobs and 6 slider/faders, and i'm sure a plethora of other midi control message modulation tools. if it has a flam button like the korg midi drumpad or a note repeat like real mpcs, i don't really think it can be beat. i'm hoping the pads are soft, i'm pretty used to that, but if not, i'm sure i can work around it.
i'm going to skip the brand new laptop now. i probably will still end up getting one, but i really only need it to handle the business/play side of my computer life, like checking emails, downloading music, web activity and other online correspondence. the desktop has to be come a full-fledged workstation. i almost had a malicious bug crash the whole system for good last week, so i'm really ready to stop playing split duty with the main machine.
it's all jokes til that tascam gets here.
but man... that mpd and the novation? together? pff. niggas is not ready, dog. plus virtually no latency? multiple ins and outs? cmon man.
_____
this has been best year ever for my music. and i ain't done a thing, yet. all praise due to di mos' 'igh.
let's go!
i'll talk more in depth about the generalities of my trip at the other spot, but i'll just stick this here for now.
i could live there, dog.
that's my word. i could see myself living there. the city- at least what i saw of it- wasn't particularly spectacular, but i could see it being a great place to get your create on. 'specially if you're a music fiend. i'd need mad appendages to count the number of record stores and music related boutiques on Queen St. ALONE.
anyway.
i went up there to connect with my Goodness homies, and i did. them dudes showed me a good time and i'm crazy appreciative. if you cats are reading, thanks again. i'm really excited about what the future holds for us, yo. we're *RIGHT* there. just a few strategic moves away from being in the position to live off this stuff.
needless to say, this was definitely a good trip, if only a teaser for trips later on. i'ma try real hard to make it back up over labor day. this time i won't forget my passport, either. lol
business is doing good. i've been contacted about work from 3 diff sources, and thru the fine orchestration of C. "The Executive" Dyce, i have an opportunity to submit music for a remix of a certified classic artist. i just sold 2 beats and the checks are "in the mail". buzz is good, i think people at least know i'm serious about what i do, and for the most part, when it comes down to it:
i love creating music more than everything else. we'll see how true that statement holds when i start making my small fortune, but at this point, it's rock solid. hearing beats i did with verses on them being blasted in another country is better than a few dollars in the pocket, yo. y'all don't hear me though.
___
so it's about time to start adding to the equipment arsenal. my kit list on the far right has been sitting idly at mediocre since i started this blog, with a few excelsior additions here and there, excluding the mic. i mentioned copping the tascam fw-1804 and the ART Digital MPA Gold pre-amp, but as those are high ticket items, it's taking me a little longer than expected to cop. besides, to make the tascam a working component, i've gotta upgrade the PC to be firewire ready. it's due for an over haul anyway, so i'm going to drop a few dollars on a new motherboard, max out the ram (4GB son, fuk with that) stick in a new h/d and pop a AMD 64bit chip in there, something in the 2.2ghz+ range. i expect that will run about 3 or 4 bills.
when i was up in toronto, i saw the most beautiful midi keyboard controller: the novation remote25.
the keys feel great. it's not very expensive and it's got plenty of knobs for automation and what not. it's battery/usb/AC powered. handsome design and it's 2 octaves of REAL KEYS (up until this point i've been playing EVERYTHING on the pads, including basslines and simple lead lines. i even played the rhodes part on "To Detroit With Love". not fun. )
secondly, i have to cop this:
the akai mpd 24. this is a thinly veiled reaction to being trumped soundly by m-audio's triggerfinger, the versatile, tactile, expressive alternative to akai's first offering, the no frills mpd16.
the mpd 24 has transport controls, a complex multi-line lcd display, 8 knobs and 6 slider/faders, and i'm sure a plethora of other midi control message modulation tools. if it has a flam button like the korg midi drumpad or a note repeat like real mpcs, i don't really think it can be beat. i'm hoping the pads are soft, i'm pretty used to that, but if not, i'm sure i can work around it.
i'm going to skip the brand new laptop now. i probably will still end up getting one, but i really only need it to handle the business/play side of my computer life, like checking emails, downloading music, web activity and other online correspondence. the desktop has to be come a full-fledged workstation. i almost had a malicious bug crash the whole system for good last week, so i'm really ready to stop playing split duty with the main machine.
it's all jokes til that tascam gets here.
but man... that mpd and the novation? together? pff. niggas is not ready, dog. plus virtually no latency? multiple ins and outs? cmon man.
_____
this has been best year ever for my music. and i ain't done a thing, yet. all praise due to di mos' 'igh.
let's go!
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