New Research

I've been looking for more websites with information on making music with Ableton now that I see how it won't be as hard to prepare to DJ as I though although I should start doing that now anyways. Jon has found some new software called Traktor which I'm going to check out sometime soon but for now, Ableton has the spotlight:

http://www.djtechtools.com/2012/01/01/5-free-vsts-that-every-dj-needs/

This is an excellent source for VST's which are plugins which would be beneficial to say the least, to my songs and maybe add some professionalism.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/09/26/diy-taking-your-tracks-from-the-studio-to-the-club/

Here are some excellent tips for making an Ableton track sound professional. Some of the tips are a little advanced and it may not be for what we're doing but they're good regardless.

http://www.heatercore.net/livetipslist.html

Finally, here are 365 tips for Ableton. It seems like a lot, because it is, but hopefully if I have problems, I'll be able to stop here for answers.

Mashup Time

For the dance I'm thinking of playing some of my own mashups but there are a few problems. It's hard actually finding acapella's and you have to find songs with near to correct pitches. This one is a problem child due to how hard it is finding acapella's of U2 on the internet and how at times the pitch's don't match at all. But I think over all it works well, also I hope it works well because I lost some files and I can't change anything on Ableton without complication. More mashups and possibly a remix to come!

Also on Tuesday, me and my mentor and possibly Jon are meeting with the principal for logistics and other important stuff relating to the dance a month from now. What I should really think about now as well is finding more sources on music making, DJing, etc...

Back again, again.

So after a few days I'm back posting due to technical issues and my computer being very slow for some reason. Hopefully it won't be slow for the Black Light dance, which will be held on june 7th in the Black Box theater at IHS from 7:30 to 9:00, but me and jon are hoping to extend the amount of time it'll run for. It will most likely actually run for two hours but we absolutely have more than enough energy and songs to play for longer. Fingers crossed.



In other news, I made another song and this time, it's a little basic but thats sort of what I was going for. Still, only the songs I feel are very refined will be played live and I think this one could use some work. I'm currently making another song which is a remix of Katy Perry (oddly enough), but it should be pretty cool and slightly weird. It'll definitely have roots from French electro.

Out of My Comfort Zone (From 4/9ish)

When we listened to how this guy purposely got out of his comfort zone to learn something new, it was pretty interesting to me. I personally have great fears about leaving my comfort zone so this guy is really taboo. In a way this project is just like what that guy does. It's forcing ourselves to leave our comfort zone. To research in new ways by interviewing people and professionals who can offer advice, and generally learn in a way that's not at all like what we've been doing in school in the past. I don't think I'll honestly ever become like that because I just don't think it's really required to learn something new but I respect him anyways.

SUPER AWESOMENESS

No caption needed.

SO, me and Jon landed the gig at our senior blacklight dance. We'll be DJing for most likely a lot of our fellow seniors and possibly play some of our own music/mashups, that would be very cool. When I finally meet with my mentor this week I'm planning on asking what to do about using the speakers already in the room of the venue or not, and if we can use the super nice (and expensive) sound board already in there, that would be awesome. Other than that I've chosen a select few songs to play and will definitely collaborate more with Jon on what to play, and develop skills with professional DJing software.  I should really focus on logistics instead of finding more songs but it's so addicting! I also need to find more sources still, I've found a few recently but I just need more.



 ...and some music to top it off.

After Break

It's been a long week with not a lot of time to work on my project but I did have time to make this mashup between Jay Z and Bootblack (explicit language). Played a lot with DJing software and worked out some logistics with Jon. I think now we need to decide the playlist and get on with practicing together and at maybe some mock venue with all the necessary equipment. It should be good to meet with my mentor tomorrow to get myself back on track and moving along. It also might be when we hear if we are officially DJing the schools Blacklight dance at the end of the year.

Nice.

Ableton Live, a DAW

So a lor of things have happened recently and I've been too busy to post much but there's a lot to say.

I met with my mentor and we spoke more about how the chances of DJ-ing one of my schools dances at the end of the year is going and it looks good. I said I was planning on working more on DJ-ing, hooking up my controller to DJ-ing software and using samples and effects.

I shadowed Jon at Cabaret Night last week where he was the one controlling the sound board. I learned about amps and speakers which will be essential to the dance at the end of the year. I really should've taken a picture.

Other than that, I've made a pretty ridiculous song in about half an hour. It's not necessarily good as much as entertaining at times. Something you make with a group of friends and laugh at. This I have a picture of (above) and it's available for DOWNLOAD! AW YEAHH!

Good stuff.