NaSoAlMo
Posted on | November 7, 2004 at 12:31 pm | 4 Comments
I’ve officially declared my intentions to participate in National Solo Album Month, even though I’m getting a late start. I will have a lot of free time later in the month, which will help a lot, but right now I’m trying to get things done during my off-work hours. I’m doing the recording on my PC using Cakewalk Sonar, though I’m still using version 2.2 XL instead of the newer version 4. I’m not sure my nearly three-year old PC could handle Sonar 4. I bought a cheap USB Audio/MIDI interface, the Tascam US-122 which seems to work pretty well with Sonar, based on the experimental recording I’ve done with it so far. It’s replacing my old M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI soundcard, which I never really warmed up to. It has a good interface for microphones and guitars so that I don’t need a mixer/preamp. I’ve still got plenty of mics and guitars left over from the band days, so I think I’m okay equipment-wise.
So, eveything’s a go from the home studio/recording standpoint. The hard part is going to be 1) having the discipline to really work on it rather than go watch TV or read or answer e-mail or whatever, and 2) actually writing enough new songs (that don’t all sound the same) to fill up 30 minutes. I get very frustrated with the creative process sometimes, especially when I don’t have anyone to collaborate with or bounce ideas off of. So, it’s definitely an experiment and an uphill climb. But I’ll be really pleased with myself if I finish it, even though the end product is likely to be pretty low quality. I’m all about the satisfaction of completion.
And oh yeah, it would really help if I could actually sing, but if Ashlee Simpson can fake it, so can I.
Wish me luck! Latre.
Comments
4 Responses to “NaSoAlMo”
November 7th, 2004 @ 10:38 pm
I wouldn’t worry about the singing if I were you. Judging by many of the top pop acts these days, being able to sing isn’t really a requirement for success. You’d be amazed at what I’ve been able to do with Autotune. I’d be more worried about how good your dancing is…
November 8th, 2004 @ 8:09 am
I have the opposite problem. I can sing and dance, but my instrumentalist skills are practically non-existent, and I can’t write anything but blues songs. If you hit it big, though, I’ll be glad to teach you a few dance moves. It’d go a lot quicker if you get a pre-frontal lobobotomy first to lose all those nasty inhibitions, though. Anything for art, after all.
November 8th, 2004 @ 8:34 am
Thanks but no thanks, Alan – I’m perfectly happy in my non-dancingness.
And if you’re going to dance at Ted Leo, there’s no way I’m going with you.
November 8th, 2004 @ 9:03 am
You’re safe, these days I usually confine myself to occasionally bobbing my head and very rarely waving my arms. Besides, even if I did burst into an expressive display, you could always tell people you were there to monitor my meds. :laugh: