What I do

My purpose in life is to make music. I know this because it's the only thing I'm ever really compelled to do. Everything else is just filler.

I have been creating and playing music since I was a young cricket! I got my first guitar at the tender age of 10. It was a Fender Stratocaster(Squire of course-c'mon we lived in a trailer.)My dad always had guitars laying around but this one was MINE! It was so much easier to play than that battered acoustic in the corner and it didn't make my hand ache like I had just spent 6 hours straight jerking off.(That comes later. At 10 I'm not sure I even knew what that thing down there was for.) My dad, also a musician, taught me some chords and the minor pentatonic scale and I was on my way! Music was/is in my blood, in my heart and in my soul. It makes me "feel" more than anything else in the world.

So, as you can see, guitar was my original instrument of choice. Not surprising because at the time I was absolutely in love w/ Nirvana, Faith No More, Rage, and a whole bunch of other eclectic artist's from that revolutionary period in history. The 90's! So I went on to play in a few bands and continued to write music. All the while living through different phases and changes in young life. At one point I was absolutely obsessed with Marilyn Manson and believe me, I dressed the part, but more importantly, my music felt the shift into darker and harder realms and it responded with what came out of my heart. That was just one example. Anyway, when I was about 16 my cousin asked me if I would like to go to party. "Of course I would." So I went. It was my first taste of Live Electronic Music!

I was totally hooked. it didn't take long for me to acquire some used turntables and buy a basic (cheap) mixer. Then I found myself hanging out at the record store. A lot! I spent quite a bit of money on vinyl. Before the advent of Mp3's, Serato and Ableton being a DJ was fucking expensive! I can't believe I payed $8, $10, $15 on one track to mix with some other track! But I did and I loved every second of it. I got really good at mixing but something was missing. Mixing was super fun but aside from a little "flava", it wasn't ME. This was someone else's creation. I was simply listening to it! WTF! I didn't create a god damned thing! Fuck, now what? Well this realization came at a time when technology was just starting to become available for someone like me. I got a Boss Dr. Sample and a Boss 660 Drum Machine. Actually my Dad had the drum machine because he was experimenting with 8-track recording at the time. He also had a hard-ware Limiter/Gate and FX rack. So I had some cool shit to play with! I had a lot of fun and made some interesting sound-scapes but the real deal was yet to come.
Enter Ableton Live: I was a student at a small technical school in my area. Studying computer networking. This led to That and I was able to purchase a brand-new Macbook. I got mad skills on a computer, and can pretty much do whatever with one but I always wanted a Mac. Something about the way they look so solid really appeals to me. So I got a White MAcbook w/ a 2.4 gHz. dual-core Intel and 4 gb. of RAM. I felt I was ready to start producing for real. I had played with Audio-Mulch and countless other trackers along with Logic and a cracked version of Reason before but I wanted something DIFFERENT. At the time I had just discovered a DJ from Estonia called Raiden. I heard he was using a program called Ableton. So I thought I'd check it out. I bought a MIDI keyboard that came with Live Lite 7 and the rest is history! OK seriously though, I absolutely loved it and within a few weeks I was the proud owner of a boxed version of Ableton Live 7. I know I was a little late to the game, starting with version 7 and all. But the way I see it, 7 is where Live really came together.
I love Ableton Live ! I use it everyday and have been for years now. I studied it and learned everything I possibly could about it. I've spent countless hours reading and creating and right now I consider myself a pro at Live. I write, arrange, produce, mix and master with it.(With the help of a few plug-in's and small programs.) I perform Live with it and I honestly don't know what I would do with my time if I hadn't discovered it. I still write music on my guitar, and lyrics in my notebook. But right now I'm back and forth between producing electro/fidget style music and and synth pop. My tastes change with the weather but right now I'm really feeling that stuff! So enough with the intro. This blog is primarily for me to remember and document the things I learn in the Audio Production area. If you find yourself reading this blog, then, I hope it was some help to you. : )

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