The 20 and not so 30

I would use the word Impressed to describe this. I mean, the Kawai that i’ve been playing on is definitely one of the sweetest piano i’ve ever heard. Well at least that’s to my untrained ears! 

Ever since i’ve bought my H4n, i always wanted to test it out on various stuff including the Kawai upright. So today, i asked my colleague (who is my ex-keyboardist many years back) to try play something on the fly while i hit the record button. Her playing instantly made me realized how amazing the H4n as a portable handheld recorder is capable of. 

Instead of using words, let’s hear it!

Kawai h4n test by vincent-mah

She did not finish the entire song because halfway through something caught her attention and she lost that take. Nevertheless, i didn’t ask for a retake as this is good enough for demonstration purpose! Man.. it’s time i start working hard on those black and white bars!

Technical Specs:

H4n Stamina Mode

Mic set to 120deg

handheld 10cm above upright top cover

Upright top cover half opened

Recorded in an empty wooden floored room about 8x8meters 

piano located at a corner.

Well it’s something you can consider it as charity work. So i didn’t really spent long time doing this and neither did i kill much brain cells. :)

iPad GB songs by vincent-mah

So anyway i took the opportunity to utilize the iPad and salvaging it from becoming purely for entertainment. Well wait, i do use it very often for work stuff. 

So, because of the logic of understanding something better when you fiddle around with it often, here’s my review on the iPad Garageband. Again.

Pros :

1) In the past, unless you have a Haken Continuum Fingerboard, you cannot sound like Jordan Rudess. Now? iPad made it very easy for you to do that! Cheap! I’m now really considering getting the Jordan Rudess SampleWiz ! Can’t imagine vast amount of possibility if i hook it up to my recording gears! Or even better, Live!

2) So apart from the cool pitch shifting ability, i can also do sampling. Basic feature though. Not too bad. 

3) There are lots of really really cool synth sounds! The pitch shifting ability just makes it better!

4) Section mode, it works like bookmarks. It’s very helpful when you are working with an app like this instead of a real DAW. 

Cons :

1) This idiotic app crashed on me very often! I’ve to restart the app entirely!

2) This idiotic app don’t do autosave! So you can imagine what happens when it crash! It felt like windows. Frustration!

3) The velocity sensitivity is rubbish, i can be tapping really hard on that screen but it will reflect a gentle touch. In fact, it’s almost random. You’ve absolutely no control over it. I ended up setting it either full up or full down on the velocity.

4) It is very difficult to play things on time when you don’t feel it. Well i guess that could do with more practice. Right now, it’s hard for me to play in time. 

5) The pitch shift don’t really shift accurately, you’ll have to guess the pitch. I’ve a feeling it’s just the app. Why do i say it’s not accurate? I can get a C note when my fingers is over the D note region. 

6) The scale setting is pretty limited. There are lots of scales you can’t get from the app. You will get it after you’ve watched the video on SampleWiz. 

7) Limited effects. 

8) Limited track, I’ve actually max out the tracks in my picture above.

9) Limited section.

Oh well, in anyway, i hope you’ll enjoy those 2 tracks. I’m supposed to do up 2 more!

I’m Gonna Find Another You Ipad2 x GB x iRig by vincent-mah

Well i would say the result is pretty decent. Considering this is something that’s considered impossible just a decade ago. 

iRig: When i first bought the iRig, the intention was to do mobile guitar practicing with my iphone 3GS. The software that they offered was simply, horrible. You can’t really get a decent tone. Shortly after my purchase, i was pretty disappointed with the money i’ve spent. One of my friend wanted to borrow and test it out, and there it disappeared from my sight for quite a lengthy period.

iPad: When i first got my iPad2, i thought the featured Garageband and iMovie would be included as a package. I was wrong. It’s the classic “Each sold separately” case but apple never did emphasis like how toy company would. Thanks to a friend, i got a copy of the Garageband. 

Garageband: When i first installed it into my iPad2, i was already impressed by the amount of things i can do on it.  I could simply write a simple song without the need of real instruments. I can program in drum tracks without even knowing what a snare is. I can also play virtual guitar/bass/key and they sounds pretty awesome. When i got my iRig back yesterday, the thought of testing it out on the iPad came almost instantly. The result? Sweet tone! Much tweakable and useable than the app iRig offered.

So anyway, here comes my complains.

• The parts are pretty sensitive to any static changes. My dad was switching on the lights in the living room and i could hear a “Tzzt” on my headphone. I’m confused about this because the iPad is not plug to a wall plug or anything. 
• It CANNOT do 6/8 or basically any odd meters. So i thought, yeah i can still manage it with 4/4. I was wrong. Even by manually recording with the virtual drum, the program automatically “corrects” your mistake and shift all the things you’ve recorded to a closest “correct” beat. Also, you can’t edit the midi drum like you could in most other DAW. I wanted to do a longer cover initially, the idea changed after realizing how bad the limitation is.
• You cannot use the built in iPad speaker but have to use a headphone. Maybe i need to research more on this. I personally dislike the feeling of getting cables all over me. 
• The final track is pretty soft, can’t really turn it up. 
• You’ll still have to go back to an actual computer to upload this to which ever sites you want to share onto. It don’t allow you to post the track to audio hosting sites (eg. soundcloud.) 

Well overall, it’s not bad if you really want to do some recordings and you are not home with your proper setup, or if you don’t own a proper setup and just wants something to record and share among your friends. I would say, take this easy. It’s just close to a real deal.

As for higher gain guitar recording, i’ve yet to give it a go. You can however, check my friend’s facebook post for reference. 

It’s been a long time since i’ve posted any audio clip here. I seriously doubt anybody miss it except me. Though blogging is extremely outdated and i don’t really get the photo sharing frenzy on tumblr. This little act of posting my little clip helps me mentally. It gives me the ability to type to nobody and yet hoping somebody reads it.  It allows me to track my progress and if i have been improving after all. Time indeed, is the best judge. 

Anyway here’s my submission for today. 

Perfectly Lonely, because sometimes it can be perfect too.

Mixing emotion with your instruments can be disastrous. 

Well in this case, it’s beautiful. 

Presenting to you, Dark 40!

First let me show you a short cover i’ve done here.

I’m not sure how you think about my cover there but i myself know that i do need some work on it. I’m getting disorientated about how life, or rather just mine, should be. See, music isn’t a form of sports but a showcase of creativity and talent. I have to admit i have none of them. Age is catching up like a speeding bullet, mercy me somebody.

Seriously, where is the place for me to whine when i needed it?  :(

So i spent my entire Sunday chasing after a tone that i heard on this clip

Fast forward to 4:16min to hear what i am referring to.

 This is what i’ve got after spending 4hours on it. 

This is to give you and idea of how i sound like when i first started out. To the untrained ears, you probably can’t tell the difference between the 2 tracks(apart from my play flaws). 

Here’s a photo to credit the microphones and amplifier doing the job :)

Mic placement is not real, in fact ridiculous! 

Ok i’m a tiny little bit satisfied with what i’ve found today. Not quite giving up on this tone chasing. On the side note, tone chasing makes you play lousier! 

I’ve been a good boy and started writing songs again. This time i’m very fortunate to be able to find pro musicians who are keen to play music with me. It’s a totally different musical direction as far as my very last band is concerned. I’m not sure how well it will fare but i’m determined to give it my best. So i was working on song 3’s demo recording and i thought i should not keep you in too much suspense. 

There are just too many influence in my song writing lately, mostly new influences. Which are just as great as old influences. In any case, i’m not trying to be anybody but myself. I’m actually doing my best to create something that represents my most artistic side. Hopefully nothing cliche will occur here!

Now remember, this is just a demo ;) I can’t wait to start tracking everything properly!

I’m in a rush now to somewhere.. just one question, do you think i should continue doing the full song?