Home Studio MP3 Previews

Here are some tracks recently recorded at the studio I set up at home. All the tracks have been converted into 16-bit mp3 format. Everything was recorded on a Pro Tools system through a 15" Flat Panel iMac.

No loops or sequenced material was used - what you hear I'm playing, although the sounds may be sampled or generated through a synth module. Thanks for listening.

Element of Curiosity (April/May 2003)

This was the first song I'd written in 8 years and I was learning how to record computer based music while the track was developing. All the sounds except for the drums (Roland MIDI Drumpads), solo (a Strat with an Amplitube insert) and intro synth (Sampletank insert) was played through a Roland Guitar Synth. The voice you hear in the middle is my son who is endlessly curious about all the knobs and dials littering the desk. The original track did not have drums, but when I got the MIDI pads I just couldn't resist :)

You'd Never Know (June 2003)

After struggling through all the manuals about MIDI recording I just wanted to do an easy track. The inspiration came from a drum loop CD, although I re-recorded the drum track when I got the Roland MIDI pads. Nice laid back song in G with a few nods to early Gilmore in there. The name of the track comes from the fact the guitar sound is created through a software that models amplifiers - no more miking up Fender Twins for me.

Soaring High (July 2003)

I recorded this to use as an intro soundtrack to a family DVD, but it came out as a nice short little number. The guitar was a Yamaha electro-acoustic with very little EQ or effects other than some ambient reverb.

Out On The Other Side (Mix 5 - 28th September 2003)

This track took quite a long time to put together as a) I'm a picky bugger and b) I bought a fantastic piece of music software from Reason, which has an amazing amount of synths and hardware rack emulation devices. I used Reason for all the synth sounds on the track (big strings and weird noises) hooked up through Pro Tools. The original idea came from messing around with my main stratocaster through Amplitube and I found a sound that reminded me of the outro section on 'Sheep' from Pink Floyd Animals and from David Gilmour's first solo album. Once I had the idea I layed down some legato solos, drums, bass, synths and guitar fills to build up a track with lots of different layers on it. Stay with the track as there is an interesting transition after the first section from Emin to Dmaj that I was quite pleased with.

If you would like to hear an alternate version I created a remix that cuts out the solo intro at the start.

Repeater (3rd December 2003)

More of a dedicated guitar track with plenty of distortion, drone synths, heavy drums and a nod to Jeff Beck. The main idea was layed down earlier this year but it took me while to finish off, mainly because I've been reading up on Mastering and Mixing techniques, trying out new plug-ins and generally having fun. This is pre-mix reference and provided so you can get some idea of what I've been doing in the studio for the past couple of months.

Just Kicking (31st January 2004)

Another acoustic track I originally wrote the main theme for 4 years ago. I came up with the idea for this track while I was playing guitar to my little boy who was about 8 months old at the time. He just loved to lay on the floor and kick and paid great attention to everything around him. I always assocate this piece with a mental picture I have of him kicking on the floor and just having fun. This was also the first piece of original guitar music I'd composed for quite a while and unlike most other riffs I come up with I could remember how to play this a week later. I'm glad to have this down and arranged into a pleasing piece of music.

The track was recorded on a Yamaha APX electro-acoustic through a DI box into Pro Tools. I'm using a great plug in from Wave Arts called MasterVerb along with their TrackPlug EQ/Gate/Compressor combo. I just used a little EQ to remove some resonance on the bottom end.

Wing It Swing It (21st February 2004)

A blues swing track that was fun to put down. I used two guitars on this track, a jazz arch top and a strat on the neck pickup. The acoustic bass sound comes from the Trilogy Bass Module. The guitar style is influenced by Herb Ellis and Duke Robillard.

Opportunity (Recorded March 18th 1994, Digitally Remastered March 2004)

I've been dying to remaster some of the tracks I recorded on my little Fostex X26 portastudio and here is the first attempt. This track is a cover of Joan Armatrading's great song with me on guitar and Keaton O'Rourke providing a great voice and performance. I had to remove the tape hiss (using Sound Soap) after importing into Pro Tools. I also had to manually line up all the tracks since the old tape counter is a bit hit-and-miss.

On the whole I'm quite pleased with the way it came out. Not bad for a few hours work in the evening and nice to get a break from coming up with something new. The original track was recorded in my flat, with Keaton singing into a homemade pop shield, SM58 and standing in my kitching with the lights turned off to avoid hum from the lights and extraction fan (poor girl). Shame I put too much reverb on the vocals but that's experience for you. Watch out for more remastered tracks coming soon.

Trying To Get To You (Recorded 10th April 1994, Digitally Remastered March 2004)

Another track from the Kitchen Studio sessions. This was always fun to play live and when rehearsing as Keaton could always belt it out. The only problem was making sure we didn't overload the mic levels :)