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What I'm up to

Entries in this blog

Writing Some New Songs

Hey I've been writing quite a lot lately. I've got about 7 songs with partial lyrics and about 5 new tunes that I think are ready to get some lyrics. It's put me in mind of the problem of selecting suitable topics for a lyric, a subject I've been meaning to write an article about for a while. It's a problem that seems to affect a lot of writers after they get passed the vibrancy of youth and grind to a crawl in their late 20s. I mean once you've notched up some experiience you kind of

john

Writing More Lyrics

Hey I've been getting back to writing some lyrics. At the moment I have about twenty songs with incomplete or no lyrics yet. I'm really happy with the musical direction of the songs but getting the lyrics written takes a deliberate effort for me. Music always comes naturally. So now I have melodies and chords and rhythm, and a few ideas and concepts, occasional lines and one or two verse/chorus combos. I know what to do, and how I will do it. Now I just need to get to it My pet h

john

Writing Lyrics

I've been doing lots of writing and I'm really enjoying it. I think it's because I've got lots of ideas flowing, both melodically and lyrically, and that is helping to keep my creative juices flowing. I'm almost ready to start using my collaboration space. First time I'll have used it in anger, so to speak. It's been a while since I've recorded with other musicians and I'm really looking forward to hearing the little unexpected twists and ideas you get when working with others. Onwards

john

Writing An Instrumental

It's been ages since I've written an instrumental. I've only written 2 before, and they were for a whole band. With that in mind I've decided to write an instrumental for the guitar. At the moment I'm thinking of using an alternate tuning. I've experimented from time to time with different guitar tunings, but so far I've not written any pieces using anything other than standard tuning. My guitar style does often use a lot of open chords, so I think it should lend to an alternate tuning, but

john

Writing A Song

it's weird how creativity flows. I have absolutely no problem coming up with musical ideas at all. Prick me with a pin and a new tune will come out, complete with chord structure. Music just seems to happen. I have no problem rewriting (except melody once I have words), changing direction, coming up with alternatives etc. Lyrics are different. I don't know if it is the quality of original ideas, and enhanced sensitivity to perfectionism? Somehow the words convey something definate, so

john

Work Up Enthusiasm

I need to get off my ass and start recording. Somehow I just can't get the enthusiasm to get started. I'm usually fine once I start a project, but getting started is another matter. I've got various songs ready for recording, a couple of which aren't much more than acoustic and voice. It should be straight forward, so why can't I get started? Motivation isn't so simple though. What I need is discipline. A schedule to work to. A schedule can be annoying in some ways, but for me the ben

john

With A Little Help From My Friends...

Awaken has been out there for some time, I know, but it is new toanyone who hasn't heard it... which is more or less the entire world!For years I haven't pushed my own music at all (neglected almostcompletely) and as a result few people have heard any. There have been,and still are, reasons that I haven't produced much in the way ofrecordings over the last few years. I'm hoping to change that over thecoming months (with a little help from my friends... ). The first step is to try and gathe

john

Update! Song Video And New Player

Thanks to Rob Hoogers for the help in adding the player! John Moxey Music Player Under the folder John Moxey / Videos you will find a video of Awaken, made by Rob Hoogers. Many thanks Rob! You can fin Rob's site here: Roflcopter

john

The Joy Of Patch Bays

Patch bays. To the soft-studio generation patch bays are obsolete. Yet as you accumulate studio gear their need is just as vital to a studio as they ever were. They are the hub that is in the middle of a well organized studio.   They provide a central location for connecting together your gear, but they also protect your gear. Patch bay connectors take the wear and tear, saving the connectors on your expensive piece of kit. They also save you looking about the back of gear to connect y

john in Studio

Tales Of A Working Studio…

So my Studio is ALMOST tidy. Cough cough. Tidyness is not my strong point. I have my doubts that my studio will ever be truly tidy. I just have too much stuff that gets stored in my studio. Old music gear, music books, cables… more to the point, I suck at putting things away.   The good news is that my studio is up and running again. Loads to explore too. Not a completely new set up, but enough of a change that it will be a while before I am familiar with it all. The journey should be

john in Studio

System Updates

Windows 11 Upgrading   I lose a lot of time updating my recording system. Good that it is up to date, but updates take a while to do.   The most annoying bit is that every time I go through the update cycle, I restart my system. It’s a Windows 10 system. That means, every restart brings the “Upgrade to Windows 11!” Messages and software download… even when you don’t want to update! Arrggghh!   I would upgrade to Windows 11 if it wasn’t for concerns about compatibili

john in Studio

Similes, Metaphors And Allegories

Similes, Metaphors and Allegories are essential tools in writing lyrics where the intent is to leave the lyric more open to interpretaion by the listener. So, I thought I'd bring together the descriptions in one place. I've reworded the best I found on the web in the hope that the meanings are clear. Simile a simile states that A is like B A simile is a juxtaposed comparison of two or more subjects to draw attention to their similarities. Similes are typically identified by the use

john

Rohan's Glog

Rohan's Glog (gig log) makes for some interesting reading: http://forums.songstuff.com/blog/thelevellers/ some good pics too, well not bad for a decent camera phone!

john

Recording!

Phew! It’s good to be back recording again. The first track in a while isn’t even one of the several songs I have been writing in preparation for being able to record again. Nope. The first track is something that came out of road testing my set up.   I started with a melody, worked through some basic chords on my Nord, and then started building the track out on my DAW. Having put together a verse and chorus and laid down a “do do do” version of the  melody, I started on writing some l

john in EP 1

Recording A New Song...

It's been a while since I worked on a recording, well at least a serious recording anyway. At the moment I've started by laying down a guide guitar track, bass drums and some strings. I sometimes block in a track to act as frame for working up the parts, and other times I already have a clear view of the full arrangement. I find varying how I approach the recording, arrangement or writing helps keep me in a creative mood. Anyway, on this track I started with bass, strings, drums then guitar

john

Ray Lamontagne

Hey Just chillin' and listening to the Ray LaMontagne album "Trouble". A great album with some well written songs. Not the happiest of albums, but it does resonate with me in some way. It also reminds me of what can be done with essentially an acoustic and an emotional vocal. It's one of those albums that, for me, evokes a feeling of "you could do this with your own music". If you know what I mean. Not write and record Ray's album, more that if Ray can get an album of this quality out there

john

Pro Sound Cards

I'm a little out of touch with latest soundcards. My Carillon is now 6 years old. It's got two Creamware sound cards fitted. They've been pretty excellent soundcards, but they are old style pci. Contemplating upgrading my Carillon has of course prompted the question about the latest sound cards. So, I checked out the Creamware range again, but being honest the whole uncertainty over Creamware's future after yet another bankrupcy and take over puts me off. Sure the new companies taking over

john

Plans For 2021

Ok... so plans for 2020 didn’t go so well. No need to dwell on it. Time for a new plan!   2021 Songstuff plans aside, I want to plan for my music, as John Moxey, and as Deep Red Sea. That means trying to plan releases, pull together budget for these releases as well as any other people/assets needed to make it happen.   John Moxey At this stage I am planning on 2 EPs at a minimum. I have plenty tracks and I can now record them, but to release them takes budget and t

john in Projects

Planning an EP and an Album plus Singles

Well a while ago I shelved plans for an album due to life getting in the road... but here I am back again, in the early stages of planning an EP and an album with accompanying singles.   For now I have a provisional timescale, with the plan to release the single in October, followed by an EP in November. Hopefully then I will release singles and an album to follow in April / May. The tracks are mostly written for both EP and album and recording has begun. Tracks are being selected for

john

Online Delay Timing Calculator

If you need to calculate a delay time in terms of milliseconds, midi ticks or number of sample this is the tool for you. Entering only a few basic details about your song you can generate all 3 delays (time, midi, samples) plus some additional information. Enjoy... Time, Midi and Sample Delay Calculator

john

Newsletter

I've finally got around to adding a newsletter to my own personal site! Yay! Go on, drop over to http://www.johnmoxey.com and sign up!

john

New Studio Gear

I just took delivery of a bunch of gear to revitalise my studio. It’s going to take a bit or rework in the studio, and means some old gear being sold, but that’s ok. Might as well get some cash back for gear I no longer use.   The only issue becomes when I want to recreate an old track. If I sell the gear I won’t be able to recreate them entirely.... but keeping the stems and draft mixes does mean I can rework them, and I am satisfied with that!   There are two new keyboards:

john in Studio

My Own Site

For those interested, you can find my own site at: johnmoxey.com Let me know what you think of it! I also run blogs here: http://blog.myspace.com/johnmoxey

john

My Music Technology Articles

Enjoy... Midi Message Format The Midi Interface Compression Equalisation (EQ) Noise Gates and Expanders Reverb Standard Filter Types EQ Frequencies or not!

john

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