Podcast: Summer Days, Winter Nights (musical mashup)

A collaborative piece with Firdaus.

SUMMER DAYS, WINTER NIGHTS 1.2

Listen/ download at ARCHIVE.ORG

When I heard the original (with vocals) that Firdaus posted at his blog, I liked it immediately because it reminded me of what Carlos Santana might play. I commented that his song sounded like “Santana meets Oasis”!

I asked if he could email me a ‘Minus-One’ version, as I wanted to experiment with a rock guitar lead version. He emailed me a MP3 file during the week. I downloaded it and managed to work on it on Friday night.

Thanks for sharing, Firdaus!

Basically I added several “live” guitar leads and two “live” bass tracks. I cut about a minute from the original; I tend to keep my songs to about 3-and-a-half minutes. The most challenging part was keeping time with Firdaus’ original.

There were at least two segments where his guitar strumming didn’t quite keep in time with his drum beats. After a few hours of “close-quarters” editing and experimenting, I decided to replace an entire segment (starting from the 33rd measure) with a GarageBand drum loop. At the 50th measure, I didn’t replace his original segment but lowered the volume of his original track and raised the volume for the drum loops. Luckily, Firdaus used the standard 120 bps setting, so I was able to incorporate the GB drum loops into the song perfectly.

I think I spent about 18 to 20 hours before I was happy with the final version.

I used three custom guitar effects settings:

Bass effects:

This work by Ivan Chew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. For permissions beyond the scope of this license , please contact via RamblingLibrarian@gmail.com.

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Changing to higher gauged strings & adjusting a floating guitar bridge

I’ve always used a set of 0.09mm electric guitar strings. Found them easier to play and bend. But lately, I found the lighter strings sounding too thin. Plus, I’ve stop harbouring any pretenses that lighter gauge strings would make me the guitar-shredder virtuoso, LOL.

I have a floating bridge, and changing to a set of higher gauge strings isn’t as straight-forward. You need to perform additional adjustments to the springs that connect to the floating bridge.

Apparently it’ll cost about $180 to $200 to have a professional change it (and a friend told me horror stories of how some “professionals” turned out to be amateurs).

I figured I might as well try learning how to do it. I had some idea how to do it. Besides, I wasn’t aiming for that good a sound and I might learn something in the process.

First, I removed the old strings and gave the guitar a wipe down and polish.

Next was to remove the access cover, to get to the springs that controlled the tension of the floating bridge.

Then I put on the new set of strings (this was a higher gauge; 0.10mm for the first string). The floating bridge no longer “floats”, since the strings have no tension.

After I tightened the strings (standard E tuning), it was clear that the tension is way too high. The bridge is raised to a level that far too high to play the guitar properly.

After this point, it was just pure “learn as I go”; a process of adjustments and experimenting. After twiddling for a bit, I realised I had to increase the tension of the floating bridge springs, so that it will bring down the bridge.

True enough, the bridge was lowered.

I continued to make adjustments to the bridge springs, and the string tension. The tricky bit about tuning a floating bridge is that any adjustment to a string tension affects the rest of the strings. So it was a process of repeatedly adjusting the tension, checking the tuning, re-adjusting and re-checking the tuning… eventually, you’ll get there.

Right now, there’s a slight buzz when I play the sixth string at the 12th fret. I was told I’d have to adjust the truss rod (a metal bar that reinforces the guitar neck) but I wasn’t brave enough to try that yet. I’ll let it go, until the buzz irritates me to further action!

OK, my guitar is still in one piece. And it’s playable. And the bridge works fine.

Total time taken to change the strings and adjust the bridge: Two hours.

Saved myself $100 plus dollars.

Not bad for a first attempt.

And the higher gauge strings sound real sweet.

Vampire & Werewolf

I did this illustration for the “Horror” Genre Guide, for the public library services (National Library Board). Well, my colleagues couldn’t hire a graphic artist in time, so I was called to create the illustrations.

“Vampire/ Werewolf”. 31 Jan 2006.
Edited using Photoshop Elements, from a composite of illustrations from my earlier works.

I asked my colleague, Wai Ling, what she had in mind. And she wrote:

“maybe something like your Sherba specimen, but can refine a bit coz the current sample looks a bit gangly and aged like those who’ve drawn the full sum of their CPF…maybe something like your Elf Warrior not bad, i.e., accentuate distinct features that are instantly recognizable - but ur elf looks more like werewolf, tho…Or, you can draw a really sinister but gorgeous specimen - in art, either be very gorgeous or extremely ugly to make it outstanding…”

So here’s how I did it (I’m assuming that you have some basic knowledge of how Photoshop works):

Layer #1 was the vampire’s face. Image was cropped from “1994 (Dec) Battle of Pelenor“, with Brightness/ Contrast adjustment. I needed a face with an open mouth and remembered my ‘Pelenor’ illustration. Outline was refined with Eraser tool (same setting as point 2 but with smaller brush size). Fangs were added, eye shadow painted more prominently, and overall image was stretched to make longer vertical profile.

Layer #2 - Werewolf was from “1989 (Aug) Sherba - Arakian Trakker Hound“. Brightness and Contrast enhanced (Enhance-> Adjust Lighting-> Brightness/ Contrast). Outline was removed with Erase tool with Dry Media Brush, set at 65% opacity. Width was also stretched (original image had narrower profile).

Layer #3 - Background was cropped from, again, the “1994 (Dec) Battle of Pelenor” image. Took part of the chain mail from the arm part, and superimposed with another selected layer (using Selection Brush Tool). Then merged down image as one layer. Initially set layer at 99% opacity but look a bit dull. Decided to stretch and crop the background image and retain 100% opacity.

Guitar Modes

Joe Satriani makes it looks sooo easy.
Joe Satriani - Great Lesson on Guitar Modes Part 1

Lydian, Dorian, Myxolydian, Aeolian (Natural Minor), Aeolian Dominant, Ionian (Major), Phrygian Dominant… must find a book or website that illustrates the modes, in a manner that a layperson like me would understand.

I know I’m already playing some modes or “shapes” (like Major, Minor and Pentatonic) but always good to expand beyond what you’re familiar with.

Joe Satriani - Great Lesson on Guitar Modes Part 2

In Part 2, Joe Satriani shows how some “scales” work with seemingly different chords. At this point, it’s info-overload for me… heh. So I go back to just using my ears, and my brain to tell me whether the notes sound nice or not.

Found this blog on GuitarModes. Good stuff! It features videos from YouTube.

And this particular webpage (www.ocmusic.com/Modes.htm) shows the various points to play on the fretboard.

Unable to ‘Empty Trash’ problem (i.e. How to delete locked files in OS X)

Recently I encountered this problem when trying to empty my Trash folder — the process kept being interrupted by an error message: “The operation cannot be completed because the item “wmphelp.htm” is locked”.

I hit the Continue button and there were similar messages: “WMPIcon.gif” is locked… “windowshade.gif” is locked…

Here’s a sample screenshot (from Otterman):

Clearly the problem were with files related to Windows Media Player I deleted earlier. I had about 300 over files in the Trash folder so I needed to find a solution quickly.

I emailed the folks in the me@n list (thanks folks!). Their suggestions included:

1. Repairing the file permissions with Disk Utility before attempting the Empty Trash operation.
2. Manually checking the offending file to ensure that I had Read/ Write permission
3. Press Option + Empty Trash

Tried suggestion #1 (even booting from a startup disk and running Disk Utility from the CD) but still had the error message.

Tried suggestion #2 but problem was those specific file names weren’t in the Trash folder.

Suggestion #3 didn’t work either.

In the end, Siva aka Otterman provided the solution. He suggested “Cmd +Option + Shift + ‘Empty Trash’”.

It worked beautifully!

Even scared me a little ‘cos there was no prompt to confirm the Empty Trash operation. Hit those combinations and it cleaned out everything in the Trash folder immediately.

I’m still not quite sure why the offending file couldn’t be deleted (even though I had permission to delete it). But at least now I’ve picked up this neat trick with the keyboard shortcut.

Siva has more details about deleting locked files in OS X at this post. Excerpt:

In Finder:

• cmd-delete = move selected item to trash
• cmd-shift-delete = empty trash (with warning prompt; locked files not deleted)
• cmd-option-shift-delete = empties trash without dialog, included locked files

Music re-engineering experiment: Sea Anemone II

The other day I took this tune from my friend, Adrian, and tried to re-engineer the sound a little. It didn’t get Adrian’s complete approval but that’s OK.

Here it is, the re-engineered version:

Compare it with the original:

I wanted to see if I could make anything out of just one single MP3 file. So now I know it can be done (of course the best way is to work on the actual GarageBand files but when that’s not possible, then now I know there’s another alternative).

I’ve posted some notes on how it was done at the SeaStars 2007 blog.

BTW, I’m currently collaborating with Adrian on an online music album project.

How to embed a ODEO player in WordPress

I feel like such a fool.

For the longest time, I’ve been struggling with not being able to embed ODEO players into my wordpress blogs. For some reason, the codes just vanish when you paste and save them in WordPress. Tried several ways, taking out lines and inserting between paragraph HTML codes… I’ve always assumed it couldn’t be done.

But there must be a way. Jeremy managed to do it for his Songcraft blog post. I emailed him and Isaak. They didn’t reply yet.

I got impatient (with myself). Especially after creating the SeaStars music album blog (a music album blog with no embedded players… unthinkable!).

So then I got impatient and I went to Google and searched “odeo player wordpress”.

The first result pointed me to this odeo page.

As I said, I feel like such a fool.

But a happy one.

GarageBand: How to create stereo tracks

My friend, Lekowala, texted me: “How do you get the guitar tracks to go stereo?”

I don’t know about other GarageBand users, but here’s how I do it. There are two main ways:

1. Use the “Chorus –> Spread Stereo” effects setting
2. Create a duplicate track, then adjust the Track Pan settings to create a Left and Right track

METHOD #1: CHORUS - SPREAD STEREO (click on the image to see larger sizes)

GarageBand records in Mono (I’m using iLife ‘06). At the Track Info panel, under Input, it says “Channel 1 (Mono)”. It’s still Mono even if you select “Channel 1 & 2 (Stereo)”.

“Chorus” effect. You can instantly hear the difference.

One easy way to get the stereo effect is to select the “Spread Stereo” option from the

If you don’t want to use any effects to distort your original recording, here’s an alternative to using the Chorus Spread Stereo effect.

METHOD #2: Track Pan settings (click on the image to see larger sizes)

After you’ve recorded your track, make a Duplicate Track. Then copy the recording (from your first track) and paste to the duplicate track.

Click on the “Track Volume/ Pan Curve” button (i.e. the little triangle icon). The choose “Track Pan“.

Adjust the tracks to pan to the left and right respectively.

TIP: If you can’t seem to be able to get both tracks to have the same Pan curve number, don’t stress yourself out. Seems there’s always a +1 difference between the left and right pan. In my case, I have the top pan track set to “-34″ and the bottom track to “+35″. You can never get “-34″ and “+34″.

Out of curiosity, I searched if there were other related blog posts/ sites. Here’s a few, although some may not have specific instructions on stereo tracks:

• Homerecording.About.com - An introduction to GarageBand
• Apple.com Mac 101: GarageBand
• Synthtopia.com - Advanced audio effects in Garageband and GarageBand Tips and Tricks
• TidBITS - Tips and Tricks for recording with GarageBand (this one talks about recording two tracks at once, so maybe that’ll help)
• Apple’s Garageband manual - PDF file (it covers the basics of using GarageBand)

Podcast: Once Upon A Star

or LISTEN TO THE SONG HERE –> Once Upon A Star (1.8MB)
[Details at Archive.org]
UPDATE (24 Sept ‘07): Fretless bass track added to original recording

This song is dedicated to the Tumaini Kids! (details here)

Chords:
C/ G/ F
Am/ F/ C/ G

Notes on How It’s Done:

1) Decide on a Beat-Per-Second. I experimented with settings of 70, 75, 80 and 85. The one that sounded right was 80.

2) Chose a GarageBand drum loop. I didn’t want anything fancy, but not too “Pop” sounding either. Final choice was with a “Thickened Drums” setting (under the Instrument panel: Real Instrument –> Drums –> Thickened Drums)

3) After a few practice runs on my MIDI keyboard, I recorded the first part of the piano track using the GarageBand software track (”Grand Piano” setting). I played with the drum loop to keep in tempo. Later I edited out the drum loop for the first stanza.

4) I made two other attempts but decided that the first version sounded best. Aligned them to 1/16 notes (under the Edit pane). That’s how my notes all sound in beat (thanks to GarageBand!)

5) Added a software track — “Lunar Strings” — and played around with a few accompanying notes. Sounded quite alright, so I left the recording as it was. Then added another software track — “Synth Pads –> Floating Embers” (I liked how this gave a “new age” effect).

6) Came up with the Am/ G/ C/ G chords as I thought about recording the second piano part. The chords sounded OK so I recorded them. Then added another track to play accompanying notes (when layered together, they make me sound like I can play the piano well, but that’s just editing, heh).

7) Decided the second piano part needed a stronger accompaniment. Recorded the “Choral” sounds as a ‘Live’ instrument (keyboard to the Mac). I had to use a high Gate setting, and set the equaliser pre-set to “Reduce S”. Recorded two choral tracks.

8 ) The cymbals at the end of the second piano part was recorded as a software track (Rock Kit).

9) Added some incidental notes using the Floating Ember synth to fade off the second piano part. Then recorded a final closing piano piece (edited out about two-thirds of what I recorded for the piano, as it was too draggy).

10) Sound engineering: I found that MIDI recordings tended to be quite soft. To boost the volumes, I copied and repeated the original piano tracks (that’s why you see 3 identical layers for the first piano part). Also raised the individual levels and the master volume. Fine-tuned the volume by playing and monitoring the red-line. This took quite a bit of time, as always.

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Podcast: At My Window (Rock cover version)

I told Jeremy that when I like a song, I’m always tempted to do a cover version. I guess I must like “At My Window” very much, ‘cos here’s a second cover that has a rock feel to it (at least that was the intent).

or LISTEN TO THE SONG HERE –> At My Window (Rock cover) (3.9MB)
[Details at Archive.org]

Variations from Jeremy’s original:

• Jeremy’s original chords were “[G/C/G/D] x3 + [G/Am/C/D/G] x1″. I added a “G/C/Em/D” to his third line, i.e. “”[G/C/G/D] x2 + [G/C/Em/D] x1 + [G/Am/C/D/G] x1″.
• His original was all verses and didn’t have a chorus. For this rock cover, I used his first stanza as the chorus; the second and third as my main stanzas.
• I added a break using “Em/C/D + Am/G/Bm/Em”; for the lyrics I used the first line of his original fourth stanza.
  The vocal melody is drastically from Jeremy’s original. From a folksy tune, it now sounds more like… I don’t know… Lazy Rock? LOL. Anyway I hope it’s “good-different” and not “bad”!
• To get the “rock” feel, I used the “80s Pop Rock” drum loop from GarageBand. I used the distortion effect for the guitar, and also added a Acoustic picking (both recorded direct into GarageBand).
• Additional instruments/ arrangements were: a Bass rift; thunder and rain sound effects; Orchestral Strings; Piano

Some learning points about Vocals recording and editing
To make up for what I lack in singing talent, I rely on over-dubbing/ layering, and Flanger + Chorus effects. Usually I’d set one track to have the Chorus effect, and a Flanger effect for the duplicated track. I discovered that this added volume to the vocals.

One problem with too many layers/ over-dubbing was that it over-boosted the overall volume, causing the volume to “red-line” (i.e. create an unwanted buzz). One obvious way was to lower the volume setting for each track (sometimes for a particular segment of the track). The other way to was to split some tracks to a left and right pan, like so:

Another problem with vocals — mine tended to sound muffled (like the first cover version). It could be due to too many effects, or the quality of the recording equipment, or most likely the quality of the singer! So what I did this time was to use the built-in Graphic Equalizer effect. I lowered the bass frequencies and upped the treble frequencies ever so slightly. There was a noticeable improvement, in that vocals were less muffled.

LYRICS
[Jeremy's first stanza became the chorus]
Rain falls gently as it comes to my window
Reflect the warmest haze of the lazy summer day
The pitter patter falls as it echoes and the winds blow
All is dark and gloomy on this quiet month of May

[I used his second and third stanzas as the first and second verses]
She calls silently as I watch from my window
Her face so warm and tender, soft is her hair
Wait now lonely heart, now gently as we go
We give no words but then a glance is all we share

The lonely memories linger on at my window
Tell all the stories of the days that have gone by
Oh bring, oh bring me back to the place only we know
That very place that I could never say goodbye

[This was the break; I used only the first line from Jeremy's fourth stanza]
Clouds roll gently by/ as the sun shines through my window

Composer: Jeremy Yew
Lyricist: Jeremy Yew
Vocals, Instruments: Ivan Chew
Covers performed and recorded with permission. All Rights Reserved, Jeremy Yew.

References:
My first cover version
Jeremy’s original

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