Remember that post I made about being "pretty much set" regarding all the gear I need?
Well, I lied.
The thing is, when I am coming up with songs I always start to get some semblance of the finished music in my head as it starts to come together. I think "Oh, you know what would be sweet? If..." and then the inevitable next thought it "oh, wait. I do not have anything capable of that sound/effect."
Now, even if money was no object I have extremely limited space to put all this crap, so some cool things (lap steel; harmonium) are just out of the question. BUT, I just had to buy this PAiA Vocoder, built into a toolbox and painted with a stencilled Cyberman from Dr. Who on it. How cool is that? I've been curious about the PAiA Vocoder for a while (ever since I sold my Micro-Q, which had my only vocoder) but it's over $200 to buy the parts and then you have to solder it and build it from scratch. So when this one, already built into a case for less than the cost of the parts, showed up with a DR. WHO STENCIL no less, it was a sign. And I am quite amazed that I am the ONLY person who even bid on it.
The thing is... I thought my Electrix Warp Factory vocoder would allow me to input my own formant and source lines (blending voice with, for example, a concertina), but it just doesn't seem to work that well. So... I will probably put it on eBay once I get the PAiA one; I don't really see a need for 2 vocoders, although the Warp Factory does a great job with making robot-sounding vocals and also has a "formant freeze" feature which is cool for electronic music. Still, it's such a hot item that I could probably sell it on eBay for more than it originally cost me.
I also decided I need a vocal processor. I can do some simple effects on the computer, but I'm thinking... well, I'd like to play live gigs at some point. Even if they pay me in nothing but espressos or Sparks. It would just be a fun way to get out, share my creativity, and contribute something small to the world. So... for that, I need actual hardware (not software, which is pretty much just as expensive as hardware for some strange reason.)
I looked at the TC Helicon VoiceWorks, but it's kind of expensive and does a little TOO much for me I think (do I really need to set up choral arrangements with my own voice? I want to have some vocal effects and processing, but I'm not aiming for that "almost realistic but can still tell it's fake" arrangement thing.) So, I've pretty much decided on the Antares AVP-1. This doesn't have a ton of features in it, but it will let me a few things I want... like the muffled lo-fi "singing through a telephone" effect (I used to have that on a Korg digital recorder/mixer, and it was pretty sweet) and will give me real-time autotuning for my mediocre voice... which can also be pushed to overkill for the "Cher effect" which is quite trendy and cliche now. But I still plan to use it.
5 comments:
You're always going to want another instrument aren't you? who am I kidding if I had the money theres 2 electric guitars, an acoustic, 2 basses and a keyboard that id like to get, plus a drumset would be nice to round out the all inclusive package. that band ...music video? is pretty good. I also like almost all the bands they list as their influences including M83, http://www.myspace.com/m83 who play music that you might like, the album I have is all electronic but it seems like they've added poppy vocals to the newer stuff, but it still seems good.
Well, to be honest, I don't really WANT the vocal processor... but I do NEED it. I have 3 songs in production now (one of them kind of close to being done; the other two still in the sort of experimental phase); and I have a good idea for 1 or 2 more. But for at least 3 of them, I need some particular vocal effects I can't get elsewhere.
Let's see... any other instruments? Maybe. If I can actually whip together a dozen or so songs to make a CD, I might try to make a 2nd CD called "Robot Rodeo"; so of course I would have to throw in more of a country/folk/bluegrass sound (but played with my electronic stuff) and definitely some lap steel.
Watch somebody else steal that name now (Robot Rodeo). I'm about to choke some bitches for stealing my crap.
But that's all future stuff. I've been playin my mandolin and my concertina (I fixed it! I think. Anyway, the reeds are attached and make sounds, so if they're in the wrong places... screw it) So, no, actually I am set as far as the music studio goes now. Now all I need is TIME. Which I seem to have surprisingly little of lately. I haven't had time to work on building my theremin at all, let alone time to record my music.
Then again, I also have this thing called a JOB, and I've been teaching myself a new programming language system so, anyway, my to-do list is way too long.
oh yeah, and I found out what you really need... something like this:
TRIPLE NECK GUITAR
hahaha
How do you even play this thing?
Seems a little ridiculous. Like something Tenacious D would try to use.
that triple neck guitar looks amazing...ly useless and difficult to play, but i would still like to buy a bass at some point, I think Fender Jaguar or Epiphone Thunderbird would be the way to go if I do end up getting one. I wish I had a) more time to play music, b) more of an idea of what type of music I would like to make and c) a way to play the music with other people/record it and play other parts to it/have other instruments to add to it. That concert looks amazing, Cake, Flaming Lips, Spoon, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Editors, Cloud Cult, Art Brut, The Decemberists and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah all played it last year. At the same time, outside of the Flaming Lips and Decemberists i don't think id want to pay for any of those bands individually.
I'd pay to see Cake. And Black Rebel Motorcycle Club aren't bad... I'd pay a few bucks if they were local and not too expensive.
But yeah, it seems to be a pretty great concert.
BTW... I won my auction for a double guitar / bass today from eBay ($270), so... I will probably be selling my Ibanez Artcore Hollowbody Electric w/ Vibrato bar (I love the way it looks, but nobody sees me with it anyway, so it's not exactly a fashion accessory. And as much as I fantasize about using the vibrato at some point, I never do... so what's the point in having 2 electric guitars?)
The double-guitar (6-string & 4-string bass) is obviously a fairly cheap, made-in-China sort of thing... but hey, it'll give me a bass, which I will use occasionally. I'd like to try experimenting with using 2 eBows on it at the same time (one for bass and one for guitar, leaving my two hands free to play the notes -- one for each neck), but I only have 1 eBow and now sure how well it will work... gonna test it on the bass first and see if it would even be possible before I get #2. But I can see some AMAZING ambient-rock/post-prog coming out of that setup...
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