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How I produce music.
Music production has been made much easier and simpler in recent years by the wealth of portable studio equipment that has emerged. But the biggest step forward for me is the quality of the instrument samples which are now so good and so realistic, they no longer need to be refined with EQ and effects processors.
I used to produce my music by recording the separate tracks to disk on my Roland VS 840 and then mix them down to CD. The main disadvantage of this was the limited number of tracks available on the VS 840 (4 mono and 2 stereo). This meant I would have to bounce tracks together i.e. there would be more than one instrument recorded on a track, which made the final mix down a more delicate operation. On the plus side the VS 840 allows me to make virtual tracks so I can try different effects, EQ etc on the same track and lets me choose the preferred one. It is also good for fine editing, particularly useful when I sing a wrong note and don't want to redo the whole thing.
An alternative route I sometimes took was to play the tracks by slaving my sound module to my computer sequencer. This allowed me to apply appropriate effects and EQ to each part and mix the whole song down to a single stereo track on my VS840. I would then record the vocals to the VS 840 and then mix the whole thing down to CD.
The later introduction of the Finalizer Express to my studio led to much improved final mixes and most of my music has been re-mastered using this piece of equipment.
Another piece of equipment that made a difference is the Korg Karma. The quality of the sounds is superb and the effects and patterns of the KARMA module are inspirational. The music I wrote for The Oath was inspired by the Karma, as was the music for my album 7 Days. I now create all the songs parts as MIDI files in my computer and then load them into the Karma sequencer where I can apply individual effects, mix (by setting track volume levels and panning) and finally add the master effects. Vocals are still recorded on the VS840 but by also using a Voiceworks processor I have reduced the amount of work needed to create choir sounds or correct wrongly sung notes. An example of this is my song Listen to my friend when I created a very deep voice and a female choir.
