The Time Has Come...

So, later on today once I have actually slept I will be starting to film my next music video with one of my best friends. I really can't wait. These last few hours I have been writing down some simple ideas that could become explosive (not literally) for the video. I've had a serious think about locations and what content I actually want to include and what kind of mood want to set to match the temperament of the song. As for now, the track is called 'As The Sun Rises' (That's the only thing I've giving away tonight and I'm sure that title will stick) and I just feel like all these ideas are ready made to work together. I'm really hoping the weather is fine tomorrow. As the title gives away the song should feel quite warm and inviting. I don't really want everything looking cold tomorrow and most certainly not wet because I'm not sure it would be easy to edit that out.

'Oh, look it's not raining.'

I'm undecided on what to wear tomorrow and that bears a problem for me. What I wear tomorrow will be recorded for then rest of my life, no doubt. If it's warm enough, maybe some shorts but British summers aren't warm anyway so maybe it'll be ok to look cold.

New Proposals

Today has been rather different. I spent most of today down Nottingham with my old school friend Kieran Cooley and his boyfriend, Dan. I think it has been a month or so since we last met up, maybe even longer so we had a bit of a skate day. I drove down to their new house in Sneinton with my deck in the boot, soon after we rode into town. Before we set off we got talking about our plans for education. Kieran went on to tell me that he had not long dropped out of his course which shocked me a little because not long ago we were both talking about University and more but, then he told me that he will still be going back to college this year taking a new pathway in Media. He went on to tell me that he had been asked to provide a portfolio of work but, was unsure how to go about it. We sat down for a while discussing ideas and all different possibilities that would be achievable in the time limit of a couple of weeks. We came up with ideas like, street photography collections, animal park life photography, edited works, vlogs and making a music video or at least helping me make one. My main thought was that we could help each other with this, I'm fairly experienced with a camera in hand and I could pass on a few techniques, skills and hopefully a few editing tips too. I suggested that I introduce him to iMovie on my Mac with it being the best app I have to make movies. I want to get Final Cut Pro X at some point but it's so expensive, I guess that is what 'professionalism' costs.

When we got into town we didn't really know what to do or where to go, we never do really. We normally just end up wandering, going wherever our feet (and wheels) take us but today I suggested that we skate down to a flatland spot underneath a car park near Broadmarsh which was fun for a while., after we went to Subway and visited a few shops. I was still trying to suggest other little things that could work for his portfolio, some of which didn't come to me until later in the day when we were all heading back to his house to watch some Facebook videos and Netflix.

I've not long gotten home and I'm quite excited to be able to work on another video so soon but, also more importantly with a friend. I have recorded some footage already ready for a new video but, I'm not sure what that will be for yet or whether it will be another. Either way, I have a lot to think about again. I'm hoping to spend sometime in my studio tomorrow morning while my mum's at work so I can get something done and ready for storyboard. I have a couple I could use at the moment but, I'm still unsure. I'm hoping to actually release an EP before I go back to college and then maybe get an album ready for next year after I have performed around Nottingham a little more and gained a few fans. I really am starting to take my music more seriously and I can see that in my work and the levels of work I produce now compared to last year. I believe that this time last year, I was producing nothing. I was constantly thinking about doing something but, something always stopped me whether it be work or something more petty like just being to lazy and wanting to play games more than anything (when I had the time).

RECORD FIRST ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO, CHECK.

Again, it has been a long day recording both music and film. This morning until early afternoon, I have been recording the last few little parts for my new song, "I Don't Care". There were only two things that needed recording and that was the guitar solo and the bass. I am very happy with how they turned out after the mixing process. The guitar solo is very distinct and I feel like it is the also the right sound for me like, what you would expect me to play but with a bit of a surprise. The bass adds a sense of completeness the overall sound of the track.

I used my pair of WeSE headphones for the mixing to make sure that I had everything panned exactly where I wanted it and that the levels were spot on. It didn't take long for the track to be ready, it must have only taken me two or three hours to get everything perfect and ready for the video.

I had already recorded most of the footage I decided to use yesterday and some even further back than then. The ones from yesterday were shots of me playing my guitar and of myself singing, the others were from a couple of weeks ago when I went out with my skateboard, camera and tripod. Daring, though to be honest I did only take with me a camera that I brought for £1.99 out of a charity shop and to my amazement the damn thing works! It's a shame about the battery (I have to use an external battery for it work... pros and cons, eh?)

I still needed to record a few other little bits like , more guitar playing and a bit of acting out. By the time I was filming this, I had already mashed the other bits into half a video and I just needed more ideas. That's where the acting came in. I don't want to spoil it too much before the release on Monday but, it involved make up and applying it. Not all of it but, yes. Make up. It's not really something I wear a lot but, I do like to occasionally.

The music video was officially finished at 22:23pm. I'm so amazed with myself that I've been able to pull this off again. The last time I made a music video I was using a shitty windows laptop and windows movie maker. I will never go back to those days again!

HOORAY, FOR THE NEW MUSIC VID. WOOP, WOOP!

MMU Cheshire Campus, Crewe 2016

So, yesterday was the day that I had my audition for the much more bigger University Manchester Metropolitan. All of their creative courses are based at their Cheshire Campus in Crewe so it's quite far away from home, though it's not as far as Manchester it's self. My friend Joanne came with me for support and it's fair to say that I needed that. The campus is quite large and is almost like a little it's own little village, it reminded me of Ilkeston School actually, minus the road weaving through it.

Having arrived in Crewe a little after 11am, after the long drive knowing that we were minutes away we started Searching for a place to eat. The first place we noticed was a Subway which we settled for. I was surprised to find out that they still had the old price ranges. I usually have the 6" sub deal with a refill drink which recently went up to £3.20 because I have chicken tikka but, there it was £3. Bargain. We didn't stay at Subway for long. We ate and then we left, mostly because their wasn't much time before registration.

We arrived on Campus for around 11:30am. Parking was free thankfully as I found out beforehand and then we joined the queue for registration. There were two lines dividing the names alphabetically.  It was only a short wait and when I got to the front I handed in an old photo they requested. My thought being that it was still a photo of me and that it was better than nothing. I also handed over an album of demos, that I had burned last minute with the hope to impress. In return the lady gave me a slip that told me that there was a talk at 1pm in the Lecture Theatre but, she then went on to say that we should follow the others up the stage stairs and take the tour for accommodation, and so we did. We had to wait for a few others to join the group and for one of the ambassadors leading the tour to come and collect us. It ended up being a rather short tour because someone was saying that they had their audition at 12pm. So, off we went to the accommodation that was a short walk just across the road. We had a look inside the individual rooms where we would stay and the communal kitchen. I did remember the ones in Manchester being a little bigger but, everything seemed suitable enough.

It wasn't long until we were heading back to the campus. It was a little after 12pm when we got back and if that girl did have her audition then, then she would have missed it although our tour guide; Victory suggested she lead the way to were the auditions were going to be. We decided not to follow and just tried to figure out where I was meant to go next. It didn't take long to find it. A few other female musicians were waiting outside so I decided to follow them, which turned out to be the right decision. Later we were waiting inside the corridor for the talk to commence. More people were arriving slowly and the the corridor started to be become rather busy. At around ten minutes to 1pm, they decided to let us in. It's really bad that already, I cannot remember a single one of the lecturers names, though it was easy to see that they all came from very different musical backgrounds. When we were let in we sat nearer the back of the theatre, I didn't want to sit either too close or too far away so we settled for the middle of the raised seating. 

The talk began a few minutes before 1pm because most people had already arrived. Everyone was told to be five minutes early anyway. There were a few people walking in during the talk, some even midway through which was a little annoying but, I suppose not everyone knew where to go. That or they got lost or something. Dr. Pete Dale (I had to look up his name on their website) opened the talk by welcoming everyone and declaring mostly what the talk is about. He also told us a little about him self and his contributions and experience to the music industry. Three other lecturers were also introduced more briefly halfway through the talk, one of which whom I had my audition with later on. It was all very confusing towards the end as we had to be split up into groups for the auditions. I was sure that I had only applied for a single honours course but, I found out later that I had actually applied for the double honours Music/Popular Music degree so I didn't move thinking I was in the right place. It didn't really matter too much, I just had to think of a way to tell them that I had made an honest mistake.

Anyway, we found out that my audition was the last slot at 4:15pm. The whole day had seemed to have been a bit of waiting game and this proved it further more. We waited in the cafe for over an hour after Dr Pete Dale came out to ask who I was. I was unsure if I had to go down the hall to meet them at 3:30 or not, the instructions weren't that clear but, this lead to me gaining a practice room which was much needed. An ambassador lead us up to one of their smaller practice rooms. By this point I was really tired having been up since about 7am getting everything ready. I had about three quarters of an hour to prepare myself, so I went over the song several times. It didn't seem long until we were fetched back downstairs so I could do my audition but, I didn't waste any time.

Dr Angela Kang (I had to look up her name too, I hope it's correct) was the lecturer that look me for my audition. She was very king and really nice to talk to. After she had asked all of her main questions, I had told her that I went to NCN Clarendon, that's when we got talking about Nottingham and how we both know Dmitry Fedotov, my old tutor and Muha; his band. It was nice to talk about similarities and she did go on to say that she missed Nottingham. I think at that point I was starting to too. It's not very often I stray too far from the homeland. I felt like I did well after I played my song. I knew that I had messed up a little in places but, I think that because I just kept going and tried to remain professional about it I managed. This time around was definitely a lot more stressful that just going back to Clarendon.

The good news is that this morning I had a call from Manchester Metropolitan's Admissions and the lady on the phone told me that I had passed my audition and that all I need to do is send her a scanned copy of my BTEC Extended Diploma so that they could make me an offer. It's all very exciting. I just need to choose between staying close to home or moving out for a couple of years. 

NCN Clarendon 2016

January 19th was the day of my first University interview that was conveniently at my old college, NCN Clarendon Campus. I was starting to get nervous as the days edged closer, even more so on the day whist waiting to be collected from the reception area. I was thankful that my friend Fern from work had asked me if I wanted her to come with me and it was just nice and reassuring for myself to have the support there, to have someone to talk to while waiting. We got the college about half an hour early after meeting at the Victoria Bus Station and the minutes seemed to pass very fast. I felt both a mix of excitement and nerves whilst sat down, even more so as the minuets past by and it didn't really help that I couldn't get my hands warm. The automatic doors kept on opening and closing letting students in and out so I decided to put my snow gloves on. I knew it would be more difficult to play my guitar if my hands we freezing and I was determined that my audition was going to go well.

The time soon reached one o'clock and I started to realise that anything could happen any minute now. I kept on looking towards the double doors that lead towards the music area in a sort of paranoid sense. I didn't know who was going to interview me, but I knew that there was a high chance that it would be someone that I already know. I must have looked towards those doors serval times. I had already spotted several students that I had worked with before and were one working on courses below me. They made me feel a little bad for neglecting my education without saying anything, just with the thought that they were about to undertake the highest level, the BA course.

At around five minuets past the hour, I remember looking towards the double doors and seeing Dr. Nick Redfern appear out of them, followed closely by Andy Scoffin. Nick went straight towards his group of five or so soon to be BA students, but then noticed me sat on the rather large pink sofa just a little further down. I'm surprised he recognised me, he created me very well and made me feel very welcome again. It was almost like returning back to my second home. He walked quickly towards me past all of the small brightly coloured chairs open armed to hug me and ask how I was. We had a short general conversation as the other students started to look over, surprised also like, what is going on? It was all very nice though but, he was stood there for so long that I barely noticed Andy come up behind him ready to take me away for my audition. I think it's fair to say that Nick unexpectedly talking to me made me feel much more relaxed and so did Andy, really. It was like being greeted by old friends.

I asked Andy if Fern could tag along for the audition, which he agreed. So, off we went. Andy lead the the way through the double doors and down the long corridor towards the circle, then through to the music area. I know the college very well having studied there for three years already an I noticed many changes, for starters in the circle area they now have a few vending machines. When we all walked through to the music area, it seemed like they had literally decorated anything the could see... or that was 'decorate-able'. The were CD's permanently stuck the walls, data side showing all the way down a column. There were still pictures from when I was back at the college three years go of past gigs, photos of Paper Cape and from the Tribute band performances. It was like a short trip down memory lane. Even the the stairs had been 'slammed up', laced with silver metal. There were also many final records stuck to the walls and when we got to the top of the stairs, this was the best bit. The PC Suite had be transformed into a Mac Suite. Every monitor had a Mac Mini connected. The only problem I found with them is that they seemed to run slowly at times but, I thought that that might be because they all run from the same server. You don't need a login or anything to use them either, you just literally jump on.

Anyway, Andy gave me the task of writing a short essay about other a gig that I have seen or taken part in. The last time that I performed is now nearly two years ago so, I figured maybe I should write about the Piano Guys concert I went to back in June. I know a lot about them and I knew that I would be comfortable writing a copious amount in such a small period of time. I think I ended up spending nearly an hour on it in the end but, I wanted it to be perfect. I think I knew I had probably already gone slightly off topic a few times but, I kept reading over it, correcting myself and adding little bits hear and there. 

After I had handed my finished copy to Andy, it was time for the dreaded theory test. I had been worried about it for a while because I felt a bit rusty on the subject. When I was last in college, I studied all the way up to the required Grade 5 and then continued onto grade 6 with help from Nick but, again it had been nearly three years since I had to put the knowledge that I had learnt into practice. I knew it was in my head somewhere, I just ad to somehow push it to the front of my brain. I did have a quick ready of my copy of 'The AB Guide to Music Theory Part 1' on the bus beforehand and even shortly in reception. Andy asked me fist if I felt comfortable to have a go at the test at this moment, I answered a little unsure but still had a good attempt at it. 

After everything, I felt like there were only a few little things that completely threw me off. At the beginning, there were questions on identifying time signatures and describing them with the terms give such as Simple and Compound and then, Duple, Triple and Quadruple so I had a guess a little with that one because I just could remember how one of them was classed, technically. The other little bit that threw me was just at the very end, when asked for meanings of certain Italian words, so translations of music terminology but, I had never seen them before... and I feel like if I had, my old lecturer Dmitry would have just shrugged it off for the test because lets be honest, unless you're studying classical music they are a tad useless.

It took me around an hour to complete the theory test. I felt so sorry for my friend Fern because she had been sent back towards reception after watching my audition and had just been sat for around two hours. I couldn't exactly check my phone until after because I wanted to stay focused. When I delivered my finished test to Andy he explained that he doesn't usually mark them and that he will leave it for Kirsty Proctor (Another one of my old lecturers). He went on to tell me that she will be away for a couple of week so I would have to wait until she comes back off holiday to hear my results. At this point we were sat in the smaller of the two music offices. There was one other guy in the room who I was unsure of who he was, he looked familiar but we wasn't introduced. 

I had a reassuring chat with Andy Scoffin to finish off the day. He went on to explain that the degree is a much more different mindset to undertake compared to the further education courses that I had done before and went on to explain why. Through this I found out that the course is based mostly on artist creativity, where basically that means that there are simply no covers of songs. Everything is original material and that excites me. I have a lyric book with many of my own song ideas already that I can't wait to put into practice properly. I think Andy already thinks I have found my own knack to songwriting since I was on the intro to music course because I co-wrote a duet with another fellow student at the time, Dagmara for the the theme of Valentines day.

After such a great, mad day I couldn't wait to get home. It had been a good day and could not have been much better. I felt like I did pretty well at the end of it all. After being subjected to write an essay instantly and test my theory skills I was well and truly knackered. It took a while to get back afterwards because I decided to go on the bus. It was nearly six o'clock by the time I got home despite leaving the college at around half past three. I didn't realise that the interview could have gone on for so long but, all the work that I given to do just seemed to keep adding on time. In the end, I guess that the whole thing lasted as long as it needed to be.

2014: A Look Back At The Good And The Bad

This year has been a bit of a crazy one, to say the least. Having had a break from the education system does still feel a little weird, it is of course one of the steps I needed to take in my young adult life to find a job. Gone are the days of dossing around playing video games all of the time, as I can hardly find the time for it now despite my massive collection.

The beginning of this year seems a bit of a blur to me now and feels like much longer ago than it actually was. Around January/February time when I was still with the dreaded JobCentre I remember doing some work experience for a month at a shop in Ripley called 'The Original Factory Shop'. It was nice there and I got on with everyone just fine, it was just a pain because of the travel everyday and the fact that I technically wasn't getting paid for it. Though, I did start to learn to drive around this time too. It took me a couple of weeks to get to grips with the basic controls and many months to find more confidence in myself on the roads. I'm still very pleased with myself about my first time passes on both my Practical and Theory. Though, it wasn't till May-time that I actually passed and this was the same time as I was taking part in The Princes Trust Team Programme, which was quite an intense 12 week course. I met many new friends whom I still get on with very well though the Team Programme and hope that before this year comes to an end, that we could all meet up one last time before this year continues on into the next. This year has gone way too fast, it only seems like yesterday it was July.

July was the month I completely ditched the job centre. I was so proud of myself that I had finally gotten myself a job. I had applied for the position before but not given it for god-knows-what reason, I just never heard back the first time around. The second time around I think I got a tad lucky. I had lots of help with mock interviews and I knew just what to talk about. That and I made a point that I had applied before, just to be on the safe side. I still enjoy my job, its just that I'm like most people and don't really enjoy being told off when I feel like I'm working hard, trying my best and most importantly not really doing anything wrong. It may sound a bit cocky but, it's not like I misbehave or indeed that I am a thief. I would never do such a thing. Any money I handle, I look at it and think that it has no value to me apart from my job. It is the price of my job and it's what I get paid for.

This last month coming into Christmas admittedly has been a bit crappy with having so many hours at work. The week of Christmas was especially exhausting as I worked everyday. Yes, everyday. It's my first working Christmas and because it wasn't that busy I actually just found it to be boring. Businesses are slowly seeming to awaken as we now drift away from the festive period and enter into a new year which thankfully means, I will no longer be bored at work.

I have a lot of things to think about next year. I am still pondering about trying to decide whether or not to go back to college/uni, for what its worth I'm really unsure. I really would love to work within the music industry but how can I sustain an income and learn full time at the same time. It seems impossible though, some do manage I feel that I will be one of the ones that will not despite experiences. I'm very stressed at the moment from the amount of hours I'm given, as it seems there are no longer any hours in the day left for myself. Aye, maybe this is just the working way but, it sure isn't any fun.

I hope for another great year next year. As things stand I have no idea what is going to happen. I will probably buy a few things, sell a few things and maybe even get a different job. I really don't know but, it would be nice to have a fixed hourly contract rather than worry about having to work 50 hours a week, its a killer.

All the best for 2015 - Kim

The Prince's Trust Team Programme: Week 12

I can't believe that it is the final week of The Prince's Trust Team Programme already. I seems strange that in less than four days it will all come to a glorious end. This Thursday is our Final Team Presentation where every member of the team gives a speech, now I haven't quite got my speech ready yet but I am preparing something else. The other week I started working on an original song to go with my team, almost like a theme tune but also something to commemorate that we have finished the course. I didn't want to make it to extravagant but, enough to show off my skills as a amateur producer that mostly uses Audacity. I probably shouldn't bring myself down so much but, I assume that's what most people think if I'm using free software.

The song is coming along nicely now, even though at the moment it is lacking in the lyrical department in fact I'm missing a whole verse even though musically it is in there. I'm hoping that my Team Leaders will join in on the song featuring for a Rap Battle, it sounds a little immature and maybe a little risky to use for the final performance but, I really think it will go down well and that most people would take it with a great sense on humor. The only problem is that I have two days left to complete this whole song, which only makes it even more challenging. I will be so proud of myself if I manage to complete this on time. I think my team will be too!

#Team160

Here is a snippet of what I have been working on:
https://soundcloud.com/kimkeeton/team-160

Princes Trust Team Programme?

I have been quite busy lately, mostly because of a course that I was directed to by the Ilkeston Job Centre Plus. I'm trying my best to fit in some of my recording projects in between the duration of the course but, this is proving difficult because of our 9-5 hours... Well, that and being worn out by the time I get home. Don't get me wrong, I'm thoroughly enjoying every moment of this course it's just that it would be better if I were less tired.

The week commencing we start our community project which is to build a sensory garden for the United Response which is a registered charity disabled care home. Over the last two weeks, a team of twelve of us have been trying to raise money to go towards this. It been an interesting two weeks, painting fences, tidying up garden fronts and donation collecting for our tombola/raffle that is still yet to go ahead next week. We also did a sponsored walk all the way around Carsington Waters on Friday which ended up taking around three hours and a half! It's easy for me to say that our residential trip we went on during week two was the best so far. Myself and the rest of my team took part in all sorts of teamwork/team building activities where it was essential for us to plan how we were going to approach the challenges given to us and then fine tune it so the idea works perfectly. Though, this trip did have some individual challenges coincide with it as well. We went bouldering at Roaches Gate and abseiled from the highest point of Millers Dale Bridge in Derbyshire! Both of these were quite scary and for some of us it took a lot more than others to overcome our fears. I, myself got quite scared when I managed to get myself stuck between two rocks that I couldn't quite fit through which made me quite teary. In all honesty, I think I panicked then!

During the residential trip, our team gained its own anthem. Having to travel in a mini bus often with nothing but, the radio we all took a shining to the song 'Timber' PitBull feat. Ke$ha. Plus, our favorite impressionist of anything Family Guy made us laugh and voiced over it. I started to enjoy the tune a little too much, so when I got back I ended up producing an acoustic cover of it. I'll leave a link to my cover at the bottom of the post so you can have a listen if you want to check it out!

Before I end the post I should announce that I hope to release some rough demos soon including vocals that will be home recorded. I suppose the big dream is to one day have my own studio, that way I won't have to call my work demos because the quality would be highly improved... ah, well!

Till the next time!

Links

Timber (Acoustic Cover)
https://soundcloud.com/kimkeeton/timber-acoustic-cover

Twitter: @kimkeeton

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Miror B (Cover)

A couple of days back I asked my facebook friends to suggest me something to cover just for fun. I asked the question on the 2nd August and had no idea what to expect as suggestions but, one of my friends suggested that I cover Miror B's Theme from the game Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. I was a little unsure at first because I had never heard it before despite being a fan of Pokemon but, I decided to take it on as a challenge as I don't challenge myself enough! 

I spent the next couple of days learning the song and listening to it repeatedly so that I knew it well, I wanted to make this cover the best that I could with equipment I have.

On August 4th, the first thing I had to do was make a drum track. I used Cubase 5 for this and used three tracks. One track for the snare one for the bass drum, hi-hat and any other percussion (crash) and on for the audio of actual track for me to work with so the structure of the song matched the original. This didn't take too long to do. I remember that I didn't finish it on the night I started it even though it just needed a few finishing touches, (eg. reverb). I finished it the next day on August 5th and then continued to export the track and then import the track into audacity. I decided the first track I wanted to layer on top was the bass because this would be the most useful after the drum track to guide me through the structure. I recorded the bass using a line in from my AD-82 Mixer before that going into my Zoom G7.1ut Guitar Effects Console on a clean setting. This is the best method I have to record any guitar/bass parts, I used this method for my guitar several times later on but, with a distorted setting.

I also had two keyboard tracks that I wanted to add to the track were I used the headphone output at the back of the keyboards and put it into the mixer on a line in. I used two different keyboards purely to get the exact sounds I was after. I used my Yamaha NP-30 for a bright natural sounding piano and my Casio CTK-651 for synthetic Midi sounds which I wanted to use the trumpet. My Yamaha only has about 10 different sounds loaded where as my Casio has nearly 200 to choose from.. I'm not sure that I'm ever use them all though...

I was recording footage of me playing whist I was recording the cover using a Sony NEX-3 camera, moving it around the room for different shots. I only use Windows Movie Maker to put my video together so, it was quite challenging to get everything smooth and perfectly in-time but, I'm happy with the final result.

Here is the final result:

My cover of Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Miror B's Theme is also available for free download and to listen to on Soundcloud.

Please follow the link:

https://soundcloud.com/kimkeeton/mirror-b-cover 

Thanks, for reading :')

Enjoy!

Break Time! ...Not Quite.

So, it's the Easter holidays and yet again I find myself not doing all that much apart from eating mounts of chocolate and gaining that extra weight that no one would dream of having. I don't exercise as much either, these days; that's my other problem.

On the lighter side of life, I've been preparing for new challenges (At least that's what I like to call it). It's generally more looked upon as slashing out on new kit though, what I've brought this time certainly looks more professional. In terms of what I already own second in it's kind. My other looks so much more primary compared to this, with it's colours guiding you through it's use it's almost like you should have to input dummies and milk bottles into to it rather than jacks and xlrs! Nevertheless, they are both fantastic pieces of machinery.



L2 Audio AD-82

I've been able to test out the pre-amps for the first two channels using the line inputs but, I got distracted by my own playing to test the other two.

The bonuses of this mixer for me are:

- More channels! (Previously, I had two).
- I can now record with effects and set the amout per track.
- I have a master fader to ease the control of the overall output and help the recording process
- Aux sends as well as a basic headphone amp

The downsides so far:

- Having to switch between '2TK TO CRTL RM' and change the volume coming out of the monitors to listen to the playback or what I'm recording at the time properly.

This is what I find with my setup though, mine is very simple. A couple of rca lead in and out of my outdated laptop and mixer. Though, a little lagging... it's the best I can do for now.

Any comments/advice welcome. :')
I'm still new to this!!

A Lazy But, Productive Day...

Today has been very slow and dull. I've been ill all day so I haven't been very active. I haven't been out at all. Hardly moved! I've been sat on the Internet all day so, my eyes are feeling quite tired at the moment. I do believe however, that I have been in some way productive today. Not only have I finally sorted out this blog good and proper.

 I have started to create a small website. It's a free one provided by Wix but, it's looking fantastic and I can't really afford domain prices! It will have collections of my music and photography so that it seems everything is in the same place.

I can't wait to launch the website! There is no doubt that I will post about this again before it is published. It just needs a few more finishing touches and then it will be ready. I really hope I don't forget about this, as it will be a great way to showcase all of my work.

Here is a screen cap:

Let me know what you think.