Just before the new year I got to revisit my past. My friend Rob and I went to a ska show, something that I spent a lot of time doing, oh, about 20 years ago. Mustard Plug, a stalwart Michigan band from back in the day, was on their 25th-Anniversay tour and stopped in Chicago. I spent a Wednesday night staying out too late, jumping around, and pretending to be a lot younger than I really am. On the way there we were talking about how much technology is available today for kids to record music. I remember renting an 8-track deck and microphones to record demos in the basement of my apartment. These days you can just plug a mic into … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – Creating Doesn’t Have to be Fancy
Last week I finished post-production on the audiobook version of Networking in the 21st Century. I recorded and edited it on my own with a laptop, a microphone, and a corner of the living room turned into a mini sound booth. It will be released in a few weeks, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. It doesn't have all of the polish of a recording done in an expensive studio, but it comes pretty close. The process took me back to recording DIY demos with my old band. We'd take whomever's basement we could find that had absent (or relaxed) neighbors, throw in some mics and a 4-track recorder, and go to town. If only we had the … [Read more...]