Hello Again!  Here I am, continuing to churn out free music for your amusement (and my own)...    The faint of heart may want to steer clear of Track Eighteen - it's bit "heavier" than usual.    It's not that I don't think you can handle it.   But don't say I didn't warn you.  

Download Track Eighteen: Disgruntled

This piece, like so many others, is essentially the product of getting some new equipment.   I recently upgraded my computer because my old one was cracking under all the demands I was making of it.    Or "crackling" to be more specific!  With the Sonar software and all the different VST synths and effects that I run, I had become accustomed to popping noises, lockups, and software crashes.  I was rebooting many times a day to get through a project.   Eventually, enough is enough!  So now I'm running with an AMD Phenom II quad-core processor and 8GB of RAM, and everything is working as it should!  

I have also upgraded my listening environment with a couple of Mackie MR5 studio monitors.   I'm hoping that they'll be a big help in my ongoing quest for better mixing and mastering.   Great, clear sound.   For now, I am using an M-Audio Fast Track Pro for my inputs and outputs.   I had purchased a PreSonus unit that wouldn't work as well as I'd hoped, so it's already been sent back.   I need more mic preamps to record drums properly.   

One of the nice things about my new set up is that I can do almost everything in real-time, with (almost) no latency .  For example, the Guitar Rig 3 software that I've been using for my virtual amp was previously not really allowing me to hear the guitar sound in real time, so I was usually having to play with a completely dry sound when recording.   Not so rock and roll.   Now, I can actually use it as designed, and hear what I want to hear.

The big, fat guitar sound on this track was the result of playing around with those Guitar Rig sounds.  I couldn't help but make up a few drop-D riffs with a sound like this.    I recorded guitar and bass using amp sounds from that software, while hearing it LOUD through the monitors.  A nice change. 

The drum sounds are another new toy, Abbey Road 70s Drums.   Another NI product (like Guitar Rig) - perhaps they should be sponsoring me!    Anyway, I had bought this when it came out, only to find that it would barely run on my old computer.  Works like a charm now.   Great acoustic drum sounds, and a ton of control.   I bought it to use with my HandSonic, but everything on this track is programmed.   I didn't play a note.  I tried hard to program something that sounds like what I would actually play.  It was a lot of work but I think it worked out.   I feel guilty when I program drums rather than play them, but this was fun. 

The final piece in the equation is the Korg Kaossilatotor.  A fun little synth toy, I bought it to use for special effects when playing live.  I used it to play all of the "keyboard" sounds on this track.  

There was no structure, melodic or harmonic development in this piece, so I don't know what else to tell you.   I had fun making it.  I'm glad to know that I can still rock out when I need to.

Let me know what you think!