Post #577225 by tiki mick on Tue, Feb 22, 2011 10:27 AM

Thanks guys! All the positive comments sure mean a lot!

This stuff I record is a labor of love for me….I don’t intend to ever sell or make a CD of it, because the stuff is too raw, too unpolished…not worthy of sale.

My problem has always been a lack of funds. If you saw what type of equipment I was forced to use to record my stuff, you would be shocked. Analog, tape, only 4 tracks, etc….

While most of my peers have extensive home recording equipment, which is computer based and of studio quality, I have always done my stuff the really old fashioned way: Real instruments (for the most part) recorded on the cheapest of recording devices. There is no sequencer, no computer, no computer samples….if I wanted the sound of a bass drum or finger cymbal, well, I get my mic and record it. Sure, I do use keyboards, but I try as much as possible to add in real instruments. If you are hearing strings, rest assured there is a violin and/or viola overdubbed in there over the synth strings. The percussion sounds are real instruments..snare, cymbals, talking drum, dumbek, congas, bongos., shakers, etc.. some things I also have used are bamboo flutes (bansuri) and other exotic string instruments such as a king david’s harp or an Oud I borrowed.

The disclaimer is that my stuff is recorded super lo-fi. That has it’s plusses and minuses, of course..if I had all the deluxe computer based software, it would be no problem to download some exotic drum sample that I did not create myself, and layer it in my music….but that’s not how I roll….! This stuff was just examples of me recording in the quite part of the night some type of real instrument, and hoping it comes out all right!

Once I am done, there are no redos, no fixing mistakes…I have to go with first takes pretty much…and so this stuff is not perfect, and hopefully this explains why I am not selling my stuff. In order to record this way, I have to have the entire song already completed, in my mind. I have to know what I want, and find the shortcuts to get there based on the limitations of my equipment. In some cases, I actually write the music out as an orchestral score ahead of time )Like on “The Dark Continent Suite”…

So that’s my story and I am sticking to it! I sincerely hope you enjoy the sounds of Lucas Vigor!

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2011-02-23 09:55 ]