Preview of the Music Video for Blood

Hope you like it, I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m going to. . . hopefully soon!

New Track, How It Was Made

Take a listen. Let me know what you think…

The track above is the fruit of my (recent) labor. I think I did a pretty good job mixing it. The vocals sit better in the mix than most of my other songs. Let me know what you think about it.

So, whatcha’ make that with?

When I record I use Logic Pro, I feel that it’s the best DAW out there – especially for the money. It’s got the power and versatility that any artist needs to record their tracks. It works really well for my workflow, because it comes bundled with a great collection of soft synths and samplers. In all fairness, sampling with a soft sampler is not as easy or intuitive as an MPC. However, it works for me. When you listen to the track, you’ll notice it’s loaded with samples. Most of them come directly from Logic’s robust sample library. All these features are perfect for my workflow.

My Blue Spark, a sexy condenser mic.

The only live audio in this track is my voice, the vocal tracks (there are three) were recorded with my blue spark. For $199 this mic is great for vocals, and pretty much everything else. The mic by itself has a bit of a ‘robotic tin’ kind of sound, so tracks usually need some warming up, for me that’s a little compression from a CLA-76 Compressor, then EQ’ed with a SSL G-Channel and then a wee bit of reverb with Logic’s wonderful Space Designer. If you use Logic and record Hip Hop vocals, or hell, ANY VOCALS, I highly recommend the SSL G-Channel plugin from Waves. Waves plugins are incredibly expensive but also highly recommended. In my opinion they’re worth it. I’m not trying to shill for Waves, but they do make some nice plugins. Some of their other plugins aren’t really worth the money one would spend on them. I like the idea of plugins like the Doubler, which takes audio and makes it sound like it’s doubled up or as if you recorded another take over it. This would be great for choruses and vocals but I just can’t dial it in to a point where it actually sounds good. Plus I’m not about to drop a shit load of money for a plugin that is pretty unnecessary if one has a mic. Just recorded your own over dubs.

Nice to Meet You.

Hey there.

I’m OneTwenty, a rapper/producer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’m not signed or even remotely known as an artist, as far as I know. I thought I’d start this blog to share my struggles with everyone, along with the occasional rant, beat, poem or story. Being a musician has always been my dream, right now I’m supporting my music by doing freelance graphic design. Although I love graphic design (and I’m not bad at it), I’ve wanted to be a musician since I was in the 6th grade. I unsuccessfully tried to start a pop-punk band with a few of my friends. I actually was in a band for awhile, we were semi-successful and I’ve never had more fun in my life. Constantly traveling around and playing shows at places like the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis or the (no longer open) Dinkytowner Cafe. We recorded a four song EP before everyone went off to college. Since then I’ve struggled trying to find an outlet for my ability (I think I’m okay at what I do). I’d really like to find a mentor, someone who could help me along, maybe I’ll find some luck with that in the future.

Enough about me, how about some music?

Check out my latest track, right now it’s just an instrumental, I’m working on the lyrics. I’ve tentatively titled it “Blood” because of a hook I came up with recently that I believe I’m going to use. I tried to go for a “LoFi” sound with this track, I’m hoping I accomplished that. Feedback is appreciated, either on my SoundCloud or right here.

Stay tuned for the vox to get tracked!