Author: Ronnie

After months of waiting, I am told my masters for the Tangled in Strings CD will be delivered on Friday. I am so excited.

So many things I tell myself I want to get done.

1. Virtual Song Cast needs some fresh episodes
2. It’s been weeks since I wrote a new song
3. I need to get out there and play some open mics and coffee shop type gigs
4. I need to get printing done on inserts for the Tangled in strings CD
5. not to mention planning a CD release party
6. Haven’t contacted any podcasters
7. I should be adding a new music to podshow.com

And the list goes on…..I just feel so A.D.D.  lately

Focus! Ron Focus!

I Started another new blog Wednesday. Tim Bossart and I are stretching our musical legs into a more acoustic country feel. The blog is going to be our home on the web where we can post some music and share our experience.

Visit us at http://acousticats.wordpress.com 

Final studio session was last night for the “Tangled in Strings” CD. I recorded “Falling on hard times” and “Fireflies” I am so tired. Didn’t get done till after 1:00 AM . These last 2 songs were done with a capo and I had never recorded with a capo so it was a different scenario then what I had grown used to, with it’s own unique problems. Tuning was an issue.. I am sure that not having had a chance to break in my new strings played into that problem too. Also I was fighting a tense vocal. I was falling short on the high notes. But after a cup of hot tea I was able to pull out of that funk. Had to abandon the metronome click early on because these songs change tempo and the metronome was fighting the groove and killing the mood. A metronome is nice to have when you are comping vocals and using delay and reverb effects. having a consistant clock makes splicing and dicing easier because you can snap to a grid. Also effects that have a time element sound better when that element is in time with the music. not that it can’t be worked around…It just takes more time, and tests the skills of the engineer. So in all it was a more difficult session then the others but I think we were able to eek out a couple more great recordings. Next step is to have the project mastered and start burning CDs

Wow what a stressful day.

You daydream about it all the time, Quit your day job and do what you love. leave behind your cubicle dwelling life for a new more exciting one. Travel the world, play for crowds of 10s of thousands.  I could buy a bar. Play rock and roll every weekend. Open a recording studio. Start up a DJ slash karaoke business.  All nice day dreams. But when faced with the likely possibility that you could loose your day job through “Down sizing” (That day job that allows you to daydream)  ….. Makes for a stressful day.

That day was yesterday.. Today, I still have a job. Maybe it’s time to get started making those dreams reality before another day like yesterday passes.

This morning on my way to work I saw a dead cat in the road. I didn’t think too much about it, other than the normal “aw that’s too bad.. that was someones kitty” It was an all black cat .. Well black and red… I drove on and in a couple miles I saw another dead cat but this time I didn’t think “aw that’s too bad” No this cat was white as snow and all I thought was “This is the yin and yang of roadkill” A black cat and a white cat taken in the same night. There is  balance in the world this morning.  Albeit in a strange macabre way.

I love getting played on podcasts.. it has become a solid  distribution and promotion vehicle for independent music.  The main way to get exposure on podcasts is through the podsafe music network music.podshow.com Podshow is a fickle system when ever I post a song there I get play on podcasts, but only while my song is on the top of the new songs list. I have decided to open myself up to podcast interviews in an effort to promote more music. also I will be trying to put one new song on podshow per month or whenever podcast play wanes.  In addition I plan to set aside time every week to actively work on getting my songs out on podcasts. I will be building a list of email addresses of podcasts that I think might be interested in my music. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there and no centralized contact list. This is going to require lots of foot work. But if I am going to drive people to my website for CD sales I need to get busy pimping it

The final 2 tracks of “Tangled in Strings” have run into a snag.  Ok,  so I’m a ditz. The plan was to take my home recordings of “Falling on Hard Times” and “Fireflies” into the studio and have them mixed trough the same gear that the other 8 songs were done on, to give them the same flavor as the rest of the project.  Problem is I recorded them through my mixer and not direct, so the files I have on my home recording have processing on them.. Reverb and EQ….In layman’s terms…The tracks are unusable. So I made the decision to re-track the last 2 songs in the studio. The studio that isn’t available till the middle of July.  So on July 18th I will be tracking the last 2 songs on the project.

Doing something unheard of… I am sharing my unfinished work..

Check it out here

My studio is my home.  It’s where I feel most comfortable. Yesterday it got a little more comfortable. I covered most of the tile with a new rug. I think next I will change the lighting, and get a new computer monitor. I have had a writing dry spell… hopefully the change in environment will spark my creativity…. Back to the Cave!