LENGTHY POST INCOMING

I have a meeting with Paul tomorrow so I thought I had better make a blog post (mostly so I can remember what things to talk about).

FIRST THING: New blog layout! It was a bit embarassing when I cracked open a blog covered in robots last time, but that didn't bother me as much as recent self promotion lectures where the importance of showing professionalism on the internet if you want to be taken seriously was pretty heavily emphasised. So, yes, now I'm sticking to a boring, sensible blog template.

I did those book case studies I talked about in my last post, I'll see if I can somehow make them available on the internet so I can open them up during my meeting, otherwise they shall be another blog post. I also have my first chapter pretty much written out on paper, and have made a start on working them into Cubase 6.

The score editor is incredibly fiddly, so I may download the 30-day free trial of Sibelius: I've used it before and it makes life so much easier, the only problem would be that I wouldn't be able to go back and edit any mistakes or make modifications if I want to after the trial expires! But that's just a thought at the moment anyway, I'm sure once I get the hang of the Cubase score editor I'll glide through it (midi and score editing has always been my strong point on this course).

I've set a date for recording my drum samples too! It is Saturday the 17th March, in Chippenham. It would have been easier to do them here, but I want to record my own drum kit because the university's kit is in terrible shape!

My drum replacement software works really well, it's a bit of a lengthy process though to get from midi to good sounding acoustic drums (I have been using to samples that came with the software at this stage to get used to the technique), and involves splitting the drum midi into individual instruments (bass, snare, etc) and then exporting each of those midi files as an audio mixdown, bringing them back into the mix, and then replacing that audio. The results, however, are fantastic so far, I can't wait to try my own samples!

The sample replacement is really the last stage of the whole process anyway, so I haven't been in a huge rush to get on with it while I'm still writing!

Outside of my major project I've been busy with a couple of assignments this week, which have been a bit of a nuissance really when I would rather be getting on with my major project. I've also finally got my home studio running in my bedroom and have been helping a gaming student with a few SFX and a soundtrack to his game.