I’m off to a better start this morning. Working half day…. then I’ll become chief Ms.Tris Beats …
I’ve been practicing some nice chord progressions from this book:
“Funk Keyboards The Complete Method” By Gail Johnson
I’ve had it for a while and now that I know a little more, the progressions sound better. I’m getting my ” old school funk ” on. All I need to add is a full sounding drum rhythm.
I rarely use the FPC. After watching a few videos I will incorporate it often. Check out the tutorial I’ll be trying as soon as I’m done posting. He’s making a rock pattern. I’m going to branch off and make it a hip hop/ funk pattern instead.
You can use this technique in any style of music, play around with it and make up some fills. Be creative try adding some effects like flangers and phasers.
I got up with my “mans -n- nem” (a few close friends ) yesterday, and boy am I really feeling music and life right about now. I’ve been on this crate digging kick for a little while, almost a month to be exact. You ever get that feeling that you just wanna make some good ol’ classic boom bap hip hop?
There have been a few things fueling this return to the classics. Gee Wiz and the Speaker Boxin Beat Battle, Shaka Pitts Spitters Club, hooking up with artist who only do lyrical material…. all that and more. The one meeting that has just put the fire to the match comes with a story….
Bilal
I met Bilal about 3 years ago at a battle. The host allowed him to get up on stage and make some announcements. He was wearing work attire and said he’d come to the show straight from the office. He told the Baltimore hip hop community that he had big plans for us, and for all to contact him for more details.
The details weren’t hard to find. In a blink of an eye, he was all over the city in his “Crush Force T.V” Truck. Bilal would be at every show, making power moves, and giving all local artist national shine. I was impressed by his grind. It seemed he was a “Force” that we needed to be involved in the B-more hip hop movement.
Full of surprises, I was watching a local television station and up pops Bilal doing interviews… lol
I thought wow this guy is really making some power moves. Every time he saw me he’d say ” I need some beats for the show”. I don’t know why I took so long, but we finally had a brief meeting at his office. I was very busy with music, and he was busy with his show. Time passed and we didn’t keep in touch … matter of fact I stopped seeing Bilal as much at events. Later on folks were asking ” Where’s Bilal?”….. BILAL went missing…. was the word on the streets…….
Not …..
Two weeks ago, I was visiting StreetLegal Ent Studios and in walks Bilal! I was shocked….. Here is the kicker… since he’s been mysteriously missing, Bilal has recorded 4 albums, coached little league football, hosted an **underwater** show for children, been in the studio with Floetry, been to Africa, teaching classes,….. the list goes on….WOW again!
Talk about an inspiration. Bilal is doing positive hip hop, and helping children as much as he can. It’s like he’s found his calling, motivating our future leaders, cultivating a healthy mind state in our youth.
He has been traveling filling his mind and camera with wonderful things abroad. This allows Bilal to bring first hand cultural experiences to his classes. His next stop is China and you can help send Bilal for study. Please visit his site to sponsor or make donations. Every bit helps, and this is surely a worthy cause:
I am excited to say, Bilal and I will be doing some music very soon. I ‘ll be sure to keep you posted. Until then, have a look at Bilal at work, and be inspired!~ I sure am..
I was rolling yesterday…just having fun making soulful beats. I chopped a Dione Warwick song into about 50 slices and used Fl Slicer to make the beat. By default all of the slices load, but they don’t start at the lowest octave on my midi controller which happens to be my ASR10. I have been trying to find out how to fix this for a while. Finally I opened the help file which I always suggest and I found exactly what I needed.
I manually adjusted the slices to each key on the Asr10. It’s pretty easy. I’ll explain then add a pictures: 1st: hit the desired slice inside Fl Slicer ie: “Dione Slice1″
2nd: hit your midi controller key/note where you’d like “Dione slice1″ to be
3rd: select “last hit” in the Fl Slicer menu
I can wipe my brow now..imagine how can you re arrange your slices,placing them across the keyboard in any order you wish! Niiice deal on my end….
Check out NFX’s full slicer tutorial for more tips and tricks….
A big whaaaaat uuup to all and Happy Friday…. a tough week is now under the belt, Thanksgiving next week..and all is going well today.
I had to attend a funeral for an emcee very close to my heart R.I.P. to my man C.J. “Siege aka Chop”, and more love and peaceful blessings to his family. We will continue to work hard, and get his music heard
I had a succesful vocal session Wednesday…
and I’ve also been working on music for a fashion show!
Those in VA..it’s fashion week!~ Be sure to look for Karen Domino Whites Jean Therapy..40 models 80 foot runway, and if all goes as planned music produced by Ms.Tris for her catwalk yaay!
Karen Domino White ” Jean Therapy”
Born with grace, savvy and style, Karen Domino White is the daughter of the legendary Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer, Fats Domino. In conjunction with being a talented gospel vocalist/song writer Karen has now entered into the World of Fashion with the launching of her company, Jean Therapy. The clothing line consists of unique and exotic denim wear suited for any occasion. Jean Therapy also includes very unique denim handbags which are a hot ticket item! Karen’s clientele loves the personal quality added to her designs. Each creation is custom designed and one of a kind. So get excited because you’re invited to enter into the World of Fashion designed with passion as seen through the eyes of Karen Domino White! Upcoming ventures include release of a new music album and book entitled Domino Affect.
What’s up all… To all the Reason 4.0 users, I tried to do a Dirty South tutorial yesterday for ya. I had the pictures started, the beat started, and got stuck when I tried to edit the tracks note by note …. I’m not sure if I like Reason 4.0, maybe when I have more time I’ll really get into it and figure it out. Until then I’ll be rolling with 3.0 for the new tutorials, and I’ll have to search youtube for 4.0 material….
On to today’s topic…..
I turned on my motif, and I am ready to play a few chord progressions over a beat made in Fl Studio. Everything is sounding good, I press record, and the motif signal is barely audible in the multi-track session. I normalize the wave, and all I hear is HISS and NOISE where there should be silence….. Back to the drawing board!
This mishap led me to searching about input levels, db monitoring, and mixer settings. I read about ” Signal to Noise Ratio”, I looked at a few videos on youtube, and I opened a couple books. All this and still getting some light hiss.
I finally started turning knobs and tweaking until I got it right. I had to adjust several important parameters in the process.
1. Levels on my soundcard mixer
2. Levels on the motif
3. Levels on the hardware mixer channel where the motif is inserted
4. Levels on the hardware mixers main outs
In a nutshell, you want to get a good solid signal going into your recording software with as little noise as possible.
The first thing I did to troubleshoot was listening, and watching my record input monitors. I used Adobe Audition and initiated the track where I would be recording the motif. Immediately I can see a signal although I’m not playing anything:
**I thought maybe my soundcard mixer inputs are to loud. I open my soundcard manual and set up the soundcard mixer as suggested. This is an important step I should have done when inserting the card in the pc**…better late than never though …. Read the rest of this entry »
Hey all, what’ been up with you? I hope all is well and you are preparing for 2009. I’ve signed on for my second project which is based upon poetry. I am excited because the first one ” Screen Test… Those Who Have Ears Let Them Hear” by Keybe Writes, is coming swiftly to a complete wrap. We have been getting rave reviews, although it’s really been hush hush since we started. This is a mini intro, and you will hear a lot more from Keybe very soon, including full bio, song samples, and words of inspiration. After hearing a test copy of “Screen Test”, spoken word artist “CoCoa” from L.A via Colorado has hired me for her cd. Yaay!
I missed a few days of posting and always like to keep you filled in. Over the past weekend we started drafting the artwork for the Cd, and they go to duplication on Friday. I learned that producers must share a complete vision with the artist. Keep in mind that you may have a hand in giving ideas for artwork on your projects as well as music. Here is a sneak preview of our rough first draft for cover design:
Keybe Writes “Screen Test” is poetry and prose works over Hip Hop beats. We started while I was working on the set of “The Wire”. I learned a lot from working with Keybe. Not only were her work ethics superb, her writings touched my soul and inspired me. She had a vision and came well prepared. This made it a little easier for me being “Screen Test” is the first project I’ve done with more neo-soul/ R&B type hip hop. This is my third project as sole producer, and Keybe’s introduction to the world.
I’d like to remind you as I start production for the next, there are many options for your beats. Think lyrics, poems, T.V., and soundtracks. Always keep an open mind when creating your masterpiece!~ There are many option for your beats.
Mission:
Elevate Hope Foundation (EHF) is dedicated to providing abused and abandoned children an alternative method of therapy through music and the arts, and funding special services and programs that assist the needs of these children using these fundamental methods.
Co-founded in 2001 by entertainer Sheila E. and business manager, Lynn Mabry,... ....read more
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) yesterday, and boy am I really feeling music and life right about now. I’ve been on this crate digging kick for a little while, almost a month to be exact. You ever get that feeling that you just wanna make some good ol’ classic boom bap hip hop?
… matter of fact I stopped seeing Bilal as much at events. Later on folks were asking ” Where’s Bilal?”….. BILAL went missing…. was the word on the streets…….
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