Long Car Rides

Chris and I spent a good hour or so tonight, driving around wherever the road led us to, while paying close attention to a rough mix of most songs from the album.

It's nice and cozy having a nice sound system to work on... But in the end CD's get played in cars, on earphones or headphones, transformed into MP3 on iPods and other MP3 players, and they sound nothing like what comes out of speakers in the studio.

So, I felt since we're getting close to being done with recording, that taking a step ahead and already checking how the songs sound in the car was a good idea. It was not my surprise to hear major differences to what I was accustomed at home.

In the end, that hour spent driving around anywhere was not so much a waste of gas afterall.

Please, don't forget to vote on unsigned-talent to help us reach the Top 5! It would mean the world to us.

And also please vote on the poll regarding the listening party [at the bottom of the blog]. It will determine whether we'll have one or not. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go here

Thanks again!

Listening Party?

As of today, only a few last recordings have to be done and we shall be done with recording.

It's been quite a long ride and the songs are coming along very quickly. We're getting feedback and it's exciting.



We're currently considering doing a Listening Party.

What's a Listening Party? It's an event where people are invited to come in and get to listen to, in this case, the album before anyone else and before it is released. It's almost like a movie trailer, except you get to mingle with the band and friends while grubbing on some food and drinks.

We'd love to host one, but only if people are interested in one, and only if they will show up.

In order for us to figure if it's worth hosting one, we're asking you to go answer our poll at the bottom of the blog. Even if you're absolutely not interested in it, we want to know. If we get convincing numbers, we shall host one. Mark my words.

Thanks to all!

Vote For Us!

To our own surprise, a devoted fan of ours set up an account for the band on unsigned-talent.com and we somehow made it to the top 40.

Last time I checked, we made it to top 8.

Help us out reach the top 5 by going on the link below. Click on the "+1" [the +5 and +10 aren't free] and you can do so as often as once every half hour.

http://unsigned-talent.webs.com/vote.htm

Many thanks in advance and thanks for the support!

An Early, Very Early, Christmas Treat

I'm quite pleased to say that all the songs are coming along and we're very close to having all the songs fully recorded and ready to be mixed and mastered. Exciting stuff.

Since it has been a while that not a single teaser has been released, I felt posting a full song would be a nice treat, though Christmas is still quite a long way.

We experimented a lot with this song. It was quite a blast. And somehow... someone convinced me to sing this one in French. Oooh la la!

Recording Violin

It's been quite an adventure.

Never had I recorded anything else than a guitar, a piano, a bass, a drumset, or a vocalist.

Reyna did us the honor of coming in and laying down some violin parts. We have a song that is a bit more instrumental than others, and she'll make the song more interesting, I can guarantee that.

It came out better than I thought it would. I really wanted to make sure she took part in the songwriting and came with her own part for the melodies.

Maybe I'll give you all a preview. If you're willing to be a bit patient, it'll be all worth it.

Feu's First Show of 2010

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.

In less than a month, we'll already be in the year 2010. And we already have set up our first show of the year.

It will be on January 9th, at Chris' house.

12853 Finchley St, Baldwin Park CA 91706 is the address.

More details once the date draws closer.

Euphonix MC Mix

Today I had to setup the Euphonix MC Mix in my composer's studio.

What does it do? It controls softwares, such as Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live. What it is pretty much is a big mouse. Instead of using the mouse use put up and down nobs, the Euphonix MC Mix allows you to do that at the touch of you fingertips. Of course, it goes in more depth than just putting up and down faders.

It is one of the most affordable of its kind, though still quite expensive to my taste.

All it takes is ethernet, and it sinks up with all the softwares you need it to work with.

I'm looking forward to working with it.

Mt San Antonio College Wassail

It all begins on the 3rd of December, this Thursday.

What is the Mt SAC Wassail?

It's an event organized by the Mt SAC Choir Department. People buy tickets for dinner, where they will be served hors d'oeuvres, salad, entrees, dessert and wassail. While feasting on amazing food, they will be provided with musical entertainment, such as a harp player, a piano player, a quartet, and carolers going from table to table singing to everyone. At the end of the night, the Concert Choir, the Fermata Nowhere and the Chamber Singers perform a Christmas set of music.

I believe all tickets are sold out.

It'll be a good experience for all of us. There's nothing better but spreading the Christmas spirit to everyone.

Foley, ADR, Walla

Do any of those word seem unfamiliar to you?

Since Eddie needed some help with some of those for school, I figured I'd explain to everyone a little bit about those.

When you watch movies, the sounds you hear, whether it's the dialog, the noise in the background, people talking in the background, and the sound effects, are usually not the sounds that have been recording on the set. Why? Sounds in the open are uncontrollable, which may lead to a lot of unwanted noise you cannot get rid of once everything is taped.

So what needs to be done?

Things have to be recorded in a studio.

Foley is all the sound effects in the movies recreated in studios, or foley stages. Footsteps, glass breaking, doors closing, and laser beams sounds are all example of those.

ADR stands for Automated Dialog Replacement. Sometimes when actors are on set, what they said on tape did not come out clearly. Maybe the wind blew on the mics present on the set, or their clothes brushed against the lavalier [mic placed on clothes] and created noise that ruined part of the dialog. They have to go in a studio and have to re-speak the lines that need to fixed. Imagine looking at you talking and having to dub over yourself. Not an easy task for everyone.

Walla is all the background talking. For scenes where a lot of people are present, it is usually in studios that the background talking is created. It is way too risky to record out in the open people talking and chit chat. The studio provides a controlled environment and everything comes out much cleaner.

Hope you learned something today!

The Studio Has Moved

Since my mother is now gone for two weeks in the Philippines, I decided to move all the recording equipment inside the house. The garage is way too cold at this point to consider staying in there when the house is free.

I also am taking advantage of the big TV screen. I hooked up the MacBook Pro to it, and I can now use two screens and look all fancy.

Something tells me things are going to get done now.

When you have your own little studio at home, you do what you can to make things work best. It's not always the most ideal place to have a studio, but I'm pretty happy of how things are turning out for us. Everything is working hard and putting their time in to make this album as best as it can be.

More updates in the future.

Yet Another Show

It's confirmed. Feu is having another show. This time it will be in San Dimas. We'll be playing with headliners Zeraga.

Here is the info:

Friday December 11 @ 7:30PM
661 Arrow Highway
San Dimas, CA 91773
Home Brew Cafe
Free

Hope to see you there!

Talk About Being Thankful

Coincidence? It's Thanksgiving week, and I get something to be really thankful about.

For those who didn't know, I've had the huge privilege and opportunity to intern at Hans Zimmer's studios. If you don't know him, Google him. But let me tell you movies like "The Dark Knight [Batman]," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "The Gladiator," and many others would have not been the same without his music.

I was offered a 5 week internship, and it ended this week.

Right when I was to turn in the key, I get hired as a composer's assistant. It's something I had never expected; I thought I'd never step foot on Zimmer Land ever again in my life.

I'm glad to be able to finally work in the music industry, and I couldn't be any more thankful about anything else but this. Like what, when you work hard and make things happen, some unexpected doors open for you. So keep fighting for your dream!

Mute Math- Backfire

Seems like Mute Math just came out with a very out of the ordinary and unique video. Hope you like it.

It's from their new album, "Armistice."

Providing Sound for a DJ

Quite a fun task I must say. Especially when it's a good DJ.

People may not realize it, but sound equipment is quite expensive. I've had the privilege to be able to invest in good speakers and a good mixer. And it comes in quite handy when for example a DJ needs a big room to be 'bumping' for a big party.

So, what do we do exactly? Obviously, we bring in the speakers and mixer, and all the cables and power supplies needed to supply everything with power and sound. Next step is to figure out how to hook up the DJ's equipment to the mixer. DJ equipment usually use RCA cables. Something you must keep in mind since most mixers only accept mic or line cables, and therefore adapters are needed.

It's good to have loud music, but I like to also make sure we don't submit hearing loss by the end of the night to everyone. I tend to make sure the levels are loud but not ear piercing. With a bit of EQ, it is easily taken care of.

Aside from being able making a little of money, doing gigs like these are always fun. Afterall, this is part of the entertainment business, and there's no more fun than being able to provide some entertainment to everyone.

Let's hope more gigs like these show up.

Stranger's Ears

I had a friend come over the other night, as I was digging myself into mixing some songs.

It was good to have an outsider's opinion and ears to give some insight about how the songs are sounding.

After hearing every song for hours every day, it's easy for our ears to tire out and miss out on small details.

Not only that, but it's always easy to be in our own little world, and having an outsider always helps getting out of the box and getting a clearer picture of the song, of the sound, of everything.

It's great that we can accomplish so many things by ourselves. It is also rejuvenating to let someone new step in and spread a little bit of their own twist and taste to freshen things up.

Showtime

Last night turned out much better than expecting in terms of my expectations of how the show would turn out.

First off, the sound system provided was amazing. Huge speakers stacked on top of each other. You couldn't miss a beat.

The church staff was so nice with us. For the first time, we didn't have to worry about the set up as much. We just had to show up and plug in. Well almost at least.

Christian did an amazing job. He was the one who set up the sound system and took care of the front of house; in other words, the sound in general.

It was great exposure. I have no idea how many people total turned up. 100? Maybe more? Coolest part was being cheered on for one last song at the end.

Let's not forget to mention our friends and family who took their time to come out and support us. That was awesome.

Feu at Faith Community Church

Here's a gig I'm quite excited about.

Most of the times, we've been playing gigs in Chris' backyards, or in bars where obviously only people over 21 could go.

So, we get to play outside of good old Baldwin Park, a place where anyone could go and it doesn't involve playing on grass.

Don't get me wrong, I love playing at home, at Chris' house, but there's a point where you need to get out of the nest. This is a chance to reach audiences that have never heard about us also.

Another thing I'm excited about; it's at Faith. I've been involved there ever since I moved to the US. I started off by joining the high school band that would lead worship every weekend. If it wasn't for this church, I would have never been introduced to playing rock music. Joining the high school group was what inspired me to get a band of my own, writing my own music. This leads me to say that, without Faith, there wouldn't be Feu. This is why it means even more to me to be able to play here.

I got the chance of getting our music to the ears of Joe Romero, whom eventually invited me and the band to play at Epic, the high school and college services that take place on Thursdays.

Here's the info for tonight:

1211 East Badillo Street
West Covina, CA 91790

It starts at 8pm on the dot. We're the only band playing.

I hope to see you all out there!

"The Crave" Teaser

Chris has been bugging me about getting a new teaser out. I finally gave in and decided to put out our new song "The Crave."

In this video, you can see a little how we miked the drums. Follow the cable!

It is not the final album version.

And... I'm quite disappointed of how YouTube destroys sound quality...

It's okay. Once the album is out, you won't have to rely on teasers.

Enjoy!

P.S. To stop the music, just go on the bottom of the blog and pause the playlist.

Album Title

Since things are getting closer and closer to finalizing the album, it came across that we should choose a title for the album.

It's now been about a good couple months we've been working on it. Back at the beginning, it would have taken us hours to figure out such a fragile task. Now that things are getting clearer, it was a matter of minutes until we agreed on one.



Announcing Feu's album title: Unstoppable



Release date is still nowhere to be anticipate. We hope to get it all done soon though.

Choir Recording Session

After all the trouble, the internship almost getting in the way, and the laptop crashing the night before that is, we were finally able to run a choir recording session.

I had struggled my way through my illness to lay down as many vocal tracks as possible, to make it easier for whoever would come in for the session. Let's just say that I have plenty of re-recording to do once my voice is completely back.

For some reason, I knew the turnout would be bad. I had a gut feeling that I would fail at trying to get people together at my place to form a choir. It had been several weeks already I tried to reach different people from different places. But against all odds and against all my efforts, only a very few came to show up early afternoon. I had hoped for a good 15 or 20 people, but merely a few showed up at first. After finally spending my last efforts texting people and making some last phone calls, about a dozen turned out at my house.

The session went relatively well. I had to teach the parts to everyone, make sure it was on beat and on pitch. Since everyone was being miked and we didn't have some kind sound booth, everything had to be recorded acapella, which made everything a little bit harder.

But it came out just fine. Everyone was really cooperative and patient. Though it was a small choir, I hope I'll be able to pull off what I had in mind with the songs.

It meant a lot for the dozen people to come out today, and put their time and effort into this. We're all very thankful for everyone single person's support.

Technology Issues: Chapter Two

Seems like what had to happen, just happened again...

My laptop decided to crash, once again. But it has decide to crash at the worst point of time... the night before we have the choir recording session.

It was bad enough I thought I was going to miss the session itself, now that I was reassured I could attend it, the computer pooped out on us.

I wonder if I'm going to have to invest into a new computer soon...

Once I get a job, and that hopefully at the studio, it's something I'll be able to look into. In the meanwhile, I'm stuck with no being to sleep until that baby starts up fine.

Cross fingers!

Songs

We're currently finishing up some songs, working on lyrics and melodies and what nots.

Some songs are coming together fairly well.

We're pretty excited about getting everything done rather soon.

My illness has been slowing us down very much though. With no voice, no vocals can be recorded. I don't understand how I can be sick for this long...

Website

For those who don't know, Feu has had its own website ever since June. Thing is, in June, there was only three of us, and Mario was our drummer. And it hasn't been updated since then.

So if you go on www.feuband.com you'll find an out of date website. But it looks kick butt.

Why?

Because my friend JET is an awesome web designer. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to work on it since then.

He contacted me earlier this week about updating the website and making it user-friendly so we can start running the website ourselves. Hopefully I get to meet with him soon and we'll get to work on that as soon as possible.

In the meanwhile, you could still go on our myspace, or find us on facebook.

www.myspace.com/feuband

Video: Short Clip of a Drumming Session

My mom... she can give us a good laugh sometimes!

When the Body Fights Back

Having two internships, school, recording an album on nightly basis, all of that mixed with lack of sleep and poor eating [if any] = sick.

Ah yes! You can only push your body so far. When you push it to its exhaustion point, it gives up on you. At least if you don't take care of it.

I've been so caught up with everything, it seems as if I forget to sleep and eat. It truly didn't bug nor bother me, until the body fought back with a bad cold.

Blah! It's only a cold. Big deal.

So I thought. Until I was asked not to come in the internship in Santa Monica in order to not get anyone sick. Then it got bad enough to the point I had to to bail on the other internship. Worst of all, I didn't have a voice. I couldn't record any vocals, nor could I sing well for the choir concert. Way to go.

It's almost been a week now. Let's hope I recover soon.

Please take care of yourselves!

Artist From Across an Ocean: Air

Someone was looking through a pile of CD's laying around my car and came across an album of Air. It ended up that person liked it after listening to it. Good!

Who is Air? A French duo who captured my attention ever since I saw them live at the Rock Werchter Festival in 2007.

Their style would be more categorized under electronica. They have a lot of instrumental songs. When they do sing, it's in English [lucky you!].

Here's one of their song, "Kelly Watch the Stars" from their album Moon Safari.

Mt San Antonio College Fall Choir Concert

For the very first time of my life, I've taken part of a choir concert. But this time, I was part of the choir.

I've been stuck many years behind a piano. Whether it was doing classical piano and piano recitals, or playing for jazz band, or playing for the string orchestra, or playing for wind ensemble, or playing for a choir. It was time I stepped away from that and joined a choir group.

And so I did. This semester, I was part of Mt SAC's concert choir.

I've been to a couple of the concerts in the previous years. But being part of the program gave me another insight of it all.

The concert went well. I guess there was plenty room of improvement. But that's okay. The music was pretty hard I suppose for everyone.

The highlight of the night definitely was being able to watch the Chamber Singers. Chamber is the top choir at Mt SAC. They've gotten many awards, including Choir of the World a few years ago. Directed by Bruce Rogers, their work keeps awing me. Their performance left me speechless. It even brought tears to a friend of mine. Now THAT'S music. Music that can touch you that much.

If you ever get the chance to, you should check them out. It's simply an amazing experience. Even if you aren't into classical music, this group will change the way you look at it.

Album Update: Drum Recording Pics

Drums are finally done being recorded. Amen! I get my room back and we get to move on. We're very close to being done recording. I can't wait till I get my voice back...

Delay In Blogging

I apologize for the lack of update this past week.

With the two internships, the daily [or nightly] drum recording, I haven't had the chance of finishing the blogs and didn't want to publish a half done blog. Thank God for the "Save Now" button.

So since now I'm sick stuck in bed, I've got plenty of time in my hands to finish up all the blogs and actually publishing the posts.

I'll be posting pictures and maybe a teaser some time this week.

Double Checking

After EQ'in everything correctly, we started to notice a difference of sound between songs. The last songs we recorded sound much better than the first ones, since we changed the EQ.

It was a good thing that we double checked every single song. If we hadn't done so, we'd have to go through the trouble of setting up the drumset once again.

Doing so, we were able to pin down the songs that needed to be perfected and decided to re-record them.

Since no money is on the line, we get to do such thing. If we were paying someone by the hour, that mistake could have been very costly.

We want to make sure we produce the best album we can. So that's why going through this all over again doesn't really bother us. But it does take a lot of time and work. In the end, I'm sure it'll pay off and we'll be glad to have done what we're doing.

EQ, Mixing, Miking

I talked to Christian, a sound engineer and friend of mine, about how the way the drums came out on the recordings were not all that great. He gave me some really good tips on how to better the issues we've been having.

What is EQ? If you didn't know, sound is pretty much moving air. It has a waveform. The longer it is, the lower pitch we hear it. Smaller waveforms have higher pitch. What EQ'in does is manipulating those frequencies, or pitch, in order to boost or cut the frequencies that we'd like to modify.

In our case, the drums had way too much unwanted rings that made the drums sound really dirty and low quality. Christian recommended to cut a specific range of frequencies, and it wasn't a surprise that after doing so, the drums sounded a whole lot better.

The way we had been recording the drums was using 6 different mics. One of the kick drum, one of the snare drum, one mic for toms 1 and 2, another for the floor tom, and two overhead mics, which are hung over the cymbals to get a 'overhead' capture of the drumset. All of those mics were plugged in a mixer, from which we sent a stereo mix out into Pro Tools, the software we use to record. It was critical getting the levels right, and EQ'in each mic in order to capture the best sound. The way we placed the mics also made a difference also.

It was a learning experience for all of us, especially Eddie and I, since we're taking care of all the recording aspects of the album. The best way to learn is to jump in the water and swim.

9pm Drum Recording

My bedroom was transformed into a drum recording room. We chose that room because the garage's acoustics were way too bad to record drums there.

Since there's 14 songs to record, we've been leaving everything in my room, the way it is, to maximize the chances of getting same sound each recording. You have no idea how moving a mic just a few inches can change the sound of a recording.

I'm personally not quite totally satisfied with the way the drums sound but we're trying our best. Little by little it gets better.

I'm surprised the neighbors haven't called the cops yet. We sometimes record until past 9pm. Let's cross fingers and hope none of that happens. I'm anxious to finish it all.

Future Gig Planning

Chris and I went over Alicia's house tonight. She's been supporting us ever since she got a hand on one of our CD's.

We went over to discuss what the plans for gigs are. Since we've been focusing on the album, we haven't played anywhere for a while, and she wants to give us a hand playing at different places.

The mall would be a cool place to play in. There's always a lot of people around, and who knows maybe enough to care to stop by and listen to the music if we ever were to play there. Since she works at the Santa Anita mall, that might happen.

Schedule conflicts are a big problem at this point. With school, our internships and other things, it seems it'll be a challenge getting gigs down. But we'll work something out, I'm sure.

Album Update: Drum Recording

After weeks of failed attempts to get recording sessions with other people with better equipment, we chose to stick to our own for the sake of saving time and money.

We wanted to be able to record drums and have control of every single mic used on the drum set inside the software we use to record; in this case Pro Tools.

Since our schedule and others' schedules always posed a conflict, we figured we had to change plans.

And we did. Tonight, we officially recorded drums for the album. So far, it had been rough recordings for the sake of the teasers. But now, we're talking album business.

What did we do? You shall find out on the next teaser.

All I will say is that we used the mixer I have. We miked everything and recorded a stereo track of drum set, and it didn't come out bad at all.

More to come!

Official Choir Recording Date

It's official. The 'choir' recording is happening on Saturday November 14.

If you haven't heard about it, we're trying to invite anyone who would like to join us to get together at my house to record a choral part on a couple tracks for the new album. The only requirement is that you can sing on pitch.

If you're interested, you can always email us at feu_band@yahoo.com

If you know any of our phone numbers, send us a txt or call us.

In the case you don't have our numbers, message us on Facebook or MySpace to get it.

It'll be a good chance to also hang out with everyone. Pizza will be provided for those who show up.

We want YOU to be on the album, don't miss out.

Business Cards

I've always seen freelance people, or businesses.

Never had I thought of bands having their own business cards. Until Eddie brought it up.

And now that I think about it, it makes total sense. A band is a business, which provides services, music entertainment in this case, and it needs to advertise itself in order to reach new clientèle.

So earlier today, Eddie handed me over a bunch of business cards, then I headed over Nelson's and Chris' so they can get their share. Thanks Eddie for the investment. The card is pretty funny too.

Hans Zimmer

I couldn't help but blogging about Hans Zimmer. Go figure why.

Who is Hans Zimmer? Probably the most in demand film composer of the moment. Some of the motion pictures he composed for: The Lion King, Mission Impossible, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean's, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Angels and Demons, Spirit, The Gladiotar, Rain Man, The Dark Knight ... and the list goes on.

He's gotten several Academy Awards, Grammy Awards and Golden Globe Awards.

Since I've been interested in film composing for a number of years now, people like Hans Zimmer and John Williams caught my attention. About a year ago, I had found out Hans Zimmer had his own studio where he records and engineers his music, all of that with a team of engineers. Now, I can tell you his studio is amazing. I look back into my tiny garage and... well let's just say my little studio's not even the worth of a millionth of Hans'.

Every time I see a movie that Hans Zimmer worked on, I could tell right away. And I'm never disappointed.

Without music, movies wouldn't be the same. It's with the genius of composers that movies can have more impact.

Writing a rock song is one thing. Writing music to different scenes of a movie, making sure the emotion is felt through the music, making sure the timing is correct, and making sure that you meet a director's expectations, on the other hand, is much more intricate.

Broadway

A friend of mine invited me to a dress rehearsal of a Broadway last night at Citrus College.

I've been to plenty Broadways in Los Angeles, and even once in New York to see Wicked. So I know how it is.

And I have to admit, I was pretty impressed. Never had I expected a community college to pull off such a show. All performers were miked, there was lighting, there was a live band on stage. And well last but not least the performers weren't bad at all.

I remember when I used to do Broadway stuff at church, we didn't even get to do half of what they did, which is surprising for they have professional sound equipment.

So, if you've never seen Chicago, the Broadway, I suggest you go check it out at Citrus tonight or tomorrow night. It's funny, sexy and a good way to end the night.

Radio Play

I was talking to a friend earlier, and he is the lead singer of a band. Just like us, they had produced an album on their own this past year, with the help and a manager.

He told me they're recording a new EP now. The reason? Radios wouldn't let them play the songs they had on their album. Why? Because to details like time limit and EQ [in more simple words, sound]. So, it's definitely something we'll have to consider; maybe at least a tiny bit.

I never thought of it, but it is true that there are a lot of "radio edit" songs. This is explains why. Afterall, radio is a business, and there are guidelines to follow.

Good stuff to know at this stage. We learn everyday.

We Need Your Voice!

If you haven't heard our track from our EP "In Multi Colors" you probably wouldn't know that I actually recorded a choir for the track. It was an experiment, it was fun, and it turned out great.

If you haven't heard the track, go on www.myspace.com/feuband and the track is on there.

For this album, there are a couple songs I'd like to have a choir to sing in. For that, I'm trying to get people together to form a 'choir' which will be recorded at my house.

So, if you can sing, on pitch that is, or if you know anyone that can, spread the word. And email us at feu_band@yahoo.com regarding the choir recording.

All the plans and arrangements will be made through emails and nothing else; it'd be a fiasco having to reach some people through MySpace, others through Facebook, and the rest by phone. So please, as of now, email us there. Once a date of recording session is settled, we'll try to reach everyone personally by phone.

The songs in question have not yet been recorded, but a sample will be sent to those who will be on the album.

Thanks in advance!

Finishing Up Songs

Tonight, Eddie came over and we worked on a couple of our newest songs. After the whole computer fiasco, it was a good way to recollect ourselves.

One of our newest song is "Pictures and Goodbyes." We finalized the lyrics for the song and I'm really looking forward to putting everything together.

When I write songs, I usually start off with the music, and the lyrics just fill in what the music can't express. It's the first time I collaborate lyrics with Eddie and it sure was fun and constructive at the same time.

We also went over important such as drum recording sessions and the 'howabouts.' 'whatabouts' and whereabouts of it all. More info once everything is scheduled.

Technology Tricks

So, if you haven't read previous blog, my MacBook Pro chose not to turn on properly yesterday. After going to the Apple store, it was diagnosed as a dead hard drive.

After a day of letting it rest, I chose to give one last try before going anywhere else to get it fixed.

To my own surprise, it turned on as if nothing had happened yesterday. It worked just fine. As a measure of precaution, I chose to leave it aside until tomorrow; who knows more rest might do wonders.

I am no computer guru, but I sure am complexed at what happened. I do know that its intense use and hardly ever turning it off might have taken its toll on the hard drive. But why on earth would it work just fine the next day? I wonder if it's going to play tricks in the future.

So I am asking you, what should I do to prevent this happening again? If in the high possibility of having the hard drive to die for good, what is the cheapest way of me being able to have a computer working quickly?

The Price of Technology

Technology is amazing. What we can do with electronics, computers and much more in today's world is amazing. Without any of it, we wouldn't be able to accomplish a 16th of what we're doing now, as far as musicians, performers and recording artists. I am thankful to be able to have access to all of it and being able to do it all on my own.

But... technology has its price.

Though I had all my precautions, having an external hard drive to save all audio files, and another hard drive dedicated to backing up my MacBook Pro, I could not escape the actual computer's failure. As of tonight, my laptop's hard drive is dead, mort, muerte, caput.

Apparently, after a long year and a half of intense use, especially recording, and that on a daily basis, the hard drive could not take it anymore. Since I have all my backups, I am not too worried. It's just that, I don't have a working computer anymore, which means, no more recording.

Hopefully, I will be able to replace the hard drive soon, and will be able to recover all the softwares I use for recording. The price and time of it all, that's another story.

Technology can fail on you. And oh boy when that happens you realize how powerless you are; simply because you can't do any type of work whatsoever, in regards of the album for us.

So, recording is on halt until further notice... *Tear*

No Worries

Here's a preview of our new song "No Worries."

This time, we recorded [roughly] drums for the sake of having some kind of beats.
We will be tracking the drums in a couple weeks. How exciting.

More to come!

Amazing Pictures from Mute Math Concert

Beautiful pictures from Saturday's concert at the Club Nokia in LA.

Click!

If you look closely in some of the crowd pictures, you could see Christopher or Eddie.

New Artist Discovery: As Tall As Lions

Yesterday night, at the Club Nokia, it was As Tall As Lions who opened for Mute Math.

They're from New York City and very cool to listen to. I had never heard of them before. Drummer, bass player, lead guitar player, two keyboard/trumpet/other players, and lead singer/guitar.

Pretty cool group. The crowd got easily into them. It's cool to actually be able to see a good opening act. For some reason, the name of that band sounded familiar. I still have to figure out why it does.

In the meanwhile, here's a video of them I found.

Mute Math Concert

Amazing. Simply amazing. They didn't disappoint at all. A very unique and once again memorable performance that moved all of us.

Christopher, Eddie and I had the chance to buy the VIP package, which allowed us to get in first and get a really good spot on the floor. We were practically by the bar.

Sound engineers as we are, Eddie and I observed what was used on stage, as far as mics and other equipment. We were glad to see they were using the same exact mic we had just recently purchased. All of the musicians used in-ear wireless systems, just like us.

Back to Mute Math. They played songs from both albums. What was so cool about the performance were the miscellaneous intros for their songs which aren't found on CD's or their jam outs. Their energy is amazing on stage; you can't help moving your body.

They truly are inspiring, musically speaking and on a performing stand point. It's a band you have to see live once in your life.

Here are some pictures I took from my cell phone. The quality's mediocre, but I thought I'd post them up just in case you might find them enjoyable.








Did I mention that Chris, just like last time we went to see them, got the set list... again? That was awesome.

Getting Ready for Mute Math

Christopher, Eddie and I will have the privilege of going to a Mute Math concert Saturday night in LA. I have seen them before and their performance was extremely memorable; probably the most memorable in my opinion.

So, in order to get ready for their concert, here is some Mute Math for you. I greatly admire their drummer, Darren King Jr. And I personally love their originality; they remain true to their heart and passion for music.

Expect to get a concert review tomorrow night. I hope I won't get disappointed. But then how could I?

Craigslist; Update

Eddie, Chris and I took a trip to Downtown LA to buy a Shure Beta 52A. Not only did we enjoy the trip, we came home a practically brand new mic, saving a good 80 bucks. We yet have to test it out.

Since I'm getting into mics, I will go over the small collection of mics I have. You'll get to learn a bit more for your own curiosity if you'd like.

Here is the Beta 52A, a mic we really needed in order to record the drums. It is used on bass instruments, such as the bass drum/kick drum, low toms [drums] and even bass guitar.

Craigslist

It's been a long road. A long road to get everything single piece of equipment we own today. From working two jobs at a time, to saving up birthday and holiday money.

So far, I've only bought new equipment. But nothing says buying new is necessary.

This is where good old Craigslist comes in the play.

We were looking for a good mic to be able to record the drums. After browsing for it on sites like sweetwater.com or guitarcenter.com and checking the prices, we found a good deal on Craigslist. I've actually never made a purchase through it so I'll found out if this works out. Anyhow, if it is a good deal, we'll be saving.

We'll be posting up more previews of new songs in the upcoming week.

A Studio at Home

The advantage of having a studio at your own place is being to record at any time you want. Even up to 5am.

So, I put together a short video to show a small part of a new song we're working on. It's "Believe" and in the video is Eddie on bass, followed by the bridge of the song. For those who don't know what a bridge is, I'll go more in detail about it in a later blog, but for now I'll just explain it as the change in the part of the song. In other words, it's neither the verse or chorus.

The song has no drums yet, as the Nelson will come in and lay down his parts for the all songs all at once. So it will be a little while until he gets to record.

I wanted to experiment on this part of the song, and no in the band has heard what I've come up with yet. So you'll be discovering it all at the same time as the rest of the band. Enjoy.

Album Update

So far, we've had one day with full band recording session. Since then, everyone has been coming in whenever possible to lay down parts here and there. I'll go in more details this coming week about how we aboard the recording process. Here are some pictures for now.

A Look Back at the Old Days, Part V

Here's the last video we made before the 1 year hiatus in 2008. In there is our old drummer. He's part of the change and transition of the band's sound. Pretty amazing experience.

A Look Back at the Old Days, Part IV

Just finished editing and mixing the new song. Though drums still have to be recorded, Eddie and I figured we could win some time by working on it now.

Chris worked up a nice surprise of his own to the song. He came in a recorded a special treat that none of us had thought of before.

That's the part I love the best about recording and pre-producing; writing and arranging the songs, adding parts to them, and just making the song better in general.

Anyways, here's an instrumental song we had back in 2007.

A Look Back at the Old Days, Part III

It is around 2:30am and I just finished recording the vocals and piano parts for one of our new songs. I didn't expect everything, apart from the drums, to be recorded in one single night. Talk about productivity! The album is officially coming about!

In the meanwhile, here's a video of when the "Feu sound" was born, in mid 2007. I still remember coming up with this song out of boredom at school. What happened with it with the rest of the band afterwards was magic. Here is "Unstoppable" at its early stage. Wait until you hear the album version!

A Look Back at the Old Days, Part II

So, back in the "Seeking Pandora" days, which was what the band was called before "Feu", we used to be instrumental.

Here's a video of a performance at a Planned Famine dinner. This was probably the first time anyone heard us. Ever. And well... we had to start somewhere... No comment...

A Look Back at the Old Days, Part I

So I decided to share with you some old videos, one per blog, to show you the progress of what Christopher and I have come through.

Our first band was called Seeking Pandora. My senior year, I made a project... and a music video was made as part of it.

Enjoy! [Or even laugh if you want!]

Poll #1

I had a poll up for the past two weeks. Though it was well hidden all the way at the bottom of the site, ten people managed to answer it for me.


"What would you rather invest in when it comes to a local band?"

3 people said they'd go to their shows
1 person would buy their CD
1 person would buy their shirt
5 people would show their music around


Things turned out the way I expected them to. Lots of bands make CD's and spend so much money on making T-shirts, but I've realized people aren't so willing to buy them. Is it because they're not well known? Is it because it might be too expensive? Maybe a little bit of both.

When someone doesn't know a band, the only way for them to see first if they like them or not, would be either by seeing them live for the first time, or listening to their CD. Once they're hooked, the first thing they do is show around their music.

I thought about this, and it makes sense. I do that when it comes to even big bands. If I can't see them live, I go listen to them, then spread the word if I like it. It's only after I choose to buy their CD or not. And shirts... I personally only own one Muse shirt. That's it.

This is exactly why we're handing out CD's. Why would anyone PAY for something they've never heard.

This is exactly why I ended up giving out all of our T-shirts.

What's there to lose? If people don't like your CD, they just won't listen to it again. The whole point of having a demo is to see what people like. So no need to invest so much money into it. If you get response from the demo, you know you're doing well, if not then you have work to do.

As far as giving out the shirts, without knowing it, it spread the word about our band. Amazingly, people were wearing our shirts more than just once. That's because I didn't give them to random people, it was people I knew whom personally inquired about the shirt. They were our free walking advertisement and they willingly doing it. Bingo!

So, bottom line is to focus on the music. Simple. In the end, if you don't perform well live, you could say goodbye to the hope of having anyone come see you again. If you got that part down, don't invest too much in a demo, but do make sure it's the best you have on there. And work your way up from there.

More polls to come!

Finances and Budgetting, Part Two

A great way to earn some extra cash is to rent the equipment you've invested in. Not many people can afford that type of material, nor do they need them on a regular basis. It's a great way of making it pay for itself.

Couple nights ago, a friend of Nelson's needed speakers and mics for her signing party. She asked us last minute to show up there to provide live sound for her and her friends' performances. Not only we saved her big night, but we also made the money we needed to finally buy the rack.

A lesson from all of this and previous blog, never mix business and friendship. In other words, don't get personal when it comes to the band. Business is business, the rest should be dealt in private. We realized that money was not the real issue of the conflict, but mostly that it got personal instead. It's easy to overreact, but the big lesson is: never fight over money.

Finances and Budgetting

There is a current conflict in the band that gives me the opportunity to bring this topic.

For the sake of not point fingers at anyone in the band, for it isn't necessary to know who did what in order to learn from this, I will not use names. A, B, C, and D will represent all four members.

Let's face it, music in general is not cheap, especially when it comes to equipment. So it's really important to budget when it comes to making such big investments.

And it is in those kinds of situations you get to learn the real financial skills of each member. And sadly, the HARD way.

A, B, C, and D had made a deal concerning the purchase of a rack, and that within a month the money would be ready to do go through with the purchase.

A and B don't have a job. A had invested for most of the equipment so far back when he had two jobs, and feels like the rest should start pitching in. Though looking for jobs, no luck so far. He is already having trouble paying off credit from the equipment he bought earlier this year.

Lesson from A: never, ever, put something on credit if you don't have the exact amount of money to begin with. Don't buy something you don't have the money for. Easy rule that he had to learn the hard way. Never depend on the next paycheck either. If you get laid off... where is the cash supposed to come from?

C and D both have jobs. D has been investing in equipment and spending most of his cash for that. C got injured and couldn't work for 4 days. Yet, knowingly that the band really needs the rack and that his injury may push back the purchase of it, he goes out and buys a $100 jacket. When the band brings it up to him, he chooses to not take responsibility of his action and gets defensive about it instead.

Don't get me wrong, any member has his own financial freedom. But what is wrong with this picture? The fact that C disregards that one member is already in some sort of credit debt because of his financial miscalculations for the band? The fact that C doesn't look at the fact that D has been spending most of his cash for the band? The fact that C ended up not going through with the deal made with the band without giving heads up? Or that C can't recognize his lack of reasoning when coming to the jacket?

Lesson from C: you might have to put up with a member who won't make smart financial decisions. You need to be able to see it, and try to handle it the most mature way possible, which is not an easy task. Money isn't easy to handle, and sometimes you have to teach each other and learn from each other about financial responsibilities.

Is this whole situation a big deal? No, but nonetheless important. The rack could be bought in the long run some other time. But having a band is like having a job, you just can't blow it off without taking the necessary responsibilities.

It's actually an important problem to face now, rather than later down the road, and I'm glad we're actually going through this. It helps all of us reflect on ourselves and learn from all this.

Let's hope this dilemma gets handled properly, in adult manner.

Muse Hits #1 Billboard Charts

Finally! It's about time Muse gets what they deserve in the US.

I just checked, they hit #1 with their single "Uprising" on the "Alternative Songs" chart. Amen!

Check it out! Billboard

Now, the depressing part: I've been looking for the album, "The Resistance" and it appears absolutely nowhere. Let's hope in the upcoming weeks it will eventually pick up.

Local Artist: Bella Novela

After we had done playing our set at The Old Towne Pub in Pasadena on Thursday, we stayed a little after to check out the next band. It sure was worth it.

Before they started to play, I gave it a quick look. A [female] drummer, a guitar player, a bass player, and a vocalist behind a keyboard. I was intrigued already.

They started playing and we all knew we had a made a good choice to stay. Powerful vocals, cool guitar riffs, strong bass lines, and catchy beats. The dynamics of the performance really got to us.

I'll try to give an update, on which I'll give you the input of what the other band mates thought of Bella Novela.

In the meanwhile, you could check them out for yourself: Bella Novela

Backyard Gigs

Ah! Those don't quite get old.

What are backyard gigs? Simply 'concerts' held at a house, and though its name implies 'backyard' it may well be hosted in a garage, or who knows, a front yard too.

What are the advantages?

1. If you host the event, then you get to pick who plays, and who doesn't. If you're not hosting, you still know which bands or artists will be part of the event, and you get to choose whether to ask to be part of it, or not.

2. One of the biggest advantages would be that you get to expose yourself locally and get to meet the local people. Like I've said before, I'm not in a band to play for myself. I play for others. From the best friend who shows up to a total stranger that comes to a show; they are as important. By playing backyard gigs, it helps us remind them that. We're not here for us, we're here for you type of deal. So come on down at our house and let's have a good time.

3. You get to hang out after the show. Unlike at venues, where you are rushed in on stage to play, then rushed out to let the other bands play, you are in a more relaxed setting, where you get to put instruments aside if needed, and just hang out with everyone afterwards. Mingle time!

4. My most favorite: cost free! Most venues nowadays have a "pay to play" policy. You have to sell a number of tickets in order to play there; it usually translates into bands having to pay out of their pockets, for it is a difficult task to sell the amount of tickets required. And if you're hosting, you may choose to charge, which creates income.

What are the disadvantages?

1. Regulation. Who comes to your show? Who is responsible if something goes wrong? If you host an event, those questions are important to be answered. And even if you're not hosting, once something goes wrong and you're there, you never know what can happen.

2. Police. Ah yes! Let's not forget about them. If you're lucky enough to have neighbors that don't complain about the 'noise,' it might not be the case if there is underage drinkers at the event.

3. You have to provide your own live sound. If you don't have mics, and speakers to 'amplify' the musical experience, it might not be so attractive to the audience. That's why I have personally invested in a lot of 'live sound' equipment, which I will talk about in detail in future blogs. That's definitely one of the keys to our 'backyard gig' mini success; the live experience for the audience is good.

Old Towne Pub

Improvised and last minute shows are always fun.

About a month ago, I was on the band's MySpace and saw a bulletin from a pub asking for a band to play there. I messaged them and we got to play at the "Old Towne Pub" for free.

It's a tiny little place in the heart of Pasadena. It was quite hard to find at first, since it is located in the alleys, as opposed to the main streets. Once you get in, you find a bar onto your right, and a tiny stage in front of you. If you feel like relaxing outside, there's a patio outside where you could sit and enjoy your drink. It's a really chill place where I wouldn't mind going back to.

The first time we played there, there was a little problem as far as live sound, for the sound tech was being a bit difficult. Nonetheless we pulled a really fun show.

Apparently, the bartender that night was the sister of the owner. She told us she liked our music. It was definitely nice to hear that.

Just this week, Aaron, her brother and owner, contacted us, asking us to play there again on Thursday. And, well, it was just another fun show. This time, we got to run our own sound, and it came out really neat.

We'll let you know if we ever have another gig there. Definitely worth the trip there.

I've always looked down on MySpace for many things, but when it comes for local artists trying to find their place, I think it's a wonderful tool. Though we will probably soon won't be using as much once our website will be updated, MySpace has definitely helped us get to where we are.

Another thing is, never turn down a chance to play a gig; when you don't have to pay to play that is. Any gig is a chance of exposure, experience added in the bag, and in the end, just fun. You want also to make sure that you're always willing to make yourself available. It doesn't matter the place, the time you play, or if you can't bring anyone to the show with you, there's always new people you can meet. Always. And we sure did.

Review: Mute Math

Since I made a review on my previous blog about my top favorite band Muse, I figured I'd review Mute Math as well, for they are one of our favorite bands too, and as much influential as Muse to our music.

Mute Math came out with their second album entitled "Armistice." They also clearly have printed their own style in the music scene ever since their first album.

They've been getting the attention they deserved, ever since they came up with a cool and unique music video for their song "Typical," which got them a Grammy nomination last year.

After that, they got their single "Spotlight" on the Twilight soundtrack and have been getting a great boost from there.

Mute Math is amazing live. I saw them a couple years back, and their stamina on stage blew me away. It was a performance that I'll never forget. Maybe, the fact it was a small venue made an easier impact on the crowd, but sometimes that's what it is all about. In October, I will be making the comparison when I will go watch them in LA.

Going back to their new album, their style has grown also, and it's always fun to listen to it on a bad day. The vocals are much more powerful than the previous album, and there's a lot more piano than before. Great stuff. Check it out.

Review: Muse

Last night, the band, along with some friends, made a trip all the way in Hollywood, to go to the Amoeba records store on Sunset Blvd. Our most favorite band Muse, at least for Christopher and I, came out with their new album that day, "The Resistance" and we figured we should all get our own copy.

This is Muse's fifth album. Muse had created their own style in their four previous albums. Composed of Matthew Bellamy [guitar, piano and vocals], Dominic Howard [drums] and Chris Wolstenholme [bass], the trio had moved the music scene in Europe. Their songs "Time Is Running Out," "Hysteria," "Butterflies And Hurricanes," "Starlight," "Invicible," and "Newborn" are few of their most popular.

For the first time, they produced the album themselves. They wrote the songs, recorded them, mixed them, editing them, created the sounds, wrote parts for orchestra, etc... They did what we're trying to accomplish, except they have more, much more money, much more experience, much more people behind them, with excellent engineers and assistance.

I'm not too sure how the general public, or Muse fans as a matter of fact, reacted to the new album. There's a point where a band, even like Muse, needs to grow musically. And they did. Matthew's classical background led him to compose orchestral parts and a three piece symphony; pure musical genius.

Feedback

Feedback is an important key for us to be able to progress and move forward in our effort to accomplish a good album.

We've been getting a lot of good feedback about our pictures. It feels great to see all the preparations paid off.

Afterall, we're not writing music, spending hours of practices, hours of recording, hours to take pictures, to just end up playing to ourselves in our garage. We are doing this for everyone else, so everyone's opinion is golden to us.

Being open about criticism is important as well. The good and the bad. It's the only way to improve what you're doing. Being close minded could only make everything more difficult.

Now our focus will soly be on pre-production and recording the album.

Photoshoot Update

Here are the rest of the photoshopped pictures. There were about 200 pictures total. I'm glad we were able to keep it under 50. Thank god.