Hey Dev, did you ever considered rigging up your bass setups for a Bass Amp coupled with a Guitar Amp in tandem like Chris Squire from Yes did?

I know it wouldn't give that looming, mammoth sound that you've been talking about in relation to bass playing, but did you ever experiment with that sort of thing when you were trying to get the right bass sound?

It must be a huge pain to have to do all of that for every song, I'd probably get furstrated and hire someone else to do it.

on the contrary, the writing/recording process is the ultimate point of music. if you hate doing it, what's the point? why hire someone else? then it's not your music

seriously, that's stupid

nrich why do you feel that you have to have a dig at nathan everytime he posts somthing?

It must be a huge pain to have to do all of that for every song, I'd probably get furstrated and hire someone else to do it.

on the contrary, the writing/recording process is the ultimate point of music. if you hate doing it, what's the point? why hire someone else? then it's not your music

seriously, that's stupid

Oh, is it?

It was my understanding that the ultimate point in music was to create something that could channel all of your thoughts/beliefs/experiences/emotions into a form of productivity, just a working piece of art that's made to reflect the inspirations that you had for it. Obviously yes, you have to write it, and for a broadcasting situation you'll be recording it, but the main focus is saying what you want to say, and music genuinely speaks more than speech. Think of it like lighting up a room with a candle - Yeah, you need the candlestick and the match, but essentially the idea is to lighten up the room.

Not meant to sound pretentious or anything there, it's just a view of mine.

playing live is the "ultimate point of music" for me. I'd rather jam out improv endlessly than work on my studio tan.

Recording is like writing about the sun. Playing live is basking in the sun.

Me, I record almost exclusively, tho sporadically for my one-man-band project. Getting a good song down is extremely rewarding, but wailing on the drums with a good group of musicians is pure bliss, pure experience. Nothing can touch it.

playing live is the "ultimate point of music" for me. I'd rather jam out improv endlessly than work on my studio tan.

Recording is like writing about the sun. Playing live is basking in the sun.

Me, I record almost exclusively, tho sporadically for my one-man-band project. Getting a good song down is extremely rewarding, but wailing on the drums with a good group of musicians is pure bliss, pure experience. Nothing can touch it.

I agree that playing live is a fantastic experience, but that's for the satisfaction of me as a drummer. Playing live drums is the ultimate point of drums. Yes I wouldn't give it up for the world.

When writing music by myself though, I feel a certain kinship with what I create.
It feels so unlimited, whereas writing music with a 4-piece band, by rights you only have 25% of the song ownership, and so the band shares ideas and writes the song pluralistically (which isn't a bad thing, you can write really interesting stuff with 4 working minds - you just can't invite your own personality into the music).
When it comes to playing live with a band, I find that you can't always convey the emotions and mental images of the music. The more focus on is executing the drums and enjoying yourself.

To me, writing music is where you reshape the sun, recording is where you immortalise that shape.
Playing live music is like taking the moon and rubbing it on your nipples.

It must be a huge pain to have to do all of that for every song, I'd probably get furstrated and hire someone else to do it.

on the contrary, the writing/recording process is the ultimate point of music. if you hate doing it, what's the point? why hire someone else? then it's not your music

seriously, that's stupid

Oh, is it?

It was my understanding that the ultimate point in music was to create something that could channel all of your thoughts/beliefs/experiences/emotions into a form of productivity, just a working piece of art that's made to reflect the inspirations that you had for it. Obviously yes, you have to write it, and for a broadcasting situation you'll be recording it, but the main focus is saying what you want to say, and music genuinely speaks more than speech. Think of it like lighting up a room with a candle - Yeah, you need the candlestick and the match, but essentially the idea is to lighten up the room.

Not meant to sound pretentious or anything there, it's just a view of mine.

...that's basically what i just said, just not as, harhar, pretentious. after 8+ years of writing and producing music, you obviously know how it works unless you're a jagoff who sees it as a comedical hobby

Playing live music is like taking the moon and rubbing it on your nipples.

That is the best sentence of 2008 so far.

i agree

Compose in Logic studio with Midi guitar and midi keyboard.

What MIDI keyboard do you use, Dev? I'm in the market for a new one...

[The Dev]

axiom 49

novation zero sl

keystation 88

[The Dev]

axiom 49

novation zero sl

keystation 88

axiom 49

novation zero sl

keystation 88

That was quick! I've been using a Novation myself (61), but I'm downsizing my setup and can't quite get on with Automap. It needs a little bit more simplification for my taste.

Surprised to hear you compose in MIDI! I kind of imagined you permanently attached to a guitar. I hope we can one day look forward to a website release of MIDI versions of your work!

On the amp simulation side.... have you tried Native Instruments Guitar Rig? I'm really into that for convenience.

woot for dobble posts from the dev.

axiom 49

novation zero sl

keystation 88

Hey Dev,

Thanks for your recent posts. They have been amazing for those of us who are interested in your creative process. I didn't realize that you did so much composition using midi (ha, I'm imagining a Devin Townsend record released as a collection of midi files). I've always wondered how much of a music theory guy you are. It's sometimes easy to tell when someone's writing is largely driven by their knowledge of theory or if they are more of a 'feel it and play it by ear' kind of person. Your stuff has always ridden the line for me, so I wonder if you'd be willing to explain how your writing interacts with your knowledge of music theory. For example, are you the kind of person who always knows exactly which chords, progressions or modes you are using to flesh out a tune, or do you hear it first and then maybe understand it later?

axiom 49

novation zero sl

keystation 88

That was quick! I've been using a Novation myself (61), but I'm downsizing my setup and can't quite get on with Automap. It needs a little bit more simplification for my taste.

Surprised to hear you compose in MIDI! I kind of imagined you permanently attached to a guitar. I hope we can one day look forward to a website release of MIDI versions of your work!

On the amp simulation side.... have you tried Native Instruments Guitar Rig? I'm really into that for convenience.

I have been doing some test mixes with EZDrummer and Guitar Rig 3 lately. It sounds cool for demos and you can't beat it for convenience. Here's a couple of recent demos:

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7122700 (running a Wattson-FX Superfuzz into Guitar Rig 3)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6982721