Cocoa Crusty

Josh and I have been in “the studio” some more since my last “I Wanna Be a Rapper” post and have about 6 or 7 tracks laid down now. Josh has really been coming through for me on the album. We get together about once a week and lay down 2 tracks each visit assuming everything goes as planned and we don’t get off track… too much.

I’ve also made some additions to “the studio” since my last post. I purchased a Gateway FPD2485W 24-inch LCD Display. This makes working with tracks a lot easier as I can have them spread over 24 diagonal inches instead of 13.3. The Gateway display is nice. Obviously, it isn’t an Apple Cinema Display, but then again, what is?!

I also purchased some monitors for “the studio” so I can get my listen on. I purchased the Mackie HR824 High Resolution Studio Monitors. They should be here tomorrow, hopefully. Maybe then I can attempt to get a decent mix on the tracks we have been laying down. Currently, I have been using some JBL 2.1 speakers, which look really cool but don’t work so well with getting a good mix within GarageBand.

I’ve been dumping my tunes to my iPod and listening to them in the car, at work, and when I go to bed. Tonight, I figured it was about time that my “Summer 2007 EP” album/playlist had some album artwork. So, I made a cute little image to use for my album/playlist and now my music has album artwork just like every other track/album on my iPod. Here’s the 300×300 pixel image I used for my album/playlist.

I make a good cel-shaded character, don’t I?! Since I just through that cel-shading thing out there, here’s some more information on cel-shading from Wikipedia. I know, I know… that’s really off-topic for this post but I wanted all 1.63 (Yeah, my popularity is fading… Imagine that!) readers out there to know what I’m talking about.

Until next time…

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7 Responses to “I Wanna Be a Rapper: More Progress Made…”

1. Josh Says:
   April 13th, 2007 at 12:43 AM

   Since we’re on the topic of gear, I thought I would add to what I’m using to do the majority of the tracks on this record.

   The keyboard that I’m using is my trusty Roland RD-700SX. The RD is unique in that it has XLR outs (a feature that not all keyboard have), so we are able to get a good hot signal into GB for the tracks. Unfortunately, they are sometimes too hot, and need to be toned down a little. Apart from the stock soundset, I have the SRX-12 for electric pianos.

   This setup has served me well thus far, but because this board is geared towards the performing pianist, it doesn’t have near enough sounds to keep each track fresh to my ears. Thus, I hope to bring some new additions to some tracks later on, specifically addressing the need for more synth basses, and other strange/beautiful noises. Most likely I will use Alsa Modular Synth or the wonderful DSSI plugin whysynth. All are Linux applications, which brings up the problems of using a laptop as a sound module. But that’s another post…

   Josh

   From using Debian IceWeasel 2.0.0.3 on Debian GNU/Linux

2. Cocoa Crusty Says:
   April 13th, 2007 at 1:44 AM

   Thanks for the information on the gear you’re using, Josh. All I know is that you come over with a keyboard, make great music, and go home.

   I look forward to getting together again soon… Hopefully I will have my monitors in before then. Nice!

   Jeff

   From using Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 on Mac OS X

3. Troy Says:
   April 13th, 2007 at 8:16 AM

   I’m excited about this as well Cocoa. I haven’t spent as much time kickin’ it in the studio as you and Hardbop, but the time I have spent was awesome. Can’t wait to get back in there, gotta get crackin’ so you can turn this project out for this summer. You ready to mod the walls of the studio?

   From using Mozilla Firefox 2.0 on Linux

4. Josh Says:
   April 14th, 2007 at 12:30 AM

   Troy - you’re missing out. CC, we need to get him over one night to view “the process.”

   From using Debian IceWeasel 2.0.0.3 on Debian GNU/Linux

5. Cocoa Crusty Says:
   April 14th, 2007 at 12:36 AM

   Right! Josh, I’m all over it! Troy, you’re in next time for sure!

   Cocoa Crusty
   http://www.cocoacrusty.com
   Holla If Ya Her Me…

   From using Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 on Mac OS X

6. Cocoa Crusty Says:
   April 14th, 2007 at 4:28 PM

   I’m hoping to have two tunes finished this weekend, minus a final mixdown. I will post some 30 second teasers when I get done. Exciting times!

   Cocoa

   From using Opera 9.00 on Nintendo Wii

7. Jennifer Says:
   April 15th, 2007 at 7:28 AM

   I’m still reading, but there haven’t been as many posts to follow lately, CC. I’ve been impatiently waiting for your next update!

   I’d love to hear the new tracks you’ve laid down. I only heard the first one. I hear you’ve done several more since then!

   From using Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 on Windows XP

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