March 2021 - DJ Chimney Sparrow

Control Your Volume!

I’ve a newfound respect for the bassline of a song. In the past, my bass consisted mainly of slapping on a low-pitched sign wave, maybe with a little distortion I didn’t know what to do with.

The result was a sound that gave some body and depth to what I was producing, but little substance otherwise. For anyone playing off laptop speakers, it was basically invisible.

Lately though, I’ve started to play with how to make the bass – and every track in my songs – more audible, no matter what kind of interface the listener is using. Basically, how to make some part of each track ‘poke out’, like an iceberg.

Remember, there’s a lot more below the surface…

Riding the Emotional Rollercoaster

Lately I’ve been fighting back and forth with a company around whether or not I authorized certain charges to my account. I won’t go into details here – let’s just say that doing your own research on a company before giving your credit info is ALWAYS a good idea.

The frequent phone calls and emails with various disagreeable persons is frustrating for its own sake of course, but more so because it makes focusing on everything else harder. I don’t want to be seething while working on music or watching tv with my wife, but sometimes that’s just how things go.

Recently though, I came across some useful info on the less-pleasant emotions, and how we might manage them.

Beginner’s Guide to Purchasing Hardware/Software

A couple days ago, my Solitude XCS2 headphones broke. I was lying sideways on my bed, listening to some music, when the sideways pressure snapped the plastic connector for the right earpiece.

I quickly applied my masterful MacGyver skills and reattached the piece with some handy strips of cardboard and duct tape.

broken headphones — It’s like you can’t even tell!!

For SOME reason though, the headphones just weren’t as comfortable (or noise-canceling) as they were before. After some research, I settled on a snazzy pair of Shure SRH840 Professional Monitoring Headphones as a replacement.

Mid-research however, it occurred to me that others might benefit from my method of seeking and purchasing equipment that I’m relatively unfamiliar with.

I Feel, Therefore I Am

Before I share this, I just want to say that I do not have a Philosophy major, nor do I think I am reinventing the wheel. Nevertheless, here’s some thoughts I have. Make of them what you will.

March 4, 2021

Just finished reading about René Descartes, from a book <REDACTED> lent me. I was excited to learn more about Mr. ‘I think, therefore I am’, largely because another book – placing more emphasis on the emotional side of learning – suggested that Descartes had actually just given voice to our most fundamental misunderstanding; believing we are our thoughts, rather than our feelings. But now I’m wondering, what if we are both?

No One Knows Everything

Heck, not even everyone knows everything. But you know what I mean.

I recently started an exchange of services with a couple recording studios in the city – they teach me stuff about music, and I help them with their website, or blog writing, or whatever.

It’s a good system, I recommend it.

It also highlights something I’ve told my dance students for years, which is to learn from multiple instructors, rather than just one.