I just saw this today over on Create Digital Music (one of my favorite blogs and should be one of yours as well). It’s a pack of presets for Ableton Live 7′s “Slice to New MIDI Track” system, and it’s pretty cool.

I’ve been a Propellerhead ReCycle user since version 1.0 (arguably the granddaddy of the slicing products), but Live 7′s capabilities are nice as well. Plus, it’s so much easier to have an integrated option instead of having to open ReCycle all the time.

This morning, I used the presets to create some new loops that I’ll be using in a project after the first of the year. Using the presets is simple, quick, and quite a bit of fun. These Covert Operators are clever folks. Check out the pack!

I took a vacation day yesterday to get a break from some work-related stuff. As is often the case on my days off, I decided to head down to the local Sam Ash and Guitar Center to just have a look around. Typically I like to play the new keyboards, talk to the sales guys about what’s new, and generally just build up my wish list.

Yesterday, I was in Guitar Center and found that they had all three Korg nanoSERIES controllers in stock (Key, Pad, and Kontrol). I have been eyeing these since they were first announced and had originally just intended to buy a Kontrol when they became available. However, after playing with them a bit, I decided to bite the bullet and buy all three. With some haggling plus a $10 gift card and a 10% coupon, I ended up walking out with all three for less than $150.

In a few days, I’ll talk about each controller specifically and try to post some pictures (and perhaps video) to give you some up close information. There are some videos already up on YouTube about these units, but hopefully I’ll have some additional information to provide you.

My quick impression is that the units are fairly well made, but they do have some quirks. I had been prepared to take the nanoKEY unit back, but I have really grown to like it in only a day or so of playing with it. It won’t replace a more powerful control (my current favorite is the M-Audio Axiom series), but it’s quite portable and is pretty decent for the size.

I’m going to be out of pocket for the next few days, so I’m not sure how many updates I’ll get posted here. But we’re getting close to January 1st, and I’m very excited about the upcoming changes.

Blessings to all of you.

I checked the survey results today just to get a picture of what’s been submitted so far. The title of this post says it all (well, not ALL all, but you get the idea). Overwhelmingly, the responses have been male (only a single female respondent thus far), young (30 and under, which is young to me, although there is one respondent who is over 50), and tenor in terms of singing voice (not surprising given the responses to the first two questions).

Trends are hard to identify, especially in unscientific surveys like this one. But the results actually don’t surprise me given the type of person that tends to frequent sites like Sacred Loops (and the type of person that tends to frequent sites that tend to point to Sacred Loops). One could argue that most visitors here are likely to fit the stereotype of the “young hip worship leader”, and I’m guessing that if we checked the playlists on the iPods of each one we’d find Coldplay, Radiohead, U2, and Death Cab for Cutie in heavy rotation. And that’s not a bad thing, especially if your alternative is Wally the Worship Leader.

What does it mean for Sacred Loops? I don’t know yet (other than I feel really old and perhaps out of my element). But I’ll continue to ponder the results and share some other observations as we go along. And I’ll also wonder about that one person who’s over 50 (which I’ll be in a few short years) and how they’re viewing their role in all this.

Interesting stuff. If you haven’t filled out the survey, please take a few minutes and give us some info about you. It’s completely anonymous and valuable to us as we plan the future.

More later.

I tend to get caught up in the production of my music, so much so that at times it simply gets in the way. I agonize over a bass part or worry with the notes in a harp line or string section. I fiddle over and over again with the technical aspects of the music, and often it just renders the overall result soul-less.

So it’s very inspiring to see folks like Playing for Change and the incredible work they are doing. Have a look at their version of “Stand By Me”, and if that doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will.

I wish my stuff were that simple and yet that powerful. Lay aside the gimmick of the recording process, and it’s simply powerful music.

Enjoy!

I’ve written music in one fashion or another for a very long time. My first real piece was a very short piano etude that I wrote in second grade (although my piano teacher was less than thrilled because it was much more like John Cage than Frederic Chopin). It’s the first time I remember understanding that most music is created by someone rather than just appearing from nowhere. I guess as a second grader, folks like Bach and Beethoven and Mozart are really just a bunch of dead guys that couldn’t possibly have written music. Heck, they didn’t even have TV!

Most of my music is written for others to perform, not because I don’t like performing my own stuff but because I typically have so little time to really do justice to my own work. As a result, I haven’t posted much of my music simply because it really isn’t solely mine once another artist puts their stamp on it. And that’s okay. But I digress…

The other day I was talking with some friends about the creative process in general and music composition specifically. These particular friends are more from the “background music” school (ambient stuff used for commercials, industrial video, documentaries, etc. Not really film scoring in the traditional sense but certainly more “write on demand” than I am. They get paid to create for specific projects.

The talk turned, as it often does with these guys, to some nuts and bolts topics of creating. One of the more interesting discussions was the workflow process and the arranging aspects of taking a song from the back of a napkin to a full-blown recordable (or performable) piece of music. Again, because these guys are more used to the non-vocal composing style, it was interesting to hear their points of view. Lots of differences in our approaches.

But what was consistent among all of us was the need to have the right environment in order to feel (and therefore be) creative. That’s not to say that I haven’t written songs in line at the supermarket, in the car, standing in the airport, etc. But the reality is that most of those songs end up being grist for a finer mill that only really gets employed in the comfort of my own studio (or in someone else’s studio that is similar to mine). And I started to come to the realization that I’ve been having some difficulty on the creative side because my environment (i.e. my studio) has become a utilitarian mess rather than the creative space it once was.

So, I’ve resolved that over the next few weeks, as I’m revamping Sacred Loops, I’m going to revamp my creative space as well. I’ll do my best to document the process (at least in discussion and perhaps in pictures if I get highly motivated). I’ve seen many of the spaces that you folks work in, and some are breathtaking in their beauty and, as important, simplicity. I’m hoping to get inspired by some of that work, and I’ve also started scouring the Internet, books, magazines, and other materials for ideas and concepts to get me started.

More to come…

I finished the first of the surveys I’d like to use to collect information from Sacred Loops visitors. You can find it here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yAvC0H2vQVihRnweURQoZg_3d_3d

It’s only 10 questions and should be fairly quick to fill out. It will give me a better idea of who’s coming to the site and what you’re using for your own music making.

Thanks in advance for helping me out with this.

Kent

I’m taking a well-deserved day off today, but I did want to write a quick note to say thank you for the public and private comments I’ve received in the last few days. Momentum is building toward January 1st, and I’m excited about where things are headed.

Thanks again!

Kent

Well, we don’t have a survey (yet). It’s in the works and should be posted next week (so that all three of you that read this blog can participate). But I am interested in your opinions.

Funny thing is that everyone always has a lot of opinions after something is launched or introduced, but they rarely offer their opinions (even when given an easy way to do so) when they could be of most value (i.e. before the launch or introduction).

And don’t feel you have to wait for the survey. If you’ve got thoughts or ideas about how to improve Sacred Loops and make it more meaningful for you, send ‘em to me. You can post a comment here, or you can send me an email (kent dot kingery at sacredloops dot org). I don’t have my 1-800-GRIPE-LINE set up yet.

I’ve talked with several folks as I’ve prepared for this change, but I do want to hear from anyone interested in sharing.

Kent

The idea of creating video tutorials has intrigued me for a very long time (probably since college when I did a series of fire safety videos for my home town). In another life, I used to teach software development, and one of the tools we used was video lessons. In fact, my first exposure to non-linear editing was on an Avid system we purchased to create training tapes (yep, VHS in all its glory!) for some of our clients.

I’ve been scouring the web recently for good examples of tutorials and have found quite a few. You can go to YouTube and be overwhelmed by the number of videos on Ableton Live, Apple Logic Studio, Propellerhead Reason, and others. People teach guitar, keyboard, organ, bass, and even the hang drum (one of my new favorite instruments). But most of these teaching videos are fairly abbreviated and usually not done with a significant level of commitment to quality. (There are exceptions, however, such as the very excellent video series on Logic by SFLogicNinja.)

Over the last couple of years, I have been informally documenting and teaching some of the techniques I use in production and performance. And I’ve amassed a fairly sizeable archive of videos that I’ve produced for other folks that I am planning to repurpose for Sacred Loops. While I’m never going to give MacProVideo or the other commercial sites a run for their money, I am interested in doing something along the lines of what ChurchMediaDesign.tvis doing for media work.

With that in mind, about six months ago I started editing and reshooting some of the more interesting video topics and preparing them for use on a sister site that will be launched in January. You can see the logo at SacredLoops.tv, and I’ll have some sample content up around Christmas to whet your appetite.

But I’m not just interested in putting up my own work. I want to open it up to others who have things to say and teach in the areas of music and audio for worship. If that’s you, let me know. If you need or want help in producing your videos, let me know that, too. The first videos I plan to post are basic stuff (audio interfaces, one-man worship leading setups, etc.), all drawn from my own personal experience. I also have tutorials on basic mixing, production techniques, and other related topics that I think people will find interesting and useful.

Let me know what you think!

Confession is good for the soul. I confess that I ate too much turkey over Thanksgiving. I confess that I slept in a little later than I had planned this morning. And I confess that I haven’t been monitoring comments on this site in some time.

The lengths that people go to in order to put spam on your blog is simply amazing. Even more amazing is the type of spam that is submitted. I did a (decidedly unscientific) survey of the 22 pages of comment spam on Sacred Loops today, and I found that the majority of spam is about drugs or supplements. I figure this is merely one more indicator of the state of our society. After all, almost nobody spams a blog with links about Jesus or God or salvation.

I’m working through the various options for slamming spam (filters, captchas, prior comment approvals, etc.), and I’ll have a solution in place by the weekend. My apologies to all of you who submitted comments over the last several months, only to have them disappear into moderation limbo.