My Window To The World…

The older I get, the more I am into checklists to make sure I do not forget things.

It has been claimed that by writing a checklist, you are more likely to memorize what you are writing down.

Whether I go out to play the drums in a studio or at a live gig, I always make sure that I have the following items in my bags:

- Drumsticks
- Music Charts / Scores / Notes
- Writing Paper & Pencils
- Roland SPD-20 Drum Pad
- Roland SPD-20 Drum Pad AC Adaptor
- Roland SPD-20 Drum Pad Mounting Kit (incl. Screws & Tools)
- Laptop
- AC Adaptor for Laptop
- Firewire Cable
- USB Cable
- External USB Mouse (in case the trackpad malfunctions)
- M-Audio USB Sound Input/Output
- Headphones
- Spare Headphones
- Headphones Extension Cable
- Chinch to Jack Adaptors
- Jack to Chinch Adaptors
- Gaffer Tape
- Tuning Key (for Drums)
- Spare T-Shirt
- Towels
- Custom Earplugs (not the cheap ones from the Pharmacy)
- Flashlight

For gigs I like to add:

- Laptop’s Operating System on CD
- Software I am using (Ableton Live) on CD
- CD or Harddrive Backup of all (Audio/MIDI) Data needed

The list might seem kind of crazy, but experience shows that most things listed can come in handy at one time or the other.

I have had my laptop “go crazy” on me before. Re-installing the operating system as well as the application took care of it. (It is best to have no data on the harddrive that has not been backed up yet, so one can just format the HD and start re-installing.)

Another time the laptop’s harddrive stopped working an hour before the gig. Luckily, one of the VJs had a spare laptop. I installed the application, copied the data onto his harddrive and was (more or less) ready to go by the time we hit the stage.

Since I oftentimes play with backing tracks, I cannot survive without headphones. I usually have some left/right channel splits happening, so the headphones must work 100 %. The spare one has saved my life more than once.

The custom earplugs I also want to mention again. The volumes we are often exposed to on stage are nothing but poison for our hearing, so it needs to be protected. No hearing = no music!!!

Technorati Tags: Drummer Survival Guide, Drummer Checklist, Live Gig Checklist, Rehearsal Checklist, Drums, Drummer

Not unlike many of you, I guess, yours truly is also still struggling when it comes to productivity.

And clutter is all part of it…

Clutter in the living room. Clutter in the bedroom. Clutter on the office desk. Clutter in the brain, etc. etc. etc.

Merlin Mann (the guy behind 43 Folders) has a great new and inspiring series: “War On Clutter”.

Go check it out and let Merlin’s words kick you up the [censored].

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: Unclutter, Merlin Mann, 43 Folders

I have received several reports from customers having problems with their Ableton Live music production software.

Without exception, their complaints were related to “Hard Disk Overload” error messages and/or the “CPU Load” exceeding 100 %, accompanied by that beautiful (not) distorted sound. (Make sure this will not happen to you at a live show.)

Let me explain

- how well Ableton Live works (1),

- how the CPU / harddrive issues are caused (2), and

- how you can work around those difficulties without investing money into a more powerful computer, more RAM, or a higher-capacity harddrive (3).

(1) Ableton Live was designed as a MIDI controller. Audio capabilities were added only in later versions, as far as I know.

On my Apple iBook G4 (1.33 GHz, with only 512 MB RAM), Ableton Live will work beautifully with up to twenty MIDI tracks (as long as they are not too complex), plus three short (ca. 3 minutes each) audio tracks.

(2) Problems do not start until MIDI and/or audio effects are added. Most built-in effects (especially the presets that are made up of several separate effects) will hit the computer’s CPU hard. Use one too many, and you will see 100 % in the “CPU Load” window.

Ableton Live loads Audio tracks into its virtual memory (for which it uses your harddrive), so the longer your audio tracks and the higher the number of them, the more likely you will run into harddrive space issues. (This is very important for those of you DJing with the software.)

(3) With a bit of imagination and common sense, however, it is still possible to produce music on your “outdated” computer.

This is how I do it:

Using Ableton Live’s internal MIDI sound bank, I create a rough version of my song. No effects on any of the tracks.

After I have finalized one (or all) of the instruments and the arrangement, I re-record each instrument (directly into Ableton Live) using Propellerheads’ Reason, which has a far superior soundbank anyway. (It will instantly make your track sound a lot better!)

What difference does this make, you ask? During playback, audio tracks (preferrably with all the effects you want on them recorded directly into them) use far less CPU power than (complex) MIDI tracks.

Do run some tests yourself and compare MIDI vs. audio - the difference is huge.

In future articles I will go further into Ableton Live, computer music production, and DJing with Ableton Live.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: Ableton Live, Propellerheads Reason, Music Production, Computer Music Production, Ableton Live CPU Load, Ableton Live Hard Disk Overload, Hard Disk Overload

After getting up in the morning, it usually takes me a while to get going. My brain does not properly function for at least an hour or two. Maybe even three…

I have recently started writing down a schedule/plan for the coming day, which has helped tremendously.

With the limited early-morning brain power, I just go on autopilot, look at the list, and do what it says. Still find it hard to believe just how well it works for me.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: Lifehacks, Productivity, Lifehacker, GTD, Getting Things Done

The computer is a great tool. The internet is awesome.

Yet somehow they can also be very distracting - especially if, like me, you sometimes struggle to stay focussed.

So, my productivity tip number one: unless totally necessary, do not switch your computer on. (And do ask yourself more than once “Do I really have to switch it on now?”) In my case, the results have been amazing.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

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Technorati Tags: Lifehacks, Productivity, Attention Span, GTD, Getting Things Done