With version 7, in my view, Cubase has finally got it right and I’m referring largely to the mixer. I could never really get to grips with the mixer in all previous versions. It was baffling and the window just floated all over. Now the mixer is much more solid visually and is a full window that you can dock in your second monitor. Lots of other stuff that’s equivalent to real world mixers but I’ve not fully gotten into that yet. This has been the reason I’ve preferred … well “Reason” (Propellerheads) – I really do like music software to look and behave like the real world devices they emulating.

I’ve been watching developments in this field for a while. The process I use most is the sending of a track to a vocalist to add record their part which they then transmit back to me. I then compile the finished mix. Actual online collaboration has been attempted by several software producers but has never really worked properly. However, I’m seeing some developments that look promising.

First there’s Soundation http://soundation.com/ – this looks pretty basic but there area a couple of very interesting points. Firstly you can import and export Midi files and I can see right away that you could collaborate online and then use the Midi files to drive more sophisticated software on your own computer. What looks really promising is that you can launch Soundation in a Google Hangout and collaborate with up to 9 people whilst communicating in sound and vision.

Another hot contender is Ohm Studio http://www.ohmstudio.com/ which allows collaboration in the cloud but also gives you a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) which you also install on your computer. The next version of the software will allow offline editing of your music.

The sixth track from the Caffrey Morrison Thompson album Sleepless Nights http://bit.ly/YqT8xS

Here is the first and title song on the new Caffrey Morrison Thompson CD “Sleepless Nights”. It’s a £1 dowload. Free to listen. The album will feature 15 tracks in total. I’m digitally remastering all the songs so I’ll put another track up every few days or so.

This article is taken from a story I wrote ages ago called “Remembering the Eighties”. The 80’s story was originally commissioned by a website called “Metal Godz”. The site is long gone and my eighties article remains unfinished and unpublished.

Click to enlarge.

During all the recording sessions for Neat Records we had the assistance of Conrad Lant. Conrad was a good tape op and got on well with everyone. He was always going on about his own band. It seemed that they saved up for about 3 months until they could afford enough pyrotechnics to blow up half a city and then they  had a major blow out and had to save up to do another show. Conrad said very little about the music, it was mostly about the explosions. One day he informed me that the bass player had quit and he was being called upon to play bass. A gig was imminent so I loaned him my Gibson EB3 I still had from my own early career. Conrad could barely contain himself seeing all these bands make recordings. He wanted his band committed to tape too. We had a slack day coming up so I relented and said he could bring his band in during down-time. Again I loaned him the bass. I produced three tracks with them but the only title I remember was “In League With Satan”. I taught the guys a musical trick sometimes called “The Devil”. Theoretically known as the “tri tone” it is a very discordant combination of two notes and I thought it would be most effective in their music. Say you were playing a G, the tri tone from that would be C#. At high volume it sounded horrible and they loved it. I had no idea these tracks would come out as a single, I just produced it as a favour. Now Conrad was convinced he was on the way to mega stardom and in need of a bass so I let him talk me into selling him my EB3. I explained the history of the instrument and made him promise it was going to a good home. The next time I saw my old bass it had holes drilled in it and an upside down crucifix nailed crudely to it. My bass was now a mess and Conrad had become Chronos!

SUNDAY SONG STORY: I’ve let this slide a bit but here’s a new story. Way back I did a demo session at Guardian Studios in Pity Me. I never went back but this was largely because I did not drive back then and it was a good ways out for me. Anyway, little was I to know that in terms of ratio of recorded outcomes to demos made it probably is the most successful demo session I have done. All four tracks were sung by Dave Black and one of them “Please Don’t Sympathise” was recorded by Sheena Easton with Chris Neil Producing. Celine Dion cut the same song and although Chris Neil did eventually end up producing Celine I don’t think he did that one although it may have gotten him the gig! Chris produced a number of my songs around this time including the big hit Hurry Home. He must have thought, hang on I’m having a piece of this so he recorded one of the songs from the Guardian session himself. The track you’ll hear is “Laugh At It All” sung first by Dave and then we hear Chris’s version. This recording sank without a trace but I hope you’ll enjoy it now.

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