Episode I - Revisiting The Original Lights At Eleven - EP/Mixtape
A series that revisits selected pieces from the first Lights At Eleven EP/Mixtape (Originally released in 2012).
I think Spring/Summer of 2011 is when I started to really produce and record music.
In the beginning it was painfully simple, a very limited setup. I had this Korg KP3 sampler that had a bunch of half-baked FX processing, limited storage, and was overly-sensitive to input/output volume. Basically all I did really was form beats and pads on the thing, chop samples, and play them back. It was rough.
Then I got a new computer (technically it was supposed to be for university), but it had GARAGEBAND! My first real DAW experience. I had seen people use it before, as well as ProTools, Cubase, and Reason. They made these programs seem so complex, unfriendly, and they are... They're nearly infinite, and every version offers something new. Well, as it turns out, even a damn monkey can record something. Or myself, for that matter.
I would take the audio that I put together in the KP3 and just run the audio back into the MacBook (this was back when they had dedicated audio input jacks, simpler times, folks). But you could record this BS into the program and export it, flipping my DIY switch, and ruining for the most part the allure of 'professional' engineers and studios. Some people have suggested that I have issues with authority and reverence.
Anyway, I messed around with that for a few months. At some point I added an MPK-mini MIDI controller and an iRig adaptor to record guitar via DI. Then all bets were off, I got totally lost in all of it. I got set up with a cracked version of Ableton. That really blew my thinning hair back. Over the course of the next year, more or less, I put together this EP/Mixtape and a video or two.
In this series of short articles I will revisit (and review) the release track-by-track. Once upon a time (maybe still) it was on SoundCloud, but I have decided to re-release the album via the MILTON STREET STUDIOS channel on YouTube. So, stay tuned.
First here's a video to watch. I made this few years later for two of the individual tracks from 2012 (to be discussed in the next article). The footage I took driving around the county where I grew up. Filmed on a Canon Powershot digital camera, (yeah, the Maria Sharapova one) hence the now all but foreign screen ratio. Enjoy.
