Pro Tools HD, Dirty Bass and Hot Vocals!

Good day!

Did my first recording gig on a Pro Tools HD system. Superior sound quality for sure, not my favorite program, but fabulous for tracking vocals. This was my first week getting access to Pyramind's top studios. From now till this time 2009, I can book their studios 4 hours per week, at no extra cost. Sweeeeeeeet.

Working on an awesome song right now with a couple friends. Super dirty dub stepy/breaks track with some charged up political vocals. I'm gonna show it to Epiphyte Records when it's done and I think it will get picked up for their "Politics of Dance" compilation that I am helping them put together. This CD will also feature the Harvey Milk track I wrote for the fans of that one ;-) I love doing Political stuff, it's great for bringing people together and giving music a deeper sense of meaning.

All right... off to bed! Looking forward to sharing this music with people soon! xoxo

p.s.  In response to my previous post.  The scholarship idea is absolutely happening and GOING OFF.  The party is called Beat University and is happening Sept 25th @ supperclub.  People are stoked to help out and really make it a hit!  So excited!!!!!

Moving Forward

Today was the first good day I've had since the weekend....

I got off my ass and took a killer bike ride.  I found this track out near the beach, and when I got there I started running laps and put on some of my favorite music on the ipod.

After about my 3rd or 4th time around the track, I started to really feel my body again.  It felt sooooooo good.  I just ran into the light of the sunset and felt the music flowing through my body and the blood flowin through my veins.

I also started working on my idea to start a scholarship for kids who want to go to Pyramind.  I want to throw parties to raise money for a tuition fund.  I'm gonna see if I can get some people behind it to really make it go off.

Wish me luck!

well fuck

That's all I can say.

Heart hurts a lot today.

I wish people would just be straightforward...

"In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we posses". - Dalai Lama

End of Summer!

Well, it was the last day of August today.  At least today was good, the rest of this month pretty much sucked!! lol.  Ok, I guess that's not completely fair, I have had some good things happen this month.  I wrote a track that I really love - Lunar Frequencies.  I've learned quite a bit, and certainly had some nice moments, especially with my real friends who I love and cherish so much.

At the same time, it has definitely been a challenging month.  Both internally and externally, I have definitely been thrown for some loops, and struggled a bit with making some things happen. I am hoping to take these lessons onward into fall and beyond, as I move forward with my ideas and dreams, to manifest into reality.

The biggest thing I want to work on is developing even more discipline, so that I get less distracted by things that aren't important, and really maximize and prioritize my time and what I spend energy on.  Sometimes it's hard to keep my priorities straight and it's so important considering how little time I have to spare right now.  This will be a life long challenge, I know, but I am working to develop the skills I need so that I can reapply them and get better and better as time goes on.

Starting the jedi buddhist training on wednesday.  Hopefully gonna learn some invaluable tools and really put them to work.

Thank goodness for my Obi-Wan.  He rocks.

There was a lot more I wanted to write, but honestly I'm pretty tired.  Need to get some sleep so I can wake up early and get crackin tomorrow.  Lots to do!

xox

Answers!

"The Awakened Mind does not repress images of darkness but makes them brilliantly conscious.  Ecstatically embracing all that we habitually supress, Palden Lhamo, the "glorious goddess", rides a mule through a sea of blood in a universe of flaming darkness.  Until we encounter these energies, that Tantras state, liberation, is only a distant dream".

From Celestial Galery by Romio Shrestha.

I realize my earlier post more than likely sounded simplistic, and perhaps obvious to some, but I think that sometimes the simplest questions are the most interesting if you really get into them.  Palden Lhamo is a Tibetan form of an ancient Indian goddess who became a protector of Buddhist faith.  Images of her are quite intense, often portrayed riding a horse through a sea of blood, wearing a garland of skulls and looking mighty fierce - similar to Kali.

In "The Nature of Buddhist Art," Rama P. Coomaraswamy wrote, "No distinction can be drawn between art and contemplation.  The artist is first of all required to remove himself from human to celestial levels of apperception; at this level and in a state of unification, no longer having in view anything external to himself, he sees and realizes, that is to say becomes, what he is afterwards to represent..."

And therefore every emotion that we feel, is represented in art.  It is an extension of our minds, bodies, energy, everything.  Such a sacred thing to really think about.  This manifestation of feeling, of energy, into a physical form, which can be transfered, shared, preserved for all time.  

We must embrace all aspects of our emotions, even the parts of ourselves that we are ashamed of, in order to truly be free, and further this path to enlightenment, or whatever. ( I'll settle for a peaceful existence).  I love dark music, and for some reason it seems to pull on me more than the lighter stuff, and so I am working with that, and seeing what it can become.  I need to liberate that, among other things, from inside of myself and see what happens.  But at the same time, keeping the balance, the yin and yang, that will allow for a healthy expression.

August 26th

Just finished watching the last avatar episode.  Good wins, our hero Ang, the buddhist monk saves the world AND gets the girl.  What more could you want?

I love that though.  The little things that make you believe in doing good, being the best person you can be.  In the end, Ang doesn't kill his enemy - the fire lord.  Instead he shows him mercy and spares his life, only taking his firebending away.

Ok so what does this have to do with music?

Well it has to do with life, I suppose.  And life influences music.  And art imitates life, isn't that what they say?  I suppose I want my music to translate that feeling, that makes you believe in the magic, that inherent "good"  that should always win in the end :)  

I'm kind of getting a bit out there on this one, but it feels good :) 

It's funny though, good vs evil is not the same as light vs dark.  Or is it?  Where does "dark" music play into all of this.  There is one thing I noticed about myself, and it is that I am somewhat attracted to "dark" music.  You know, it's the damndest thing, since I "want" to always fall on the side of light or "good".  I try and be a good person, I try to be conscious and help people, do the right things, be honest.  And therefore I would "think" then, that I would be the type of person that would be attracted to "light" music.... And I am.... I love it.  I love it all.  But I definitely have a dark side, and I am trying to understand it.  See how it "functions" in a way, what I can learn from it, and HOW I can use it.  

It serves a purpose, it exists for a reason, I am attracted to it for a reason.  And yet, I struggle to understand.  Why would we want a type of music that makes us feel sad?  Is it because we must express what we feel?  But that is too easy, of course you can answer it that way.  But why is it, when so much of our time is spent on trying not to be sad, that we then make it even harder, with the creation and distribution of this music?

It seems like society pushes this agenda all the time of "ways to be happy".  Look around.  Through the media, through advertisements.  You don't see people selling products by directly saying "this will make you depressed".... normally.... Music is really the only example of this.... or perhaps I should say art actually.  Certainly visual media can have that impact.  This translation of feeling.  This energy exchange.  First from the artist to the media.  Then from the media to the receptor - us.  

I really don't have an answer to anything here.... Nor do I even truly "need" to seek one.  Because all that really matters is that I am aware of this, and I continue to examine it, examine myself, and question everything.  Through questions, we can find answers, and I really believe that all answers lie within.... It's just a matter of tapping into it.

Alright.... enough of this spaced out talk!  Time for bed :)

Euro House

Just did some euro house for a film commercial...

My first time doing music for film - sweet!

Good stuff coming :)

Working on a compilation right now for Epiphyte records.  Gonna be super political and raise money for local charities...

That's all I'll say for now ;-)

And that I'm super stoked!

xoxo

Damn, it's August!

Already!!!!

I can't believe how fast time is flying these days....

Things certainly aren't slowing down.  And it seems they will only speed up!  How can things speed up when you are "out" of time already, lol.

I don't usually remember my dreams... but I have some memories from last night.  There was a piano.  And a spider.  I am historically not very into spiders.  But I had a vision earlier this summer about how beautiful and psychedelic they are.  When I was a kid I used to kill them.  Now I try not to kill anything!!  But when I encounter them, I always have a knee jerk reaction to be afraid and want to kill them.  No bueno!!!!  So needless to say, I haven't killed any spiders for a long time, and now whenever I see them inside I just try to catch them and then put them outside.  Better karma ;)

But man, there was a HUGE spider in my dream last night, and without even thinking I tried to kill it the second I saw it.  I failed, and just kind of messed up one of it's legs.  Then I remembered that I wasn't killing spiders anymore and so I caught it and set it free.  And there was also this beautiful old piano in my dream.  And it was in my "house" and for some reason I never played it.  I remember thinking how stupid it was that I lived with a piano that I didn't play.  Gosh if I had a real piano now, I'd be playing it every day!  Funny dream.... 

I guess perhaps last night was the first time I slept well and for a proper amount of time in a while.  That is quite nice...  Phew, alright, I have to get back to it here.  In fact, I am off to my Piano lesson in just a moment.

Cheers,

Liam

Things as of late

Have been somewhat of a challenge.

Trying to balance everything in my life.  School.  Work.  Building my career.  Making Music.  Dj'ing.  Throwing parties.  Networking.  Promotion.  Keeping in touch with those around me.  Trying to have enough time and energy to tackle all that needs tackling.  As my little brother said yesterday, "Intense".

I want to do everything at once.  Trying to manage my time and prioritize.  These are huge for me right now.  It's really not always easy.  Sacrifices need to be made.  Trying not to sacrifice school, but today for instance I skipped class in order to have time to work on my new house track.  The record label wants to make a compilation with my stuff and it's already been a month and I've barely got a beginning for the song.

Now though I do have a decent start on it so in a way I am glad I skipped class, because this needs time and energy too.  Now I am listening through music as I need to make some new dj mixes.  These will be geared at getting me jobs at perhaps corporate events and or restaurants etc so I can make a little cash on the side.  That's an area in my life that could use some improvement, lol.

Yea, that's basically the short of it for right now.  Trying to get back into updating this regularly too :)

Peaches on the Moon

Just got back from Peaches on the Moon, the outdoor festival in Tahoe.  SUCH a beautiful location and breath of fresh air!  Absolutely gorgeous, peaceful and serene spot, and it provided a much needed break from the urban jungle.  Unfortunately though, the party got busted.  I never got a chance to play, but far worse was the financial loss that my friend Alex suffered from the event.  There were not nearly enough people by the time the cops rolled through and told us to turn it off.  Then on top of it, they slapped him with a $2,000 fine.  Fucking lame.

I still had a good time on the trip though, and got to meet a whole new scene of people.  That was the best part.  I made some friends, some connections, and got a chance to show my face and pass out a bunch of cd's to people.  So hopefully this will lead to some more events and things down the line.  I would definitely like to go back to Reno and kick it with those kids again.  They have a good thing going and some good hearts out there that I'm down to support and be a part of.  And I met my new best friend!  A little 4 year old girl named alexi that was just the cutest thing ever.  I gave her some lessons on how to dance to trance and also how to play thumb war.  I'm never around little kids so it was really fun for me to hang out with a cool one :)

Fucking tired though, that's for sure.  I also learned that it's absolutely pointless to fly to Reno from SF.  Why I did that, I don't know, but never again.  So tomorrow I have to go back out to the airport to get my car....cause after the party got busted I met some kids that were driving back straight away so I opted for that rather than the 9:30pm plane ticket the next day.  Got lots to get back to so couldn't hang unfortunately.

Still, big shout out to the universe for making that happen.  It was really sweet that they had me out and next time, I'm sure we'll get a chance to do it right.  Now time to get back on my SF projects and make some shit happen!  Got two parties coming up, my lovely lady coming into town and loads of love and work to do manifesting my dreams and sounds.  Love it. Boom!

p.s.  on the way out from the party, i shit you not, the moon was the craziest orange color i have ever seen.  it really did look like a freakin peach!!  crazy!!!

Saturday Morning

I am feeling very happy to be alive today.  And for no reason in particular....or perhaps for all reasons at once.  ;)  I am definitely grateful to have some really kickass people in my life.  I love it when people come out of nowhere with some genuine love or appreciation for you - when you least expect it.  That happened last night and it really meant a lot.  It was great because it was a reflection of me putting integrity into something that's not always easy.  But so important! Bruce Lee once said that being genuine is the most important thing in life.  I would have to agree :)  It's the best any of us can do.

I am also very happy because the weather is nice, my studio is clean, good things are happening, and dammit, why the fuck not? =)  

I also just had a really fantastic night working at Supperclub last night so that is always nice too. It was a bit slow for the 4th of July (everyone is out of town) but the crowd had a great vibe.  And I just love my co-workers so much and they really make the place so special :)  We definitely have a really good dynamic going there when we get into our "zones".  There is nothing else like it!

I am also really happy and grateful for the fact that as I am typing this, sun is beaming down on me from behind!  I don't know if I mentioned this, but last week I got a freakin skylight installed in my studio!!!  It is so badass!  It opens too!  My studio didn't have any direct sunlight before so this is a huge addition.  I spent the last 3 days completely taking apart my whole studio as well and cleaning up all the construction.  It was kind of a pain but it felt really good because I cleaned it from top to bottom and put it back together SUPER proper.  Now there is some massive good energy/feung shui going on in here to get those creative vibes flowin.  And I setup my vinyl decks up here with me now and busted out all my old records so I am really looking forward to diggin into those and seeing what I can find.  I have been feeling a return to my roots lately and I have some sick bass heavy breaks and drum and bass and stuff that I want to dig into.  Especially my breaks collection, it is ridiculously phat and my dirty little secret, muahaha!

Alright, what's on the lineup?  I definitely have a bit of work to do.  Next weekend (July 12) I am playing an outdoor near Reno (beautiful location, I'm really excited).  This is my first ever gig where I am getting flown out to play!  Hell yea!  I am super grateful for this opportunity and they are gonna love our SF style for sure :)

Then the next weekend (July 18) Supperclub is flying out one of my favorite people in the whole world, Anne Tyler (Atlanta) to throw down with us.  I will be rocking that one as well and I am just so happy to have her out with us again.  We didn't get to manifest any ballet performances on this one but next time she comes out we'll see if we can't get a dual dj/ballet performance - at the same time!!! ....hehehe

Then on Thursday July 24th I am taking a crack at producing an event at Supperclub along with the fabulous DJ Denise (www.djdenise.com).  It's kind of an experiment to see if we can get some of the house headz and trance bunniez to come together for a singular night of rockin music and positive vibes.   Still working on a name for it... I was thinking "positive vibrations" but Denise said it sounded too much like Good Vibrations (sex shop)....and yea, she's right, lol.  

So we'll keep working on that but it's coming up quick so I better get it sorted!

Alright, there's the update for now.  I am gonna get to work on a song for a school project.  We are working on blues scales and applying them to a 12 bar blues piece.  I was doing a traditional blues song but I think I might turn it into a house track.  Btw, blues and jazz are totally on my mind lately, feelin alot of influence there.  I am gonna start some private lessons soon with my school's piano teacher and focus on learning improvisational jazz....hell yea :)

Love!

l.s.

The weekend and more!

Alright, here we are on Thursday...finally finding some time to write about last weekend, which was absolutely EPIC!

Where to begin?  Well Pride Sunday started off kinda hectic.  I woke up late and still had to get my live set over to my laptop from my desktop.  I transfered the files went downstairs to hook everything up imitating the live setup - and my keyboard got no sound!  I started freaking out!  The song played back, everything else was cool...but no friggin midi was happening at all and we had to leave the house!  Not only did I have to be at Pride Mainstage by 12:15pm but I we still had to setup our whole Tantra dance stage!  It was all still in pieces from the night before on the back of the flatbed truck.

Suddenly I remembered that I had recently wiped my laptop and reinstalled the operating system.  Oh yea!  I forgot to reinstall the driver! (slaps hand against head).  So I quickly download the driver, test it out, and we are good to go.

We barely make it downtown in time to setup our stage and do a soundcheck when I have to run off to go and perform.  I literally did one of the fastest setups on sound that I have ever done.  I had to untangle and rewire everything from the night before in the span of barely an hour.  After we got the DJ setup and going I grabbed my gear and ran to mainstage.

Of course mainstage pride is a big deal and I couldn't just waltz in.  However they wanted us to go alllllll the way around the whole thing to the other side when we approached the closest entrance.  Luckily I was with Terrance from the Entertainment Commission and he pulled out his badge and flashed it to the security. "Good enough for me", he says and we run past.

After meeting up with the rest of my crew on the other side - Erica (cellist) and  Isaac (dancer), we quickly go over the setup and then suddenly we are on stage.  It really hit me then.  All the work, all the struggle, all the time and energy into putting this piece together - it was for this moment.  Right here, right now.  I looked out over the crowd and started the music.  Concentrating with all my effort I went through the piano lines one after another, and sent massive love and respect for Harvey Milk and his words in the song.  If 7 minutes could happen in the blink of an eye, I would swear to you that's what happened.  Because before I knew it, we were done.  The last note hit, and Harvey's voice trailed off into the land of delay and reverb.  We bowed and the next thing I knew I was getting ready to run back to the Tantra stage for my dj performance later that day.  Before I left though, I did manage to run into Gus Van Sant.  I gave him a copy of my song and though he missed the performance, he said he really wanted to hear it.  His movie about Harvey Milk is scheduled to hit theaters nationwide on November 20.

Back at the Tantra stage things started unfolding gracefully.  The dancefloor filled up and the dj's were rocking it.  It was a really beautiful sight to behold, and even the sun came up and gave us an appearance!  Nikita and Denise did a fabulous job getting the crowd worked up, and when I went on it was a full on explosion.  People were really loving life that day, smiling, jumping, laughing, drinking, celebrating life, love, beauty, what it means to be alive.  It's funny, I was having a conversation with Mark Leno early in the day @ mainstage and I told him just how important these street parties are for the spirit of a city.  Most days of the year we are bound to this concrete, using it, being used by it, working, struggling, pushing to make our way.  On these special days, we take back our land, our streets, our sense of community.  We all come together, everyone is included, to dance, celebrate, and feel true freedom in the place we need it most - home.  It's easy for the rest of us who can pack up and go to a camp out party in the woods up north and get away for awhile.  But for those who can't, this is there chance to celebrate too, there chance to experience the magic and beauty of music and ritual and community.  This ancient tribal ritual that is inherent to our bodies, minds and souls.  This is our communal heartbeat, drumbeat, dance.  It is important that we respect and honor these traditions, and fight to keep them strong in a world that would sometimes just as easily see such affairs disappear and never return!

Pink Saturday

Heya,

Well I just got done dj'ing for approx 10,000 people.  No joke.  Apparently the whole event had around 100,000.  Guestimations place around 10 of those at our stage.  Fucking unbelievable event.  People were just jumping and screaming and smiling and laughing and loving life.  I am so honored and humbled to be able to be in a position to give them my energy, my love, my music.  It really is sacred and I take it very seriously and with much gratitude and respect.  I definitely play it up for people, take off my shirt and give em a show and all that.  But for me, it's not about ego (as Harvey Milk says in the song) it's about giving people hope and love and smiles and energy and fun.  It's about celebrating life and I am just celebrating it right along with them.  So, thank you for the opportunity to do this, divine universe.  I am grateful to be here, putting out positive vibes and celebrating life and love - especially in this urban environment we call home.  There is a lot of hardship in this world, and when we can put that all aside for a moment and live and dance side by side, well isn't that just what life is all about?

Boom!

Mastering

Another big day.  Really cool though because I did my very first mastering session today with Greg @ Pyramind.  He sat down with me in the "Vault" [pro tools hd room  - freaking proper studio!!!]  and we went through the Harvey Milk track and mastered it together.  I learned a bunch of techniques and it was a very cool opportunity for me to sit down with the head of our school and get a private mastering tutorial.  Veryyyyy cool :)

Now just gearing up for the big weekend.  Still a bunch to do, need to test my live set and I still don't even really have my dj sets ready.  Could be that I just do it "on the fly" style which can be cool in it's own way since you can improvise and go with the inspiration of the moment.  Sometimes thought it's nice to have it all mapped out so you can just roll through it and spend time between mixes working the crowd not stressin the next track.....  we'll see.  I get some time tomorrow so I should be able to get a general playlist put together then.

Not much help coming from other people on the setup but sometimes it just goes that way.  Somehow though John and I always manage to pull it off.  I swear, we are a two man army sometimes, lol.  And he is leaving town monday so I'm getting stuck with all the rental returns!  haha, that's alright though, I get at least the experience of dj'ing for over 5,000 people.  So if I have to return a generator and some equipment in exchange, it's not a bad deal :)  Seriously have 2 of the best dj gigs of the year coming up this weekend AND the live set to boot.  It's just crazy!  It really does pour when it rains!  

Alright, time for sleeping!  Big weekend ahead.  Good times, San Francisco, good times and goodnight.

<3

June 27...the insane weekend approaches!

Alright, first blog.  Popin the cherry right here, right now.  It's about time :)

The purpose of this blog will be more or less to focus on the work that I am doing.  It shall serve as a place for me to document all of the efforts I am putting forth, so that I can track progress, share with others and have something to look back on.  

I am very heavily involved in a lot of projects right now.  The main thing at this moment are my performances this weekend.  I am DJ'ing twice for San Francisco Pride - once Sat night in the Castro and once downtown on Sunday.  I am also performing live on Pride mainstage sunday.  It is an original song incorporated with an audio recording of Harvey Milk.  It is a tribute to him and the song will be performed by myself on piano and "unwoman" on cello.

These are 3 of the biggest gigs of the year, all in one weekend.  I have never performed live before so there has been a lot of work going into the preparation of this piece.  Unfortunately I don't seem to have nearly as much time as I would like as there are other things taking up my time as well.  Between school and work and trying to work on my own career as a full time job I become quite busy quite quickly.  It is a good thing as I am accomplishing a TON, I just need to make sure I can balance it out with enough sleep ;-)

Speaking of, perhaps I should pass out soon.  This is just a starter to get things going.  Today was good though.  I managed to get into the studio with Dave Earl aka SF Logic Ninja to get some final advice on the mix of the Harvey Milk piece.  He liked it and said it should definitely be ready for mastering tomorrow.  That was good news because I have had to go back and change it now so many times and it's nice to have the mix solid.  So yea, tomorrow Greg Gordon, the man behind my school, Pyramind, will be doing the mastering on this piece personally.  Quite an honor I must say.  In fact my whole school has been SO supportive on this project and it has definitely led to it sounding the way it does now.  They also let me record the cello in their Pro Tools HD room with killer mics!  It now sounds super sweet :)

Oh and I got word today that my website is getting worked on, that's sweet.  www.liamshy.com coming soon!

Ciao for now,

Liam Shy