Monday, August 24, 2009
iHate the new iMovie!
I love my Mac. I love how easy it is to use and how many things I can get done with it. It's worth the extra money one pays.
And I have gotten the hang of the version of iMovie that came with my old laptop, and like the various things I can do in it and with it.
The new version of iMovie, in my personal, humble opinion, sucks the Big Hairy Grotty One. It has taken the Mac design philosophy of "just tell us what you want and we'll do it for you" to new depths. I was, after quite a bit of trial and error, able to figure out how to properly load sound to a video clip and get it synched up (essential for making music videos around here), and I actually like the sound editor much better, as it gives you a graphic representation of the sound, much like ProTools or Amadeus, or even Garage Band. However, I wanted to be able to mix the relative level of the sounds from my camcorder and my board the way *I* wanted. And here, the new iMovie failed me. It assumed that I was obviously a total amateur who just wanted to slap together moving pictures and sound haphazardly, and while it was happy to help me do that, it was totally unwilling to help me create the music video I wanted.
So I reopened my old version of iMovie, and mixed up my music video in there. Just like before. Check it out.
Maybe some day before I die, someone will show me how to make the new iMovie do what I need it to do for my music videos. But I won't hold my breath.
And I have gotten the hang of the version of iMovie that came with my old laptop, and like the various things I can do in it and with it.
The new version of iMovie, in my personal, humble opinion, sucks the Big Hairy Grotty One. It has taken the Mac design philosophy of "just tell us what you want and we'll do it for you" to new depths. I was, after quite a bit of trial and error, able to figure out how to properly load sound to a video clip and get it synched up (essential for making music videos around here), and I actually like the sound editor much better, as it gives you a graphic representation of the sound, much like ProTools or Amadeus, or even Garage Band. However, I wanted to be able to mix the relative level of the sounds from my camcorder and my board the way *I* wanted. And here, the new iMovie failed me. It assumed that I was obviously a total amateur who just wanted to slap together moving pictures and sound haphazardly, and while it was happy to help me do that, it was totally unwilling to help me create the music video I wanted.
So I reopened my old version of iMovie, and mixed up my music video in there. Just like before. Check it out.
Maybe some day before I die, someone will show me how to make the new iMovie do what I need it to do for my music videos. But I won't hold my breath.
Labels: Garage Band, iMovie, Macintosh, music videos, ProTools
Friday, August 14, 2009
New live CD is ready!
I haven't got it up on my online store yet...but my new live/homebrew CD, "California to Key West," is finally done and available.
Whew! This one took a lot of time and work to get done. In the end, I needed to custom-record a couple of songs, because I didn't have good live recordings of them. And it worked out well. I have an excellent portable digital recorder, the Zoom H2. It's got very good mikes, and lets me make high-quality digital recordings, either as a direct line plugin from my mixer, or through the X/Y stereo microphones.
This particular CD has some cool stuff on it.
It's got the only decent recording - done in my living room one evening - of the song "Traffic Jam," in which I used a looper to harmonize with myself. Said looper has been a bit less than reliable, so I haven't been using it at shows for a while. I expect I'll sort it all out and you'll be hearing stuff using it again someday.
It's got my most-recent completed song, "Heartwrecked." I haven't even performed that out in front of people yet, outside of my songwriting critique group.
It's got the best live version *and* the YouTube studio version of "Bail Me Out." Because I figured that some people might be interested in the differences.
It's got the two best recordings from my set with TC Mitchell at the Blue Heaven in Key West last October.
I think it's got the best songs I've written to date on there, along with some excellent performances of things I've already released elsewhere.
Write me if you want a copy. I'll have it listed on my Website very soon now.
Whew! This one took a lot of time and work to get done. In the end, I needed to custom-record a couple of songs, because I didn't have good live recordings of them. And it worked out well. I have an excellent portable digital recorder, the Zoom H2. It's got very good mikes, and lets me make high-quality digital recordings, either as a direct line plugin from my mixer, or through the X/Y stereo microphones.
This particular CD has some cool stuff on it.
It's got the only decent recording - done in my living room one evening - of the song "Traffic Jam," in which I used a looper to harmonize with myself. Said looper has been a bit less than reliable, so I haven't been using it at shows for a while. I expect I'll sort it all out and you'll be hearing stuff using it again someday.
It's got my most-recent completed song, "Heartwrecked." I haven't even performed that out in front of people yet, outside of my songwriting critique group.
It's got the best live version *and* the YouTube studio version of "Bail Me Out." Because I figured that some people might be interested in the differences.
It's got the two best recordings from my set with TC Mitchell at the Blue Heaven in Key West last October.
I think it's got the best songs I've written to date on there, along with some excellent performances of things I've already released elsewhere.
Write me if you want a copy. I'll have it listed on my Website very soon now.
Labels: Key West, music, TC Mitchell, trop rock
