Ame one Loves You

The things I hate about Pro Tools LE

AMe one — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:45:14 +0000

I’m about the do some work in Pro Tools LE. It’s not a bad program, but it’s just lacking in a few departments. Here’s my list of things I don’t like about Pro Tools LE. 1. I’m stuck with the M-Box. It’s not that I don’t like the M-Box, I just view it as a giant [...]

A little update on me 8/27/08

AMe one — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:27:11 +0000

I have not posted on here in awhile. Been lazy and a little busy. It was a holiday week recently and got nothing done. After the week was over I got a few beats made. I’m about to start mixing some new material. I’m currently collaborating with Nomar Slevik, Id Obelus and Raystar. The project doesn’t [...]

Do I need to dither when converting to mp3?

AMe one — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:24:36 +0000

I been thinking about mp3 conversion lately. I don’t know exactly how it works. I know the general theory but I don’t know anything else. One of the questions I have always wondered, “Is it necessary to use bit reduction and convert a 24 bit song to 16bits before mp3 conversion?” After thinking about it, I [...]

Dither: Does It Matter?

AMe one — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:30:25 +0000

Dither really seems to be this mystery thing in audio that most people don’t quite have a grasp on. You can use math and plot graphs to explain and show what it does. Bob Katz does a wonderful example of explaining dither with math and graphs. Can’t really argue with the math behind it because [...]

BMI Part 3: The Conclusion

AMe one — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:20:02 +0000

Last night before I went to bed I got a couple of emails from BMI. One was my application approval and the other was from Lisa Jacquet. Lisa Jacquet email explained to me that it is BMI’s policy for all artists who reside abroad to fill out a W8 form. At this point I was [...]

BMI Part 2: Response from Smith

AMe one — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:27:43 +0000

If you read the previous post about BMI you would know that I am irritated with them at the way my application process is being handled. This morning, I finally get a response from Laura Smith. Actually two responses. In the first response she tells me that I need to fill out the attached W8-BEN tax [...]

Another day working the Pro Tools

AMe one — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:39:29 +0000

Today was another one of those days working in Pro Tools. I like the program but it does have some short comings. The fact that there is a track limit in the LE version and it seems to be missing something when I’m mixing. Always some last minute effect that just does not seem to [...]

BMI : Broadcast Music Inc.

AMe one — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:21:14 +0000

Recently I have had the pleasure at getting annoyed with BMI. Before I get into it, let me provide some background to it. At SIQ Records, we are asking all the artists to sign up with a Performance Right’s Organization (PRO). The reason is we are hoping to start licensing music out and for publishing. After [...]

Another day of music production failure

AMe one — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:29:35 +0000

Today I started working on this remix of a Nomar Slevik song that I really like. Spent all day working on it. Well more like all day getting my drums and things organized for it. After creating this interesting intro, I realized that it’s just not going to work. The reason is simple. What I [...]

Dither: Which is the best?

AMe one — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:14:54 +0000

Which is the best dither? Truthfully I have no idea. There are several different types available. Before we tackle which is the best dither, let’s examine what dithering does. In short dither is used during bit reduction i.e. 24bit to 16bit. What it essentially does is add noise shaping to smooth out the reduction. It is [...]

Redesigned the website

AMe one — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:27:29 +0000

If you have come here before, you would have noticed by now that I have redesigned the website. I been on this fashion designer pattern obsession lately. I guess with living in Japan with all the brand goods everywhere you look. Even I rock a Gucci wallet (I’m just a Gucci fanboy!). Since I’m kind [...]

Missing EXS files after Logic Studio Upgrade

AMe one — Wed, 28 May 2008 08:32:51 +0000

Apparently this is a common problem. After upgrading Logic from 7 to 8, things get broken. During the upgrade things get moved around and because logic depends on a lot of garageband content, some of these files ended up missing. I looked for some way online to fix the problem. Most said to reinstall Logic or to use a program called pacifist to dig out the needed files from the

Logic Studio Presets

AMe one — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:36:30 +0000

Apparently Logic Studio has some new presets. However, Apple also removed many presets that were in Logic Pro 7. I spent the morning moving presets around and installing new (old) ones. If you have any presets saved, you will most likely have to move them to the new installation. You can find them in MAC [...]

Installing Logic Studio content to another location

AMe one — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:18:20 +0000

Being that I don’t have negative hard disk space, I needed to find a way to install the Jam Packs and other audio content to an external drive. I figured that maybe all I would need to do is just put in the Jam pack discs and it would let me install. Wrong, all I [...]

Ame one vs. Logic Studio

AMe one — Sat, 24 May 2008 14:55:29 +0000

Today I finally got around to picking up the Logic Studio Upgrade. It was a pretty good deal. I got it at Yodobashi Camera in Umeda. After using my point card, it came out to be about $28. That’s right $28. I had about $200 worth of points on my card. First impression: That bad boy [...]

Cherry Blossoms at Satsukiyama Park and Ikeda Castle Park

AMe one — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:37:34 +0000

Spring is in full force and it is finally warm. The weather reminds me of the warm spring in Hawaii. A few weeks ago it was still cold and the cherry blossoms were blooming. Here’s some pictures of Satsukiyama Koen (?????) and Ikeda Jo Koen (?????). Satsukiyama and Ikeda Jo Koen

Downloading music vs. buying used music

AMe one — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:56:57 +0000

Yesterday I was walking around Umeda in the underground in the ekimae building area. I the basements of those buildings there are some used record stores. They actually have a lot of good stuff, but a little pricey. Records are sold at their value. I guess I’m just used to the days of going to [...]

Kiyoshikojin Temple

AMe one — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:22:09 +0000

Went to Kiyoshikojin Recently. It’s a temple near Takarazuka in Osaka.Kiyoshikojin Temple Canned Ramen, Udon, Oden and Curry Udon Vending machine Yum yum Canned Noodles! You throw water at the statue to make your wish come true The waterfall at the back of the temple complex The waterfall and a pagoda

Cherry Blossoms at Suigetsu Koen

AMe one — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:13:20 +0000

I went to Suigetsu Koen recently and the cherry blossoms were blooming. It was very pretty. Cherry Blossoms at Suigetsu Koen

Vintage EQ and Compressor emulations

AMe one — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:42:01 +0000

Every where I look these days online I always see people touting Waves SSL, API and Neve collections. In addition to that there is a constant barrage of people saying URS vintage effects are great. The truth is I don’t really know what to make of all these vintage emulations. I have tried a few [...]

AKG 240s Headphones

AMe one — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:01:30 +0000

Recently I finally got around finishing the mixes for John B’s Hair and the Trumpet Song. I was pretty surprised at the way they came out. I did the mixes a bit different this time. I mixed them using headphones. I always hear and do subscribe to the idea that you should avoid mixing with [...]

Out of phase sub bass

AMe one — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:22:03 +0000

I’m mixing down my latest track and I kept having problems with the bass. It seemed like no matter what I did to it, it just sounded muddy, distorted and just bad. Also I just couldn’t get it to sit nicely in the mix. I was ready to give up on it and call it [...]

Long live the Single, EP’s are the new albums!

AMe one — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:39:43 +0000

Today I had a very interesting and insightful conversation about the music industry. In this conversation I promoting my current standpoint that albums are not the right model for the current times. I feel that EPs and singles are the way to go. Let’s examine the 3 models and you will see that albums might [...]

Change in work flow maybe

AMe one — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:06:53 +0000

I recently finished 2 songs. A nice jazzy ambient dnb track and, to quote my friend’s friend, a “new-wave-breaks” track. The jazzy dnb track took a long time to write. Not because I was stuck, but I think more because, as usual, it started one way and then ended another way. This takes a lot [...]

Snow in Osaka

AMe one — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:06:10 +0000

It snowed the other day. Here are some pics I took around where I live. Snow in Osaka Snow Covered Plants The waterfall by my house Flowers Outside my building A Little snowman on the walk way Ame one Flowers with snow The lion by the road Advertisement for my website Sign by my house Flowers Foot prints in the snow My foot prints in the snow

How to setup Kontakt 3 in Logic Pro 7

AMe one — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:14:24 +0000

I had a bit of hard time figuring out how to get Logic 7 and Kontakt 3 to work together. It all came down to just setting things up right. This is something I never really had to deal with when I was using Cubase. In Cubase you just select your VSTi and it automatically [...]

Native Instruments Kontakt Sampler

AMe one — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:57:10 +0000

I noticed that I get a lot of visitors coming to my website looking for information about Kontakt. I present to you answers to many of the search queries about Kontakt 3. At the bottom of the page there are links to some useful websites. Kontakt library vs EXS24 Kontakt can import EXS24 files. As [...]

Samplers: Kontakt, EXS24, Structure and Ame one

AMe one — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:12:20 +0000

If you have read previously, you would have seen that I was mulling over whether to upgrade from Logic Pro 7 to Logic Studio or upgrade Kontakt 1.5 to Kontakt 3. Well in the end Kontakt won out over Logic. It was a hard decision but over the past few weeks I began to realize [...]

What’s up with posting clips?

AMe one — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:30:05 +0000

These days I been listening to quite a bit of new music by underground artists. Usually I check music on myspace. Today I been coming across alot of dnb guys just posting up clips of their tracks. I understand why they are doing it. In fact there is a whole thread in the grid on [...]

Raystar Volume 1

AMe one — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:37:14 +0000

I recently came across an old friend from high school on myspace. It turns out her husband is an MC out in Cleveland, Ohio. I got a copy of his album and really liked it. I liked it so much I decided to write about it. Social commentary and the way life is for the struggling [...]

Quick Mastering Tips

AMe one — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:08:35 +0000

Here’s tip for quick mastering. This is for when you want to get your track hot and nothing really else. Here’s a couple of examples as to why you would want to use this technique; You want to show it off at a party, radio, djing, etc. 1. Import your stereo mixdown into your favorite wave [...]

Happy New Year Mr. Reznor

AMe one — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:21:51 +0000

First off happy new year to everyone. May 2008 be a better year than 2007. Today I had the pleasure of reading an interview with Trent Reznor on wired magazine’s website. It made me realize that I’m kind of out of touch with the music world. Mostly the business part of it. So maybe I’m the [...]

Logic 8 vs. Kontakt 3

AMe one — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 14:48:23 +0000

Today I was out in Umeda, doing some Christmas Shopping and was thinking about how I would like to upgrade some certain music softwares. The choices are upgrading to Logic 8 or Kontakt 3. The prices are about the same here in Japan. Both cost about ¥22,000. I’m still not sure which would be the [...]

My first complaint about my Yamaha HS 50M Monitor Speakers

AMe one — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:00:00 +0000

I noticed recently that people have been coming here after entering the search term Yamaha HS50 in a search engine. I guess this page is not too useful, for that. So I guess I will add my opinion on them. The Following is the original post. The additional information is after. Today I finally have my first [...]

My EP is almost done

AMe one — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:23:01 +0000

I’m done with my EP. It’s going to be called “AMe one and the depressed robot.” The ep consists of 3 downtempo songs and 1 house song. Everything has been sent off to SIQ Records. Now it’s up to them to get things done. I’m pretty happy about everything. I already got the next release [...]

Sonar 7

AMe one — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:33:24 +0000

Today when I was at SofMap I caught a demonstration of Sonar 7. It seems like a pretty cool program. I have not used any Cakewalk Products since Cakewalk 8. The thing that really impressed me most was the Roland V-Voice Plugin. That thing was bad ass! I wish they would make that into a AU [...]

Finished My First Pro Tools Mixing Session

AMe one — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:03:22 +0000

I just my first mixing session in Digidesign’s Pro Tools. It wasn’t that bad. A little different from Cubase SX2. I actually found it pretty easy to understand once I figured out everything I needed to know how to do. One thing that seemed a mystery at first was setting up the sends. Good thing I [...]

Jay-Z - American Gangster

AMe one — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:33:00 +0000

So I got a copy of American Gangster by Jay-Z. I have to say overall it is an ok album. As with most albums I come across these days there are only a few songs I like. Maybe that’s why the music industry sucks. You buy an album and most songs are soso with a few [...]

Christmas in Japan

AMe one — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:03:29 +0000

This will be my second christmas in Japan. It’s such a strange thing here. It has such a different meaning. When I go out I hear christmas songs playing in the stores. It’s just not the same. I guess I just miss the atmosphere that comes with christmas. Over the past several years I have [...]

AMe one.com’s new look

AMe one — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:17:16 +0000

I finally got around to changing my website. I’m trying something new by using wordpress. I don’t know if I like wordpress or not. It seems simple but sometimes a little too easy. I was considering using drupal but decided to go with wordpress. I don’t really know why. Anyways I hope you enjoy the [...]

I met someone famous

AMe one — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:20:20 +0000

On Saturday, after my interview I went to the Hankyu Department store. While I was cruising around the men’s department looking at clothes that I can not afford, I caught the short presentation about Jeff Banks. After the presentation I went to get a soda. Then I decided that I should go check out the [...]

Back in the Groove

AMe one — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:31:55 +0000

It’s been along time since I have done this. Today I finally opened up the ol’ logic. That sounds strange cause I’m used to saying the Ol’ cubase. Well I wrote this beautiful 8 measure loop that is so fun to solo over. I just wanted to play on top of it all night. I [...]