So it has been one busy year!
Earlier this year I said that I was busy with recording the EP, this is true I have been busy recording for this however I've now found myself at a slight cross roads.
For followers of my Sound Cloud you will know that my own material has always been of a folk style and the new EP will incorporate some of this. However, this year has seen me take an interest in a much more diverse range of styles so much so that I am now writing a lot more technical music for Jazz on guitar. I have decided I am not going to release an EP until I am firmly decided on what genre/s I am going to be dedicating myself to, and when I've figured out how they will all fit together on one album!
I have really neglected my social sites this year and a lot of you are probably wondering whether I have gone out of the music scene all together. This is just a post to say that this is definitely not the case! I have just been extremely busy this year creating a bunch of different material.
I am pleased to say that recording for my new music is under progress but I am perfectionist at heart and I want to make sure its right before you hear it!
Bare with me people music will be with you soon!
Tuesday 9 December 2014
Monday 13 January 2014
BOA Live - 'Give It Time'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMssOQWyVJY
I performed my original song 'Give It Time' on BOA Live last Friday. Was interesting being behind so many big cameras, I didn't realize quite how much technology went into creating a neat video.
This song will be featuring on the EP and is the title song.
Be great to hear what you think of it, as I have slightly altered my style from folk and well, I always love to hear your opinions!
Lois
I performed my original song 'Give It Time' on BOA Live last Friday. Was interesting being behind so many big cameras, I didn't realize quite how much technology went into creating a neat video.
This song will be featuring on the EP and is the title song.
Be great to hear what you think of it, as I have slightly altered my style from folk and well, I always love to hear your opinions!
Lois
Monday 18 November 2013
EP Set For Release 2014
So I have a new EP set to come out in early 2014! It's a bit different from the last album I created, these new songs are all for piano and have a lot more influences than my other songs did. I'm hoping you will all still enjoy this slight adaption to style; I am certainly enjoying creating new songs and sharing them with you!
There is still much work to do but this is just a heads up of whats to come next year.
Songs set to go on EP at the moment are 'Give It Time' 'Talk To Me' and 'Bullets In Her Head' we may be adding a song from my previous album, so if you have any favourites now the time to yell 'em.
Soon samples of my new songs will be available on SoundCloud. I love to hear what you think and would especially love to hear what you think of my new material so please have a listen!
-Lois
There is still much work to do but this is just a heads up of whats to come next year.
Songs set to go on EP at the moment are 'Give It Time' 'Talk To Me' and 'Bullets In Her Head' we may be adding a song from my previous album, so if you have any favourites now the time to yell 'em.
Soon samples of my new songs will be available on SoundCloud. I love to hear what you think and would especially love to hear what you think of my new material so please have a listen!
-Lois
Saturday 19 January 2013
New Video!
Spent the whole day filming and recording to get the perfect cover of Imagine Dragons' song Radioactive, so here it is!
Wednesday 26 December 2012
Yamaha NP-31 Piaggero - Review
So I finally got my portable piano and thought it was about time I did a review on it!
I've broken this review down into main parts to make it easier to find aspects of the NP-31 you are interested in.
Keys
The Yamaha NP-31 has 76 touch sensitive keys. A lot of people said that the keys were somewhat noisy, however I have not found this to be much of a problem although as I have not been able to play it in headphones yet I can not comment on this aspect much more.
The keys are not weighted which I thought was going to be an issue. I do not often play keyboard and am used to my grand piano but after a few minutes you adjust to the keys and some pieces are easier to play with unweighted keys. Plus this also makes the piano lighter which brings me onto my next topic.
Weight
When the box came through the door I was somewhat shocked by the heaviness of it. I had imagined it to be lighter and more 'portable'. I was also quite surprised by the length of the piano. Having ordered online I did not have a clear idea on how large the piano would be. Because of the length I will have to move my room around some but that is not an issue as I do need all the octaves so I can play the pieces that I want to.
Portability
As I said before the NP-31 is quite heavy and also quite long, this reduces its portability. I would not say this is a piano you could take back and forth on a train on a day to day basis. However, I think for taking to gigs using a car would be fine for this, that is if it will fit in your boot! (A test I have yet to carry out)
You can get a gig bag for this piano but at around £60, so until then my NP-31 will just have to wait.
Sound
A quality you can not deny the Piagerro is its crystal Grand Piano sound. The high keys and middle range especially match the sound of that of the real deal. I was very happy when I played out my own songs at how it mimicked a real piano. The last four or five bass notes on the piano sound a little bit 'keyboardy' but for the amount they will be used I can not complain.
The speakers on the NP-31 are of decent quality. Being positioned at either end of the piano means you sit within the middle of your sound and can clearly hear everything in balance. There is a dial to control the volume which gives you more control than volume buttons. The only issue was when you have the speakers on a very high volume it can fuzz slightly in small rooms. A note I'd like to add is these speakers will not be loud enough for gigs etc. you will need an amplifier.
Useful Links
Gig Bag - http://www.rimmersmusic.co.uk/bckkb47syamaha.html
NP-31 on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-NP31-Portable-Keyboard-Black/dp/B004RTHGHU
I've broken this review down into main parts to make it easier to find aspects of the NP-31 you are interested in.
Keys
The Yamaha NP-31 has 76 touch sensitive keys. A lot of people said that the keys were somewhat noisy, however I have not found this to be much of a problem although as I have not been able to play it in headphones yet I can not comment on this aspect much more.
The keys are not weighted which I thought was going to be an issue. I do not often play keyboard and am used to my grand piano but after a few minutes you adjust to the keys and some pieces are easier to play with unweighted keys. Plus this also makes the piano lighter which brings me onto my next topic.
Weight
When the box came through the door I was somewhat shocked by the heaviness of it. I had imagined it to be lighter and more 'portable'. I was also quite surprised by the length of the piano. Having ordered online I did not have a clear idea on how large the piano would be. Because of the length I will have to move my room around some but that is not an issue as I do need all the octaves so I can play the pieces that I want to.
Portability
As I said before the NP-31 is quite heavy and also quite long, this reduces its portability. I would not say this is a piano you could take back and forth on a train on a day to day basis. However, I think for taking to gigs using a car would be fine for this, that is if it will fit in your boot! (A test I have yet to carry out)
You can get a gig bag for this piano but at around £60, so until then my NP-31 will just have to wait.
Sound
A quality you can not deny the Piagerro is its crystal Grand Piano sound. The high keys and middle range especially match the sound of that of the real deal. I was very happy when I played out my own songs at how it mimicked a real piano. The last four or five bass notes on the piano sound a little bit 'keyboardy' but for the amount they will be used I can not complain.
The speakers on the NP-31 are of decent quality. Being positioned at either end of the piano means you sit within the middle of your sound and can clearly hear everything in balance. There is a dial to control the volume which gives you more control than volume buttons. The only issue was when you have the speakers on a very high volume it can fuzz slightly in small rooms. A note I'd like to add is these speakers will not be loud enough for gigs etc. you will need an amplifier.
Useful Links
Gig Bag - http://www.rimmersmusic.co.uk/bckkb47syamaha.html
NP-31 on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-NP31-Portable-Keyboard-Black/dp/B004RTHGHU
Saturday 1 December 2012
Home Studio - Equipment
Right so here it is! The gadgets I'm considering getting for my home studio.
First things first - a mix desk. Now having little to no knowledge on what was good or what brands were well thought of I decided to go with something I would already know how to use.
I have recorded a few times with an Alesis
MultiMix desk and have found it very easy to use and set-up.
Because of budget I will only be getting a two or four channel desk, but this is all I will need for guitar/piano and a microphone.
For my midi keyboard I needed a lot of keys as opposed to a lot of sounds. I also needed the sound of the grand piano to be as authentic as possible. Ideally I wanted to find a portable piano that could be used on stage and off stage. The Yamaha NP31 Piaggero ticked all the right boxes when it came to these. It has 76 touch sensitive keys so it can mimic a piano quite well. I was a little disapointed when I read these keys were not weighted but I don't think that will be a major issue once I get used to playing on a keyboard again.
I also decided on this keyboard as it has built in speakers, these may not be enough for a gig but will create a nice sound at home when I don't want headphones.
The last point is it has that all vital Midi in-out connection. I also found a MIDI to USB converter cable, which would come in handy if my desk was full.
Finally I've saved the most important yet most difficult thing to look for online for last; the condenser microphone. Now I was not at all familiar with these microphones, I knew well enough what they are designed to do but what model/make did that best for the budget I was on was a mystery.
In the end I decided to go for the Behringer C1 Microphone. I didn't go for the USB version of this microphone as I heard it was not as good quality.
I also chose this mic as for a reasonable price I could get my pop filter and stand without going over my budget.
I will give some reviews on my equipment once I get it through the post!
I hope this helped anyone like me who may feel lost looking through tonnes of equipment for their studio!
First things first - a mix desk. Now having little to no knowledge on what was good or what brands were well thought of I decided to go with something I would already know how to use.
I have recorded a few times with an Alesis
MultiMix desk and have found it very easy to use and set-up.
Because of budget I will only be getting a two or four channel desk, but this is all I will need for guitar/piano and a microphone.
For my midi keyboard I needed a lot of keys as opposed to a lot of sounds. I also needed the sound of the grand piano to be as authentic as possible. Ideally I wanted to find a portable piano that could be used on stage and off stage. The Yamaha NP31 Piaggero ticked all the right boxes when it came to these. It has 76 touch sensitive keys so it can mimic a piano quite well. I was a little disapointed when I read these keys were not weighted but I don't think that will be a major issue once I get used to playing on a keyboard again.
I also decided on this keyboard as it has built in speakers, these may not be enough for a gig but will create a nice sound at home when I don't want headphones.
The last point is it has that all vital Midi in-out connection. I also found a MIDI to USB converter cable, which would come in handy if my desk was full.
Finally I've saved the most important yet most difficult thing to look for online for last; the condenser microphone. Now I was not at all familiar with these microphones, I knew well enough what they are designed to do but what model/make did that best for the budget I was on was a mystery.
In the end I decided to go for the Behringer C1 Microphone. I didn't go for the USB version of this microphone as I heard it was not as good quality.
I also chose this mic as for a reasonable price I could get my pop filter and stand without going over my budget.
I will give some reviews on my equipment once I get it through the post!
I hope this helped anyone like me who may feel lost looking through tonnes of equipment for their studio!
Thursday 29 November 2012
We'll be back shortly...
Hello!
Firstly, the reason for my lack of posts this past month is I've been quite ill with a chest infection that then progressed into pleurisy.
Unfortunatly, I had to scrap one of my performances that I had promised myself I would do since the start of this year. I was frustrated but I have a place on the show for next year.
I'm slowly getting better and as soon as I have I've made an oath to get my songs properly recorded.
This has nudged me to set up my own home studio which I've been debating about doing for a few months now.
So while I've been housebound I've searched high and low, scouring reviews and vlogs, for information on good quality, affordable equipment.
And I think I may have finally found the rest stuff!
I will post later on with what I am considering getting for my studio (:
Firstly, the reason for my lack of posts this past month is I've been quite ill with a chest infection that then progressed into pleurisy.
Unfortunatly, I had to scrap one of my performances that I had promised myself I would do since the start of this year. I was frustrated but I have a place on the show for next year.
I'm slowly getting better and as soon as I have I've made an oath to get my songs properly recorded.
This has nudged me to set up my own home studio which I've been debating about doing for a few months now.
So while I've been housebound I've searched high and low, scouring reviews and vlogs, for information on good quality, affordable equipment.
And I think I may have finally found the rest stuff!
I will post later on with what I am considering getting for my studio (:
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