It's a Start!

Aye!

So, I've pushed this blog back to every other week. Maybe a weekly basis was a little too ambitious, but eventually who knows.

In these past two weeks I've finally secured my plans for an internship! I'm going to be working with my previous Business of Music professor Zachary Jablow. Dude is also a producer and music business consultant who has worked with huge companies such as Universal, Sony, and MTV along with rising artists like Chance the Rapper and Asher Roth. You can check the details here if you'd like:
http://www.foxandthemule.com/
Apparently for this internship I'll be working on an album with him, while also learning the famous Apple digital audio workstation (DAW) Logic and learning about studio equipment.
What I'm actually expecting?
Mostly the 'B' work. He also mentioned I have to run errands for him and his clients. As well as set-up and break down said studio equipment for each session. But hey, I don't mind. I get to experience first hand what I'll have to be doing myself for a while once I get outta school. Plus, this is a huge opportunity to network with uprising artists. Regardless of the cons, the experience is gonna be pretty awesome.
I'm also still waiting on another internship, which actually was referred to my by Zak as well. Hopefully I'll also be working with the production/artist duo Best Friends on things like marketing, promotion, and web presence. Another learn-as-you-go experience.
Even if I'm not officially an intern yet, their music is still pretty catchy. If you're a fan of indie/electronic music check 'em out here:
https://soundcloud.com/thisisbestfriends/sets/bstfrnds-1/s-VOcZc
www.thisisbestfriends.com

In Other News 

I got that other piece of equipment I talked about in my last post! Along with a hand-made cajon (pronounced ka-hoe-n) with a shaker as a sort of gift. I'm trying to build my arsenal of studio equipment and live performance equipment this year so I'm better prepared to "work" in and out of home.

 Its a flamenco-style cajon hand-drum. All that means is it has guitar strings inside of it that can be tuned to a certain pitch when hit.

Reflection filter for cleaner vocals.

Anyway

I'm looking forward to the future here. Lately I haven't had too much time to write songs or produce a track and hopefully by the next post I'll have something on here to listen to. 

Outro.

Preparing for the Future

Hey, You?! You're here!

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Update

This week I finally started guitar lessons. I decided that I needed person-to-person lessons to keep myself on track and consistently practice. Catching up on scales and learning the notes on each string on each fret. Basic stuff that I've failed to acknowledge. Currently looking for a place to get legit voice lessons from as well as to also keep myself on track.

Still trying to get that internship. I could probably be more persistent with the people I'm trying to reach out to, but I'm being cautious as usual. I haven't figured out how annoying is annoying yet when it comes to contacting people that hold the future of your career in their unknowingly powerful hands. I got faith that it'll work out somehow though!

Sadly this was a slightly boring week, filled with jet-lag hibernation and rudimentary instrument practice. But hey, the boring stuff is important.

In Other News

I got a sweet piece of equipment this week:

Its a mic stand arm thingy! AKA a microphone stand boom arm. Yeah, BOOM. Slightly important, cause now ill be able to record sound off my amp.

Now all I need left is a reflection filter like these two:

...and then I'll be able to make pro sounding vocals and live samples of instruments. What this weird wall-like contraption does is reduce the reverberations of the sound going into the mic to "deaden" or "dampen" the sound. In simpler words, it cuts out the excess sound bouncing around the room giving you cleaner recordings of a voice or what have you. Why is it great to have? It makes the effects you add to the recorded voice sound better. I'm not just talking about auto-tune or reverb either, but stuff like EQ, Compression, Limiters, and other important stuff I don't want to explain benefit; making stuff sound awesome.

My room has a good echo to it, which isn't good for when you need to isolate the voice to add to a track.

Some Other Thoughts

Business is going to be an ( ______ insert word that stands for big) part of my "career" in music. So I've been working on my social skills, behavior, and appearance in a social and/or business setting. One can do this by simply being thrown into the fire and surviving. Like a boss. Been seeing some ( _____ insert a different word that stands for big) improvements too! I think...
A thing I tend to forget to keep in mind when dealing with people in a business setting is
They are people.
 Its really funny and relieving when I try to act professional and the other person I'm contacting is informal. People in this industry (so far) seem to have no signs of poles stuck up their anus. Takes the stress off of communication. Really shows that you can keep yourself alive and not turn into a robot. I wonder if the corporate world is different.

Which brings me to a different subject.

I didn't realize that I would be turning into an "entrepreneur" going into the business of music. That word entrepreneur implies taking risks and leading. I never thought that being an artist and creating music is the same thing as being a "brand" and developing said brand's reputation with the kind of music you make. Never made that connection, cause when you think of business you think of the corporate ladder, suits, blahblahblah. But being an artist the same as running your own business? The thought was completely foreign to me. It should have been obvious though, my major is MUSIC BUSINESS after all. Duh. Guess I can say I learned something.

BTW

I promise there will be videos and stuff for you to listen to soon! Until then all I can offer is this sweet stupid YouTube clip about boots and cats:

Outro.

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The Beginning

What Up!

http://www.facebook.com/mitchel.p.noble
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So starting with the new year I've decided to set higher goals for myself particularly in music. One of those would be to actually show what I'm capable of & what I have to offer for other musicians, producers, and a future audience. I feel like the past year I was on a slump and it seemed like I was all talk to everyone from family to friends. Thus, to keep track of myself and provide proof I'm starting this blog. Here I'll be posting any pictures, videos, projects, ideas, lessons learned, etc. related to my music/musical growth/artistry. Anything I write, produce, and/or create will be posted here.

Expect a post every Friday!
(maybe I'll jump the gun heh)

This first post'll cover the basic intro and my current set-up of instruments/equips:

Intro

So for the many of you who don't know me, I am currently a student at Columbia College Chicago with a focus in Music Business. Learning how to manage myself & possibly others in the music industry, because it isn't enough to just be talented now-a-days. As an aspiring artist I spend my time as an amateur singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. Voice is influenced and suited by/for Soul, R&B, Pop, or Funk music all of which I enjoy playing live. On the other end, I'm an avid Ableton Live user and enjoy putting together smooth hiphop beats & EDM tracks. 

Non-music related I dabble in dance, and abstract paintings, which occasionally I plan on posting here eventually haha.

Now that that's done this brings us to my...

Set-up!

 MacBook Pro with a Dynex TV as a monitor. Ableton Live 8 on right screen.

 Dunlop Crybaby! Ovation Celebrity in the back

 Ibanez Artcore hollow body guitar

 Boss loopstation RC-300 for that "One Man Band" thing.

 Ukulele from Riptide

 Behringer acoustic amp ACX900 for a guitar and mic

 Jupiter Trumpet (had this since middle school)

 Cord wall. Organization and proper care makes 'em last

Behringer Ms16 studio monitors, Akai MPK mini (in the keyboard slot next to the mouse), M-Audio Keystation 88es, The Yeti from Blue Microphones.

I noticed I've bought a lot of Behringer stuff. I also have 3 Behringer microphones with one on a boom stand in the corner of my room not shown here. Personally its the good reviews and my tight budget that makes me buy from this brand. I'd honestly rather have different/better quality brands like Shure and Marshall, but I'm not complaining. They do the job well. 

Now that I've learned more about mixing and monitoring sound, I've realized I'm not in a good place for getting a clear picture of track's sound. Bass frequencies tend to build up in corners, which I should of known. This means I'll be hearing more bass than what is actually in the song. That'll cause problems. Which means I'll be upgrading my desk made for a home studio and moving to the middle of the blue wall, in the future of course. 

Currently Working On...

- My song repertoire. Along with a couple friends I'm planning on playing at the CTA stops(Chitown's subway)! Learning a lot of 90's, 00's, and current radio hits for passerby ear candy. One of my relatives gave me the idea for working at Potbelly's too & learning more songs would definitely help for a gig like that. 

- Production wise, I'm making a Pop-ish sounding beat for a collab. with some Columbia peers. As well as a hiphop groove along the lines of Nujabes. Also building some kick and snare sounds for another Columbia collaboration. 

- An internship! with my previous semester professor. Should be a pretty awesome experience if it all works out. 

Outro

Beside's videos, sound bites, etc. this is pretty much how this blog's gonna run. Definitely gonna be wayyyy more interesting posts in the future! I'm all hype about what's to come. Please support me by following this blog, my Twitter, SoundCloud, all under the name: OneNobleMitch. I'm definitely gonna need the extra motivation from you!

Follow @OneNobleMitch

Until the next post. 

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