They Set Fire// ctrle

I feel that this message is so important that I wrote a whole album about it. You aren’t your grades. Your success doesn’t define you. Neither do your actions. Who you are is who you are and you have immesurable possibilities and opportunities. Don’t measure your own self-worth against your success. You’re worth more than you know now, know yet and will ever know.

Excerpt from: Chapter 13, ‘The Screwtape Letters’ by C. S. Lewis. 1942.

So, not a bad start to the year for me. I’ve released a couple of songs, played a couple of shows, got to know some great people and pushed myself into some new areas of sound production. All in all, I’m pretty chuffed.

I start a day job a couple of days a week too! It’s something I’ve been missing for two reasons: one, It’s going to give me a polar opposite amount of structure to my week which, I hope, will help me to producer more frequently. I already want to sit down at my computer more, turn on my Juno and bust out some chords. It’s a great start. However, number two, I feel like I’m already reaching the limits of my equipment and programs... I am looking forward to having some disposable cash ($$). It’s a big thing for a producer. If you want to stay in the game and make music that is relevant and reasonable in terms of quality and style, it helps to be trying out new patches, gear, software and all that good stuff.

I have been producing on Live 8.1... something, for years. It’s stone age, I know, but it was what started me on the journey and it’s what has sustained me thus far. I see so many people playing with the good stuff like Max For Live and all of these new sample packs and chains that I haven’t even sniffed at yet. It’s not a boundary to my ability to create stuff, but, I feel like it’s a boundary to my experimentation.

All of the new techniques I learn from sites like Pyramind.com and from FactTV vids are of producers using software that’s everything from PUSH 1 onwards. I’m so behind the 8-ball, not because I don’t understand these new concepts, but because I can’t directly include them into my workflow which is still from circa 2005-2010. I am not saying that my belief of ‘don’t spend all your money’ has become redundant. All I’m saying is that there is value in making wise investments and setting yourself up to be able to include new ways of producing music into your ever expanding workflow.

Trying new things, meeting new people, sharing new dreams, expanding my sound and my record library. All good stuff from this studio. Now, onto the future!

My name is ctrle.