Music

As a child i always enjoyed playing piano, keyboard etc. Over the years i had various keyboards, an organ & synths. One instrument i also wanted to learn to play was the piano. In the early 90's i got my first acoustic piano. (As a 11 or 12 year old i never really considered getting a digital piano). We all know that acoustic piano's are not exactly small instruments. So where in the house was the piano going to go? Well, after a bit of re-shuffling a bit of the furniture about we managed to find a place in the living room for it. I had 2 pianos in over 15 years. So what happened to the piano? Well im afraid a few years ago we were having new radiators installed. Unfortunately one radiator was going to be installed where the piano was. Hmmmmmmm! Sadly there was no other room or space in the house that could accommodate the piano, therefore it had to go. It's been a few years now & i have to say i still miss my piano. So recently i've been thinking about ge...

Well, another year has gone by. Firstly i would like to say thankyou to all my fans, friends & family for your kind support over the past year or so. Thankyou to all the radio stations that played my music. A big thankyou to: Sarah Mason (London Dance Bhive Radio), Ernie Meyer (Bhive Radio), Joe Joe Keys & Dean James (Fresh Unsigned). I would like to wish all my fans, friends & family a Merry Christmas & a happy new year. Stay tuned to 2014. More new music will be coming :)   Have a great christmas & new year! Until next time   LAW Official Website Twitter Facebook  

I'll start by explaining what i mean. For many years there has been a myth that certain mix engineers, mastering engineers & producers etc have extremely exceptional hearing. That they can hear certain sounds we can't. 'Super' sensitive hearing if you like. Well i'm afraid to say that these 'Golden Ears' really are a myth. No there is no such thing as 'Golden Ears' . I believe its to do with skill. Like with anything the more practice, the better you get.   Until next time   Law Official website Twitter Facebook  

Now, I know this subject has been mentioned many times before, but personally i think it needs to stop. What am i talking about? 'The Loudness War' What is the Loudness War? Well for the past ten years or so mastered music has got louder & louder. Why? The Music Industry thought louder was better. Nowadays 'The Loudness War' has got out of control. Some albums are 'Too Loud'. All dynamic range goes. A very good example of this is: 'Death Magnetic'-METALLICA. If you have ever heard that album or any songs from it you may notice that the music sounds very distorted & crushed. (Some fans even signed a petition to get the album remasterd). There are plenty of other albums that also compete in 'The Loudness Wars'. Why don't i like 'The Loudness Wars' & want it to stop? To me the louder the music gets the more distorted & crushed it gets. It can be very unpleasant to listen to. Yours ears get fatigued quicker. I a...

How music technology has moved on over the years. My last blog post was about midi controllers (If you haven't read it you can read it here ) Well in this post im going to talk about a new innovative product that steinberg have created. It can be used with the latest version of good ole Cubase (Cubase 7 or Cubase Artist 7). Its called: Cubase IC Air. So what is this then? Well the idea is, is that you can perform hand gestures (eg Start, Stop, forward & rewind etc) by what looks like waving your arms about. To show you what i mean. Click here Now i'll be completely honest. I'm really not sure about this idea at all. Do i really want to be waving my arms about a lot in the studio? Or look like i am performing a magic trick? (Not that there is anything wrong with magic tricks. Its just i am a mix engineer & not magician) Errrrrrrm no, i don't think i do. Sorry about that. Could be a good idea for arm excercises. Other than that. I'm not convinced. Anybo...

In digital recording studios & live performances today there seems to be more & more musicians, producers,engineers etc using midi control surfaces/ keyboards. I will admit i am one of them. Do we rely on them too much? Again i will admit that i rely on the faderport quite a lot. (I will never forget the time a few years go when the faderport was faulty & had to be sent away 2-3 weeks for repair. It made me realise how much i relied on it). These days controllers/ keyboards come in all shapes & sizes. Types include: Pads, keyboard, faders, rotary knobs, sliders, DJ controls etc. I have tried a few of these. Yes they are useful. However, sadly not all controllers/ keyboards work the way they should. A year or so ago i had a midi controller with faders that used Automap. I thought this would be a good addition to the studio. Unfortunately i was wrong. The controller itself was ok (I dont think i ever got the pads working). It was Automap where the problems started. (I ...

LW Music Services has finally launched. What is it? I now offer online mixing. Prices start from £35. For more details please click here Until next time. Law Official Website Twitter Facebook

Whats this? LW Music Services coming soon. Stay tuned to my website for more details.   Until next time   Law   Facebook Twitter  

The last 30 years has brought some very iconic music videos. For example do you remember the first time you saw 'Thriller'- MICHAEL JACKSON (the full 15 version of it)? Or what about 'Bohemian Rhapsody'-QUEEN? Both those videos were made 70s/80s. So what about the 90's? Well 1990 saw MADONNA's 'Vogue' video released. Im sure that more than a few of you have seen that video. There were plenty of fans at the time trying to copy the dance routine & 'strike a pose'. (However, MADONNA is not the first artist to incorparate dance into her videos. Of course, there is MICHAEL JACKSON. Again, some fans would try & copy the dance routines. Dance in music videos are still around today. Artists such as Lady gaga, Beyonce, One Direction etc all have dance in there videos). In 1998 JAMIROQUAI released the music video 'Deeper Underground' which was taken from the film GODZILLA. In the music video there were a few clips taken from the film....

The first ever music video to be released is believed to be 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by QUEEN (1975). On 1st August 1981 MTV was launched. The first music video to be played was "Video killed the radio star" by BUGGLES (followed by "You better run" by PAT BENETAR). MTV allowed music videos to be played 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Today with websites like: youtube, vevo etc, more & more bands & artists use video to promote their music. Artists such as: MICHAEL JACKSON & MADONNA have made some of the most expensive music videos ever. (MICHAEL & JANET JACKSON- "Scream", MICHAEL JACKSON- "Black or White" , MADONNA- "Die Another Day" & "Express yourself") Nowadays there are thousands of music videos around. However, for me there are a few that i remember when i first saw them: The first video was in 1991, i was staying at my grandparents house, watching Top of the Pops, it was the premiere of: ...

When mixing you need to create space. It's so easy to keep adding different instruments when recording. However, when it comes to mixing you'll probably end up with 2 or more instruments fighting for the same frequency. So what do you do? Well, Firstly it depends on the instruments. Sometimes you may have to be harsh & think: "Do i really need these 2 parts or can i mute one (or even delete)?" This is what i normally do. Now maybe you're thinking: "What about using EQ?" Or "Why not use panning?" Yes i could use these tools. However is this additional sound going to add anything to the mix? Is this part necessary? If not, then im afraid the part either gets muted or deleted. A few days ago i was recording some vocals, for a middle 8 (on a new song). Let's just say i got a bit carried away & ended up recording a few harmony parts too many. I can tell you now that some of those harmony parts will probably be muted. (Why were thos...

These days a lot of people all use computers etc. All come with various software. Most software at some point will have the options to either upgrade or buy the new version. As a musician i am no exception. To start with those who record on computers will probably use a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). These days there are a few daws to choose from eg. Cubase, Logic, Ableton, Pro Tools, Sonar, Reason etc. All of which, after a few years bring out a new version. This time it will probably come mainly the same, but with a few new features & more 'bells & whistles' that you probably may never need or use. This is the time when you ask yourself "Do i really need to upgrade my DAW to the latest version?" I have to say that yes i have been caught up in that. For example when i started recording i started on Cubase Studio 4. After about nearly a year upgraded to Cubase 5. Then a year or so after that my computer started playing up, so i thought, well seeing as i...

Well todays the day. The 'MIDNIGHT' album has finally been released. After all this time . I know i have said this before. I will say it again "You never stop learning. You learn from your mistakes. Its about trial & error". I will admit there has been times when ive thought about giving up on the album. However, i'd recorded quite a lot. It would've been silly to just give, since i had come so far. "Never give up on your dreams" For more info please go to:  http://www.lawmusic-online.co.uk website facebook twitter itunes youtube

Well its been a busy few weeks. The mixing & mastering has finally be completed. The album 'Midnight' is due 20th May 2013. The other day i was back in the studio recording some new music. For more updates go to lawmusic-online.co.uk

As my album 'MIDNIGHT' is due for release very soon i've been trying to create my own website. Now i have to say i've never created a website before. However after a lot of thinking about how was going to achieve this i finally came up with an idea.  I now have a website (which you can see here: www.lawmusic-online.co.uk  ). This has been another learning curve. Another skill. All good experience. As well as the website i've been looking at artwork. I remember a quote that i heard years ago "The artwork is just as important as the music".  I'll be honest there has be times when i've have come across an unknown artist & chose to listen to their music because i really like the artwork. An example of artwork that i really liked from a band (that i had heard of before) was: "Deloused In The Comatorium"- THE MARS VOLTA.  This artwork was designed by one of my favourite artists 'Storm Thorgerson' A very inspiring artist. I will...

Well the past few weeks I've been recording & doing the final mixing for my album 'Midnight'. Decisions now have to be made. I've said this before & I'll say this again "I will never be satisfied with the mix". This reminds me of a quote I heard ages ago "A mix is never finished. It's abandoned". That's exactly what I need to do. I cannot keep tweaking all the instruments with volume, eq etc or else the album will never be finished. However, hopefully very soon the mastering process can begin. I'll keep you all posted :) www.facebook.com/lawmusic55 www.reverbnation.com/lawmusic5 www.twitter.com/law_wood   Posted with Blogsy

The past few months after recording, re-recording etc, it's now time to start the mixing process. This is the bit where for me, I am simply never satisfied. It's the same routine of thoughts: "Drums are too loud", "drums are to quiet", "not enough reverb", "cannot hear the vocals in the verse", "vocals are too loud the chorus", "eq isn't right' etc. The list carries on. I'm sure every instrument in the song there will be something that I will never be satisfied with. At the moment I've been mixing around 3 songs. I test all my mixes using monitors, headphones & earphones. I'll be honest I've lost count how many times I have gone back to tweak each mix (and I'm still not happy.lol) I think I will have to be a lot stricter with myself. I will just have to accept that I won't be satisfied with every little detail when the music does final come out. I remember hearing the this quote a few yea...