How to route audio from Ableton Live to Skype on macOS

I needed to write music to a trapeze performance of a friend of mine, who lives some 500 kilometres away. I could’ve used the microphone of the laptop, and let it record the stuff from speakers, but that would’ve resulted in lousy audio quality. So, I started looking for a way to get audio from … Read more

How to start a YouTube show

Instead of building up a vast library of random uploads, it would be a good idea to compartmentalize the content and steer the ideas into defined sections. Starting a series on your channel creates a frame for other, occasional videos and make them stand out more on their own. Creating a separate show on YouTube … Read more

Lyric writing tools that I use

I write lyrics on my laptop, which are often based on handwritten drafts and improvised demo lyrics. I have several tabs open in my browser, and I constantly use various writing tools to find suitable words and check for some expressions and semantic nuances that I may not be sure of. The tools that I … Read more

Setting up an Unzyme live show using Ableton Live

We are a three-person band playing biomechanical pop. We have live vocals, live keyboards, live drums and a backing track. In addition, we have pre-programmed lighting systems for each song. How is all this put together? Our live system has migrated from a very simple collection of separate sound modules to a more integrated mesh of … Read more

Live video recording on GoPro Hero cameras

We record every experiment on at least two GoPro cameras. The main purpose of this is to see how the performance actually looked like, and what could be done better. This is especially great in post mortem situations, when something has gone terribly wrong. It’s the black box of failed experiments. But it’s not just for … Read more

Mobile vocal recording studio

Sometimes the production schedule is so tight that vocals need to be recorded on the road. My vocal recording equipment can be fitted in three briefcases and one laptop backpack. Can’t really walk around with all these devices, but they go nicely into the trunk of a car. My vocal recording setup Audio interface: Scarlett 2i2 … Read more

Synapsi 2014 with Hocico – an experiment report

This is a post from the perspective of me, Ville (the drum guy), on our two gigs in Synapsi with Hocico in August 2014. The diary includes lots of technical stuff, which might be out of the interest-range of many people – all the technical mumbojumbo is therefore written in italic. Unzyme played at Synapsi for the … Read more

Successful musicians are committed

What separates “mediocre” bands and “successful” bands? By mediocre I mean a band that is not very popular. They might have good songs and all, but they’re not really concentrated on becoming successful. And why would a band want to be successful, and a potential sell-out? Because successful bands can earn a living by doing … Read more