Wardrobe Records..

July 10, 2007 - So I've been working on my music for roughly 2-3 months now and I thought I'd just blog a little on what I've been through so far..

See, when 'moi' decided to do an English POP R&B album I didn't want something that's just 'good enough for the market'. I want to create something that the whole world is gonna go "damnnnn. U sure the dude's from Malaysia?". However, there aren't many (or any at all) producers, labels, composers, etc etc in the local industry that can actually do what I want and even if they could, I ain't got the money to engage them. So, cornered and desperate, I'm faced with the only sensible alternative: do it myself.

The journey began in early May 07 when all I had was one very basic computer that was running on P4 2.4ghz, 1gig ram and Cubase SX2.2. Using only the onboard sound card the pc sat on the living room coffee table! I would sit on the floor and come up with melodies and lyrics and then attempt to compose corresponding music to it. It was fun n all, but limitations on my pc didn't allow me to get as far as I wanted and my ass was starting to hurt.

With a twist of fate my bro moved back here to KL and I finally managed to move into a bigger apartment where I get to set up in my bedroom and got to sit down on a chair (which broke recently though).

Then my computer received a slight upgrade due to a good friends upgrade on his own computer. His old P4 2.8ghz, his graph card, and an extra gig of ram made its way into my old thing and things moved a lot smoother. However, my onboard sound card was still a major issue.

My bro, god bless his soul, took pity on me and donated his Soundblaster Live Audigy 2 Value, which is not exactly industry standard but sounded a whole lot better than mine! The excitement was shortlived however as the damn thing had major compatibility issues with cubase... so... this is when the money started leaving my pocket.

I had no choice. I'm not in a situation where I can afford to procrastinate and not progress. So I had to part with Rm500 and purchased an ESI Maya 44 sound card (It might not sound like much to you but I'm unemployed!). Excited like a little boy with a new transformer toy I quickly went home from lowyat and installed it. Damnnnnn it sounded so sweet, even on my crappy e-view speakers.

So now the poota was finally ready for some decent producing... till of course I had to record vocals. Thanks to my mum I had an SM58 mic sitting around that she gave me for one of my past birthdays. But a mic is no good for recordng without a stand for it to sit on. I tried a couple of 'homemade' solutions like sticky tape it to a mop stick but they just didn't work out. So, I was once again cornered to part with Rm100.

Solving one problem simply led to another. My room was so bare that sounds are reflecting everywhere and making its way into the mic whilsts recording. Add that with a noisy pc and you get one very crappy vocal track.

After much brainstorming we came up with the idea to place all the ikea shelves that we have at right angles and then covering it all up with big sized cloths (curtains, blankets, whatever we can find). To further treat it, we placed all our clothes in there too! So it's like a walk in wardrobe now and vocal booth too! (I gotta give props to my partner in crime who helped put it all together with me... it was no easy task).

So far, after a day of tweaking and troubleshooting I've finally recorded a draft track on one of my songs with my gf as the sound engineer. I must admit the accoustics are good, but now the mic is not quite working out. Hmmm. I may have to take out my wallet again... and then there's the new speakers, speaker stands, keyboard...

The whole journey so far reminds of the movie 'hustle & flow' as they pretty much went through the same thing. I loved that movie, and I love what I'm doing. The passion that drives me everyday makes me proud to tell people that I'm pretty much a bum, but working on something big.

It's just the beginning of course, as there is still the album to finish, choreography to learn, the gym, the promotion, etc etc.. but when its all said and done, I'll be proud to say "you know what, the whole thing was made in my bedroom and recorded in my wardrobe!"



sorry no photo of the 'booth' unfortunately. Kinda embarrassing to show you my clothes!