Getting ready to go back to LA!

Squids here in the New Year giving a quick update on things. Just got my ticket to go to LA/Anaheim in a couple weeks for the Winter NAMM Show. That's a trade show that happens every year for makers of musical instruments and equipment. I've been going to them each year without fail for over 20 years. I would originally go just to check out the latest gear and technology but then in the mid 90's I started going as a music product vendor myself with Sonic Reality sample libraries. I think when I get a minute I'll tell some stories of past NAMM experiences. One of the best times was showing keyboard drumming tips to Stevie Wonder who was playing my drum samples in 2005 on the last day of NAMM. I think there's even a video of that but here's a picture:

Stevie Wonder playing Sonic Reality sounds at NAMM in the IK Multimedia Booth

Whenever I go to LA there's always a few sessions and sushi. It's a must! One of the sessions I'm doing this time is with both McBroom Sisters, Durga and Lorelei who each sang with Pink Floyd as well as many other artists. I've already done sessions recording them individually, one with Durga in LA engineered by Alan Parsons and another in Connecticut with Lorelei. Not only are they singing on Sonic Elements' special Floyd tribute album that I'm co-producing but we're also doing some cool vocal sampling this time and more. I'll be able to share all about that later. But I'm looking forward to it! Their voices compliment each other so well. Plus they're a lot of fun.

Lorelei and Durga McBroom

I'm going to meet up with producer/engineer Ken Scott who I worked with on creating "EpiK DrumS" featuring Billy Cobham, Terry Bozzio, Rod Morgenstein, Bob Siebenberg and Woody Woodmansey (the drummers of bands Ken produced and recorded back in the day such as Supertramp, David Bowie, Missing Persons, Dixie Dregs, Mahavishnu Orchestra). We're going to go over new updates to the series that will be released in 2013 plus a possible music project involving various well-known names in rock. Once again I'll have to wait to share the details but that too is exciting!

Producer/Engineer Ken Scott (Beatles, Elton John, Bowie, Supertramp...)

In fact, 2013 is going to be a great year for music and sampling projects. We've got the release of the debut album from a band called "Sound of Contact" that I'm in with Simon Collins, son of Genesis frontman/drummer Phil Collins, the release of a Sonic Elements Rush tribute album featuring Neil Peart Drums which I'm mixing this month and so much more! Always busy with something and there's never a dull moment. Even just the other day apparently Timbaland stopped by my studio partner's room and they "jammed" on some keyboards. I totally missed the event because I was deep in wires. I'm in the midst of re-wiring my studio for upcoming mixes. That same day I was working on a track with Francis Dunnery, Keith Emerson and Steve Hackett (Steve's parts being recorded this month)! Talk about unusual combinations of musical activity condensed in a day! But, I like it like that. If you've been following along with this blog you know I do.