Category: Music production

Pirate Jenny’s fourth full-length release, Head Above Water, contains 12 new tracks written and produced by Kevin Hendrickson, Paul Iannotti, and John Morgan, as well as one cover song. Following a 20-year haitus, Head Above Water’s thematic pirate rock is a natural sequel to their 1990s releases Never Sea Land, and Once Upon A Wave,…

I made this little tutorial showing one of my favorite techniques: tempo mapping. It\’s a way to create a groove that feels natural, but still allow the opportunity to layer samples and loops that are right on the beat.  

Creating nuanced performances of virtual instruments takes more than great keyboard chops, it takes a free left hand that can move faders along with each performance (or after, in a second pass), printing midi controller messages in lanes parallel to the midi notes. These midi controller messages — including expression, modulation, and breath — give…

Rowena Crest It was a feeling of accomplishment as we rolled in to Shannon’s Ice Cream Shop in the Dalles, Oregon, after completing the approximately 55 mile journey from Multnomah Falls. We had spent two days riding, with an overnight stay at Viento State Park campground. Although many cyclists choose to ride from Portland, we…

Here’s how to use a keyboard shortcut to easily nudge a note up or down in MOTU Digital Performer’s midi editor, using the Windows version of Digital Performer. Select the note Hold both the cntrl key and the opt (Windows) key while pressing the up or down arrow keys to move a note chromatically. (on…

Postmodern Pirates in 2018 – Bruce Withycombe, Willie Matheis, Thom Sullivan, Kevin Hendrickson, Jeff Langston Throughout 2018 my ska-rock band Postmodern Pirates lived large on stage in a small venue – The Alberta Street Pub. Though we had a nice little following who enjoyed our live performances, we never put out any recordings other than…

Problem: Every time you open the Midi Key editor in Cubase 11 you find that your grid is now in minutes and seconds instead of bars and beats. This makes it difficult to move chunks of midi around. Solution:You can set the default rule display to bars and beats — or whatever measure of time…

For those of you who compose music in Ableton, Pro Tools, Reaper, etc, TouchOSC is a great tool for creating customized control surfaces on your iPad or phone. Hexler\’s TouchOSC app for iOS let\’s you create amazing customized controllers for your DAW. Image from Hexler website. Usually TouchOSC connects via a wifi network, but sometimes…

Captain Bogg & Salty crossing the bar around 2000. Photo by Anthony Georgis It turns out the answer is five. Kevin Hendrickson has never ridden a JetSki, but he has started five pirate rock bands I have never ridden a JetSki, but I started five pirate rock bands That\’s correct, five. Each person is allowed…

The place I spend most of my time making music I\’ve been making music with computers for years now, but only recently have I discovered their limitations, and how they can bog down the process. When I was scoring Oddbods, and Disney\’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates, it was all about speed and workflow.…