In a new country, being able to record again
I’ve been now living in Buenos Aires for the past six months. As far as music gear goes, I came here pretty much just with my bass guitar and bunch of cables. I’ve been playing my electric Fender Jazz Bass acoustically until I decided to purchase an audio interface. I got the Scarlett Solo by Focusrite. It was extremely refreshing to hear some amplified bass sound again. I messed around for several weeks with GarageBand. I suddenly realized that I could produce some Black Sea Storm songs without heavy gear. I decided to get a copy of Logic Pro X, and an electric guitar.
Ten days ago I was able to get a hold of a US made Fender Startocaster. Owning a US made Fender seem to be a big luxury here. Entering foreign goods to Argentina can be complicated, and music gear tend to be outrageously expensive. I’ve always tried to welcome and embrace limitations with Black Sea Storm. I see constrains as creativity boosters. With my Fender Jazz Bass, the Stratocaster, and my laptop, I should be able go back to production. I’ve already started recording ideas with Logic Pro X for the past 10 days. I’m amazed how good the virtual amps are sounding on there. I don’t have monitors yet, so I’m making this judgment only based on listening to the sound through my Beyerdynamics DT 770 headphones. Some of the amps with the initial presets sound so good, that I started questioning my abilities to set up real guitar amp properly. We’ll see if I’ll still be as excited as I am now when I start recording songs for real.
I am also highly impressed how easy it is to get started with Logic Pro X, in comparison to ProTools. Obviously Apple engineers have the talent to make things to be easy and accessible. In more advanced stages of the recording process, I might miss Pro Tools, but for now the honeymoon is still going on with Logic.
My favorite DAW to this day still remains the Sony Vegas. It was extremely easy to use. To me, it almost felt like recording with a tape recorder.
Enough of gear talk. I don’t think the main challenge to pursue the Black Sea Storm adventure here in Argentina is going be accessing gear. The main challenge is going to be to find moments of deep focus, and be able to record on a regular basis. I am really exited to be in Buenos Aires, and really exited to be able to make music again.