Mike Whitla’s Blog

First Day of School

September second.
Summer is over.
My oldest child starts the first grade.

I already miss summer.

Making a Recording (Part 2)

This article is the continuation of this article

Ok as expected things have taken longer than predicted but better late than never here is the second installment of this series on making a recording.

I have now mixed the sound a fair bit by doing the following:

Drum parts are recorded with many microphones with mics on each separate drum as well as overhead mics.
So one thing that can make a big difference is to remove the silence (not really silent) in between the drum strikes. This way you get Bass drum tracks with only bass drum sound on them not the bleed through of other drums like the snare etc.

There has also been a fair bit added to the recording. There are now 6 separate vocal tracks. There are also ghost parts played on the electric guitar. Ghost parts are used as place holders for other parts in this case the electric guitar is standing in for saxaphone. In September I will replace some of these parts with horns and add a solo in the middle part. Anyway here is how our track sounds now. . .  .

Rock ‘n’ Rainbow’s first video

Like the title says. . .

Rainbow Songs Foundation gets Charitable Status

Earlier this year an not-for profit off-shoot of Rainbow Songs was founded. The purpose of this organization is to bring the same high quality music programs that Rainbow Songs is famous for to people that do not have the means to experience them. So the Rainbow Songs Foundation runs Rainbow Songs programs for families staying in shelters in the GTA. Earlier this year we applied for charitable status so we could issue tax receipts for donations. This week Read the rest of this entry »

Origin of “Four White Horses”

This is a wonderfully catchy song from the Caribbean. There is a really great 4 person clapping game that goes with it too.
Anyway, the words I learned was from a workshop run by Doug Goodkin. The words of this song never made any sense to me. But I did love the song as well as the clapping game that went along with it.
No doubt a song like this has been passed person to person though many generations and probably the words have changed during the transitions.
Particularly as the song has crossed cultures. The song is originally from somewhere warm and is now sung my me in Canada.

Four White Horses (words I learned from Doug Goodkin)

Four white horses by the river
Hey, hey, hey, up tomorrow.
Up tomorrow is a rainy day.
Come on and join our shadow play. Read the rest of this entry »