Posts by jhunger

Ah, you hit on a sore spot with the health insurance thing! That is the main reason why I won’t be quitting my day job any time soon. Don’t know what it’s like in Switzerland, but in the US insurance costs are extremely high if the company you work for isn’t pitching in.

I agree with Dan as well – give it some time and save up some money before making the leap. But I tend to be quite conservative in this, and it also depends on whether you’re just responsible for yourself, or if you’ve got dependents. There are a great many more things I would risk if it were just me I needed to look out for.

FWIW the last couple of days have also slowed down considerably for me after an otherwise pretty good March. There may be a lull this week because of US spring break. Or it could be a coincidence!

Pretty much the same for me – guitars, uke, mandolin, banjo, and most percussion are all live recorded into a mic. Any keyboard instruments (piano, electric piano) are vsti, which makes sense because they translate directly. Normally I steer clear of any instrument I can’t play on my own that doesn’t translate to a keyboard (besides a drum kit, because I don’t have the room), like solo horns or solo strings, because I can never get them to sound even remotely convincing. I will sometimes use string ensembles but just as light pads, and more often than not I’ll choose a fake, synthy string sound for this purpose.

Okay, in all seriousness, because the OP had an interesting question:

The greatest thing about the stock scene is that I can write whatever I feel like. There is no one telling me the exact feel that they want, or BPM, or whatever, and that it’s due yesterday. So, I rarely go into writing a stock track thinking that I’m going to do something in particular, or at least if I do I’m not often successful. The best selling tracks were ones that just came together quickly one way or another.

I get writers block a lot because my time for producing music is maybe 3-5 times a week from around 9:00 to 10:15 PM, and maybe an hour or two in the afternoon on the weekends – not a lot of leeway there. If I can’t come up with something right away, I’ll try switching instruments, and if that doesn’t work I’ll just start playing some cover songs to relax a bit. Inevitably, I’ll come up with something that I like just after 10:00 and will record it on my iPhone as a sketch to work on next time I can get in the studio.

So, for me there’s no deciding what to write next. It either comes, or it doesn’t, and when it does I just hope it’s something buyers will like .

BrownHouseMedia said
I just grab my Uke and go for it.

LMAO – that made my day

MValentino said
...I forgot to say that your work is quite good, keep writing music of this quality

Agreed Also my apologies for ragging on the trombone earlier

Green_Eyes said
Ukulele sound has a special magic. Whatever you play it sounds jokingly and naively. I think ukulele is not so serious instrument such as trombone or violin.

I disagree. A violin can sound just as jovial and naive as an ukulele depending on the song, and an ukulele can sound very beautiful and serene in the right hands. Ukuleles are not all toys, and there are people who take them very seriously. If you ever get a chance to go to Hawaii, find yourself a music store and play some of the better ones, and talk to the staff and other musicians there, and then you may have a different opinion.

And if we’re making a list of silly instruments, I’m not so sure that trombone wouldn’t be out of place.

Congratulations! Nina is adorable

Congratulations, SilverHoof!

Hey guys, thanks for catching that! I think that’s the first time any of my tunes has been transcribed