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New Gear Reviews

Posted on by Igama in Gear, Lifestyle, music, Productivity

 

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Berlin, home of Ableton, Soundcloud, Native Instruments, and countless other facets of the electronic music world ❤

 

Hello friends, I hope you had a good weekend. Just wanted to write a little bit about some of the gear I have recently acquired and how that has helped and altered my workflow. I made countless mistakes when it came to buying gear so I hope this will point a few of you in the right direction.

First Here are the items that I recently invested in:

  1. Laptop – Razer Blade 15 – $1799 (On sale for $1599)
    • Everything runs smoothly with loads of customization and a beautiful RGB keyboard and lovely display.
    • High quality enclosure and hardware. Satisfying and accurate touch pad
    • Impressive speakers with a great low end
    • Ability to run most games I play with ease.
  2. Native Instruments Komplete 12 Software Suite  – $575
    • Industry Standard soft-synths, effects, and sampling instruments
    • Wide range of sounds for any style of music
    • Ease of use and ubiquity from their NKS partnership program means many other industry-leading midi controllers and electronic instruments will work seamlessly with NI plugins and have pre-map parameters.
    • One could get by having only this for music making — it’s that good.
  3.  Waldorf – Blofeld Synthesizer Module – $499
    • Compact, yet powerful, digital synthesizer.
    • Categorized Patches  i.e. allows one to designate a patch to a specific category, there are already categories like leads,keys, or bass but you can make custom categories as well
    • I use this synth for the special sounds in a song that you want to stand out from the rest.

So far the combination of a very satisfying laptop experience, with easy to use and customize digital instruments, has really increased my efficiency. I’m no longer frustrated by my laptop not being able to handle what I throw at it. It took a really long to find a laptop I truly enjoy so big ups to Razer for making solid products . The one-two combination of Native Instruments soft synths and Waldorfs powerful Blofeld desktop Module delivers all of the efficacy the world has come to expect of German engineering. Having those tools as the base of my sound design really helps me get into a groove because the Native Instrument tools work so consistently well. It has taken me years to find a setup that helps me get ideas out so well so if you’re in the market, I highly recommend any of the these three items. I’ll try to make a video soon showing them in action.

Happy Creating!

-Igama

Update Spring 2019

Posted on by Igama in Lifestyle, music, Updates

Greetings,

This entry is an update on the happenings since the start of the year and to share a little bit about what’s on the horizon for the rest of the year. I couldn’t ask for a better start of 2019, still I will try to keep it short and sweet.

Firstly, just dropped my first original songs in over a year! Castle EP was released a couple days earlier than intended, due to a distribution error, but we rolled with it and I am really happy with how everything turned out. My amazing companion and co-creator Maja contributed both the cover art for the EP and a vocal performance for track three. I was also blessed to have The Adaptive apply his signature, atmospheric guitar to the title track. This EP helped me break through barriers and I promise I won’t let there be such a long wait between releases next time.

Regarding  what I have planned for the next couple months; you can expect a track I’m producing for a student artist in partnership with Nurture The Creative Mind. Working with students is a joy and privilege and I am very thankful to break up my normal workflow in this way. I’m also working on some spatial mixes using Envelop E4L tools, I want to spatialize my first album and then work on finding a good way to share the music I have been composing in Ambisonics formats to begin with (still waiting for a good time to write in better detail about that, stay tuned). If the timing is right I am going to try and do a small 7″ vinyl release of Castle EP as well. 

Lastly just wanted express my immense gratitude for this stage in my life I just want to slow down and not take it for granted. If you’re listening to my music and have any feedback or want to get involved, shoot me a message at igamasounds.com/connect. Much love and thanks; wishing you all a lovely spring.

 

-Safe Travels

 

Igama

 

New Music – Update Late Winter 2019

Posted on by Igama in music, Productivity, Updates

Greetings,

I figured it was about time for an update on goals and to document the progression of 2019 so far so I’ll touch on that briefly in this post and then share some new moving forward.

Most of this year I have been getting up to speed with Envelop SLC  Pop Up, the arrival of spatial audio in my life has totally altered my goals and I plan to implement Ambisonics into my workflow parallel to my standard stereo work, to start building the foundation for what my future release will rest on.  I’m still not quite ready to write in detail on the subject but  looking forward to sharing more on that later this year.

This year I have also been getting back into my guitar studies to help anchor my musical progression along live performance.  To that end I’ve stated gearing down– selling unused and unneeded gear– as I look to transition to a much lighter load in anticipation of  touring/traveling next year.

Last but not least, I have just wrapped up my first release in over a year called Castle (EP), with tracks featuring The Adaptive and Maja !! I am so thrilled about this music and is my first original music released in over a year. It will be available on every digital platform 4/15 and hopefully a physical format in the future.   Any support would mean a lot and I hope to share more content around these ideas in the coming weeks.

Much Love

-Igama

Triumphs and Transitions

Posted on by Igama in Lifestyle, Traveling, Updates

As I consider everything that 2018 brought I can only be thankful for the life I live. I had a lot of great opportunities arise throughout the year and was fortunately in a position to make the most of these moments when they were presented. I wanted to write this post to document some things that happened last year that move me forward both personally and as an artist and express my intention for next year.

From where my last post left off, I left my day job to be able to travel and just start out on a new foot. I ended up securing a new job in SLC by the time I returned back to the states and so far it has been exactly what I needed. So the risk payed off (Thank God) and left me in a better position than before. So did I learn from this ? When you get the chance to take a risk to do what you love, take it. Life forces almost all of us to take risks for things we don’t love, (houses,cars,etc.) so we may as well take risks for the things we do love!

The synchronization of life was in full effect this year and I saw this clearly when presented with a chance to work on an SLC pop project for Envelop, an SF based non-profit dedicated to amplifying the power of sound by through providing immersive listening experiences. The director and co-founder, Christopher Willits, is an artist whose music has meant a lot to me over the past few years. I actually was able to meet him at one his shows and later connect through his subscription service, Drip. Having this foundation made it possible to jump right in comfortably and start learning right away. I’ll go deeper into this topic in separate post, but being positioned in SLC because of work allowed me to take on the role and open the door to more chances to learn and grow.  The main lesson I learned from this, is to just to have an open heart and support the projects you believe in.

For 2019 my goal is to release as much music as possible and just let love take over every area of my life.  The more I hone in on that force the more I see the world around me working in a positive direction.  I have always invested in my own music, but this year has shown me a new depth of love I can give and that is what I am most thankful for. Here is to surrendering and growing in love for 2019 and year after.

Blessings for the New Year.

-Igama

 

Creative Obstacles

Posted on by Igama in Lifestyle, Productivity, Traveling, Updates

This summer I took a leap of faith and decided to travel to Germany and find a new day job instead of staying in Utah because I couldn’t get the time off approved at my old job. What I have learned so far ? When you want to make progress on your creative journey, you need to clear your path of obstacles that are within your power to address

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Spree – Berlin (2018)

Since coming here to Berlin I have noticed a giant surge in creativity and inspiration from all of the new influences and scenery. I also noticed that having no job hanging over my head (but also little financial stress) has granted a freedom I could only dream of the last two years. This really underscores the importance of saving money as an artist– there is no better way to open up options than having your own resources to work with.  In this way I would say that financial stress and untenable working situations can equally become creative obstacles and one must achieve the right balance to keep moving forward. Furthermore, the “administrative” task of life, paperwork, bills, taxes, etc., are better to take care of right away before they can come together to create bigger problems.

To put it simply, it is easier to be creative and expressive when one isn’t burdened down with unnecessary obligations. Unfortunately, for many of us this ideal seems so far away and we find it hard to see the way out. If this sounds like you, I would like to share my experience of a system that has worked for me in the past.

1. Make a list of tasks to complete in order of priority.

  • Make sure you address the most important tasks first.
  • It is better to bring one task to completion than to leave three things half-finished.

2. Determine how much time you can dedicate to addressing the items on the list.

  • Set aside as much time to complete these things as possible, but don’t forget to leave time for yourself as well.
  • If a task involves researching researching something like jobs or schools, it is really easy to get burned out. Try getting some information and then taking time to digest it — slow and steady is the key.

3. Once you have completed a task, reevaluate the priorities and adjust the order if necessary.

  • Sometimes you will finish a task quicker than expected, when that happens use the momentum to your advantage!
  • Realize some things will take more time than others, if you have done everything possible on your end and are just waiting on another party, move onto the next task or to one that is small enough to complete without stressing you out while you wait.

4. When you run into delays, complications, or dead ends reach out for help!

  • If you have family and friends around don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who might have experience with what you’re working on.
  • When you don’t have people to ask for help, turn to the internet for problems big and small (recently a woman even gave birth with the help of YouTube! )

I hope this will help someone who felt like I did two years ago and would love to hear any other ideas for taking care of life stuff that has worked for you.

Thanks for reading and good luck on your journey!

-Igama

 

Igama Air – Music for Flying

Posted on by Igama in music, Traveling

I’m happy to report I will soon be making my second trip to Berlin! What I did differently to prepare this time is make a Spotify playlist for listening in-air and in-line. It seems like a no-brainer looking back now, but with all of the other preparations it was simply overlooked last year . Having a good playlist keeps your hands free longer and makes airports more bearable, so feel free to follow and add this playlist to your library on Spotify if you use that platform.

On this playlist I started with some energetic downtempo grooves for the pre-flight hustle with some Papadosio, Ulrich Schnauss, and Pantha Du Prince. Next, the music begins to slightly resemble the conversations with myself as I wait for take off with North Valley Subconscious Orchestra’s Neutral Buoyancy . “THIS COULD BE THE ONE THAT GOES DOWN”, goes one voice and ” Non-sense, you’ll be fine just relax, BREATHE…” goes the other. At this point, I let the more rational voice win and the music gives way to some very relaxing ambient compositions including cuts from In the Branches, Machinedrum, Deru, and myself. Of course, you will need to raise your energy just a bit again for the post flight rigamarole before it’s over —  enter Casino Versus Japan, Telefon Tel Aviv, and Hammock to see you through the last tasks and safely on your way.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this playlist even if you don’t use it for a flight. I will keep updating with new songs, keeping the same trajectory for the playlist. I would love to hear what you listen to when flying as well!

Safe Travels My Friends,

Igama

 

Mastering Moderation

Posted on by Igama in Updates

This is the first post for my new site and coming at a time that feels likes a new stage in life for me. This year I have been focusing on refining my skills equally as a producer and performer, while getting my gear in order so I can take this project to the next level.

One of the highlights of the year so far was getting the chance to play outside of Utah for the first time, thanks to EmbryOasis and my friend Shane Cotee aka The Adaptive/In the Branches. I played two sets, one outside by the hot spring and another inside the gorgeous lodge. I couldn’t ask for a better setting or group of people to share that experience with and found both shows to be among the best I have played. To top it all off, my poolside set was graced by The Adaptive, who laid down some beautiful guitar. Also got to finally check off meeting and seeing Stratusphere and Cody Sparks perform (do not sleep on these guys) from my bucket list to complete an inspiring weekend.

Looking ahead, I will be traveling to Berlin to start the summer and then focusing on simultaneously releasing music and playing even more shows to finish out the year. Some originals and a  collaboration with The “aforementioned” Adaptive are coming down the line. I also will be playing an after party for TEDx Ogden some other local Ogden gigs in June. To help me along in executing my plans, I’ve adopted the mantra, “Master Moderation” to meditate upon. So far this focusing is helping me to better manage my time and other resources. Overall I am just feeling really thankful for all the support I have received lately and I am looking forward to sharing the results of much hard work soon!

Much love and Safe Travels ❤

Poolside set – EmbryOasis III (Paradise,ID) – Photo by Shane Cotee
Cabin set – EmbryOasis III Photo by Shane Cotee
Poolside set – EmbryOasis III (Paradise,ID) – Photo by Shane Cotee
Cabin set – EmbryOasis III Photo by Shane Cotee
Poolside set – EmbryOasis III (Paradise,ID) – Photo by Shane Cotee

*Photos courtesy of Shane Cotee via TheAdaptive.net