Hi everyone! It's certainly been a while since the last post, which I think was 3 weeks ago (2 weeks of no posts), but time sure flies especially in this days-all-merge-into-one norm we've found ourselves in! It's been a jam packed few weeks though and I've a tonne of exciting updates to share. Let's get to it!

First of all, a correction / nullification... shortly after the last blog post in which I posted my usual goals for the month, I realised 2 things: Number one, I'd forgotten about some MUCH more urgent projects to finish which already have set release dates; and number two, without knowing exactly when I plan to release those new Jabun projects, it's actually impossible for me to finish the admin work for them... As such, due to the urgent nature of other projects I'm putting the upcoming Jabun album(s) (which are near to completion) on hold for the moment so I can focus on finishing the more urgent projects. Sorry about that!

But what's this all for? What could be more urgent than Jabun? Well there is the matter of a certain Better Than The Book bonus album to be released in July, and I forgot just how much work, both proof listening and admin, it takes to get that sorted, not to mention the lead times for distribution and the wait times for registration services such as PPL and PRS to update their database. As such, a HUGE chunk of the last few weeks has been dedicated to getting that sorted, and I'm happy to say, the product is now 100% finished and the registration admin work is done! All I've got to do now is sort out the distribution and get the audio uploaded to stores and then it'll be time to announce it! Expect another early bird $5+ Patreon reward coming very soon!

Next, a small update but an exciting one for me personally nonetheless! After many months of sticky keys and crackly pots, I took the plunge, ordered some replacement parts and finally fixed my Moog Werkstatt-01 synth, and it plays better now than it has done for years! Great to have it in 100% working order again, and I look forward to using that in future Jabun projects!

And speaking of gear, after finally selling an amp I've been holding for a few months (and making a nice profit on it), this week I happened upon a bargain which I've been looking and longing for for YEARS and couldn't resist sinking all that new found cash into (a bit of a 30th Birthday present to myself). The keen eared among you know how much I love the sound of organ in both Better Than The Book and Jabun (where appropriate), especially that gritty combo organ sound that can be heard in tracks such as "The Grind" and the solo in "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)" (though of course I love a good Hammond sound too). Up until now, with the exception of "Free of Routine" from my early years in Crow's Wing (where I used a 70s Yamaha Electone organ which sadly and regrettably I couldn't keep), I've only been able to use computer emulations to get that beautiful sound, but as of Tuesday, I finally have an organ of my own again, and WHAT AN ORGAN! Keeping with my Yamaha roots, I was super fortunate to find a Yamaha YC-25D combo organ on eBay! Unlike the Electone of my teen years, this one is designed for travel and stage use and even packs up into its own suitcase (which weights a tonne but is super neat), though of course you need a separate amplifier! The sound palette is lovely, closely approximating Hammond, Vox and Farfisa sounds as well as of course Yamaha's own lovely organ sounds, and with the right effects some reasonable pipe-organ esq sounds too. First made in 1972 it's a beast of engineering and as sturdy as a tank! Unfortunately there are 2 slight faults with it at the moment (not too bad considering it's coming up to 50 years old), but these only become noticeable under very specific circumstances and are nothing that makes the organ unplayable or any less fun at the moment. When I can (no rush) I'll likely take it to a specialist to "unlock the DLC", as unlike the Moog I think I'll hand this one to the professionals! I guess I'll be saving up for that and a rotary speaker next! Maybe some bass pedals? Check out the Yamaha YC-25D below (gotta love the colour)!

I'll need to do some reORGANising of the studio layout this week to best accommodate this new member of the JabunAudio family! Looking forward to the many hours of fun it'll bring!

​Next, I've received some very exciting messages recently with some potentially interesting connections, collaborations and client work coming up, but I'll have to save details for if they get set in stone. Interesting times nonetheless! I'll keep you posted.

And finally this week, it's certainly been a while since the last one, but yesterday was once again the final Wednesday of the month which means another set of Patreon reward posts are out for the $5 and $10 patrons! After a few months' break we're finally back to the Jabun back-catalogue of tracks, and this time we're starting on the 2016 discography with another remix track: "Verlies Projekt - (Feels Like) Heaven [Jabun Hardcore Remix]"!  

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36611523
$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36611529​

This one was a fun remix for a competition back in September 2016, just after I'd moved out of my parent's place but before I had a dedicated studio room set up. My "studio" at the time was an IKEA coffee table in the living room / kitchen with my laptop, some Logitech speakers and Sennheiser headphones, and a couple of synths and my MPC, and it was an interestingly limited time for making music to say the least! Anyway, along came a remix competition and it sounded like fun so I thought, let's try something completely different to my usual sound: a hardcore remix! After ironing out some crazy mixing anomalies I didn't expect due to my less than ideal listening environment, I'm super pleased with the way this one turned out, and I hope you enjoy something fun and different from me this month! Listen on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrFhWqrLoLY 

For the $10 patrons, you've got another exclusive demo from Jabun's upcoming albums to look forward to as well as an article on the composition/production process for it! Become a $10 patron to access that article and many more now, and remember that you'll gain access to all historic rewards and posts for your Patreon tier too when you become a supporter! With the new REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them :) 

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

​That's it for this month's rewards! Next time is looking to be something (sort-of) new again from Better Than The Book, and possibly a little earlier than usual too for the $5+ patrons! We shall see how the timing goes!

And that about wraps things up for this week! I've got some sorting out to do in the studio to accommodate this new organ, and I'm sure there'll be more admin and audio work to keep me busy next week too! Until the next post, I hope you have a great time whatever you're up to and thanks as always for supporting JabunAudio and my various music projects! Stay safe and take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far despite the new(ish) normality! Another one on lock down over here at JabunAudio, though I've been taking it a bit easier this week with a much needed break so there's not a whole lot new to report this week. I had a fun 505 day celebration jamming on my own vintage TR-505 drum machine, and have been busy with some artwork things for upcoming Jabun projects, but that's been about the extent of my productive updates. Back to audio and other things this coming week, though I'll be pacing myself for a while I think. Onto the news for this post, some things to celebrate before we move onto the usual monthly reflections. Let's get started!

First of all, on Monday I celebrated the 3rd anniversary of my debut album as Jabun - Daydream which was released May 4th 2017! Crazy to think that was 3 years and 2 studios ago and so much has happened since then! With its fair share of internet media and video games features, I think Daydream did well for itself as my first full length release as Jabun and it certainly seems time to follow it up a new album (or more) later this year! Lots more Jabun in the pipeline to come but if you've yet to check out Daydream, listen to it and pick it up on Bandcamp and all the usual places. I hope you enjoy it:

Next and finally this week, it's the beginning of another month so it's time to reflect on targets and goals for April and set some new ones for May! Here's what I set for myself last time:

1) Complete my tax return
2) Renew the JabunAudio website
3) Get the audio 100% complete for the upcoming cover song 
4) Learn the 17 BTTB songs that currently have live band arrangements
5) Write 120+ minutes of Jabun demos (total)

And a pretty successful month it has been! 1), 2) and 3) were completed with not much else to say! 4) made reasonable progress though was slowed especially in the last week or so due to hay fever and certain working from home considerations. Overall by the last time I practiced which was a week(ish) ago I could sing and play through all 17 tracks with some simplifications as needed. 13 of them I would say I was happy to gig, the other 4 not quite but nearly there for one of them. A good effort given the circumstances I think but a bit more work to do in the coming month for sure! 5) was blown out of the water with a whopping 148+ minutes demoed in total by even a few weeks ago! With so much new material, I've decided to put writing on hold for a while and focus on the next 2 albums which are shaping up very nicely! Overall, happy with the progress though I'd like to have got more done with regards rehearsing those BTTB tracks (not that I know when we'll be able to take it to the stage anymore...). Onto some goals for May, let's set some new ones!

1) Learn the 17 BTTB songs from last month (effectively 4 more to finish + polishing the rest)
2) Sort artwork, mp3s (etc...) and admin work for mystery cover song (ready for release)
3) Finish final audio + sort mp3s (etc...) and admin work for next Jabun album (ready for release)
4) Finish initial mixing the following Jabun album ready for final tweaks and mastering
5) Fix my Moog synth

Now I don't expect to get everything on this list done 100%, but the more the better for progress! 1) Is sort of low priority until I know when BTTB can gig again, but I'd like to get it done for my own benefit and enjoyment. 2) & 3) I'd like to get things all sorted, though there may be some lead time on the admin work being completed. The audio is so close to finishing on the Jabun album too with the final artwork already sorted this week. 4) 1 track done, 3 left to go with regards the mixing on the following Jabun album and it's not far off for 2/3 of those other tracks. Just gotta go and do it I suppose! 5) I actually had this on my personal (not published) list for last month and while I thought I had fixed it, the problem seems to be intermittent again as of last week so I'm going to have to but the bullet and replace some components... Basically the top key is sometimes sticking, or double triggering, or not triggering at all so needs replacing. Less annoying but also a problem is that the cutoff pot of the filter is a bit scratchy and ought to be replaced. It's been like that for a while but if I'm going to fix the Moog I might as well try to fix all of it! Trying to source the parts has been difficult though so we'll see. Fixing the key is priority, cutoff pot is bonus. Aiming to have it all fixed up and in perfect working order (still works for sequencer play with the problems, but ideally no problems is better) by the end of the month depending on how long it takes to get the 2 replacement parts. We shall have to see! All in all some busy times ahead with those goals so wish me luck! Feel free to share your goals in the comments below too and we can keep each other accountable!

And that about wraps things up for this week's blog post. Client work's been a bit dry over here since the lock down started, so I'll be keeping busy with my own projects in the mean time and from the list above, I'm sure there'll be plenty to get on with. We'll see how much there is to report next week but until then, I hope you have a great week and thanks as always for supporting JabunAudio, Jabun, Better Than The Book, and my various projects! Stay safe as always and see you in the next one! Take care!