What’s The Story Behind Downtime Studio?

I’ve always wanted an organized space dedicated for my guitars and recording equipment. This past year it’s finally come together.

Now I spend too many late nights learning some of my favorite songs and challenging myself to see what I can do with them and trying to get the best sound quality that I can. I usually post the tunes on YouTube and SoundCloud [where you can download these tracks for free] and include them on this site also.

I’ve been learning what I could about Cubase for about the past year or so … a lot of trial and error, and a lot of tutorials and tips from various YouTube sites have helped a great deal.

I’ve had my guitars for many years. My “main” guitar for recording is my Ovation and I’ve had that now for about 11 years. This past year I got an Axiom 61 2nd Gen midi-controller keyboard … and that, well, changed what’s possible with my recordings. With that keyboard I control VST instruments from with Cubase … and there is no end of possibilities of what can be done with those. The keyboard, attached to various VSTs, can trigger sampled acoustic drums, pianos, orchestra strings, synth sounds, rain storm sounds, wind and on and no …

Aside from the instruments I also got myself an incredible microphone –> Rode NT1-A and ahh-mazing headphones –> Audio-Technica ATH-M50. I also use a Line 6 UX2 audio interface to get the mic and guitar signals into Cubase. Recent addition to the studio are a pair of KRK VXT 6 monitors. They sound incredible and should allow me to hear every detail and frequency in the music to hopefully result in producing cleaner mixed tracks.

Downtime Studio is where I can chill … shut out the world and make music … and I love it …

If you’ve read this far, I hope you can find one or two recordings here that you’ll enjoy. I’ve enjoyed trying to do my best with each of these tunes. The covers I do here are among my favorite songs … and some were picked by my wife.

Cheers to you …