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He’s a man who wears many different hats—and we’re not just talking wardrobe. One day he’s a music producer, the next he’s doing PR while he creates album-cover artwork. But first and foremost, Robert Harris is a full-time jazz and R&B musician. Based in central Florida, Robert Harris and the Robert Harris Group perform their Latin-influenced smooth jazz at festivals, jazz clubs—even on cruise ships. And while Robert may be a natural at multitasking, he also gets help from his armory of HP PCs. Learn how each of Robert’s HP PCs play an important role in his music career.
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Meet Robert
Ready to Shop
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» A band of HP PCs |
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The creative process |
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» Looking back, looking ahead |
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I begin my creative process in my “think tank” writing station. I use my first HP dv4 Notebook PC to write the songs and record my ideas like a painter creates a rough sketch. I keep working on the ideas until they turn into songs—creating choruses, melodies and arrangements.
Once I have a clear vision for a song, I transfer these song “blueprints” to the HP m9400 Desktop PC in my recording studio. Then I re-record each of my rough tracks using high-quality inputs that plug into each of my instruments. This high-quality interface is important because the computer can only record the level of quality that’s coming into it.
Next, I lay down the guitar tracks then add the keyboard parts, string arrangements and drum rhythms. I use Cakewalk SONAR™ Producer software to individually record separate tracks for each instrument and element, including drums, bass, keyboard and vocals. When I’ve recorded all the separate tracks, I mix them together and master them to create a balanced, harmonized song.
Once I get the arrangements the way I want them, I burn them on disc and send the final CD to a stamping plant for mass production. I also send those mastered files back to my performing HP dv4, so I can cut them down a little for live performances.
I often need to modify an album’s recordings for live performances since I need live endings instead of the fade out used on records. I fix the fadeouts and add the metronome parts all on my HP dv4 Notebook PC. Then, the band and I take these modified tracks on the road for our live concerts.
When the Robert Harris Group performs live, we use the dv4 for a variety of reasons. Virtually all concerts use some kind of backing tracks to enhance the performance. We play the instrumental tracks from our recording sessions while playing all those instruments live for a richly layered sound.
While we’re on stage, the computer generates what we call a click track, which is a metronome. That metronome is sent on a dedicated line through the audio interface directly to the drummer—the only one who can hear it. The drummer locks into the click track and the rest of the band locks into the drummer’s rhythm, so it’s seamless.
My dv4 also comes in handy when I’m filling in the blanks in my schedule by doing solo, duo or trio work. I have all the other parts to the song recorded on separate tracks (the keyboards, bass, drum, etc.)—and they’re all ready to go on my dv4.
If I’m going to do a duo with my drummer, for example, I simply unmute the bass and keyboard tracks and we play along with that. These backing tracks have all the instruments from our recording, and we play our instruments (guitar and drums) live.
Having these separate tracks is a huge advantage for me because it means I can take a variety of gigs. Depending on the budget for a particular gig, I can decide the best instrumentation arrangements and plan accordingly. It’s like having a full band in my laptop.
Come back in early April for more about Robert’s smooth jazz creations.
