Polgar

Tracking tracks

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 06:01:00 +0000

Tracking tracks

The songwriting is going swimmingly. We’re writing — and recording via my template — a song each session. But one of our ideas is something we want to finish properly before we start tracking our debut EP. So while we plan to keep our songwriting routine going, we’re going to try and record Zombie Space.

I’m really quite excited — it’ll be good to release something of ours into the aether while we continue to hone what we want our first EP to be. It’s also a great chance to test how well a Reaper project can transition from my songwriting template into a more “tracking friendly” state.

The first technique I’m using is dedicated tracking tracks — which sounds like silly wordplay but actually makes complete sense. For each instrument, whether it’s beatboxing, vocals, guitar, or even a MIDI keyboard part, I create a separate track where all new takes are recorded. Once we’re happy with that performance, the recorded or comped item gets moved somewhere more logical, freeing up the tracking track for the next idea from that instrument. It keeps the project organised and makes it quick to set up the right monitoring FX for a perfect take, whether that’s a hint of reverb or just rolling off the subs.

Having a dedicated track for tracking also makes it easier to set levels for monitoring mixes. I used to (in moments of haste) just duplicate tracks and rename them, but this new method is cleaner, faster, and far more intentional.

– Chris

Beatboxing mics

Sat, 29 Nov 2025 16:54:00 +0000

Beatboxing mics

Before we started our songwriting session today, Mike and I tried out a few different ways of recording his beatboxing. There are plenty more microphones I want to test, but in our whole collection it seems the humble SM58 handles it best — somehow sounding better than the fancier options.

To be clear, it’s not perfect. The low-end isn’t as full as we’d like, and it doesn’t capture every tiny detail, but it delivers a punch that nothing else managed. And for beatboxing, those natural percussive transients are the holy grail. After all, more bass can always be added later with triggered parallel pitch-shifting or layered synths.

So while we’re writing, Mike is just using the same setup we use for live shows with the loop-station. I simply track the main outputs and match the tempo in Reaper.

– Chris

Gotta’ get that toan

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 19:08:00 +0000

Gotta’ get that toan

For this songwriting Reaper template, instead of firing up the old Voxes, I’m using my two favourite amp-sim plugins: IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube and Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig. AmpliTube offers a downright delicious recreation of the AC30, and Guitar Rig comes loaded with gloriously odd presets for ambient, textural, and effect-driven sounds.

There are a couple of little tricks I use to make these digital tools feel more natural while I’m playing through them. First, I always drop a modelled compressor between the power amp and the speaker sim. I usually reach for some flavour of 1176 when I want that funky, snappy bite, and a Vari-Mu (a tube compressor) when I’m after “moar toan”. That’s a huge part of what a valve power amp does: warmly squeezing the signal into something that breathes.

The other trick — easily my most overused move in my entire plugin toolbelt — is sticking a good saturation plugin on the guitar bus. Usually FabFilter Saturn, because it just works.

All of this is purely for the feel of the instrument. I care very little about the supposed “authenticity” of a guitar tone, especially given that guitarists tend to be the only people who notice.

– Chris

Write space

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 21:06:00 +0000

Write space

How can I create the best environment for us to write music?

Recently, the three of us have been on a proper songwriting streak. It’s been so productive that we’ve shelved all our other plans and thrown ourselves into making our first EP. Step one is simple: write more songs for it. We already have a healthy pile of individual ideas and half-finished pieces, but while we’re in this creative gear, it feels right to carve out time for fresh material that sounds like “Polgar.”

I want to catch as much of that new music as possible the moment it sparks. To help with that, I’ve started building a template in Reaper. Plenty of producers swear by templates in their DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), but I’ve never been the biggest fan. There’s something romantic about opening a blank project with no blueprint and no expectations. Still, once multiple people are involved and momentum is precious, a bit of structure goes a long way.

So now I’m retraining my “blank page” instincts. The template isn’t a cage; it’s more like staff lines to write on, or graph paper that lets you draw freely without losing the thread.

– Chris

Sitemap

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 09:17:00 +0000

Sitemap

Is it necessary to create a sitemap.xml file for a static site in 2025? Probably not, but if we want to be good internet citizens, we should conform to all the things the little robots crave. This site already has a robots.txt, so that box is ticked.

Creating a sitemap is easy once your site is online. There are websites and tools that iterate through all your pages — dynamic or static — and forge a perfectly serviceable file. But it took me far too long to find an offline, static-site sitemap generator, so I’m building my own.

The goal is that each time I deploy the site, Zine will do its thing and generate the public folder, then my sitemap tool will scan it and create an up-to-date sitemap.xml. Should be fairly simple to implement (famous last words).

I’m writing it in Zig, of course. It makes sense to use the same toolchain as Zine, and I’m rather fond of the language. I’m naming it Pathwright.

– Chris

Pick a colour

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 10:09:43 +0000

Pick a colour

Any new artist needs a recognisable art style, and it certainly helps to stay consistent across photos, logos, videos, fonts – even the way you write. These things can evolve, of course. Traditionally (since the 60s), bands have tied changes in their visual identity to album cycles. I’m not convinced the “album” should be the milestone musicians organise themselves around anymore, but that’s a conversation for another day.

Once you’ve settled on a colour you like, building a palette around it has never been easier. You don’t need a degree in colour theory to open up coolors.co or color-hex.com and happily experiment until something fits your aesthetic.

It didn’t take us long to land on the red we wanted. A mix of French New Wave posters, Tarantino’s stylised grit, and some striking Queen’s Gambit fan art nudged us towards the rather seductive #c60420.

– Chris

Hello, World!

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:19:00 +0000

Hello, World!

What the hell is a noiselog?

It’s like a devlog. So what’s a devlog? “A devlog is a blog or diary that updates an audience on the development progress of a project, typically a video game, website, or app.”
Wiktionary

Why do this? I like microblogging, nerding out about music, coding, audio tech, and how musicians work behind the scenes. The more in-depth stuff will probably end up in the blog. Also, with this outlet, I can avoid nerding out on social media… too much.

– Chris