Artist Profile: Joboj

Take a pinch of Rossini, a heaping cupful of Slipknot, and a dollop of Muppets, and you get Joboj, a lunchmeat-obsessed, maniac guitarist with an undeniable in-your-face style of playing that smacks you upside the head, but leaves you strangely satisfied. Joboj, a diehard SONAR user, has provided music for MTV, VH1, Adrenaline TV, and most recently provided the demo song entitled Screaming Chicken that is included with the latest Guitar Tracks Pro & SONAR 2.0 software. "Without SONAR, I'd be lost. It gives me the freedom to create what's in my brain, without sonic limitations. I'm using SONAR as my prime DAW software. It's basically the brains of my musical creativity. I've always composed directly into a sequencer. I started back in the Cakewalk for DOS days (yikes!), that program was great for the time, but let me tell you SONAR makes creating music so much easier. It brings out the mad scientist in me." Before laying down his blistering guitar parts, Joboj has a unique method for composing his backing tracks.

"I'm a control freak. I compose the MIDI parts for my songs in the Event List, typing in the note and time values using my computer keyboard. I then tweak the snot out of them for as many variations as I need using custom CAL routines I've written and the Controllers pane in the Piano Roll view. The CAL routines are basically to randomize velocity levels and timing subtly to give the MIDI tracks a more human feel. I then play my programmed tracks (via MIDI) through Gigasampler, and re-record them back into SONAR for total digital manipulation."

You would think that tracks recorded using this method might sound a little robotic, but when listening to Joboj's music you can't tell which tracks are live and which are programmed.

"I like to work in SONAR at 960 PPQN, and that's my secret for creating great sounding MIDI tracks. At that resolution you can give your tracks the subtle rhythmic nuances that really make them come alive and breathe.

SONAR gives me the flexibility to be self-reliant while making music. And as for recording guitars and other audio...hands down, it's the greatest!"

Read Joboj's tech tip on programming MIDI drums.

Visit Joboj's website to download MP3s and for more information on this artist.

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