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https://soundcloud.c...on-i-like-you-1

 

All this is missing is live drums. I did my best with GarageBand's drums, but they're not ideal and... difficult to keep in time. But! The rest of this is probably my best recording.

 

Making progress! In addition to Elvis Costello, I hear a bit of Pete Townsend in your voice. Do you hear that, too?

 

I haven't really heard those comparisons before, though I can definitely see them! My dad has told me he thinks I have a kind of later period David Bowie voice at times. Thank you much, JARG! :)

 

Vocally I hear more Pete than Elvis, but compositionally, it's the other way around. It's weird how influences can sneak in without us knowing it.

 

Definitely! When I wrote the song actually I was going for Tom Petty, lol. But I can definitely hear Costello's snappy songwriting style hiding back there as well. I'll have to revisit some Pete solo stuff so I can hear that comparison better, but he has a really beautiful voice. I've definitely spent some time just singing that one line he sings from Bargain over and over again to myself, lol.

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https://soundcloud.c...on-i-like-you-1

 

All this is missing is live drums. I did my best with GarageBand's drums, but they're not ideal and... difficult to keep in time. But! The rest of this is probably my best recording.

 

I like this!......if you wouldn't take it amiss, I would be more than happy to put a drum track on to it that would do it more justice if you like :-)

 

Seriously? That would be incredibly appreciated! Those GarageBand drums were a nightmare to make work. I can send over the GarageBand over DM if you like.

 

And also I never apologized for being so stubborn with you earlier in this thread. You were just offering advice and I wasn't listening. Sorry for acting dumb.

 

The GB project won't do it I'm afraid, but what will is if you host a drumless wav (we can use dropbox or google drive etc) and let me know the BPM...that should be enough for me to work with

And don't worry about earlier....I remember when I was first learning to mix/master and having to accept often humbling (though always constructive) criticism from stoopid and it can be difficult to swallow.

If you wish to produce some of your tracks a bit better then I can help with that as some of your ideas are really good....in turn maybe you could consider ading vox for some projects of mine?

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https://soundcloud.c...on-i-like-you-1

 

All this is missing is live drums. I did my best with GarageBand's drums, but they're not ideal and... difficult to keep in time. But! The rest of this is probably my best recording.

 

I like this!......if you wouldn't take it amiss, I would be more than happy to put a drum track on to it that would do it more justice if you like :-)

 

Seriously? That would be incredibly appreciated! Those GarageBand drums were a nightmare to make work. I can send over the GarageBand over DM if you like.

 

And also I never apologized for being so stubborn with you earlier in this thread. You were just offering advice and I wasn't listening. Sorry for acting dumb.

 

The GB project won't do it I'm afraid, but what will is if you host a drumless wav (we can use dropbox or google drive etc) and let me know the BPM...that should be enough for me to work with

And don't worry about earlier....I remember when I was first learning to mix/master and having to accept often humbling (though always constructive) criticism from stoopid and it can be difficult to swallow.

If you wish to produce some of your tracks a bit better then I can help with that as some of your ideas are really good....in turn maybe you could consider ading vox for some projects of mine?

 

Cool! I'll get that drumless wave made and then put up on Google Drive then send you the link. I will say the microphone I was using to do my past couple songs was one I was borrowing from my school, but I did look up prices on that model and I think I may be able to afford it within the next month or so. So if you'd be alright waiting on those vox till I can purchase myself a microphone I'd be happy to make that deal!

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https://soundcloud.c...on-i-like-you-1

 

All this is missing is live drums. I did my best with GarageBand's drums, but they're not ideal and... difficult to keep in time. But! The rest of this is probably my best recording.

 

Did you add the drums after you recorded the other parts, or did you record to the drums?

 

I added the drums after recording the guitar, bass, and vocals, then the rest I recorded to the drums. Since I stay fully to my metronome when recording the guitars, bass, and vocals, I couldn't quantize the drums to make them line up, so I had to try to match the ebbs and flows as best as I could, which was tedious.

 

I bet! The way I record my stuff is to program the drum parts first and then record everything to the drum track. Fridge just volunteered for a fairly big job, imo. :)

 

Yeah I definitely understand how that's a better way to do it after trying it my way. At least for solo recording stuff. If you can record all the parts at once with a live band I think letting it ebb and flow around the beat makes a bit more sense (like on Jimi Hendrix's recordings) since it gives it a more human feel, but as for home recording, it's a huge timesaver to be able to quantize things so they line up nicely.

 

Fridge feel free to back out if that doesn't sound like a task you want to be stuck with, lol.

 

Just saw this, sorry...I hear what you are saying, but if you are doing home recordings then it is essential to be very accurate with the timings...recording organically is impossible unless you are in the same room...with this in mind, drums MUST be laid down first (at least a basic track) and recording to metronome/click just won't cut it.

WRT your recording, the problem is not just quantising drum beats, but having to warp your instruments to the correct time...it is possible, but I fear it would be more work than actually re-recording the entire song!

I'm more than happy to collab with you on whatever you wish, but it really has to be done the way I have described or we will be at it forever...

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https://soundcloud.c...on-i-like-you-1

 

All this is missing is live drums. I did my best with GarageBand's drums, but they're not ideal and... difficult to keep in time. But! The rest of this is probably my best recording.

 

Did you add the drums after you recorded the other parts, or did you record to the drums?

 

I added the drums after recording the guitar, bass, and vocals, then the rest I recorded to the drums. Since I stay fully to my metronome when recording the guitars, bass, and vocals, I couldn't quantize the drums to make them line up, so I had to try to match the ebbs and flows as best as I could, which was tedious.

 

Do you tap the drums in on a midi keyboard then quantise them, or do you just lay down a predone loop?.....either way, do them before instruments, then record instruments to that rather than metronome...that way you don't have to worry about beatmatching etc

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I usually start with a metronome type track using the drum software, set the BPM for the entire project, then typically use a hi hat cymbal on the quarter/half note or a canned drum groove that comes close to what I'm looking for as far as feel is concerned, and copy/paste that for 5 or 10 minutes, then start recording scratch guitars and live instruments to that, which keeps everything lined up. I've seen inaccuracies with using the metronome function within my DAW, otherwise you can certainly use that as well if you trust it.

 

You can do 'live' recordings digitally, but you also need to perform the drums live. It's easier 99% of the time to just start with a metronome / drum track to keep everything in time/aligned.

 

I have a decent 9 pad drum machine I use as midi control over my virtual drum kit, so I'll say track my kick and snare as one take, then load a different preset for the pads to record cymbals, and then the last preset for toms and misc things. I'll still use canned drums when the song doesn't require anything too specific, but having this flexibility make jamming along to a live recording a lot easier. Since I'm not a skilled drummer this saves me trying to live perform on a full electronic drum kit. Then I can nudge/correct things later.

Edited by stoopid
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Yep, totally agree with everything y’all are advising. Definitely how I’ll go about recording in the future, but unfortunately not something I did for this latest track. To answer Fridge’s question I tapped out a midi drum beat with my keyboard, but then because the timing was off I didn’t quantize it, I just went in and tried to pull all of the beats into the right places manually, which was tedious and didn’t work as well as I had hoped.
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Yep, totally agree with everything y’all are advising. Definitely how I’ll go about recording in the future, but unfortunately not something I did for this latest track. To answer Fridge’s question I tapped out a midi drum beat with my keyboard, but then because the timing was off I didn’t quantize it, I just went in and tried to pull all of the beats into the right places manually, which was tedious and didn’t work as well as I had hoped.

 

So how do you want to proceed?....if you want me to work on this track then I'm afraid rerecording will be the only option...if you don't want to do that (which is understandable) then chalk it up to experience....I'm willing to work on stuff with you going forward as your ideas are good and I like your voice.

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Yep, totally agree with everything y’all are advising. Definitely how I’ll go about recording in the future, but unfortunately not something I did for this latest track. To answer Fridge’s question I tapped out a midi drum beat with my keyboard, but then because the timing was off I didn’t quantize it, I just went in and tried to pull all of the beats into the right places manually, which was tedious and didn’t work as well as I had hoped.

 

So how do you want to proceed?....if you want me to work on this track then I'm afraid rerecording will be the only option...if you don't want to do that (which is understandable) then chalk it up to experience....I'm willing to work on stuff with you going forward as your ideas are good and I like your voice.

 

Answered in DM :)

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Just wrote a new song and I just wanted to get it down so I recorded it in one take. Definitely rough in places, but I figured I'd share it around to my friends, and I have friends on here so here it is:

 

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Just wrote a new song and I just wanted to get it down so I recorded it in one take. Definitely rough in places, but I figured I'd share it around to my friends, and I have friends on here so here it is:

 

 

Obviously needs a more mindful approach, but there is some good stuff there. The meandering stuff at the beginning was somewhat off-putting, but once you got into the meat of the song, my interest picked up.

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Just wrote a new song and I just wanted to get it down so I recorded it in one take. Definitely rough in places, but I figured I'd share it around to my friends, and I have friends on here so here it is:

 

 

Obviously needs a more mindful approach, but there is some good stuff there. The meandering stuff at the beginning was somewhat off-putting, but once you got into the meat of the song, my interest picked up.

 

Thanks! The stuff at the beginning I mostly recorded so I wouldn’t forget it when I go back to do a full band arrangement. I mean for that to be sustained lead guitar over a moody keyboard pad.

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I've listened to a lot of your stuff on soundcloud. It's cool stuff!!

 

Thank you for giving it a go! A lot of it (practically all of it) is just me fooling around in GarageBand for a few hours then calling it a day, though there are a few more serious bits in there.

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Just wrote a new song and I just wanted to get it down so I recorded it in one take. Definitely rough in places, but I figured I'd share it around to my friends, and I have friends on here so here it is:

 

 

This is actually the skeleton of a really good Alt/Prog song!

 

I'm presuming the intro noodling should go over some sort of drone/pad type effect?

 

Some VERY nice chord progressions which you return to as part of a theme...not sure if you have any musical theory knowledge, but this would suggest that.

 

I like the way the song has distinct movements and I can imagine the time changes segueing smoothly into each other.

 

Your voice is very good and I liked the way you alternated some smooth tone with a bit of compression/distortion to change things up.

 

With the right arrangement and production I think this could be pretty special (if I can be of any assistance in this regard then please let me know)

 

Great job!.....I think this is your best yet by some margin.

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Just wrote a new song and I just wanted to get it down so I recorded it in one take. Definitely rough in places, but I figured I'd share it around to my friends, and I have friends on here so here it is:

 

 

This is actually the skeleton of a really good Alt/Prog song!

 

I'm presuming the intro noodling should go over some sort of drone/pad type effect?

 

Some VERY nice chord progressions which you return to as part of a theme...not sure if you have any musical theory knowledge, but this would suggest that.

 

I like the way the song has distinct movements and I can imagine the time changes segueing smoothly into each other.

 

Your voice is very good and I liked the way you alternated some smooth tone with a bit of compression/distortion to change things up.

 

With the right arrangement and production I think this could be pretty special (if I can be of any assistance in this regard then please let me know)

 

Great job!.....I think this is your best yet by some margin.

 

Wow thank you! Yes the noodling at the start will be (firstly played correctly) supported with a moody pad. I have the start of King Crimson's Starless in my head. Obviously not as epic as that whole song, but if I could find a good mellotron imitation I might go with that. As for theory knowledge, I took three semesters of theory in college, but I never really felt I understood it very well. The homework always took me way too long to complete and I was never good at much more than identifying chords rather than determining their function. Suffice to say I'm happy if some of that managed to rub off on my songwriting! I'd gladly accept any production/arrangement assistance from you once I get the full band recording underway, thank you for offering!

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Today I challenged myself to record one of my older songs before the end of the day, full band. I chose a grunge-inspired number I wrote during my sophomore year of college, with lyrics based on a vivid dream I'd had. It isn't mixed or mastered, and I didn't give most of the parts too much thought, just trying to get them all down and working together. Minimal added effects to make it sound decent, otherwise most of this is pretty much what went into my microphone.

 

Here it is, Pocketdream:

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Today I challenged myself to record one of my older songs before the end of the day, full band. I chose a grunge-inspired number I wrote during my sophomore year of college, with lyrics based on a vivid dream I'd had. It isn't mixed or mastered, and I didn't give most of the parts too much thought, just trying to get them all down and working together. Minimal added effects to make it sound decent, otherwise most of this is pretty much what went into my microphone.

 

Here it is, Pocketdream:

https://soundcloud.c...419/pocketdream

 

I really like this...definite Pixies vibe in places.....I'd be happy to have a crack at mixing/mastering this for you if you would like?

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Today I challenged myself to record one of my older songs before the end of the day, full band. I chose a grunge-inspired number I wrote during my sophomore year of college, with lyrics based on a vivid dream I'd had. It isn't mixed or mastered, and I didn't give most of the parts too much thought, just trying to get them all down and working together. Minimal added effects to make it sound decent, otherwise most of this is pretty much what went into my microphone.

 

Here it is, Pocketdream:

https://soundcloud.c...419/pocketdream

 

I really like this...definite Pixies vibe in places.....I'd be happy to have a crack at mixing/mastering this for you if you would like?

 

Thank you! That would be awesome! And I did record everything to a basic drum track this time, then started building it from the drums up once I had a scratch guitar track down, so theoretically it should be much more in time. Although the little outro bit gets out of sync with the drums for a few bars.

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Thank you Fridge for mixing and mastering my song, Pocketdream. It sounds awesome!

 

Here's Fridge's mix: https://soundcloud.c...419/pocketdream

 

Great song and the mix is brilliant - loads of depth and the drums sound great. Really superb stuff!

 

Thank you!

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A personal challenge to be more succinct. Some unfortunate squeaks about halfway through, but the basic concept of the song is there to hear.

 

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Thought this was as good as any a place to put this....this is a musical composition which EP has kindly put lyrics and vocals to...nice job mate, credit where credit is due!

 

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

 

Thank you, it was fun to work on and I'm really happy with the final product. I listened to it like four or five times yesterday just for fun!

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