Well, i just finished this . . .

[Phil513]

Yeah, its another fluff piece. My guitar work is a bit sloppy, and its pretty heavy synth loaded, but from the recording side, any advice would be appreciated.

I need to work on solos. :o And singing, eventually. If Dylan could sing, then i should be able to. hahaha.


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=930031&songID=7492815

[Aahzz]

I like it. Still learning the recording part myself, so not much to offer in critique....

[Phil513]

I like it. Still learning the recording part myself, so not much to offer in critique....


Thanks dude. I know its pretty Lawrence Welk, but i keep thinking of things i want to try, so i just do something simple to test it out. Sorta like the quizzes before the big test. I'll come up with a real one one of these days. hahaha.

[Ronk]

I think it sounds good, ill let the pros give you advice in the mix - that said I think the drums can use some reverb. I like how you bring the keys in ... can you do a hammond b3 with that bad boy?

[Phil513]

I think it sounds good, ill let the pros give you advice in the mix - that said I think the drums can use some reverb. I like how you bring the keys in ... can you do a hammond b3 with that bad boy?

Hmmmm, maybe. There is a setting called Purple or something like that, im thinking its Deep Purple type stuff. But its a cheapo keyboard, so it might be disappointing. hahaha.

Reverb on drums, thats a great idea. Never thought of that. My drum machine is the old Alesis HR-16, so it has limitations, but i bet that would help a lot. I'll try that.

[Denverdave]

I like the guitar tones! Maybe push the synth up more in the mix - especially in the first part - the percussion is overpowering it.

Some nice melodic ideas going on in there!

[Phil513]

Thanks Dave, i'll try that. My first recording the drums were too quiet, now im blowing them out. hahaha. I guess this is how we learn. :aok:

Also, i think i was embarassed by too much synth, so i held it back a bit so the guitars would show more. Shouldnt have dont that.

[hobo]

Nice stuff there, enjoyed listening to your music

[Phil513]

Thanks Hobo. Its a good learning excersize for me. :aok:

[MattSkibaIsGOD]

Real smooth home-slice. Sounds like you're getting the hang of it. I'm listening as I type and all the parts just kicked in and I hope you take this as a big compliment, because I mean it as one: It could easily be the backing to a Neil Diamond song. Top-notch.

[Phil513]

Real smooth home-slice. Sounds like you're getting the hang of it. I'm listening as I type and all the parts just kicked in and I hope you take this as a big compliment, because I mean it as one: It could easily be the backing to a Neil Diamond song. Top-notch.

Oh, thanks dude! I just keep messing around, trying different stuff. I'll bring teh rawk as i get better, im just finding clean easier to work with at the moment. I did one test with distortion, it came out not too awful bad.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=930031&songID=7473801


I'm grateful for all the patience folks around here have though. Answering all my dumb questions.

Im sure having a good time.

[hobo]

Oh, thanks dude! I just keep messing around, trying different stuff. I'll bring teh rawk as i get better, im just finding clean easier to work with at the moment. I did one test with distortion, it came out not too awful bad.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=930031&songID=7473801


I'm grateful for all the patience folks around here have though. Answering all my dumb questions.

Im sure having a good time.


hey phil that was some good stuff, liked the drums on it too

[Phil513]

hey phil that was some good stuff, liked the drums on it too

Thanks again, hobo. I just wish i could solo as well as you.

But im learning!

[Suhnton]

Both of those tracks sound good. I know people hate to be told their music sounds like someone else, but the distortion one reminds me of Queens Of The Stone Age. The straight ahead drum track pushes the song along I think. Are you going to put vox on them?

[tamoore]

Not at all bad - and actually quite good!.. I liked the interesting rhythm instruments you've got going on. With the right melody and vocals, I could really like this song. I think you've got a good start here!

Sounds great!

I agree that the drums are a bit dry. Really, if you get some 'verb on the snare, it'll make everything sound a lot 'wetter'. Try to keep the 'verb off the kick drum, and put a little on the percussion instruments and it'll bring the whole 'room' to life.

TIP:
If you know how to set up an aux send in your software, that's what you should do. Make one channel your verb return, and put a nice reverb plugin on it with a medium sized room reverb set up. Then, put a aux send on each channel you want to add reverb to. This lets you put the same reverb on any track you want to, in varying amounts - and you only have to spend the processing power for one plugin. (a lot of people make the mistake early on of trying to put a reverb plugin on every track they want reverb on). This makes the reverb real consistent, and allows you to vary the amount of the verb by changing the send level. We use this to create a 3-D space by putting instruments that we want to appear coming from farther away in the room, in that space by adding more reverb.

Anyway, nice work!

[Phil513]

Thanks dude, i appreciate the encourgement, especially from one of our forum masters!

I'm pretty new at both playing AND recording, so its an uphill battle, but i'm really having a good time.

I understand what you are saying about the reverb. Sadly im still fiddling with my standalone recorder, i dont have anything on the computer, i just upload the master as a WAV and thats it. I am thinking about getting a rack reverb unit though, and using it in my effects send on my unit, so i can do basically the same thing. Just pick a good reverb and then vary the amount i send to.

I started working on something new yesterday, and ran the drum machine through my PA amp that has some effects, added a bit of reverb and pre-amped out to my recorder, and just doing that really did make a big difference.

Anyway, thanks again. This is a really fun hobby for me.

[Phil513]

Just a little to add about me.

I never have had any lessons or anything, I dont really know scales or anything yet, i'm decent with strumming and chords though. i just decided at my old age i wanted to play guitar. When i was young i had a squier bass that i played along with records in my room, and it was fun, so i wanted to do more of that. I also knew that i wasn't going to ever perform, so i got a recorder so at least i would have some goals.

I dont have much in the way of funds, so i just collected what i could. My computer is quite old, so i dont know if its up to the task of recording. Here is my start of the art studio. hahaha.

Roland MicroCube - $99
Behringer Vamp - $99
Yamaha Keyboard - $249
Alesis Drum machine - $45 used from Ebay
Korg bass FX - $49
Tascam DP-01 - $199
Behringer PA amp - $199 scratch and dent
SX Tele - $110
Ibenez AX120 -$120
Squier Strat - $140
Squier '51 - $89
Silvertone something - $30
Ibanez Bass - $200, its a nice one, but with scratchy volume pot, but works.

The Ovation is a top notch one, a Balladeer, belongs to the GF.

So, all told i have only $1600 or so in all my stuff. hahahaha. Not great, but it works, and its giving me a lot of fun.

I'd like to pick up a used rackmount compressor and reverb for my recorder effects loop. Eventually im sure i'll have to go the computer route, but i'll have to wait for the money situation to improve for that.