Post: #26

Vincent, BB, and bassist. Your songs are really great and inspired me to record a couple today on my phone to share. They are just instrumentals because I have the hardest time thinking of good lyrics. Maybe someone can help me with that?

Post: #27

^ Nice stuff Onto. I like The Jeepney Jive one, nice sounding guitar too, you do that Neil Young kind of sloppy but accurate finger-style thing. I'd put that down on one track and then try to come up with a melody for it, I like that one. I'd try to work a bridge into there, and that's what coming up with a melody could help with.

Post: #28

Jeepney? Are you in the Philippines, Onto?

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #29

(07-11-2015 11:41 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  Jeepney? Are you in the Philippines, Onto?

I'm not there now. It was just the first thing that came to my mind when saving the file name.

Zep, thanks for encouragement and advice. I'm going to follow your suggestion today and hopefully that tune will develop into something more.

Post: #30

Cool thread. I've been playing 17 years and never REALLY recorded any of my stuff until recently.

My equipment that I'd recommend:
-Apogee One (You can record vocals or instruments through an internal or external mic). This plugs directly into your computer. Right now for me that's a MacBook Air, and I'm using its built-in Garage Band. Really cool program that can allow you to add multiple layers, and all kinds of effects to your guitar and song overall. Cost is about 350 dollars for the Apogee. If anyone is interested in hearing some things I've produced, PM me. I'm not posting it up here because my photo is on both of the soundcloud cover photos.

Does anyone know how to go about getting your music on iTunes or some other medium like that?

I haven't heard much about its success, but I did hear about an app called SPR (smartphonerecords) that allows you to bypass "stores" and upload your music directly to sell.

If anyone has any others I'd be interested in hearing about them.

Post: #31

Also check out the PreSonus Inspire GT. I bought this years ago. (Maybe 5-8 yrs ago)



I liked it because it had more inputs, (direct midii and guitar jacks), but most importantly for me is that it had RCA inputs so I could record vinyl from my amp right through that PreSonus interface into Garage Band. It was also only a couple hundred bucks at the time. Sound quality was excellent.

It's buried in storage now and I'm bummed I don't have it.

Post: #32

^ I heard that was a good unit.

For beginner songwriters looking to put down several tracks ( a guitar, a vocal, a harmony ) Here are some different products for different needs.

1) The Zoom H6.

It’s a Portable hand held recorder, for around $400 on ebay.

It has 4 inputs. So let’s say you want to jam with a friend and record, there’s 2 mic inputs and 2 intrument inputs for you. You can plug a guitar, bass, whatever into the inputs. It has 48v power for mics.

Also, the stereo x/y mics that come with it are no joke. Just point at something and record. You can mount this on a camera and just use the x/y mics it comes with.

It has tracks on the device, so, no need for a computer. What if your computer dies, or you just want to leave it in your office and not bother with tons of wires etc….the zoom h6 will do what you want.

Say you’ve got 6 tracks of audio( including the stereo x/y mic ) on the zoom and like what you hear, you dump them into Garageband, or Logic, or whatever you use, and start the real tweaking and editing.

- One issue I have with the H6, as far as I know, there’s no keyboard capability, no midi. For me this isn’t an issue, but for some this might be a deal-breaker, other that this it’s a great unit. On second thought, you could probably record the keyboard anologue outs into two inputs of the H6 if you wanted stereo keyboard input.


The Zoom H4n was a game-changer, the Zoom H6 is better, the quality of the preamps are better. Toggle back and forth between 16:25 and 17:05 of the following video and you can hear the difference in the sound when the presenter plugs his sm 58 into the H4 and H6. I’d spend a few more bucks for just those Preamps, plus the H6 has 2 more inputs than the H4. If I were starting out, this is a no-brainer, H6, it’s portable, and is a multitrack unit in itself, no computer needed.


https://youtu.be/uxAMtNw5-4k

Option 2) A preamp. Since you’re a songwriter, you’ll probably want an input for at least a guitar and a mic for singing…so I’d go with Focusrite for this approach. The quality of their preamps are amazing for the money. Can you hear the differences in the quality between these 3 units? https://youtu.be/yjBpazR9neo

For me the Focusrite wins, and now they’ve become more competitive by introducing the Focusrite Solo, $99! That’s really something for the quality. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Focusrite-Scarle...2594f9b786

So, now, this plugs into your computer via Usb.

If you want midi capability for a keyboardist, then go to the Focusrite 2i4 - $200 – Again, great quality for the price: So , 2 XLR inputs and midi, great preamps too!

https://youtu.be/LR4aZuzhJnc


Say you want to jam with another musician who can play keyboards and guitar and sing, then I’d bump up to the Focusrite 18i8 - $300, now you have 4 inputs and a keyboard, you’ll need a computer of course

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Focusrite-Scarle...2a4e32139e

These products are more than enough for a singer-songwriter.

3)If you want to go REALLY budget, then pickup a Blue Snowball for $50, it is a usb mic, all the preamps are inside it, just plug into your computer and record a track, then layer another one on top.

The Zoom H6 is good in that all the inputs are being saved as separate tracks and you have control over each one of those as they are isolated and you can then dump those isolated tracks off of the sd card they're recorded on, into your computer, then effect and process them as much as you want.

Post: #33

To add to this:

1. The Samson GoMic - http://www.amazon.com/Samson-Mic-Portabl...son+go+mic

This is one of the best purchases I've ever made. This mic is mega portable, ridiculously cheap and pumps out awesome quality.

I used it to record all of the [South Beach Sessions] songs on my YT channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/WriteAwesomeSongs/videos

Then I just combined with garage band and synced the video (which was a tad off).

It worked great.


2. iPhone + a decent pair of headphones + FourTrack iPhone App (a bit expensive)

The mic on the iPhone is actually pretty decent.

And if you just want to flesh out ideas, try out harmonies, etc, this is a really portable setup.

You can hear an example I recorded here:

http://victordorfman.bandcamp.com/track/...-rough-cut

(07-13-2015 06:45 PM)Zep Wrote:  ^ I heard that was a good unit.

For beginner songwriters looking to put down several tracks ( a guitar, a vocal, a harmony ) Here are some different products for different needs.

1) The Zoom H6.

It’s a Portable hand held recorder, for around $400 on ebay.

It has 4 inputs. So let’s say you want to jam with a friend and record, there’s 2 mic inputs and 2 intrument inputs for you. You can plug a guitar, bass, whatever into the inputs. It has 48v power for mics.

Also, the stereo x/y mics that come with it are no joke. Just point at something and record. You can mount this on a camera and just use the x/y mics it comes with.

It has tracks on the device, so, no need for a computer. What if your computer dies, or you just want to leave it in your office and not bother with tons of wires etc….the zoom h6 will do what you want.

Say you’ve got 6 tracks of audio( including the stereo x/y mic ) on the zoom and like what you hear, you dump them into Garageband, or Logic, or whatever you use, and start the real tweaking and editing.

- One issue I have with the H6, as far as I know, there’s no keyboard capability, no midi. For me this isn’t an issue, but for some this might be a deal-breaker, other that this it’s a great unit. On second thought, you could probably record the keyboard anologue outs into two inputs of the H6 if you wanted stereo keyboard input.


The Zoom H4n was a game-changer, the Zoom H6 is better, the quality of the preamps are better. Toggle back and forth between 16:25 and 17:05 of the following video and you can hear the difference in the sound when the presenter plugs his sm 58 into the H4 and H6. I’d spend a few more bucks for just those Preamps, plus the H6 has 2 more inputs than the H4. If I were starting out, this is a no-brainer, H6, it’s portable, and is a multitrack unit in itself, no computer needed.


https://youtu.be/uxAMtNw5-4k

Option 2) A preamp. Since you’re a songwriter, you’ll probably want an input for at least a guitar and a mic for singing…so I’d go with Focusrite for this approach. The quality of their preamps are amazing for the money. Can you hear the differences in the quality between these 3 units? https://youtu.be/yjBpazR9neo

For me the Focusrite wins, and now they’ve become more competitive by introducing the Focusrite Solo, $99! That’s really something for the quality. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Focusrite-Scarle...2594f9b786

So, now, this plugs into your computer via Usb.

If you want midi capability for a keyboardist, then go to the Focusrite 2i4 - $200 – Again, great quality for the price: So , 2 XLR inputs and midi, great preamps too!

https://youtu.be/LR4aZuzhJnc


Say you want to jam with another musician who can play keyboards and guitar and sing, then I’d bump up to the Focusrite 18i8 - $300, now you have 4 inputs and a keyboard, you’ll need a computer of course

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Focusrite-Scarle...2a4e32139e

These products are more than enough for a singer-songwriter.

3)If you want to go REALLY budget, then pickup a Blue Snowball for $50, it is a usb mic, all the preamps are inside it, just plug into your computer and record a track, then layer another one on top.

The Zoom H6 is good in that all the inputs are being saved as separate tracks and you have control over each one of those as they are isolated and you can then dump those isolated tracks off of the sd card they're recorded on, into your computer, then effect and process them as much as you want.

Post: #34

^ those iphone recordings sound damn good for an iphone, that's hilarious.

Reminded me of this other recording option, a stereo mic for iphones or iPads from Rode,

Post: #35

^^^^

That looks pretty sweet Zep.

Any idea how this RODE unit compares to the Zooms on A) Recording quality and B) quality of the mulitrack software ?

One nice thing with the iphone/iPad is that there are several different apps out there of varying quality whereas with the Zooms you're stuck with the native multitrack.

But maybe the native multitrack is quite good?

Post: #36

(07-15-2015 01:42 AM)VincentVinturi Wrote:  ^^^^

That looks pretty sweet Zep.

Any idea how this RODE unit compares to the Zooms on A) Recording quality and B) quality of the mulitrack software ?

One nice thing with the iphone/iPad is that there are several different apps out there of varying quality whereas with the Zooms you're stuck with the native multitrack.

But maybe the native multitrack is quite good?

I searched for real world comparisons between the zoom and Rode and couldn't find any, they're both close to $100.

Then I found this, a real world test by a person who is not a salesperson.





I am not liking the hiss on the Rode ixy, and am wondering if the Zoom iphone mic introduces that hiss also? the Zoom H4's sound is superior in this test.

So, what I'd do, if you're in the budget range is check out the Zoom H1, it's about $100, it's small, it'll screw onto a camera, it has it's own battery, so it won't burn out the battery life on an iphone, you can point it towards your sound source and record video with your iphone ( the iphone mics, I have now realized, will not do this, if you record video, the mics point to the side, this is a design flaw in my opinion that should be fixed )...I think I'd choose the H1 over an iphone mic for now, until the hiss issue is fixed, and they figure out how to point the mics *towards* the subject that is being video'd..

Post: #37

nvm

Post: #38

Bump.

Got hit by the songwriting bug again a couple weeks ago and have been churning out new ones like clockwork. There are few things I enjoy so much as sitting back fucking with a new one that's suddenly started playing in my mind.

Will find myself singing it over and over again while ripping around the island on my moto or waking up in the middle of the night and start reworking it because I can't sleep.

I'd forgotten about this old thread but maybe a bump will bring in some fresh posts.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #39

I get quarterly royalties for my original music from TV usage and have done so since about 2007. Nothing crazy, like $400 every four months but it's for very old tracks. I am in the throes of getting back into this stream of income and giving it more focus in 2019. A big tip is finding other songwriters and bouncing unfinished songs off of each other. Even open mics can help in getting the song finished.

You'll need to join a PRO (performing rights organization) which tracks plays and collects monies owed to you. The main two PROs are ASCAP and BMI. I joined the latter as it is free but both are very similar.

Find a publisher. In person at industry events is best but phone/email is also good. They have the industry connections and will work to place your tracks on a 50/50 basis. Some are exclusive and some are non-exclusive. Exclusives are (usually) higher quality and will either do an upfront buy-out or back-end royalties only. Non exclusives are like your Pond5, etc.

Slave over your top tracks and make sure they stand up against whatever is popular in your particular genre. Always make instrumental versions of each track as these are usually what gets placed. I have a southern rock track with me singing about a crack whore but it was the instrumental version that got placed in HBO classic cars. (Always brings a chuckle)

Watch youtube stuff like John Fulford and other cats that are deep into this game. Listen to inspirational music-biz podcasts like https://musicmoneyandlife.podbean.com

Release tons of tracks. This is a numbers game. I have a friend making 60k/year on the side from bland 'urban' music that really blends into the background nicely. I call it 'wallpaper music' That's what your music will be (if you are lucky). Supporting a scene in a TV show or movie

Post: #40

Good advice about Fulford. Dude has a lot of great tips. He actually got one my tracks into a few shows some years ago and I still get royalties from it.

Another thing to point out is that niche music tracks do really well within this numbers game. If you play a weird ethnic instrument or are able to do something like Greek or Asian sounding music you have a much higher chance of placing one of those tracks simply because there aren’t as many of these to compete with in the libraries as there are urban, pop, electronic, or straight-ahead rock tracks. It generally doesn’t need to be terribly authentic to the country or genre.

I have a Mexican mariachi style track that I did as a demo for another project that’s so far been used for a Spanish soap opera, some UFC show, and something like Pawn stars or American pickers.

Post: #41

I did the band thing for years (fronted, wrote all music/lyrics) but I much prefer to just write and record at home these days, rather than deal with band and live scene drama and politics.

Keen to try and get into this side of the business.

Post: #42

I used to compose music since I've been at High School.
Sometimes thrash metal, ballads, etc... because I used to play guitar.

Last year I bought FL Studio (I play piano on basic level since kid) and was doing some Electronic and trying to do stuff of my favorite Electronic music, 90s House.
And it would actually be great making 90s R&B, am a very fan of R. Kelly and other 90s stuff as well.

I'd like to think that there is a goldmine for working supplying music. What sometimes disappoints me is finding very good music on the web with not too much visits. Good music is not popular

Anyways, I'd like to try making music that could be useful for someone or some company. Maybe I will be sharing some of my little work and beginner's stuff. I'd be glad to hear your opinions.