Post: #176

I am a capable singer - can hit high B if I'm warmed up, and voice teachers have told me, to my surprise, I'm a natural baritone and I have depth in the bass/baritone range I haven't gotten trained in. So, on top of attending those Latin masses I've been talking about in other threads, I just joined the choir and am going to learn to sing in chant notation.

Played trombone for five years, not in a row...need to pick an instrument to become skilled in before I lose interest, so I think it's gonna be piano. I'd make it guitar if I didn't have tiny hands.

Post: #177

This is my first time exploring the Everything Else section of the forum. I'm finding a lot of cool threads that I never would have thought to existed.

While I'm here, figured I might as well ask,

Does anyone have any experience with the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2? I bought one recently. Haven't gotten around to using it yet. I went to university for music and graduated a few weeks ago. I took a jazz performance degree. My theory chops are solid. Unfortunately this teaches you nothing about the recording side of the spectrum.

Cheers, fellas

Post: #178

The focusrite is a solid piece of gear, many friends of mine have that in their home studio.

Post: #179

As a bit of a side note, I fucking hate it when I see myself on video. During the gig, I think I look cool and all "mystical musician", but afterwards I just look static and withdrawn. And I slouch like hell.

How does one fix that? Is it just paying attention to ones posture and looking out into the audience?

Post: #180

(05-18-2017 11:58 AM)General Stalin Wrote:  

(05-14-2017 06:41 AM)Tex Cruise Wrote:  

(05-12-2017 06:10 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  snip

These posts had me really thinking. Surely Ol' Rigsby's being a bit pessimistic here. I mean, I understand that popular music is shit, but music dead altogether? Surely not...

I have a social media account just to keep up with bands that I like and to promote my own. As a result I've got a news feed filled with musicians and promoters - so there's always a recording going on, or a gig this weekend, or a new release coming up.

I rehearse with a bunch of musos once a week and play at a club monthly, with other gigs and jam sessions in between. Mates call me up to talk music, or email me a rough copy of a song they're working on to see what I think.

I hang out in threads like this one.

I suppose that really though I've just built myself a little bubble, where music is thriving. But it's nothing like the real world overall. Out there people listen to absolute shit and don't care, because they just don't care. I go to gigs of 30 to 50 people. My little bubble probably only has a few hundred people in it, spread all over the globe. Out of 7 billion.

It's not reality, but I like it here. I think I'm gunna stay.

I think you should build your own little bubble like mine Rigsby, and forget about the mainstream, it's gone to the dogs.

Agreed, and this goes along with what I was saying here.

I honestly think the sentiment some people carry that modern music is somehow dead, lifeless, and "over-produce" for mass consumption is a sort of crotchety-old-man cop out because current musical trends are not what you are used to when you grew up listening to music of that era.

Styles have changed and evolved, sure, but it's certainly not dead. There is new material and new ideas being hashed out every day and I feel like there are more people now than ever actually creating music. It's also the best time ever in the history of art for amateur artists to make a name for themselves without having to sell their souls to big-name record companies.

I'm an old man. I'm also crotchety.

I can also out write you, out play, out produce you, out engineer you.

Eh eh.

I know about the new music, it's not all that. It's all been done.

We have a cornucopia of digital/analog equipment. Most people can't write, for a start. Then they can't engineer. Then they can't produce. Then they can't master. But they think they can do all of these things. They are unable to differentiate. And they are unable to collaborate.

I'm not a particularly great musician. But who cares. When I can write songs like I do. And then produce them like I do. Very few people can do that. I can work in the fields of Country and Western and Drum and Bass. I sound like a right twat don't I? I know. I'd think the same.

I don't take any personal offense at your post GS. But you know, just thought I'd give my side of the story. It's a shame things went a bit pear shaped before.

Music is dead now anyway, it doesn't matter. There is no arena for it. No one wants to listen to it. Not in any meaningful way. You can shoot the messenger. You can prove me wrong. You can send me tickets to your next concert. Perhaps even a copy of your new album? The world is waiting.

I make some pretty bold claims. I can back them up. But no one has called me out yet. Why should they? It's not like anyone gives a fuck. And that is the problem.

But I'm all for creating a new day. Doing something new. Disrupting things. I operate without ego (which is practically unheard of in this biz). I also dress to the right (very unheard of in this biz). I can even understand and get along with the left.

Music, people and life kind of bore me at the moment. And it's not coz I'm old and jaded (which I am). It's because most of you faggots are just a lost cause. Not looking at anyone in particular, talking generally here, but if the cap fits.

Meanwhile, I work on my new music, creating sounds never heard before, incorporating the best of song-writing, the best of production, of engineering, and sometimes even a bit of musicianship. Like I need a fucking musician. LOL.

This world needs a bit of spark. A bit of 'something' new. It's all waiting there. But no one wants to eat the peach.

Talking of peaches. RIP to Duane and Gregg.





Yeah, so many opportunities.

This world is passing you by, young folks.

And us old fellas that could help you make it your own?

But we all say that, don't we? Broken and without merit. Just involved in pissing contests on public forums.

On the internet, no one knows you are a God.



Fuck it. We're alive. You get as much of a chance as anyone else. You are the friends you keep, the relationships you can maintain.





Eat a peach for peace brothers. (It was a truck carrying peaches that killed Duane Allman, age 24, one of the most promising guitarists ever, when he was out riding his motorbike)

"You're my blue sky, you're my sunny day"

Post: #181

(05-28-2017 09:01 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  On the internet, no one knows you are a God.

Rigsby, I have a problem, so may I access your Godlike knowledge banks?

I'm not a Total Nazi for Time: though I like things to sound tight, I can understand when groove overrides tightness and things can still sound pretty cool.

Still, I've had arguments in the past where I'll say something like, "Look, that bass is out of time."

The producer will say: "I just hear 'charming drift'."

"No, I know what I play. I never would have signed off on a take that was out of time." (I've experimented with playing in free time in certain places for an emotional-ramping effect, but it's not something I've ever thought was successful).

So, we'll go and dig back into the original tracks and I'll find the producer has accidentally made an editing error on a track and - in 108 bpm - the bass track for a verse and a chorus is 1/32 of 1 beat out of time, which is microseconds, sure, but I can hear it when the producers can't, and it bothers the hell out of me.

Why is this an issue?

So, since I've recently-moved to a new and very-isolated location, I'm using my downtime to quietly-reconstructing the failed record I was attempting with my last collaborator and just producing myself. Since I played 90% of the instruments on each track - letting him do the drums most of the time - it's simply a matter of going back to the drums on my original demo, or, in a few cases, playing them in new. It's cool hearing them come together fully, more in line with how I originally-heard them.

Since I knew we were working across continents, I explained to him at the beginning that no matter what I played, I'd leave one bar of silence at the beginning of each part and that he should do the same. This was so, no matter what DAW's the files were shared between, they would always synch up with anything else that was recorded against them.

No matter how many times I'd explain this to him, he kept cutting the tracks he'd send back down to varying times - and never on a beat. Sure, he was a burned-out pot smoker, but I suspect it was more your standard Gamma Control Freak issue: this way he always had control of whatever I could do with the track, since my DAW doesn't allow for micro-time adjustments, only fixed ones.

Whilst I managed to get some tracks from him with the bar of silence re-instated - "How do you expect the strings and backing vocals to start on the 1 with no count in?" - due to the short-notice availability of the string players, it meant I had to record a large chunk of the string tracks against wave files which had been cut down, as well as some of the backing vocals that weren't in synch with the main vocal line.

I don't want to use keyboard strings - I sent my sister a mix with the pitch-repaired strings I figured out all mixed in and she said "It was so beautiful my whole body was trembling", which is a reaction I've never gotten from MIDI strings, and, given my hatred of Cultural Marxism, I want Beauty, not Ugliness or Relativism, in my music. However, I also don't want to have to go to the time and hassle of re-recording them with new players, because I'm utterly-sick of interacting with Leftists, and that's the majority of musicians out there. (Ever wonder why every musician rails against "Evil Record Companies"? It's the Leftist reaction to being given the protective bubble of money, comfort, patience and opportunity by an authority figure. How do they always respond?
"Fuck you Dad!")

Anyway, so, I have:

1) the original wave files of my recorded tracks.

2) the out-of-synch string and vocal tracks.

3) the out-of-synch wave file that those string and vocal tracks were recorded against.

The wave files of 2 + 3 are, therefore, the same length.

My logic would be, if I could perfectly match 1 and 3 with no phasing, they should be perfectly in synch, and then I just need to start 2 at the exact time 3 starts and it should all line up.

What's the quickest and easiest solution to my problem? Some kind of beatmatching software? I have a few unused other DAW software packs that never appealed to me. What would you recommend and what do I do when in it?

Trust me on this: it needs to be EXACT.

-----

R&R: You'll meet many Lennons and McCartneys in your travels. Study the songwriting, not the band. Lennons are usually outright arseholes. McCartney's - whilst generally more talented - alway have a Control Freak side that threatens to surface. Still, it's a shame things fell apart - the dude had A Voice, which is my main problem with the Marxist Amateurisation of music - 95% of singers have no business being a lead singer. At least the first wave of punk singers had Presence and acted larger than life for attention.

This is my main problem trying to find a new lead singer. I saw a young guy locally recently on stage for a couple of hours and the most memorable thing I could say about him was he was in bare feet. Hey, it was something.

Like I wouldn't go to an amateur mechanic to fix my bike, or an amateur heart surgeon to fix my heart, I don't really expect to be surprised, intrigued or entertained by the majority of amateur musicians.

To illustrate, I walked in on a friend watching the end of the new Twin Peaks thing the other night, and was astounded at how fucking pathetic the band shown on stage was. Here they are at a live performance: people actually paid money to watch this, and you can't even say they have the pull of sex appeal going for them.





Look. I get Shoegaze. I get Electronics. I get Dreaminess. I get the Liz Fraser thing. This can't even be compared to that.

There's nothing there. No presence, no stagecraft, no surprising chords, no vocal hooks, no interesting lyrics, no musicianship. They're, functionally, the visual and audio version of Doctor's Office Wallpaper. Going back to my constant theme of Deliberate Infantilization of the Millennials: this is the type of thing I'd expect to see by girls half their age, collecting awkward pity money busking on a public street, or playing some local high school dance when the real band canceled at short notice. Not three women nearing thirty being given a major promotional slot in a revival of a briefly-popular television show from almost 30 years back, whilst having so little to offer.

I don't see why any Artist aims to be Just Average, Unvital and Inconsequential, except for the fact that then you won't make potential advertisers nervous. I can't imagine anyone leaving the house and going to a physical record store from the excitement of hearing that and saying "I need this record!" What I can imagine, is someone hearing it, then dispassionately selecting it from I-Tunes, the way a middle-aged post-divorce woman picks out an overpriced knicknack from a homewares store, believing it will be an illustration of her class and taste, and knowing she has just the right place for it. Of course, a week later, there's a layer of dust on it, and she's already searching for the perfect something else.

Trump wants to take us to Mars. Why shouldn't musicians reach for the stars too? Sad!

Post: #182

(06-01-2017 06:32 PM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  Anyway, so, I have:

1) the original wave files of my recorded tracks.

2) the out-of-synch string and vocal tracks.

3) the out-of-synch wave file that those string and vocal tracks were recorded against.

The wave files of 2 + 3 are, therefore, the same length.

My logic would be, if I could perfectly match 1 and 3 with no phasing, they should be perfectly in synch, and then I just need to start 2 at the exact time 3 starts and it should all line up.

Maybe these videos will help.

Go to 3:30 for the lesson, there's a spike he matches up by zooming in. It's done in a Video Editor, but the concept is identical in any audio software.





This is a great lesson for time drift,





I'd get Reaper. It's very cheap at $60.00, it's tiny at 10mbs, and there are lessons all over the web.

Post: #183

Thanks for that, Zep. I think Reaper came free with my USB Audio Device, so I'll check it out when I get up to those particular tracks.

I did have a new Producer and Collaborators lined up earlier this year, but then the Producer went blind (!) so I took this as a sign to finally just take the reigns myself. I figured, given that music production is the domain of drugged-and-stoned out Leftists, how hard could it really be? And it's not like I knew how to play guitar, drums or bass when I started this record either, let alone write string arrangements.

As for the Production, now I've been sitting down in my downtime and digging into it, it's remarkably-simple and straight-forward, given how idiot-proof modern software is. It was just a matter of finding a good instructional nuts and bolts type of book for the fundamentals, and the rest is just the juggling of multiple strands of abstract thought, razor-sharp isolationary hearing, a creative imagination, a willingness to experiment, and the ability to consider that just maybe whomever wrote the book mightn't have ever thought of trying a different way, particularly as I have no interest in sounding like a Top 40 Globalist. (I'd rather be my own thing with my own unique sound and therefore be the only place people who like it can get anything like it).

It's fun. I spent hours EQing multiple acoustic guitar tracks as most producers suggested. It all sounded very perfect and polite. Then I thought: 'Huh, I wonder what would happen if I subtly-mixed in the un-Eq'd originals?', thereby 'damaging' the perfection.

Oh yeah, That's the sound I was after!

I'm taking things much further: I drug out my old Tascam 4 track Recorder I haven't used since Kurt Cobain was alive and have been dropping isolated features down to audio cassette, then sampling them back into the mix. The Trumpet on one song sounded far too normal and polite for my liking, but, man, routing the signal through an old, trashed beginner guitar amp I salvaged from a dump and resoldered, then mixed down to an old TDK C90 and resampled... it now sounds like a Trumpet banging a Duck on top of the cheapest Casio Organ imaginable. Turns out that's exactly the sound I wanted. Who knew?

I'm damn pleased with the instrumental mixes so far, and it's great to hear some older tracks that I've had all the components of for a good six years now finally pulled together. I just wish I had more time to focus on it, but I've got a razor sharp memory, and it's easy enough to pick up a dangling thread a day later.

Like Rigsby, I'm feeling pretty damned Godlike at the moment.

I wish I could do it all myself, but I still need a damn singer. Years of cigarettes and screaming in punk bands means it's simply beyond me.

Quick technical question: I'm busting my arse getting this to sound awesome in 24 bit, then I have to take it down to a 16 bit CD or a fucking 320 kps Mp3 to play it in the truck. I hate the sound quality of both formats, even when taking into account the unique mastering considerations to make it sound good for each format to avoid the resulting distortion. Neither though is good enough.

What would be the best solution for playing 24-bit audio in the car? Is it some kind of Bluetooth / Phone App combination? Can Bluetooth stream audio quality that high?

Post: #184

Does anyone know a good plug-in to instantly scan and analyse a waveform and give me the True Peak and RMS analysis of a track without having to play the entire track in real time? I could theoretically dump it out into Audacity and analyse it there, but ripping is another slow step, and, well, Github is converged so I don't really trust any software produced by Progressives to work correctly.

I have Ableton Live and the Izotope Ozone Mastering Software if there's one buried in either of them. If I'm overlooking an 'analyse instantly' button in Insight, can anyone fill me in?

Post: #185

(06-08-2017 07:27 PM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  Does anyone know a good plug-in to instantly scan and analyse a waveform and give me the True Peak and RMS analysis of a track without having to play the entire track in real time?
I have Ableton Live and the Izotope Ozone Mastering Software if there's one buried in either of them. If I'm overlooking an 'analyse instantly' button in Insight, can anyone fill me in?

I don't know the answer but took your question and chucked it at the Reaper Forum and this thread popped up, within it could be the answer, there are a lot of free VSTs out there that do a good job.

http://forum.cockos.com/archive/index.php/t-124436.html

Also, for Lofi-ing or mangling audio ( which you seem to want to do ) there are some great plugins for that also.





There are Bitcrushers, and Saturators that are Vsts that can mangle your sound also.

Post: #186

Ah, ok, it's starting to make a bit more sense now.

I was wondering where the flying monkey came from. Why he had the bollox to PM me.

Funnily enough, idiot I am, I offered him time in my studio here, drink my wine, eat my food. Productions free of charge. If you want to see what I can really do.

But let's rewind a bit.

It's been brought to my attention that I have been 'Big Baller Trolling' on RVF. Yes, I've actually been called out on this. Someone asking: 'Well if you think you're so great, uh, let's hear some of that music of yours'.

Ok.

Bit weird, but I can run with it.

I said I would check back over the thread where I was 'Big Balling', and lo and behold, what do I find? Somewhere where I rambled drunkenly and incoherently about 'on the internet, no one knows you are a dog, sorry, god'. What a fucking rotter I am.

Now, instead of hitting me up like a brother would, I get called out. If I wasn't so ill and attending to other duties I would have picked up on it sooner. Such sins I have committed.

And still, I played along, offered my home to the them, my food, my time. What a fool I am.

Then I check the so called 'big baller' thread. Fuck me, is that it? Really?

Zep and Bosch, you are going to have to help a brother out here with what I have done that has so rankled your jimmy-jams!

I offered my home to you both. My time, my talent. I told you that you would have a bolt-hole any time if things got rough. I also offered this to Roosh as well, because I thought you might be connected. The offer still stands for Roosh.

Yet, you bitch and you whine like little girls in public, instead of hitting me up like a man would. You send emboldened flying monkeys to mess with me. I have lost all respect for you, both. All.

I can answer your engineering questions pretty much. But I never said I was the best there. I'm just playing. My skills run pretty deep. Production is where I shine. You don't know who I know. You don't know who I've done. You made some assumptions and I've played coy for certain reasons. But had either of you ever come to my house and drank my wine and ate my food, you would find out.

I publicly apologize for being such a big billy baller bollox. Really. It's fucking unforgivable the things I have said in this thread. Fuck me, if I hadn't invited the pair of you in to my own home and my own studio it would be laughable. But it's not laughable. It's fucking insulting.

Worse than that, it's a betrayal.

Let's hold it there. I know how it goes.

Over-reaction, I'm a beta etc. etc. - I'm pretty sure you have your line downpat and ready to go and fire off. So be it.

And for what?

I don't know what the fuck I did to you, but you have obviously been hurt to the point where you call me out like a cunt, and I can not react in any other way, just to keep some kind of honour. Did you not see this? Yes you did.

This isn't about audio engineering. This isn't about music production. This is about passive aggressive but-hurt.

I'm sorry I didn't pick up on it sooner. I've had a bad few weeks/months. The last couple of days have been good.

Fuck me Bosch, I thought we were e-friends. I can't believe you treat me like such a cunt, and with such a passive aggressive attitude. What ails you?

You have my email. You could have my phone no. if you want. I'll call OZ. I called there last night to a fellow RVF'er for about an hour. I'll carry it, no charge to you.

But no, you had to fucking cock display on a forum that you obviously have little respect for. I'm a member here matey. Not as many posts or reps as you. But I risk my life and liberty by posting here. And you know damn well the extra risks I take. We have talked about this.

But you cunt me off for big baller trolling?

This will not end well for one of us. Probably me. Maybe it won't end well for both of us. So be it.

I have so much to give and share. I'm sorry if I was a little arrogant when I was drunk. Genuinely so.

But the level of snark you have shown? You have really shone a big light on yourself brother.

It pains me to say this.

I'll take my punishment. I'll take my banning even. I'm prepared to sacrifice this space on this mighty forum just to call you out. Never mind the flying monkeys.

I invited you in to my home to make music and break bread. But I have upset you, and instead of saying what it was, you acted like a teenage girl.

I can't help thinking that this is a set up for something greater.

I know your reply will be brutal and you will show no mercy.

I expect it.

All I ask is you make it quick. Let's get it over with.

I know how this ends.

Your turn.

And please, don't puss out and spare the horses with a 'lol' reply.

I can take it brother. You have it on your mind. Speak.

Post: #187

Anyone here in a band and write their own stuff?
I'm looking to write lyrics if anyone is interested.

Post: #188

(05-28-2017 09:01 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  I'm an old man. I'm also crotchety.

I can also out write you, out play, out produce you, out engineer you.

Eh eh.

I know about the new music, it's not all that. It's all been done.

Big baller indeed.

Well enjoy your oldies-but-goodies and us young bucks will keep ruining music for the rest of the population.

Post: #189

I just play for my own benefit. Fuck everyone else. When I play guitar or sing around people I focus on what I am doing with an autistic manner. The audience is a distraction. When I'm done then I talk with the people.

I have a very limited amount of time's I've performed. I've done only open mikes and a few small gatherings in the recent past. I don't really play a lot of covers. Some I can do but I haven't been in a decent band for the better part of a decade. Its really, really, really fun playing with all my effects pedals and amp models though. Its quite energizing. I like to use feedback and chorus plus distortion and overdrive to try to emulate musicians but mostly for my own narrow super happy fun time.

I've got a few 'songs' I've made that I've memorized. I do have a few sheets somewhere that I can use to write down guitar in Tab and I have at least 25 pages of poetry I can adapt to music if I actually put effort into it. That's just one document. I have several. I like writing in n AA-BB-CC structure or sometimes an AB-AB or a AA-BB- C

If its not fun to play instruments there is really no point in continuing. You don't pick up a guitar because its a chore you have to do right?

Post: #190

(06-25-2017 04:54 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  Yet, you bitch and you whine like little girls in public, instead of hitting me up like a man would. You send emboldened flying monkeys to mess with me. I have lost all respect for you, both. All.

Look, I know you're under emotional stress lately, so I'll try to be patient, but let me get this completely-straight:

You are emotionally-lashing out like a child due to misconstruing one word - 'godlike' - in a post I made, as being sarcastic or passive-aggressive, and now imagining some kind of personal vendetta against you being lead by Zep and I?

Fuck me, you're not that interesting to me, mate. I'm deep into Day 5 of researching something for Forney.

I was sincerely-asking your advice, and playfully-going along with your estimation of yourself, since I've tended to notice the greatest musicians I've heard are usually-unsigned and, what I'd considered self-contained entities. Self-producers tend to acquire a large range of broad knowledge, which is what I need to access.

I've also been there: where you're on a forum and people have no idea about what you're actually capable of. I've tried to tell young musicians they can start with second-hand guitars instead of going for top of the line gear and still make great albums only to hear patronising responses. Hell, I'm not one for grandiosity, but with a clear and objective appraisal: I believe I'm one of the great lyricists. Sure, anyone reading that would laugh, but I Know.

Also, I largely-agree with your earlier comments in the thread: I don't feel musicians are reaching for artistic greatness anymore, but thinking about media placement / sponsorship deals, and I'm not hearing much that is firing up my curiousity: where I have to stop listening to a song and get to an instrument to figure out what exactly they just did.

I asked your advice publicly because I'm now learning to produce myself - so have a big learning curve ahead of me - and it gives others a chance to step in and show what they've learnt, because you never know where useful advice comes from. Some of the best advice I've heard on the forum has come from low-repped members. Zep, rather than being passive-aggressive - since he has always struck me as a patient, thoughtful, offering solutions kind of guy - was kind enough to offer help. That quality should serve him well as a producer. Whilst his advice wasn't the solution I chose, it was a point in the right direction, and I ended up purchasing Melodyne.

You never answered, and I never took it personally, given the current state of events in your country.

As always, throughout my life, I really find the best course of actually is just poking and prodding at a problem myself and experimenting until I figure it out myself, because my life experience around musicians is that they're emotionally-fragile; needy of attention; prone to flights of grandiosity; enact in manic-depressive or self-destructive behaviour; and are quick to imagine persecution where none exists. You can never tell what will set them off, and, at my age, I'd rather fumble alone with limited skills towards greatness than to work with admittedly-great musicians who can't keep their emotional shit together, which seems to be most of them.

You brought up Brother John the other day. Search his channel: there's a video where he discusses Aurini's problems with Jordan Owen and the collapse of 'The Sarkeesian Effect'. He brilliantly-breaks down the Musician Persecution Complex - ('those evil record companies are ruining my art!') - I've seen play out again and again.

I recommend you watch it.

Now, whilst I'm sympathetic to the societal pressure you're under, since I'm a child of a Violent Alcoholic, I also understand that I'm under no moral obligation to take your dysfunctional responses to that on board as being my problem; to allow you any personal access to my life whatsoever, should I not chose to do so, even if the reverse has been freely-offered; or to patiently-stand grandiose personal attacks due to your desire to lash out at anyone, (particularly Zep, who has overcome some formidable challenges in his life, if you took the time to ask).

If you ever feel the need to be overdramatic, as I've said before: put it in a song.

Post: #191

Playing guitar has been my means of coping for close to 14 years. Its a lot of fun and its nice reading about musicians and their stories and advice on here. I have a learning disability ( aspergers/High functioning autism) as well as mental health issues quite badly and playing guitar has always been a refuge. I don't know much about music other than what sounds good to my ears. I don't know the theory at all. I have practically no experience recording either but I do like playing around on Garage band or my recorder thing sometimes. Just playing a bit really processes emotions. I've seen a lot of shit and the playing helps me cope.

After losing friends and family to drugs, alcohol and mental illness, being cheated out of rent and other money, being abandoned by my entire social circle, stigma, family members breaking off all contact, and dealing with crippling torpor lasting for months on end as well as tremors that make it hard sometimes to even hold a cup of coffee. I still play guitar and use it as a tool for my well being. I could bitch and moan about it all but I'd rather pick up one of my guitars and meditate via music.

I learned by myself how to play left handed and right handed out of necessity. I first started on left and then I didn't have access to another left handed guitar for years so I got one as a gift and learned how to play right handed. I can swap between either but it requires a sort of cognitive switch being used to do it.

Do you guitar guys have any cool stories about gigs or recordings to share? Any favorite instruments, cool colours, or awesome people you've met?

Have a good week all!

Post: #192

Phew, I'm glad this didn't turn into a pile on Rigsby thread like I thought might happen when I read that post this morning.
I don't need anyone to prove themselves in this thread. I know plenty of musicians, and I can tell from the level of knowledge in here that you guys know your stuff. I don't expect any of you to doxx yourselves to prove you're not big balling.

(06-25-2017 08:36 PM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  I've tried to tell young musicians they can start with second-hand guitars instead of going for top of the line gear and still make great albums only to hear patronising responses.

Funnily enough, I came across this article today...
https://reverb.com/news/daves-corner-you..._source=FB

I've always been of the school of make what you can with what you have.
At the moment I'm playing drums in a blues/rock band, and the other guys have decided it's time I bought a new drum kit. They keep bringing it up and sending me links to drum kits for sale.
My kit it an old 1970's entry level pos that I got for free. I built it from a pile of parts I collected and it sounds good. (I did spend about a grand on decent vintage cymbals, that sound cannot be copied)
I've played some big dollar kits before, and I think my frankenstein pile of shit is right up there. It's got good quality Luan (Philippine Mahogany) shells that I'd have to spend serious bucks to match these days. Sound guys comment on it every time. "Those toms sound great! What type of kit is that?"
I'm absolutely certain I could re-wrap that kit and put some "Brand Name" badges on it and the rest of the band would tell me how much better it sounds than my old one.


A mate of mine is a second hand dealer, he hooks me up with any old instruments he comes across. I saw him today and he asked if I still had a particular guitar he sold me. I do. It's an old 1950's mail order catalog job, a piece of shit really, but it looks cool. The action is so high that I tuned it to open G and learned to play slide on it. I got it out and showed him, just a bit of 12 bar basic slide stuff, he thought it was awesome..

Post: #193

I've been learning to sing for the past couple years. I've gained a lot of insight, and I've been able to use the lessons to become more comfortable on stage and even use it to meet people through karaoke. However, it's been classical training, and I'm starting to question how effective it is for my voice.

I'm far and away from a natural singer, but I can't help but think classical training can only help me so far. When I hear someone who's naturally good at singing, or even people have found a way to make their unique voice work with their own type of sound, they've got certain qualities and techniques classical training never mentions.

I'm rambling here, but what I'm wondering is how I really take my voice to the next level and just own my sound. Are there any insights into this kind of thing people here have? How would I find good vocal coaches that could help me beyond classical training?

Post: #194

(06-25-2017 08:36 PM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  I've tried to tell young musicians they can start with second-hand guitars instead of going for top of the line gear and still make great albums only to hear patronising responses.

I know that Varg Vikernes started out with a cheap guitar and amp when he began to play music back in 1987. He used the same instrument until he had to sell it after leaving prison in 2008.

Varg Vikernes Wrote:When I recorded all the Burzum albums [until Filosofem] I used an old (I think) Weston guitar that I bought cheap in 1987 from an acquaintance.

Post: #195

I'll throw this open to the forum, because I'm stumped.

So, I've mentioned for the last couple of weeks, on and off, I've been learning to produce and master myself properly, and am currently-mixing a very complex song.

It's an unusual song: it's an acoustic guitar ballad (double-tracked) with a string octet - so far so Eleanor Rigby - but there's multiple tracks of percussion, and a Harpischord. There's full rock drumming, but only for 8 bars in the middle, and 4 bars at the end. The cello is the bass, though when the full drums kick in, you can feel it in your balls.

The previous songs and demos I've mixed in the past, I've usually started by getting a good balance between the drums and bass, and laid in things from there. Obviously, this won't work here.

I spent a couple of days on it, thought the mix ended up sounding great on my (flat) 10-inch monitoring speakers. I mixed it down to a lossless 24 bit flac, then tried it on another computer and in the truck, and, damn - that shaker was suddenly really loud, and the two violins sounded swallowed by the mix.

I'm not sure about the computer, but I have the EQ in the truck set to completely flat.

I went back into my drum submix, and turned the shaker down until it sounded better, then tried again. .

I was wondering why the sound was so inconsistent - it shouldn't sound THAT different between systems - so double checked all my cabling. I then discovered that my USB sound device had noise coming out of one of the channels due to one of the inputs receiving a signal that's not there.

The sound device has been acting odd since a recent firmware update. Given it was bought it 2009, I though it was time for an update, so bought a new one.

New one is fantastic. No noise signal on that channel. Sounds much more powerful, and it's easier to hear more detail. So, I spent a couple of days remixing the track, doing things like balancing levels against each other in different combinations - percussion sitting with the acoustic, acoustic sitting with the harpischord, harpischord with the strings, strings with the acoustic, so they all had punch and clarity with each other.

Now it sounds really amazing.

I turn it into the Flac, take it to the other computer and to the truck, and - Damn! That shaker is too loud. And why are the violins vanishing?

I go back and turn the shaker down again. It's now 8x quieter than it originally was.

I take it back to the other computer and the truck - it's still way too loud.

What the HELL is going on here? I'm very methodical, so it's definitely the new file each time.

Since the truck and the other computer are producing such similar results, am I right in assuming the problem must be that the monitoring speakers aren't producing an accurate sound? They're balanced inputs and outputs paired with balanced cables, so that's not the problem. The sound device has no apparent internal mixer, and the master track within the project has no mastering or EQ plugins running that could change the mix so drastically, and they'd be apparent on the first computer anyway.

My nephew, years back, once (very lightly) poked the tweeter in, and I managed to suck it back out with a vacuum hose, with no marks or indentations left on it. If it was damaged, it might explain the shaker, but the shaker is confined to the OTHER speaker and the Sucked Tweeter is the one with the Left Panned 1st and 2 Violins, which keep vanishing.

Anyone got any suggestions? Does it sound like I need new speakers, or is there something I'm overlooking?

Post: #196

I have zero experience with mixing, only know that my mate who has done a bit (mostly jazz band stuff with lots of tracks) has told me that he always goes and listens to it in the car 'cos your ears get very accustomed to one set of speakers after listening to the same thing over and over.

Just that you said "in the truck". It wasn't a factory Kenworth head unit was it? I chucked a few songs on a stick to listen to while I was doing a job in a truck just last weekend after I noticed that the Kenworth radio had a USB port in it, but the mix was all messed up. The hi-hat and the slap of the bass strings (it was rockabilly) was totally overpowering, and no amont of adjustment would make it right. Plug it into my home stereo or computer sounds fine. Truck radio sounds fine on FM. Something funny going on.

Post: #197

(06-29-2017 07:22 AM)Tex Cruise Wrote:  I have zero experience with mixing, only know that my mate who has done a bit (mostly jazz band stuff with lots of tracks) has told me that he always goes and listens to it in the car 'cos your ears get very accustomed to one set of speakers after listening to the same thing over and over.

Just that you said "in the truck". It wasn't a factory Kenworth head unit was it? I chucked a few songs on a stick to listen to while I was doing a job in a truck just last weekend after I noticed that the Kenworth radio had a USB port in it, but the mix was all messed up. The hi-hat and the slap of the bass strings (it was rockabilly) was totally overpowering, and no amont of adjustment would make it right. Plug it into my home stereo or computer sounds fine. Truck radio sounds fine on FM. Something funny going on.

Nah, note when I say 'Truck', I mean Ute. I didn't want to have to explain to Yanks or Poms what a Ute is. I've now got 24 bit sound in there, and the speakers are pretty good.

I'm not sure what is going on. This is my usual working process:

I mix using the monitors to what I'd consider 'Demo' quality - without really EQ'ing, limiting etc, since I figure that's for the Producer and Engineer to do, and not worth wasting Demo time on.

Then I listen to it in Mono, to make sure nothing important vanishes in a mono mix.

Then I try it through headphones, to see if it reveals any major issues.

Then I try it on my other computer's speakers, and in the truck, since they're more consumer grade equipment.

If I'm happy with it, I give it a light master to limit and shine it up, and try the last two listens again.

Usually, a good mix on the monitors transfers accurately to the other formats.
Suddenly, the sound is changing, and this happened before I changed soundcards.

It's not the conversion to FLAC, because the wave version sounds wrong too.

All I'm left with is perhaps my monitoring speakers are no longer accurate, unless anyone has any ideas.

Post: #198

Bosch, thanks for the considerate words man! Much appreciated!

Oh yeah, congrats on acquiring Melodyne and Ozone 5, those are two brilliant pieces of software.

Rigsby? … duuude? Wtf? Lol. Wine, bread, studio, house, what on earth are you talking about? Come back to the forum and bring a fricken’ tune with ya and let’s put all this behind us.

------------


Bosch, I don’t know what’s up with your mix, but here’s what I’d try.

Does your car stereo have some kind of eq going on in the background, like a setting for classical, rock, pop? If so, turn it off if course.

Does your car stereo have ‘noise cancellation’ , if so, make sure it’s off.

Does your car stereo have a USB and 3.5mm input? If so, try both to see if there’s a difference.

Do you have a ghetto-blaster, try the mix at home, then bring the thing into the car and see what happens.

You know FM radio is playing mastered music, and I think radio stations also compress, and if so you’re getting a doubly compressed signal which would take care of any rogue frequencies.

Try compressing your tune waaay more, see what happens.

Is your room acoustically treated? Maybe you have some frequency cancellation going on that you don’t know about. Here are a couple of good videos about measuring a rooms frequency response and another one of a pro helping a bedroom producer out. They’re good, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjJEFOxSqpc , https://youtu.be/MSghYY_rX-A

Good luck!

Post: #199

(06-29-2017 05:54 PM)Zep Wrote:  Oh yeah, congrats on acquiring Melodyne and Ozone 5, those are two brilliant pieces of software.

Just checked, it's Ozone 7. I particularly love the faux-analog Vintage Tape module.

Quote:Does your car stereo have some kind of eq going on in the background, like a setting for classical, rock, pop? If so, turn it off if course.

Already done. It's set to 'Off'.

Quote:Does your car stereo have ‘noise cancellation’ , if so, make sure it’s off.

Nothing in the instructions about it.

Quote:Does your car stereo have a USB and 3.5mm input? If so, try both to see if there’s a difference.

USB / Bluetooth only, and Bluetooth won't stream at 24 bit, so I'm using USB.

Quote:Do you have a ghetto-blaster, try the mix at home, then bring the thing into the car and see what happens.

I already try it on the second computer in my office, which has a consumer level speaker setup. The sound matches what I'm hearing in the car, which is why I suspect the monitor speakers are the issue.

Quote:Try compressing your tune waaay more, see what happens.

I haven't mastered this track yet. From what I've been reading, you should perfect your mixes first, the master separately in one go, as they're two different mindsets, and you're tempted to remix the track on the fly when you should be just tweaking it. I'm trying to perfect the mix, which is what I used to do first - play it in the car, play it on the 2nd computer, then master.

Quote:Is your room acoustically treated? Maybe you have some frequency cancellation going on that you don’t know about. Here are a couple of good videos about measuring a rooms frequency response and another one of a pro helping a bedroom producer out. They’re good, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjJEFOxSqpc , https://youtu.be/MSghYY_rX-A

Maybe this is the problem. My last batch of major 'mixed' demos would be two years ago. Everything since then has been me recording individual repair tracks to replace any problems on the album I was working on. I'm trying to think what might have changed about the room in the meantime.

I'm in the process of restoring an old property I'll be moving into, so will only be mixing here for the next 12-18 months in my downtime, so I'll study these videos you supplied carefully as I wanted a dedicated music space in the new place and should get in and treat it properly before I move anything in.

Thanks mate, I'll get investigating the room.

Post: #200

Silly question probably, but are your speakers centered and are you listening from an appropriate distance? A common mistake people make is sitting too close or having the music play too loud.

But yeah wouldnt be surprised if your monitors are due for replacing/upgrading. Some cheaper montitor speakers have weaknesses at very specific frequencies.