What music are you playing?

[Ab]

Yeah this stride phase has certainly transformed his left hand. He’s actually starting to sound really good.

[Nich]

Hazel is going through her Monk phase:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kcr7tihox5...%2050.mov?dl=0

[Ab]

So much win!

[Lightspeed]

She's got rhythm!

[DrTiTus]

Back to bass lessons after the Xmas break, decided to record myself "improvising"/playing to backing tracks for progress marker. One take wonders.

Reggae
Funk

Sharing not because I'm great, but because I just want to not care if people hear me playing, which I am getting more used to now. I'm definitely not as good as MadMax's Davie504 post, but hey, 4 months. Good enough to record bits for my own music and beginning to understand basslines a whole lot more than I did.

Ghetto 4x10 cabinet I cobbled together over Xmas from Trade Me bits (amp $21, cabinet $1) and new cheap woofers (4 x $23) from Surplustronics. My sister's Xmas present to me was driving over Auckland picking all the shit up and bringing it down to my parents.


Went to the Rockshop and compared with brand name (Blackstar + Ampeg) bass combo amps, and mine sounded about as good as a $1000 one (1x15), but was beaten in the low end by a $1300 one (2x10). Mine hits the low G nicely, but the low E lacks the boom I was hoping for. Probably because I used cheap speakers with higher Fs values than I should have (I just selected by price rather than performance) and no cabinet tuning, but it was an experiment. My next version will be much better with the lessons learnt. I've only done car subs before this, so I had no idea what a bass cabinet was even supposed to sound like.

[Ab]

If it’s a closed back cab try porting the front. Air gotta move.

[DrTiTus]

Didn't sleep last night, took an acapella and made a hip hop track with me on bass [and the rest of the beat]:

Thanks Ye

I've realised bass doesn't play the role of sub bass, so this one has a separate sub bass line to boom in the car, and the bass plays its own role, but they kind of work together. Also recording is way better with a DI, even if my audio interface has a 1/4" guitar jack and invites you to plug it in directly. I've also played around recording my amp with a little condenser mic, which gave good/different results, but I wasn't recording bass through an amp at 3am, so DI it is for this one.

[DrTiTus]

Sunday night practice recording. Took out the "synth bass + guitar on bass" on this track, and just played a simple bassline the entire way through. One take after roughly figuring out what worked, including dirty recording noise at the end. Listened to it about 20 times in the car to/from work, and not gonna change anything. Next song.

https://drtitus.xyz/download/potions-draft.mp3

[Nich]

http://undrawing.org/sketches/202106...%20-%20ndr.mp3

I actually managed to cut my god awful noise into a track! The break through was purchasing a Tascam DR-40X to just plug and play recording. Now, if I'm making noise, I'm recording it.

Eurorack (+ Make Noise 0-coast) + MachineDrum + Novation KS Rack

[DrTiTus]

I listened to the entire thing. I was expecting some granular Terrence McKenna samples :P

[Nich]

thanks! I suck with using / managing / and sourcing samples ... and upon listening to the track on the kitchen speakers, I also suck at mastering. It's been a long time since I've wanted to make something for other people to listen to.

I'll set up the monitors and have another crack at it

[Nich]

More Richard Devine-inspired noise!

http://undrawing.org/sketches/202106...ro%20mast1.mp3

[Know me.]

rediscovered this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNl13t9ZtmA

Cowgirl in the Sand (2009 Remaster)

[crocos]

Are you teaching yourself that or something?

Or did you mean this?

Either way, good choice in music.

[Know me.]

This came up in the my feed and I thought of your dickheads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZoQUFJCGLI

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Ab

MHG has for some reason got the sound of early 20th-century ragtime and stride piano stuck in his head. Which is good, because now I don't have to get our family heirloom upright piano tuned, because it kinda sounds appropriate. Money saved.

Signs of a new phase: had to get the family heirloom tuned because Dad, the Dminor Bach prelude sounds wrong.

[StN]

The RickGrohl.

Which nicely compliments that recent stage appearance.*

*Recent being 4 years ago???

[StN]

Oh the algorithm.

I played SSS Love Missile F-111 the other night because beer.

Now I have had recommended "Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic".

Same old fishnetted vocalist, an aged Mansonesque lead guitar in a black g-string and pony tail (No, not on his head), and a couple of young ladies, similarly dressed in undies.

Oh Martin Degville, your beer gut belies your ancientness.

Back in the day, you could see how they diverged from Billy Idol from Gen-X.

But Billy seems to have aged.... gracefully?

2016 reform appearance...


At least he tones it down to just an orange suit and stilettos in this one. That guitarist - it's not the years, its the milage.

[[Malks] Pixie]

[Checks date of last post] - so I haven't been here for two years.

Um. Produced that more danceable material Mr Muscovado Orange then finally went and purchased a proper audio interface (am now using Reaper as my DAW) and decided to experiment with midi which produced Dolphin Noir (if you can make it through the first track then it improves, and the last is actually a favourite). Also played around with generating melodies by glitching my plugins (which is where all the Dolphin Noir stuff comes from).

[I've provided Youtube links because they're more accessible but all this stuff is on Bandcamp as per usual.]

Purchased a new/old guitar - a Vantage Avenger which used to belong to Johnny Volume from The Scavengers. Have taken my old SG apart to strip the paint work a friend was experimenting with on it, it may well never get reassembled. Also finally got hold of the lost Dukes of Leisure album which was never mixed (only took 10 odd years of asking and one divorce in the band) which I am very slowly mixing (18 individual tracks for the drums alone is terrifying). Yeah.

[MadMax]

The lad has completed and passed https://www.rslawards.com/rockschool...uitar/grade-2/

through
https://rockschoolnz.co.nz/electric-guitar/

One of the test criteria is "Command of Instrument" which is described as "The quality of the sound produced from the instrument, including the consistency of sound/tone, control of sound/tone commensurate with grade". His test result for this was full marks across his 5 songs for this. (Total score 95% )

The grade 3 book introduces reverb and while I could just grab a reverb pedal I noticed you can get multi effect pedals with looper and drum pattern functions. Or is such a gizmo considered cheating especially at his age? I do know he'll love playing with all the functions.

[DrTiTus]

I would get a Zoom G1 FOUR, but that's me.

I have the bass version (B1X FOUR), and while I don't really rate the looper, it's good to have drums and a range of FX instead of needing to get a bunch of different pedals just to experiment.

[MadMax]

Perfect, cause that’s exactly what we got and he loves it. Such a crazy device for not too much moolah. His music teacher is gonna be happy to know he’s now spending whole days playing his favoured riffs over n over.

I even thought him how to record and loop an chord progression and play along with matching notes.

[MadMax]

Wow autocorrect much

[DrTiTus]

Last track spam for 2021:

DrTiTus - My Mind Is Going

[[Malks] Pixie]

Back on my bullshit - probably the beginning of a new EP. Trying to get that bouncy happy feeling alongside an ever increasing sense of dread.

Security & - Dolphin Noir

[Cyberbob]

Long time listener, first time creator.
I got myself a Akai midi controller, so I'm trying to learn a bunch of things at once. Music theory, composition, drum pads, piano, Ableton Live (Why are DAW's a thousand times more complicated to learn than the toughest Adobe suite?).
I've created some progressive trance in the past with FruityLoops and Music 2000, but so much of this is brand new to me.

I've uploaded a short track not because I'm necessarily happy with it, but it's more to mark a starting point in this creative journey, which is something I did with photography over the course of 10+ years, and it was great to see that progress.
https://soundcloud.com/user-858005130/soberholidays

[[Malks] Pixie]

That's pretty cool mate - and a good pick with the AKAI (I've got the same one myself). My one recommendation with DAWS is don't worry about all the fine control - get it running in a way that works for you and then you can build on that knowledge (I'm using Reaper myself and I still find myself going back to tutorials about how to do basic shit). One other thing I would say is learn how to use the MIDI editor (piano roll) and your life will be so much easier.

If you're looking for a good free package of instruments (the ones that come with the MPK are fine but a bit generic) then check out LABS by Spitfire Audio. They're great quality, 100% free and super versatile.

[Redneck]

Don't forget to pick up your subscription for this -



[full disclosure - owner of three midi controllers ]

[_indigo1]

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/F6stB

[DrTiTus]

If it's not you making/playing it, wrong thread.

I was hoping it was CyberBob's next effort.

[_indigo1]

Oh, whoops.
I was only wanting to spread the horror anyway - a chad-roll if you will.

[Ab]

I'm contributing some guitar bits to a project. I can't share the separate tracks because they're not mine to share, but I'm really digging the guitar sound that I've settled on. It's got a sort of surfish Strat into old Fender amp turned up really loud vibe, all springy reverb and tremolo. Here's a couple of verses and a bridge from a demo, just the guitar. Listening to it in isolation there's quite a bit of RF interference from the single-coil pickup and the monitor I'm sitting in front of.

http://users.on.net/~sgarlick/files/...uitarthing.mp3

[Cyberbob]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

I was hoping it was CyberBob's next effort.

I'm working on some stuff but I can clearly see that 'creative gap' between what I have in my mind as an ideal outcome, and what's i'm skilled enough to create. When there's literally thousands of instruments and modifiers available, understanding what gels well together is key, and it separates the experienced musos and producers from the beginners.

I can't just throw a grand piano with a harp, bass guitar and hip-hop drum rack and go from there.

I feel like Moe from The Simpsons.. "Gin.. and..Tonic? Do they mix?"

[DrTiTus]

Bob, try getting some stems from metapop.com competitions - choose a song with vocals, the tempo/key is given, and you start with a finished song. Then you can pick an instrument track to replace, or slice it up and change the arrangement, or make a dance remix or a different genre etc. It's much easier than starting with a blank slate, and your lack of music theory comprehension isn't as much of a hindrance. You can also learn from how other people have put their songs together. Even if you're just figuring out the notes of the bassline or the melody, or the chord progression, it's an exercise for your ears and skills, more than relying solely on your creative brain. I tend to have opinions on how I would have made a song different, so it's a good way to try it out and experiment. Having recorded vocals means the attention of the listener isn't focused so much on the music, and instead the song as a whole, so you can get away with a lot more (or less as the case may be).

I've been making music for years and I'm still shit. Being able to read and write doesn't make you a best selling author, but it's better than being illiterate. Even if you're just making musical "fan fiction", it's a bit of fun and I'd rather do that than watch TV all the time.

[[Malks] Pixie]

Ab: That's some nice tone you've got there, very 60s, very trippy.

I'm going to echo the "I've been making music for years and I'm still shit at it" sentiment. There's no one right way to do things and it's the output that matters - and it matters most that you like what you produce or see some value in it (even if it's just as a learning experience).

I've only been experimenting with midi over the last couple of years and I'm literally jamming stuff together that should maybe never work in a traditional sense. Why not have a Norwegian Choir along with my fat 80s synth? Strings ensemble through a very metal guitar rig? Sure! Did I just put my drum mics in the center of a black hole level of reverb? I bloody well did. Do all the things I try work? Oh hell no. Do I always learn something? Almost always.

Wanna do grand, harp, bass & hip-hop drums - do it.

Practical advice:

If there's particular styles or genres you want work in/on then find examples (as DT suggests above) and analyse them. Use whatever rules/tricks you find and use them as guidelines for your own work.

Pick a couple of main plugin instruments and learn to manipulate them as best you can. Same thing goes with production plugins - pick an EQ, compressor, reverb and stick with them while you're learning. Don't stress about if it's the best plugin.

Break shit and have fun. You're only going to know if things work if you try them. Learning to fix your mistakes (or when to discard an idea) makes it much easier to find what you're looking for.

I thought this one was finished and uploaded it but turns out I over did the metal strings at the end and it needs some pitch-shifted guitar in the marching bit.

[crocos]

So semi-random one (talking to Kawaiicon crüe about banning) anyone got that legendary Slothking/Tarzan007 creation available?

Slothzan : 10 Accounts?

[Ab]

OK so this one guy I've been exchanging ideas with is enthusiastic but rough, he's that guy that we all were at first. He likes playing the bass and he sent me 8 bars of a simple bass part and asked what I would do with it. I said, fucked if I know, I'll loop it out a bit longer and just single-take the first couple of things that come into my head, and I did. It's not a song, just a couple of guitar parts.

http://users.on.net/sgarlick/files/2...tompything.mp3

I did that last night, kids were asleep, so silent recording with some shitty headphones. But today I listened back to it and thought "fuck those are actually some pretty good sounds".

[Ab]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

Sunday night practice recording. Took out the "synth bass + guitar on bass" on this track, and just played a simple bassline the entire way through. One take after roughly figuring out what worked, including dirty recording noise at the end. Listened to it about 20 times in the car to/from work, and not gonna change anything. Next song.

https://drtitus.xyz/download/potions-draft.mp3

This is great. So evocative of a time.

[MadMax]

My Mr 12 is learning to play Weather With You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8XcMG1EX4

Hearing him learning to play it for the first time on his Strat with his music teacher and I swear someone was chopping onions right in my face.

[Ab]

Grats