Tag: Music

The First Mac Mix

Duck and cover kids, here come the Mac Mixes.

This that song that I couldn’t play the riff for, yet again. While working on the Mac I reserve the right to change the drum sounds and the bass sounds, and to change all the signal processing on the guitars and vocals. Also, I reserve the right to replace the drum parts with the GarageBand Drummer function, although I didn’t do that on this song.

I did change the drum sound and the bass sound, although I just ended up using the Mac version of the same bass sound I used on the iPad. They are close to the same, but the Mac version just sounded a little fatter. The only change I made to the guitar was to swap the panning. The rhythm guitar is doubled with each one panned most of the way to either left or right. One of the tracks used the neck pick up on the Strat, the other used the middle pick up. On the iPad version the neck pick up was to the left. On the Mac version it is to the right. For the vocals I changed the preset and the EQ. I also added compression to the drums, the bass, and both vocal tracks, and to the full mix. Just a little on the mix.

Here is the new mix…

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For comparison, here is the iPad mix (again)…

Another June Song

I finished another song today. This was the third song I started this month. At the time it was sort of a throw away. The first two ideas I had had me kind of optimistic. I had a Straty 12-bar with a riff that was too reminiscent of Goodbye Porkpie Hat, but it was cool. The second song had a decent Straty sounding riff. I liked it. The third song… blah.

Now that it’s finished though… I kinda like it.

Slight Musical Change in Plans

The plan for June was 10 songs with all of the guitar parts played on the Strat.

That will still happen, but…

There will be two additional songs. One is a three part suite type thing. It uses my lovely Takamine 12-string and my magical Gibson ES 335. The other song is all 12-string right now, but it’ll probably get some Strat later.

Here’s to musically biting off more than you can chew! 50/90 is two weeks away!

Two New Songs

I have two new iPad mixes done.

This first one is one that I believe I wrote about before. I wrote the riff I used in the chorus using the “software” instruments in GarageBand. Then when it came time to record the actual guitar part it was too difficult for me to play. I had to work on it quite a bit before I got it down. Then, like a doofus, I decided to double track the part and had to do it all again.

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There’s nothing particularly special about the second song except that I made the lyrics up on the spot. Therefore they are completely meaningless. I’ve been doing that a lot this month. No trips to @floridaman yet.

Recording

I did a little recording tonight. I put the rhythm guitar onto one of the two songs that were still guitar free, and I put the leads onto two songs that are now finished and ready to iOS mix.

My playing is poor. Very poor. It’s only been a couple of weeks or so since last I played and tonight it was just difficult. I wonder if I took out the Les Paul would I have an easier time.

I also have an urge to write an extra song this month and make it proggy and long as opposed to the bluesier, acidy feel for most of this month’s crap.

We shall see, but I can almost see a GarageBand for iOS file with some 12-string tracks. Almost. Again, we shall see.

June Music Lull

Well the June Tunes have definitely slowed down over the past week. There are 10 plus the one May left over. Three total are finished but only the iPad mixes at this point. I hope to make good progress in the next couple of days.

Until then, want to hear something? How about the goofy May left over?

Wasn’t that fun? Of the 11 songs, three are 12-bars because that’s the mood I’m in. Wait… Is it three or four? I can’t remember.

Want another?

Fun, eh? Everything is still 100% iOS. How about one more for the road? This is the first song I’ve ever recorded entirely on a telephone. There will be another soon, but for now this is it.

I’m writing this post using the WordPress app on my iPad. Here’s hoping the audio tags work, eh?

That’s three songs down. Eight more to go, and then I remix ’em all. Hooray for bad music!

A GarageBand First

I said I was going to do all of the recording this month using GarageBand on my iPad. That’s mostly correct.

I just finished doing something that I’d never done before. I have a song that is recorded 100% on my iPhone. Drums and bass are GarageBand MIDI tracks. There are also two tracks of guitar, the Strat, and three tracks of vocals.

It’s rough, but everything this month is rough. I’m just glad I was able to sneak in a vocal today before this SOB of a cold ruins what little voice I have.

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Almost Missed It

It’s bed time and I haven’t posted anything today.

Last night I sketched out a new song idea on my iPad. This morning I redid the one vocal I had and recorded a second. Tonight I did all the guitars for last night’s song, double tracked the entire too-hard-to-play song, and fixed one part on another song that sounded off to me.

The Kings are winning in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals. I smell a sweep. Oh, and the Red Sox lost.

You are up to date.

My Eyes Play Better Than My Hands

Have you heard the expression, “my eyes are bigger than my stomach”? Meaning I put more food on my plate than I could actually eat? I have coined a guitar playing version of that statement. My eyes play better than my hands. Let me explain.

I am up to seven songs this month. Three of them were written in the dead of night using the built in instrument sounds in the iPad version of Garageband. Today I replaced the fake, software guitar parts with an actual real live guitar. On one song I was almost forced to stick with the crappy fake software. I came up with a funky little riff that was standing out above most of the others in my little head. I thought it was pretty snazzy. When I tried to play it today I couldn’t. It was beyond my abilities at this time. I’ve no doubt that back in 1995 of 2004 I could have nailed the sucker over and over again, but today? With my playing chops as weak as they are? Nope. I couldn’t do it.

I did find a work around though. It was in two parts. First, and most importantly, I practiced the little bastard over and over again for almost an hour. Over and over again. I got to the point where I could play it, but I couldn’t quite play it cleanly four times in a row as the song required. That’s where the second work around came in. It is a huge cheat. An epic cheat. A cheat for all ages. It’s also standard practice in a recording environment. I played the riff once then stopped. I then started the recording on the second measure of the phrase and played it again. I repeated until I had the whole thing comped together. I now have a complete recording of the entire phrase that is, while not perfect, good enough for my needs.

Am I a cheater? Oh you bet your sweet ass I am. In this respect, me and everyone else on the planet.