Mornats

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1400499449' post='2454344'] bowed electric bass [/quote] Tell me more! What is it? Where can I get one?

This may help out some of those who, like me not so long ago, would think "how the hell do you come up with a tune? where do you get a chord sequence from?". Well I got mine from a book! Rikky Rooksby wrote a book called "How to Write Songs on Guitar" (http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/rikky+rooksby/how+to+write+songs+on+guitar/6379208/). It has a chart that shows you which chords belong together in different keys. So started with a C# as one my vocal samples started with that and I chose the I II bVI V (first, second, flattened 6th and fifth) chords from that sequence. The first, second and fifth are quite common but I thought the flattened 6th (an A in the key of C#) would add a bit of imbalance to it. For the bridge bit I wanted a different sequence but one related to the main sequence. So I started on the flattened third (an E#m which is actually an F when it's at home and not in the C# key) and used the same chord numbers but in a different order: I bVI V II (first, flattened 6th, fifth then second). So I got my main sequence as C# D#m A G# and my bridgey bit as F Db C Gm. I picked them from the book, then played single notes to see if they worked then just went straight at it. I auto-tuned the vocal samples to match. On one bit I play a melody that's meant to follow the chord sequence but I actually play the sequence too fast and play F Db C Gm over then F and Db synth chords then play it again over the C and Gm chords. It may sound crap or maybe just adds to the unsettled feel (which is what I was going for). This is also the first attempt at double-tracking guitars. I usually record a guitar riff, pan it all the way to the left, duplicate it and pan that all the way to the right. I sometimes slightly offset one from the other by a fraction of a second to help fill out the sound. This time I recorded roughly the same thing in two different takes. Any (in this case many!) discrepancies helps fill out the sound in a more natural way. The bass simply stays within the chord notes of whichever chord it's playing over. Sometimes when I come up with a bassline I try to find a run from one chord to another using notes that are present in both chords (or using semi-tone steps in between) but this time I didn't. It takes a lot of working out if you don't know your chord notes all that well like me. I did most of my mixing at low volume after reading advice from the Recording Revolution and this helped a lot. I still need to go back and tweak levels on everything as that melodic lead guitar (which is a synth by the way) seems too loud and is pushing the rest of the track into the background so it loses punch. However I wanted to see if I could get a track from nothing to published on the same day. I normally spend a week tweaking and mixing, mostly mixing and I have a habit of not knowing when to walk away. Everything other than the bass and the kick drum were highpassed at around 200hz to give space to these two. I used sidechain compression so that when the kick hits it ducks the volume of the bass. (Try this on vocals and guitars. Duck the guitars a little when the vocals are on if they tend to clash. Try using a multiband compressor to just duck the offending frequency range if you don't want to EQ that frequency range out altogether.) These are the blog posts that helped me: http://therecordingrevolution.com/2014/05/12/why-chris-lord-alge-mixes-fast-and-doesnt-look-back/ http://therecordingrevolution.com/2014/05/05/the-late-night-mixing-plan-part-1/ http://therecordingrevolution.com/2014/02/12/stop-recording-so-hot-into-your-daw/ And the one I didn't follow on this track, mainly because I just plain forgot, was to mix in mono (I can't find that post, maybe it was in his newsletter) to get your levels right then sort out the panning and stereo width. So that's the etymology of my track (if that's the right word).

Well, fairly fresh ears... I couldn't wait I started this earlier this afternoon and wanted to see if I could complete it to a decent level the same day. I've been reading and watching videos on the Recording Revolution website and this is the first test to see if I've picked anything up. The main difference from earlier recording is that I'm recording at lower volumes and getting the levels right before going into EQ/compression/other tricks. Also, this pre-empts my NBD thread by showcasing my newly acquired SB320. A proper thread with pics will be forthcoming https://soundcloud.com/mornats/one-two-three-oh

I've got one for this month It just needs remixed with fresh ears.

If you're buying new, then the Yamaha and Ibanez budget-priced (all that's budget about them is the price really) are worth a look as well as the Squiers. For the music you mentioned it sounds like a Squier Precision would suit that. It's the classic bass sound and many people swear that all the need is a P bass. Not me, I like something different but you can't argue against a P bass. I've got a Laney RB1 practice amp and when the EQ is set flat it gives an honest natural sound. I really like it so an RB2 should suit you fine.

I just discovered that if you scan down the list of all items in a category they're typically listed low-to-high price. The price they're sorted on is the non-VIP price so if you see an item in the list that's a lower price than it should be, then it's a nice discounted VIP price. Or you could browse in a different browser (that you're not logged in on) at the same time as another browser where you are logged in and compare side by side.

Wow, I got upgraded to a VIP membership after a bit of hoo-haa with my first order from them. I just checked and the Ibanez SR1200 I've been gassing for is £669 for me rather than £869!

To be honest, anyone still on XP should really think about upgrading. Microsoft have stopped support for it (other than patching that big big mess up in IE a few weeks ago) and Win 7 in my opinion is miles better. Nice to see some love for other programs too. I think I've got a cut down version of Addictive Drums that I'll have a go of. Does BFD3 focus more on having control of the sound? EZD2 is (whilst still sounding good to my ears) more of a songwriting tool. More of the new features are about getting that groove in your head down into your DAW and quickly selecting some mix parameters to make it sit nicely in there. That's not to say you can't output the drum parts to multiple tracks and EQ/compress away but I like the quick results.

I bought Mike's lovely Bass Collection SB320 off him. It was very well packed and he packaged it up the same night I sent the money over, posted it the next day and I got it the day after. Brilliant, all was nice and easy, cheers Mike!

I see the usual suspects turned up in this thread

Does Ableton do drum stuff similar to EZDrummer? I thought it was more a DAW?

Not wanting to sound like someone from the EZDrummer marketing team (I think the new version is awesome) but this is how it works. It might be up your street. No programming required, just tell it what you want it to do

Awesome.

This is the track I was messing around with when I wrote the mini review above. I had a drum track in there already that I did using EZD 1 but never liked it. This took less than 20 mins to put together. This is the Indie Folk Gretsch kit. https://soundcloud.com/beautiful-skin/red-pepper

[quote name='Davebassics' timestamp='1399714446' post='2446864'] Do you know how many kits are included in EZ2? Is it just analogue kits? [/quote] You get two EZX packs with it, Modern and Vintage. Modern has a DW kit, a Gretsch USA Custom and a Yamaha 9000 and the Vintage has a Ludwig 60s and a Ludwig Vistalite kit. The vintage kits are recorded using a 4-mic setup for a more er, vintage feel. If you buy EZD 1 and do the free upgrade then you get the pop/rock kit too. They're all recorded at 18 bit (a quality increase from 16 bit - they say the jump to 24 bit didn't add anything so they opted to keep the sample sizes down). [quote name='RalphDWilson' timestamp='1399902591' post='2448772'] I did try EZKeys but wasn't a fan of the interface which seems to be like the new EZDrummer 2 interface [/quote] Same here, I found I was doing lots within a very small interface and it felt cramped. Despite sharing a very similar interface EZD2 doesn't have that cramped feel. Honestly, it just works. I'm a UX designer for the web and can appreciate the intuitiveness in the interface. It's a real shame they don't do a demo version to be honest.

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1399661046' post='2446489'] My favourite article on the subject [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar05/articles/soundingoff.htm"]http://www.soundonso...soundingoff.htm[/url] [/quote] Should have used Reaper instead.

Sad news, you and Paul must be well gutted! Really decent of the chap to offer the plan B though. Hope it all goes well and that good karma pays off for him.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1399578092' post='2445625'] If I had a PC, I would fear the reaper [/quote] You can get it for Mac too But despite its flakyness, GarageBand is easier to use in my opinion.

I swapped to Reaper on the PC as GarageBand on a Mac was way too flaky to do any serious work on.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1399575862' post='2445576'] Sometimes, I have ideas for metal, and end up doing stuff that would give hallucinations. [/quote] I always see things like this a good thing! Something unexpected that can sometimes send a track into a totally different direction. But I feel your pain, it can be tough sometimes to get a structure together. Just stick at it and don't be afraid to come out with something rubbish, at the end of it all you'll have learnt something and no one has to hear it if you don't want them to!