Rain

13 hours ago, Max Arwood said:

I get a new plugin and want to go redo all my songs lol.

This. 

I have a few songs that I have allowed myself to go back to and completely rebuild from my old Sonar archives. To be honest, in most cases, I've lived with them for so long that no matter what I try and how much "better" they should be, they rarely sound right. For all their flaws, I've become used to those so much that something's missing in the better mix. They just feel a little flat and unexciting.

But there are 2 or 3 which actually ended up significantly better - although in each case, the process stretched over years and multiple attempts. One of those is a cover for Billy Idol's Flesh for Fantasy that I really dig. The original dates from 2007, but I re-made it in 2013 and again in 2017 I think. The problem is that it's still instrumental, and I would love to record vocals for it, but it's not in a key that works for me. And there's no way I'm spending another 15 years to rebuilt it in the right key. A friend who's actually a real singer offered to help me finish it, and I might ask her to. 

Sometimes I do miss the days when I didn't know better than to have every synth rendered to stereo with reverb and delay and things masking each other, and I would just shove everything through the stereo bus and call that my mix. And if the kick drum got buried, I would just add yet another track of a different kick...

Now I have better gear, a better room to work in, and I pretend that I know just a little better, but I really don't. lol 

22 hours ago, T Boog said:

 

Congrats Rain. I'm more curious about ur song though. Any progress on it?

I'm curious if u changed ur approach at all or are u taking a break from it for a bit?

Thanks for asking.

Actually, I only did a few tests but my voice didn't seem to cooperate, so I quickly called it a night. But I did listen to a few takes from the previous week and I think I'm almost there - to a point where I can live with my voice without being particularly fond of it. Part of it is just a matter of singing more. And warming up. Which I've been trying to do a little more regularly. But there's something that's still locked in. 

On 10/27/2024 at 9:56 PM, Rain said:

I'm drinking my "morning" coffee and getting ready for yet another session, and I figured I would re-read this and try to let some of that wisdom seep through that thick  skull of mine.

I just started the demo period UAD Spark and I'd really like to have time to actually play with those plugins - it's be great not to waste the entire night singing (what little I've tested this morning already compelled me to add the studio ed bundle to my cart).

Well, at least there's SOME development.

I bought the UAD Studio bundle this morning.

And went back for the SSL bundle tonight.
 

I took me only two years but I finally figured out that I could cut that huge one in smaller pieces and add it to the side walls, instead of just having it taking place in the studio closet. 

My padded cell is complete. I can go insane now.

15 hours ago, T Boog said:

One things for sure, he has good lungs. It takes stamina to sing from dusk til dawn like that. Im worn out just thinking about it 😩

I didn't really realize it until I called it a day and sat down and realized that I'd been standing up all night. My feet were killing me. 

Not all their stuff was bad. Amusingly enough, I stumbled upon this last week:

https://cherryaudio.com/products/surrealistic-mg-1-plus

Being poor sure helped me not to forget the word realistic when I started playing electric guitar. This was my first "amp".

We also had a über cheap Realistic keyboard with drum patterns that I used to cut some of my very first "demos".

On our Realistic stereo combo, of course. 

I'm drinking my "morning" coffee and getting ready for yet another session, and I figured I would re-read this and try to let some of that wisdom seep through that thick  skull of mine.

I just started the demo period UAD Spark and I'd really like to have time to actually play with those plugins - it's be great not to waste the entire night singing (what little I've tested this morning already compelled me to add the studio ed bundle to my cart).

I guess there's a reason I like instrumental electronic music so much... 

Yeah, that's take #382. And it wasn't even the last one. I recorded another 54 takes in Pro Tools afterwards (I needed a change of scenery). That's a whole night spent recording vocals for one song. Starting at around 11 pm and finally giving up at around 9 am. 

Not the harmonies, not overdubs, just the lead vocal - 2 verses, 2 choruses.

I had gone through the same process a week earlier.

And I will probably spend hours on it again this weekend. 

Granted, I'm not a singer, but that wouldn't make a difference. Same thing happens when I record guitars... 

It's just a case of me going - nah, I can do better. Then hitting undo and recording a new take, most of the time without even listening to the previous one. In 90% of the cases, there's nothing terribly wrong, no sour note, no error in the lyrics... I just want to do better.

I also seem to feel that punching in would be cheating. It's not as if I were recording in a studio with an engineer and felt pressured. I have no deadline and no pressure, and I can record one verse at a time. So the least I can do is get it right.  And that in itself is a curse I guess.

Having been married to a phenomenal singer for a decade and being constantly surrounded by other extraordinarily talented vocalists is also a double edged sword. I can hear things I would have never noticed before when listening to vocalists - but the ability to hear and identify weaknesses and quirks doesn't mean that I have the talent to avoid or fix them.

So it's often a case of - the vibrato on that note is a little off, or the enunciation is off, or that note doesn't "close" properly. Pretty soon, you're pulled into the realm of the microscopic. But I hear it, and I know that any singer will hear it too.

Also, I have a perfect excuse. I haven't really sang in years. After I quit smoking the first time, I suddenly seemed to lose control over my voice, which was extraordinarily embarrassing. At least, now that's behind me, but I feel like I'm still finding my voice. So it does seem to improve a little, week after week.

Sometimes I wish I could do what a lot of people working in electronic music do - just run my voice through a distortion and let it be. There are tons of bands that I like who do just that. I wouldn't want to hear what Front Line Assembly or Hocico sound like with regular vocals. But I can't seem to let myself do it.

Maybe what I'm missing is a nice tube preamp, a great outboard compressor, or a channel strip. Or a better mic. Maybe I can buy my way out of that rabbit hole... 

So yeah... This is my office for the weekend again. 

An old friend of mine said that without it, life would be a mistake.

On 10/17/2024 at 11:39 AM, Mr No Name said:

 I am thinking a dedicated "studio space" has to be an integral part of the creative process ?

Having a dedicated space is fantastic, and I really hope I never have to go without. But I have written a lot of music when my "studio" was essentially a desk in a corner of the living room or right next to my bed. Forget dedicated studio - I didn't have access to a dedicated computer, nor even just a dedicated hard drive.

Here I have the whole house to myself and a dedicated room, but sometimes I grab a laptop and a midi keyboard and head downstairs to the living room - sometimes not being "in the studio" helps, as I don't feel the pressure of having to come up with something.

That old MacBook is from 2010 and runs an old copy of Logic 9, with only a few instruments, but even that can be inspiring.  Most of the time I don't even bother hooking up an audio interface and monitors, I just use the laptop's. 

I also get a disproportionate number of my ideas in the bathroom, usually when I'm in the shower.  Fixing food also seems to be a source of inspiration. The good thing is that with smartphones nowadays, one can just record the basic idea on the spot. 

I remember getting an idea for a melody at the beginning of a 12 hour shift working security on a construction site and trying to hold it for the rest of my shift. Well, I failed. That was over 20 years ago and I'm still bitter about it. 😁

1 hour ago, craigb said:

Well, that was interesting, but MAN did those vocalists kind of suck! 

Ozzy has such a unique voice... I've heard amazing vocalists ruin his songs.

They should have gotten our fellow forumite Leadfoot.

12 hours ago, SteveStrummerUK said:

Even now, I kind of still prefer the two albums they did with Paul Di'Anno over the Dickinson/Bayley output - his vocal style just worked so well for their early material.

Same. There's no denying that The Number of the Beast is incredible, and Dickinson is probably the better singer technically, but those first 2 records with Di'Anno captured an edge that they lost when he left. I also feel that he had a wider stylistic and emotional range than Dickinson, who's essentially approaching every song from the same angle.

Martin Birch's production and Adrian Smith's presence always gave some sort of edge to Killers for me, but in terms of songs, that first album is flawless. I can't really pick one.

Only 66...

https://www.metalsucks.net/2024/10/21/ex-iron-maiden-frontman-paul-dianno-dead-at-66/

On 10/16/2024 at 12:46 PM, Sander Verstraten said:

Total Guitar is gone too... 

I guess Music Radar is wrapping up all their remaining print editions. 

Guitar Player too... 

GP was the first guitar-related publication I bought, a few months after I got my first electric on Christmas 1984. 

I knew the name Eric Clapton but I'd never heard him - but that didn't matter. In fact, the only cat I knew in the entire issue was on the back of the magazine (man, I wanted one of those Kramers)...  

I couldn't read music and there were no tablatures, I barely understood a word of English but even if I could have read the articles, that stuff was beyond anything I could understand... But there were cool pictures.  Those mags were quite expensive for little 12 year old me back then. $3.40 plus taxes…

I bought a lot of Computer Magazines (the French edition) when I transitioned to digital audio. Those were exciting days - Steinberg had just launched Neon and a little later Model-E, introducing the first VSTi's, but trackers were still going strong. They always came with a bunch of free plugins that I couldn't use because Cakewalk didn't want to implement ASIO and VST and stuck with Direct X. Those were the days... lol

It was a great way to learn about software back in those days before the internet became as big as it is.

14 hours ago, craigb said:

"Random drive-by??!"  WTF??!  What the hell is wrong with people??! 🤬

.

.

.

On a more fun note... "Who'll feed my cat?"  Wait... You only have ONE cat now?  I thought you had about eight! 😂

I'm not sure how random, but there was a drive-by just down the street from here a few years ago - a couple hundred ft from my doorstep. And this is a very quiet neighborhood. So I have remained very much aware that this can happen. I've seen pictures of stray bullets in walls and appliances on Nextdoor in nearby parts of town. One guy had a bullet that went through a wall and lodged itself in the fridge door.  Imagine going to the bathroom during the night then making a quick stop to grab a glass of milk from the fridge - and poof, you are no more...

I don't worry about it, but it wasn't really a shock to read about Lee. It is a crazy world.

Also reminded me of another rock guitar great/fellow Las Vegan who got hit a few decades ago in L.A.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-bruce-kulick-shot/

Well, not literally, but, close enough...

https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/rock-icon-injured-in-las-vegas-shooting-3190085/

I often go out to take pictures of the night sky in the middle of the night, or jogging just before dawn and think something like that could happen - just a random drive by, and poof, you're gone. Who'll feed my cat?

Anyway, I am glad to know that Lee will recover fully.

12 hours ago, bitflipper said:

To glue to my garage door. It's a little cramped when the band's rehearsing in here, so the guitarist and bassist both have to stand close to the rollup garage door. I believe that's contributing to mic feedback, so I've decided to put up some 12x12x2" panels on the door.

Wish me luck - the door is made of segmented painted wood panels, so I might have to get some "permanent" industrial adhesive so they don't fall off when the door is retracted.

I've been meaning to do this for awhile, but sheesh, the Auralex stuff would be kinda pricey for what's basically an experiment. But I wanted to pass along a resource I discovered, a foam factory out of Michigan that sells direct - unimaginatively called  Foam Factory. Based on published testing, their stuff seems to be comparable to Auralex but considerably cheaper. A pack of 24 from Sweetwater was $119. A pack of 48 from Foam Factory is $45. Shipping was $13, so even with Sweetwater's free shipping that's still a much lower price.

Yes, you can find similar-looking products on Amazon for like twenty bucks. Read all the 1-star reviews before wasting your money on that crap.

I will report back to let you know how these worked out.

 

I believe that's where I got mine from! I don't have the receipt but according to the Fedex info, they were shipped from Macomb, MI. Not that I would normally remember but I ordered them exactly 10 years ago after I repainted the room and that popped up in my Facebook memories. 

I got a bunch of those square ones that I placed on the side walls, a few of their bass/broadband absorbers, and a large piece (6 x 4 ish) that I placed behind the desk. I had thick black curtains hanging on the front and back walls and every few feet on the side walls, and the floor was carpeted, so the room was not that bright to begin with.  Anyway, I was happy with the result, but I'm no Ethan Winer.

In 2021 a few months before moving out, my ex brought this huge panel that she'd inherited from a customer. She left it behind because she had no room for it in her new home, so I agreed to keep it for her with some of her stuff in the garage. But every time I went downstairs and saw it it felt like such a waste. Seeing that it's unlikely that she'll have room for it any time soon, we agreed that I could use it for as long as I need it, although it technically remains hers. 

It weights a ton and it was a pain to carry this thing through tiny corridors and upstairs all by myself and then to install it, in the July heat, but after a couple of hours and a few splinters in my fingers, it was finally in its rightful place, replacing the large bit of acoustic foam. And it does a good job of absorbing frequencies. (You can see a few of those broadband absorbers above it. I couldn't fit them in the corners anymore so I decided to put them wherever - there is no actual reasoning behind their placement).

21 hours ago, paulo said:

And now for your mental attitude test.....

 

Is that a hole in the doughnut or is it a hole surrounded by doughnut ?

I'm from Canada. I see no hole, only Timbits, eh...

It struck me pretty early on that our limitations as musicians (and human beings) define us, and that sometimes, your best attempt at emulating someone or tipping your hat to them will be unrecognizable to anyone else. If you're lucky enough, that singular mixture will be recognized as your own style or voice - even though it is in fact a failure. But regardless... Our perception of things are usually vastly different. 

The first time I went into a recording studio, the producer complimented me on an orthodox guitar part I'd written to embellish a G chord - "it sounds like something Steve Morse could have come up with". I'd never heard Steve Morse. Actually, I don't think I have yet. It may not have been Steve Morse - but it was some dude I didn't know anyway. Point is, I thought I was stealing from Jimmy Page and the way he messes around within chords. 

And I've been through that kind of scenario a number of times...

While going through the archives tonight I found this. It was recorded in 2015 while I was working on a slow blues-ish sort of thing, and trying to figure out  parts. I played it for a few friends and they kept naming different guys - every one but... 

The sounds is awful, as this was captured by the MacBook mic - this was just before I figured out how to use the little Mackie board to make my videos. But I am curious to know who you guys hear - if anything.

I apologize in advance for my rudimentary skills and playing - I suffer from a weird condition which affects fine motor skills, so anything that requires stretching my fingers requires tremendous efforts to control tremors - especially with my wrist at an angle... Mother smoked during pregnancy, so, there's that. 

Anyway... 

Thank you guys! You're the best!

I celebrated bigly... I'd been wanting a doughnut for over a year.

I might even have a burger later this week. And French fries. Man I've been dying for some of those.

2 minutes ago, craigb said:

Saw this somewhere else too...  Only one issue...  Back in the 1980's I was at a dart tournament in Vegas and it was 129 degrees F...  ?

Apparently more history is being rewritten?

Now, if that was 120 degrees C, THEN that would be a record!

The explanation I've seen is that this is the temperature registered at the airport. It can vary across the valley... 

Me, I am glad I don't have kids and that the bulk of my existence is behind me at this point. Whether human history is rewritten or forgotten or coming to an end... I don't really have a dog in this fight anymore. I am the end of my line (as far as I know.)

Makes me sad that there won't be people around to appreciate the Beethoven's Late String Quartets, but I'm not sure that even that makes humanity worth saving...

Thank you, my friend!

23 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Are you saying I'm not average?

I even sat through that dismal Wonder Woman movie because of the HZ soundtrack. He was in the Buggles, man. He played on Video Killed the Radio Star.

But... Gal Gadot.

(Actually I've not watched that one.)

I work nights, so I "missed it" because I sleep all day, but, still...

I ordered sushi for breakfast tonight when I got up at around 7 pm. When I went outside to meet the driver, I felt that it was surprisingly hot, even by our standards here. At first I imagined it was because I usually never go out before sunset when I go pick up my mail during my break... But then I saw this on Facebook.

Way to kick off my vacation week - and celebrate my the beginning of my 53rd ride around the sun. Although right now it feels more like we're riding into it than around it...