AndyB01

I've just abandoned SC - too much spam and too many ads. On BL - every time I create a new upload it immediately gets about six or more likes and zero plays (go figure) 🤔

My conclusion: bots

I don't overthink it - one listen and constructive crit from someone on here who's opinion I value is worth a thousand anonymous likes from accounts that may not even be real.

Andy

+1 for the Focusrite, I have an ancient Gen 1 2i4 - still rock solid.

Andy

On 8/7/2022 at 4:53 PM, Glenn Stanton said:

As noted earlier, some band have 2 drummers. 

I spent my late teens listening to Genesis and God alone knows how many drummers they had playing on some of their albums - so I guess I think anything is possible. 😂

Some great insights on this thread that have been a really interesting read - so as the OP that started it - thanks to everyone who has contributed.

Andy

Much grittier, much edgier and all around much better than that 'other' version.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Andy

Definite Eagles vibe - another superb addition to a long list of excellence - harmonies around 2 mins are terrific. I really am running short of superlatives to describe your stuff.

Andy

Norton utilities for DOS were class leading, especially with an 8088 CPU, 32Mb storage and a whole 768k of RAM to work with - Norton for Windows however - er not so much.

Norton AV on Windows was renowned for being a terrible resource hog.

@bdickens I love your outlook on life 🙂

Interesting replies and thoughts - I reckon I am over-thinking it but appreciate the links, I'll take a look at those when I get the time. @bdickens - as for what's stopping me learning the drums - how long do you have... ?

• wife
• space
• cost
• noise
• neighbours
• lack of talent
• too many instruments already (wife's opinion)
• time
• work
• chores
• did I mention the wife?

😂😂😂😂

So, as a non-drummer, I was wondering how folks approach drum tracks?

I definitely don't give these the attention they deserve, my go-to VST of choice is EzDrummer and I tend to (fairly quickly) pick a groove I like (based on what sounds right in my head for the track in question) then I use the variations available to build a song track. I might add a few fills and a few hand-played cymbals for effect and that's about it.

I'm not sure many of my drum tracks are humanly playable by one drummer on one kit; after all there's only so much you can do with two hands and two feet - right?

That sort of bothers me, I wouldn't knowingly program a midi guitar to play a chord that couldn't be physically fretted or play notes on instruments that are out of their natural range - so why should I be less careful with drums?

I guess my test is, if it sounds good, I'll run with it; but my lack of attention to detail still wrankles a bit.

Do the drummers on here listen to tracks like mine, pick up on those passages where I defy the laws of natural humanity and get bent out of shape about it? Or do they just roll their eyes and think, there goes another eejit who couldn't hit a cow's a*se with a banjo to a beat - let alone play or program drums and keep time. 😂

Am I alone in my crimes against drum tracks or are all non-drummers guilty as charged to a greater or lesser extent?

I do love the drums as an instrument and wish I had learned to play - kudos (and sincere apologies) to all you real drummers.

All tips on how I can improve or resources where I can learn to do better gratefully received.

Andy

I've got a pair of the LSR305s + had them a few years now and no complaints here (although I mainly mix on cans in order to keep the rest of the house happy).

Late to this one - very clever stuff - the added whisper track absolutely nails it, the drama suits the topic.

Enjoyed this

Andy

The symphonic swells on this are breathtakingly good and the light and shade across the instruments is truly superb - what a fabulous piece. On your feed I also happened upon a new version of one of my favourite tracks from a certain @PhonoBrainer (A Bridge To Somewhere) - sounding as good if not better than ever with some added strings, a cool percussion track and - of course - that sax.

Fabulous work 👏👏👏👏👏👏

Andy

I have Pianoteq Stage and I love its sound - which is crisp and clear, it really cuts through a mix if you're trying to showcase the piano.

However, Synthogy Ivory sounds more like an actual piano to my ears at least.

Horses for courses I guess and I use both in equal measure, but when I'm practising or just riffing for fun - Pianoteq standalone mode is my go-to.

Andy

Had a look, from what I can tell and recall it was in the settings and there's a section on bandlab re-authorisation. Mine had expired and when I re-authorised it solved the problem.

That's all I have unfortunately.

I had that issue, I'll be damned if I can remember how I solved it now - but it took me ages, much googling and a journey into the darkest depths of the settings.

I'll see if I can retrace what I did.

Yes the capo works as well but that is not quite what I meant here. I quite like leaving the unfretted strings just open and play them as they are (doesn't work for all chord voicings but works on A and B chords played at the 5th and 7th position). It is easier to play - as you don't need to barré the chord - and contrasts nicely with the higher fretted strings (especially when used as a secondary rather than a main guitar track).

It's a matter of taste I guess, whatever you do I am sure it will sound great.

Andy

I like this - real folksy feel - reminds me of guy called Mike Silver (folk singer based in the UK that you've probably never heard of).

Anyway, great vocal, nice guitar tone and the bass guitar sounds just great. I like the occasional surprises in the chord track and lyrical craft - tells a good story.

Andy

Nice one Daryl, lovely composition. Enjoyed it - no crits.

Andy

Motown meets The Four Seasons meets Grease - you nailed it!

Andy

22 hours ago, Tim Smith said:

Some kind of an extended prog rock thing. I opened up a project and started about the first minute of it. 

Only another 22 minutes to go then 😉

And at least some of those need to be in 9/8 time.

Sounds like a great project. Prog is seriously difficult - it's just so 'complex' and multi-layered - that's one reason why I love listening to it.

Oh and don't forget to include the 'Genesis chord' (Fmaj/B flat).

Good luck with it - can't wait to have a listen

Andy

Great groove and some nice lyrical craft - lead guitar up a hair maybe and the vox too?

Vocal effect - all been covered above - didn't overly detract for me.

Minor crits - great job

Andy

Oh a bit of doo-wop - love it

Amazing vocal - as for crits, how about some honky-tonk piano and maybe experiment with some more variation in the percussion.

Looking forward to the final version

A

1 hour ago, SonusProject said:

The program CCleaner has a section where it controls putting services to sleep.  In my case, the services I needed for CbB would be put to sleep on some schedule only known to CCleaner.  Once I the removed the ability for the service to sleep, all issues were resolved.

Removing Ccleaner can resolve a whole host of issues in general. It may have had value once upon a time but not with later versions of Windows (10+).

Causes more issues than it solves in my experience, but you may feel you still have a need for it.

Glad you got it fixed 👍

Andy

That's really very nice Rex - I was having a little noodle along to this - have you tried an additional finger-picked pattern but using open voicings on all the chords?

What I mean is fret the open E chord then use the same fretting at the 7th and 5th frets, leaving the bass E, top E and top B as open strings? You can use a similar pattern for the F#m but don't barre it - just fret the C#, F# and A on the A, D and G strings - leave the rest open.

Just a daft suggestion really but I though it sounded kinda cool - would've been even better played on a 12-string (shame I don't have one) 😞 

Loving your work - as always

Andy

I had some offer a few years back - five free cloudbounce mixes. All it seemed to do was make everything louder and also apply a fairly blunt normalisation effect that took away much of the original light and shade. I could achieve a similar result with Audacity. 😂

I wasn't particularly impressed and didn't pursue it. Might have been my inexperience and it might be more sophisticated these days. Can 300,000 people be wrong? 🤔

YMMV

Andy