X-53mph

I hear FTX are having a yard sale.

I'm gonna push back against some of what you said here. Sure, back in the day the Top Ten was always jam packed with candy floss toss, but that was music for the general public. I remember my step father used to DJ on river boat parties, and he'd buy the top-ten singles every week, because he knew they were the ones most people would ask for. He had crates full of top ten singles from the previous years, and I would sometimes go through them hoping to find a gem. As you can imagine, most of it was trash. Anyone remember Tarzan Boy? Crazy Frog? Those were the songs people wanted to listen to. That was for the masses. But we are not talking about that here, right? We are talking about high musicianship and connoisseurship. There used to be places for people like that . In the UK, there were late night DJs like John Peel who would introduce niche audiences to niche music. My friends and I would tape his shows because you were guaranteed to discover a gem each time (on a side note, I was luck enough to have my single be played by him shortly before his passing). Then there was the indie scene. I grew up buying bootlegs and test pressings from small indie record shops. They were places to hang out, meet like minded people, even meet the bands sometimes. That was a far cry from big labels. Sure you had to make the effort to go to the shop....but you were likely to get recommended something great by the guy behind the counter, and that personal touch meant a whole lot more than the 'other buyers also liked' suggestion at the bottom of your Amazon order or YouTube page. They were places of community. Also, how did a teenager living in the suburbs of the UK get to know about American indie music? DIY Skateboard videos is where. Before the internet, we used to circulate low quality skateboard videos. That was where I discovered Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jnr, Black Flag, Husker Du etc. Sure there was MTV, but most kids I knew didn't have MTV or cable or satellite. Later on, in my 20s, it was boutique labels that introduced me to the best music. If you liked Bjork, you'd check out the rest of One Little Indian's roster. If you were into Badly Drawn Boy, you'd check out the other artists on Twisted Nerve. The labels were a form of curation, just as great DJs were curators. Not everyone was in the pockets of big labels, and not every label was out to shaft the little guys. Many of them where like small families. However, that all seems to have gone now. Sure, there are still labels (online and offline) but they are trying to stay afloat in an ocean of trash. Sure there are playlist curators....but.....comon.....seriously? It's not that the Brave New World of the internet self distribution doesn't have its pros (I can now write a song, record it in a day, and have it up on-line in 24 hours - whoopy), it's that any level of real curation has fallen to the wayside. The so-called gate-keepers where there to slow down the onslaught of sludge. I'll explain a bit more clearly from my own personal experience. A few years ago I decided to explore the world of internet radio. There are lots and lots of legitimate radio stations on-line which will accept open submission from unknows, unsigned artists. I started pushing my stuff wondering if this might lead somewhere. As I'm sure you all know, if you have an account with Spotify or Bandcamp etc, you can see your stats on a daily basis, you can monitor the progress. You can see when, where, even who, listens to your music. (I don't think this is always a healthy thing). Well over the course of two years having my music playing on loads of radio stations (sometimes on a daily basis), being nominated for an award, being put into dozens and dozens of playlists, the impact on my stats was....nothing. Most playlists are never listened to by anyone other than the artists on them (just sign up to one of the many playlists on X/Twitter and you'll receive your set of instructions to stream the entire playlist daily to 'improve' each others stats). Those radio stations (I suspect) are not listened to by anyone other than the artists on them either. It started to feel like nothing more than a vanity project. Now, take into account the millions and millions of songs being self released every day; where is the audience for them? That is, in my opinion, the problem with the internet model. The sheer volume and the lack of curation. @Starship Krupa what I'm specifically kicking back against is when you said 'it's the lack of effort' that people put into finding new music. I disagree. Suggesting that the listener isn't trying hard enough to find new music when they have to wade through a sea of millions and millions of mediocre (or worse) self-published stuff is disregarding just how frustrating it has become. And let's also be clear. We don't just search out music that sounds good. We want a story. We want a package. We want a brand. That's why the people who are good at self promotion are the top feeders. But being internet savvy and good at promotion doesn't necessarily make someone a great writer of player. Let's be honest, to get to the level of Lenny Breau you'd have to be playing for hours each day...not servicing your online accounts and pushing content. But that's what it has become. When I was talking with a mentor he told me a thing that I recognize to be sadly true. 'It's not about the music anymore. The music is just a freebie'. No-one want to pay for music anymore. So musicians are now having to use the music as ways into selling something else. At the moment the big trends are services promising the keys to the kingdom. Promises of increasing your Spotify stats if you sign up to their course. Promises of perfect mixes if you sign up to their course. The music is just an end product, like the crappy pottery experiments that are the end result of that 2 week pottery course. The music has become devalued to such a level that it means nothing. Sure there are still great musicians out there. Sure we can go look for them. But it's like me putting you in a shipping container yard in Shanghai and telling you to find a great pair of shoes: they are in there somewhere, but how much effort are you going to put into finding them?

@John Vere did you ever do a version of Will the Circle Be Unbroken for them? I love that song. I want that played at my funeral.

My son is a student at conservatory, and he's surrounded by super talented musicians (there is one guitar player who plays a bit like Lenny here). Sadly, however, whenever there is a concert or show, they struggle to get a crowd. Even family and friends don't come to see their own kids. I find it shocking. I'm there at ever concert my son plays, watching with my heart in my throat. I never had the opportunity to study music, so these young performers amaze me with their level of skill and commitment. Many years ago, I had the joy of seeing Paco de Lucia twice in concert. Though not exactly the same genre as Tommy, he had those finger picking skills that left you dumbstruck. RIP

That's where you and I differ. Lyrics have always been important to me. There are songs that still make me cry on the spin of a lyric. This is especially true when I know that lyric comes from a place of pain. My own lyric writing has always been painful. Sometimes laying bear your emotions or revealing a side of yourself that you usually keep hidden. It's like standing naked before the crowd. And it's this laying bear of the soul that I've got to stop. It's self destructive and brings me no joy anymore.

Do you mean instruments? Cause I am definitely thinking of selling my Dobro. The strat and the Acoustic are staying though. I've already listed some of my mics. There was once a time when I would buy a new toy to try to reignite my passion for music. That seems to have passed too.

Thanks for the compliment @PhonoBrainer. Truth is, there are millions of people making good stuff out there every day. I'm just one of millions (maybe even billions) and I have to face up to the fact that it's good, but not better than that. As for my age: I am turning 50 next year, though I don't look it. I've got that youthful Thurston Moore look about me. I was never able to make music my main job. I've always had a main job in something else, and music has occasionally brought me some nice payments here and there, but nothing spectacular. However, in recent years it's become a loss leader. Stats in the tens even when I push the music. Sites asking me to sign up for this or sign up for that. Pay for plays. Pay for airplay. Pay for promotion. Pay for advise. Everyone wants my money for the promise of exposure. It's one long con. And most importantly, it doesn't make me happy anymore. So I quit.

Since I was a kid, making music has been an integral part of my life. I learned the guitar by joining a band and playing Nirvana and Dinosaur Jnr covers. Later, I became the front man of my own bands as well as the guitarist and songwriter in others. Then in my 20s I got signed under my moniker 53mph . I released a few records, had some radio and TV play, was offered management, but I never really broke the big time. I guess because of that I always felt that I had some unresolved business, and so I've been making music under the name 53mph ever since. In recent years, however, music making has started to feel like a slog. I was never a prolific writer or performer, but I was producing music every week. In the last 4 months I have not written or recorded anything new. I no longer have the drive to keep at it. Add to that the fact that I don't have an audience, I don't have a following, and I have never understood how to crack the social media fan machine (without selling a piece of my soul). I feel like a stranger in a strange land. Everything came to a head when at the end of last year I was contacted by a music promoter. I won't mention names, but he had a history of working with big names. We had a zoom chat in which he said he'd be willing to 'put in a shift' pushing my stuff to labels in Europe. We talked about what would be required from me: radio appearances, festival circuits, social media promotion. That's when I realized, I don't really want it. I then had some sessions with a mentor. This was meant to focus my attention onto what my 'brand' was and what I was 'selling', how to build a following on-line etc. The end result is....I've become musically empty. The plan laid out before me looked like a hamster wheel that I could never leave. It was like I'd woken from a dream. So I've decided. enough is enough. I quit. I used to make music because I loved making music, but these days I can see no point. So I quit. I'm taking everything off-line except for Bandcamp, which is going to become a mausoleum to 53mph. Soundcloud, YouTube, TikTok, X-Twitter...all gone. I need to go away and rediscover what it is about making music that I love. I need a fresh start. So this is the end, my friends.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone NOT use auto tune on pop songs these days. Is there a Dogma movement for music production, like there used to be for movies?

Just to give some feedback - I downloaded a version of Fruity Loops for Linux and Reaper. Both load up just fine with their demo projects. The problem, as everyone mentioned, is the Audio drivers. I could get my Behringer UMC22 to work, but not in any useful sense. The audio spluttered and stuttered continuously. I'm too old and tired to go down the troubleshooting route in the world of Linux. I'm going to nip this in the bud now before I waste any more time whipping that dead donkey. Thanks for all your input guys.

Hi guys, This is totally unrelated to Cakewalk (unless they plan on going Linux) but I recently resurrected my old HP Pavilion laptop (which was my main DAW for years) and installed Linux. It's powerful enough to run the most recent Ubuntu release without trouble. I'm interested in whether anyone is using a Linux system as a DAW, and if so what might be some recommendations to install. I'm going to give Ardour a try, maybe Reaper. Any other ideas. I like the idea of getting away from an advertising centred OS, which is what Microsoft, Google and Apple have all become. All suggestions happily accepted. P

I'll second this. Once I got Acon Digital Acoustica, I never needed to open Sound Forge ever again. 👍

If I were making string music, I might well get this. As it is, I've got so many string vst that I don't use, I cannot justify even 28 bucks.... which makes me sad. 😞

From what I can quickly gleam, they are still operating but they will be a narrowing of product development. I found this on the Vegas forums concerning that particular product.

...sniggers Avid.

Reaper users are like lynx users....or People's Temple converts. Come on and drink the kool aid! 🧉

Correction of my own mistake.

Wait! Is Tonex from ik multimedia? I used to use IK plugins years ago but I moved away from their ecosystem because I found them too resource heavy and glitchy. Have they improved any?

I agree, and I raised this with Nembrini myself. Unfortunately, they are based in Italy and the taxation on on-line transactions by the government is very high compared to other countries (I know, I live here). It's one of the reasons Italy is an unattractive country for foreign investors.

I've started using Nembrini more in my mixes. I use the Lo-fi vintage clipper to add a little je ne sais quoi to my mixes in the same way Air adds a certain lift in the final mix. I recently started using the Acoustic Voice Guitar Amp. It doesn't work well with a plugged in acoustic guitar, but it works great with a DI electric. It also means I can get down a decent acoustic track without having to pull out the mics. Definitely worth a look.

Poll time - Instrument or form of torture?

I write almost exclusively in alt tunings on acoustic guitar, and I use a lot of alt barre chords up and down the neck. I tend to down-tune my strings, which means the tension is a bit more forgiving on the fingers. Try tuning down. My best advise for playing barre chords is to build up your finger muscles. The fact I also play piano might help with that. There was a time when I did boxing, which helped build up hand muscles (I favoured bare knuckles against a punch bag) or you could use those finger strengthening tools for guitarists. Ultimately, the best way is to work through the pain until you're comfortable with the chords.

It sounds like Phoebe Bridge's guitar sound. Very nice

@ralfrobert Previous sfx / loop packs on humble bundle have been zipped folders of single sound files. You would have to download the whole pack to get the single sound out.

I saw this - crazy low price, but is it worth getting if I already have an Audio-Technica 2020USB+ ? The 2020 is great for Zoom calls and laying down 1 track tacks, but it doesn't work well with multi part productions (latency issues, no dedicated drivers). How does the Mackie stand up as an instrument or vocal mic in music production?