Lee Shapiro

Thanks, if I decide not to abandon it completely, I'll redo the vocals, remix it, and add more bottom end.

When thinking about my new song, the famous quote comes to mind: "Art is never finished, only abandoned". As usual, I've lost all objectivity over the "finished" song, I really don't know if it's worth saving or if I should just abandon it. It's a little rough and harsh (especially the vocals), but I guess that fits in with the subject matter of the song. Which is, I've become very angry lately over the use on Facebook of the "laughing emoji" to mock other people's comments and opinions. So that's basically what this song is about. It is political, because the emoji is often used in response to political posts. I mean no offense to anyone's political views, only to those who mock people by using that emoji. The song is layered, and has several different parts. The original version was just under 8 minutes (I tend to write long songs) but for this version I cut it down to just over 5 minutes. I plan to use the 8 minute version to make a music video with the song. I've spent a lot of time working on it, revising and re-recording many instruments and vocal tracks. But I still don't even know if I actually like it or not. So your thoughts, opinions and suggestions are most welcome. Just please don't respond with a laughing emoji ! (Scroll down on the song page for the lyrics) What's So Funny? (The Laughing Emoji)

I get frustrated very easily with buggy software, and I don't have much patience for software with a steep learning curve. With that being said, when it looked like Cakewalk was going to not be supported anymore, I tried about 6 or 7 of the most popular DAWs. They all are good, but have different features and obviously different interfaces. After trying these DAWs for several weeks, I finally decided to go back to Cakewalk and just use the unsupported software until it didn't work anymore. Fortunately Bandlab came to the rescue and saved Cakewalk and I've been using it ever since. For the uninitiated, when you first open up Cakewalk (or any DAW software) it's going to look a little intimidating. But you DON'T have to learn everything about it all at once. Hell, I still don't know how to use a few features, and I probably never will because I just don't need to use them. But Cakewalk is no less or more difficult than any of the other main DAWs, in fact it's easier than some. I find it hard to believe that someone who works with complicated software, can't get the hang of Cakewalk, especially after watching so many tutorials, as you claimed. And as for it being buggy? That has not been my experience. If something doesn't work the way you expect it, it's a good bet that you're just not using it right, rather than it being a "bug". My suggestion (as others have already said) come back to this forum, change your attitude, and simply ask questions about things you don't understand, or are not working the way you want them to work. But don't take on the entire program all at once. There are some older "Sonar Power" books written by Scott Garrigus from previous versions, that are still quite useful. I suggest getting the most recent version of that book. Looking through my old copy of Sonar X3 Power, the vast majority of it is still relevant and can be a great guide. I like having a book in front of me, as opposed to watching video tutorials. Because I can refer to the book as I'm working in Cakewalk.

I've actually been doing a lot of that lately. And it paid off. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been listening to a lot of Tom Petty lately, and I finally got around to writing a song (posted in the songs forum) inspired greatly by Petty's music. I was never a big fan of Tom Petty in the 80's, but thanks to Amazon Music, I've been able to revisit and actually hear some of his songs for the first time. His "Wildflowers" album has greatly inspired me. For me, you can't get much better songwriting than that. Thanks for your suggestions!

Thanks Danny, that's a LOT of good ideas, and they all make perfect sense to me. Many of them I actually do already. Lyrics always came easy for me, but only if I write them after I write the music. I sing gibberish lyrics with the song that eventually turn into something meaningful. But coming up with new ideas for songs is my biggest problem right now. Most of my songs are either written about a past failed relationship, politics, or getting old (dealing with the concept of time). So coming up with something different requires some thought. I got some ideas from listening to some Tom Petty songs where I would just write a fictional story about a place or person. I think I'll try that next. I actually had Master Writer, I still probably have a license (serial number) for it. I just have to find it any reinstall it. It IS a big help. Thanks again for taking the time to write out all those great ideas. I really appreciate it!

I'm my own worst critic. I don't have a great singing voice and in this particular song I wasn't thrilled with the final take. And quite honestly, I'm pretty intimidated by so many of the songs posted in this group. Some of you folks are just crazy talented. But on the other hand, after writing, recording and posting over 100 songs, there are about two dozen or so that I'm really proud of. It doesn't really have anything to do with ambition. I write and record as a hobby, but it's in my blood and in my soul. I HAVE to write music (I'm sure many people can relate to that). It's just more to do with self-confidence and self-deprecation. I get a lot of positive feedback on my songs, but sometimes I feel like people are just humoring me. (I've written songs about that as well, including this one) It's something I need to work on.

Thanks for all the great comments. And thanks for listening. I just listened to the song for the first time on my small laptop speakers, and the mix sounds like the vocals were drowning everything else out. And usually I dislike my vocals, but I really didn't like them in this song. I think I might try doing them over, because there were parts that they were too loud and got distorted. And thank goodness for Melodyne. 🙄 Thank you again, I appreciate the comments and suggestions.

I have Toontrack's Superior Drummer 3 and I have about a dozen or more different drum packs for the software. I knew I wanted a lighter drum sound on certain parts, but I also wanted that clear bell ride cymbal for the chorus. I went through almost all the different sets to find the right one, and then I still had to play "mix and match" with the individual drum pieces to get the kick and snare just right. I'm not in front of my DAW right now so I can't tell you specifically what I used, but that's the general idea. And Thank you!

About a week or so ago, I wrote a post in the Coffee House forum about having writer's block. Well, I finally wrote something. It's basically about trying to prove to myself I can still crank out a halfway decent song. Definitely not one of my best songs, but at least I'm trying to get out of that slump. I've been listening to a lot of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers lately, and you might be able to hear that influence a little in this song. Something To Prove

That's actually what I did. I finally finished a song (in the song's forum) called "Something To Prove". And it's about trying to prove to myself I can write a halfway decent song again.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, I appreciate them! Shane, I finally started working on a song which started in a way that you described. It was the middle of the night and the lyrics for (what is now) the chorus came to me when I was lying in bed. I grabbed the nearest piece of paper and wrote them down so I wouldn't forget. It started with a simple premise of "I got nothing to prove". I don't know if there is a song with that title already (I wouldn't be surprised), but from there I wrote the chorus, and the verses just fell into place. It took me a few more days to find a decent chord pattern, but at this point most of the instrument tracks have been recorded. I just have to record vocals and a lead/solo part. And yes, it's like you said, sometimes songs (lyrics) just flow out, once you get the initial blockage unclogged. Laying in bed, half asleep, your mind is kind of in neutral and it allows all sorts of things to just enter your thoughts. Sometimes the less you try to think of something, the easier it is. Forcing creativity never worked for me.

Yes, sometimes I do. Right now there's too much snow and ice on the ground for that.

Looks interesting, but a little involved. I like the "Try faking it" suggestion. LOL!

Thank you Mark, that's a lot of helpful information. In fact I think I'm going to print it out and keep referring back to it. I really like the idea of getting 3 songs and picking and choosing various aspects from them. I'll give it a try and see what I can come up with. Thanks again for taking the time to write all that in such a nicely formatted way.... seriously. 👍

I know writer's block is common enough, but I'm in a very long drought and just can't seem to get into gear. I've written so many songs, most of them over the past 5 or 10 years (I have 100 songs up on SoundClick dating back to the mid 80's). I used to be able to write a decent song once a month, or maybe one every two months. Last year (2021) I wrote a total of TWO. They were good songs, probably among my best, but then nothing. I'm completely constipated. i don't know if it's a mental issue or I just ran out of ideas. I really want to write something but I just can't come up with anything even remotely good. Recently I got into Tom Petty, I'm really into The Live Anthology and Wildflowers and All The Rest. I was hoping that would spark some ideas. But I didn't get very far. So I'm looking for suggestions as to how to get my mojo working again. I know everyone has their own way of writing and their own ways of getting inspiration, but right now I'm open to anything. I'm sitting here staring at my MIDI keyboard, and it's keys look like they are laughing at me. HELP!

Yep, that seemed to do the trick. Thanks!!!

This just started happening a couple of days ago. I don't know if it's due to a Cakewalk update or something I might have done with my computer. I recently updated Bitdefender, but this seems to be a Microsoft warning. Anyone else getting this, and anything I can do besides turning ALL warnings off (which is not recommended.) Thanks for any assistance.

Thanks for your comments! I use GG Audio's Blue 3 (with it's built in Leslie Speaker sim) I'm a HUGE fan of the Hammond Organ, and even though I was never lucky enough to own or play the real thing, I've tried (or used) just about every Hammond VST plugin available. In years past, my go-to plugin was NI's B4. But when Blue 3 came out (IMHO) it blew all the other's away. I tend to use a Hammond Organ in many of my songs, (maybe too many) which is why I chose to push the organ down in the mix. But now I'm thinking maybe you can't have too much Hammond Organ in your songs. LOL! (you can check out some of my other songs that have the Hammond louder in the mix from my link below) I'm also kind of proud of how I've learned to use the slow/fast rotator control for the Leslie speakers. I found it's kind of an art form of knowing when and where to add the emphasis (fast rotation) on my keyboard parts. I think it's just as important as what keys you play. I don't think enough Hammond players realize how influential the timing of the speaker rotations can be. I'm also a big fan of the "gliss", sliding up the Hammond keyboard with the fast rotation on, makes an excellent musical punctuation mark in the song. Sorry for babbling on about the Hammond Organ, but you brought it up.

Thanks noynekker, I appreciate your compliments and suggestions. And I know exactly what you're talking about with adding power and dynamics. One of my favorite songwriters is Rickie Lee Jones, I love the way she builds her songs. There is so much dynamics in most of her songs, going from quiet passages, to powerful loud parts, and then back again. For years I've been trying to emulate her song structures, with limited success. But with my vocals, I don't have very much range so I have to depend on instrumentation for those dynamics. (That and adding harmonies, sometimes using Melodyne to create higher registers). With this song, the dynamics were a bit too subtle. I added a lead guitar part in the background of the 2nd half of the verses. I thought it sounded good, but unless you're really listening for it, it kind of gets lost in the mix. But I'll definitely keep your suggestions in mind for my next song(s) and try for a wider range of dynamics. Thanks again!

Hi Craig, Thanks for the suggestion and I have considered trying something like that. Originally, I just held out the one note for that time of the echo, but with my vocals it didn't sound good at all. So I got the idea to do the echo. But that sounded, as you said, a little too predictable. So on the other vocal track, I actually blended the sustained vocal note with the echo'd vocal track, and I thought the two together sounded good. I don't think I've tried anything like that before, so it was a fun experiment in using digital delay for just one word. I used an automation lane to turn the delay on and off.

Thanks for the feedback, it's always appreciated. Jack C. I think what you are probably hearing is the percussion track (Indiginus Brio for Kontakt) which runs throughout the song, buried just below the main drum track. I often use this instrument when I think a song needs a little more energy. I'm also a big fan of the early Santana sound (Guitar, Hammond Organ, and lots of percussion), so, again, that often appears in my songs. 😁 EDIT: Upon giving the song another listen (specifically to the drums), I realize that, yes, there are a fair amount of drum fills (from the main drums, Superior Drummer 3). I tend to write many busy parts in my songs and it take a conscious effort to make things less busy. But again, it's a habit of mine for trying to make a song feel like a live band and energetic.

As a songwriter, there's nothing worse than being stuck in the middle of a massive dry spell. In the past, I could write about one song per month, but this is only the second song I've been able to write in over a year. Admittedly, not my best work, but not my worst either. Just something to get myself going again....even though I fall back on the same familiar topic of past loves, regrets and time. I'll try and do better next time. For now, this is "Just Another Try". Scroll down song page to read the lyrics. Just Another Try

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet (sorry I didn't read through every single post in this thread), but for me, you have to have two (video) monitors. I set it up with the tracks view, instruments, and synth rack on the left monitor, and the mixer console and (tabbed) piano roll screen on the right monitor. Then all the main functions are right there in front of you. I can't imagine trying to use this program with only one video monitor. (Once you have two, you'll never go back)

Hey, I haven't check this forum for a couple of days, so sorry for the delay in replying to all the new posts. Thanks again for listening and for posting your thoughts and suggestions. Yes, I always prefer a live sound, whether it's music I'm listening to or creating myself. To me, some great songs are done a great disservice by the cold, sterile feeling created by studio recordings, where they are recorded one track at a time, losing that energy and emotion of playing together live. (In the old days of buying vinyl records, I'd always start with a band's live album, if there was any, then work my way through their studio albums) But for me, even though I am recording everything myself, one track at a time, I still try to create that "live band" feel. Also, I appreciate the mixing suggestions. I did have a little trouble with the final mix, having my vocals and solo instruments not quite loud enough. I'll eventually get around to remixing it. Thanks again for all the positive feedback, as always it's most appreciated.

Thanks for listening guys, I appreciate it.