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Yeah, in studio with a condenser mic, vocals can be very finicky. Even if u sing in perfect tune, slight movements can effect the eq response of how a line or word sits in the mix. Esp if u sing near the mic(which has become fairly common). Thats whats great with Melodyne, Now when I listen back to a vocal, I'm less concerned with pitch & timing and more focused on how the words enunciate, flow & sit in the mix. Once that's right, I use Melodyne (conservatively) to correct any pitch & timing issues. With live singing, it's basically the opposite. Your main concerns ARE pitch & timing. Things like proximity effect, irritating little mouth noises, background noises, etc aren't as much of an issue. (Not enough for my drunken fanbase to care anyway 😜)

Cheers Rain. Prob 95% of pro singers punch in vocals. The studio isnt about showing off one-take performances. It's about making the best sounding product u can. Live playing is where u show u can at least do ur songs justice. Besides, live, the expectations aren't as high. But I know where ur coming from. I used to feel the exact same way. Then I realized all I was doing was waisting my own precious time. And why? For studio bragging rights? It's not worth it. Now, I actually enjoy using Melodyne. For a long time my pride wouldn't let me go near it but after I saw many GREAT singers using it, I realized I was being silly. It saves me a lot of time and when used right it sounds totally natural. I only wish I tried it sooner. So yeah, why set urself a higher bar than the pros do? I say make like Mike Tyson and punch ur heart out 👊 (U got a nice looking little studio btw)

Good job bud. U actually gave those lyrics a dark vibe. Instead of being funny, it's like Cash was truly mentally scarred 😄 Also, u clearly understand the concept of simple, catchy hooks. Plus, u finished before ur self deadline. Bravo👍 And the beauty is, u could always put ur own lyrics to that music if u want (perhaps ur next self challenge?). I know lyrics can seem tasking or intimidating but what I do is start by journaling anything that's on my mind(happy, sad, confused, funny or whatever) and I don't think about rhymes, clever lines or songwriting at all. I just let out my thoughts & feelings. It's actually very therapeutic. (Which is why people keep journals of course) But I just start there. Then that becomes the lumber pile I use to build my house/lyrics. And the beauty is that those lyrics are honest and from the heart because I didn't start out by trying to "compose lyrics". I was just writing down my thoughts & feelings. You eventually learn lil tricks of word play & such but the most important thing is just expressing urself honestly. But good job on the music. Keep it up, you'll only get better 😉

Been there. I def lost my share of melodies back in the day. Conversely though, one time I was drinking with my pals and I heard a great guitar solo in my head to a song my brother & I had recently written. I could hear the whole thing from beginning to end(that never happens!). Unfortunately, I had no guitar and no way to record myself humming it. I was 100% positive that I'd never remember it. But by some miracle, the next day I still heard the entire solo perfectly. Somehow it made it thru the night and even survived the next morning's hangover. That was about 30 yrs ago and I still play that solo the exact same way today. I guess it was meant to be.

I copied the link but where exactly do I paste it to? Do I need a certain player? I tried to paste it as a web search on both my phone and PC and I get nothing

Awesome. Glad u finished it. I'd love to hear it but I don't know how to use this link. Forgive my ignorance. Do I need Reaper or another app to access this file?

That's awesome. There's no better reason than that. Well, although Electronic music isn't in my wheelhouse(Im a Rock, Pop, Country guy), at the heart of it, music is music. And Id def suggest learning about songwriting but Im not sure 'verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge' applies to electronic music. My advice would be to start by inspecting the basic structure of an electronic song u love and mimic that basic structure. If it has a cool synth hook, try to make ur own lil synth hook. Rem, simple hooks are usually the best and most memorable anyway. I can pretty much promise u that ur first few songs won't be great. But it's that way for everybody(with few exceptions). Just try and knockout ur first song. Dont wait for inspiration and don't be a perfectionist. Just string 2 or 3 ideas together until it resembles a song. Use that side of urself that loves a personal challenge and give urself a one week deadline. Then write ur second song by analyzing another song u love and following it's basic structure. Ur originality will eventually come thru. Lastly, if ur not shy about it, upload ur first couple songs here and explain that ur new to songwriting and just looking for feedback. The people here are very supportive and give good advice. I myself would love to hear what u come up with. As a long time teacher I can already guarantee u that I've heard worse 😄. Good luck & have fun!

Thanks, that's important advice. But yeah, for about every four backups on the T7, I save an additional backup on a flash drive. I was just gonna save my videos to flash drives but the ones I have move very slow. I may need to treat myself to an additional T7 drive. It always runs smooth & reliable. And considering Im using 2.0 usb ports, it's pretty fast.

Hi. I use a Samsung T7 portable SSD to back up my Cakewalk bundle files. Ive never stored anything else on the T7 other than bundle files. However, now I'm also wanting to backup a bunch of video files(all MP4 I think) to this same T7 drive. Could this present any problems? My bundle file backups are def my #1 priority so if there's any risk involved I'll get something else to backup my videos on. Btw, forgive my ignorance. I just don't fully understand how some everyday tech things work(like formatting for example). I still have an old school brain 🫣

Cheers Mr No Name. Ive taught guitar & music for about 35 yrs now. I find that creativity & inspiration are a direct result of motivation. If u don't mind sharing, Im curious what motivates u to create music. Do u create solely for ur own enjoyment or do u have music career aspirations? Is ur bigger passion ur own music or do u just love the recording process? Also do u write lyrics and sing as well? And what type of music do u create? It really helps to know what someone is motivated by and striving for in order to give good advice. If a student tells me they wanna write songs like Kurt Cobain, I'm def not gonna teach them Yngwie Malmsteen solos 😄

Wow, Jake E Lee was literally shot in the dark, one step away from you. (Come on, even Jake would laugh at that one 😉) Seriously, Ive been a huge fan since the 80s. My band always covered a couple Jake era Ozzy songs. He's a great player, a great writer and a sweet guy. I'm glad he's gonna fully recover. Btw, Thanks for posting. I hadn't heard that news.

Ive never really been one to borrow ideas(beats, melodies, changes) to write songs but A LOT of all-time great artists have. For example, Eddie Van Halen was big on using other's ideas as a jumping off point. Eddie told Peter Frampton that he once played his song "Nowhere's too far" backwards to try and write his own song. He also said "Drop dead legs" was him stealing an AC/DC groove. He said "Jump" was based on a Hall & Oats song. And "Best of Both Worlds" is 100% a rip off of "Celebrate" by Cool & the Gang but because it has a diff vocal melody it sounds original. The saying is that "Good artist borrow, Great artist steal". My advice is to try being creative in the WAY that u borrow ideas. Like maybe try isolating diff parts from two diff songs u like and combining them then let inspiration take over. And dont be too quick to judge or comdemn urself. Just keep massaging the changes in a non judgemental way(Lke a kid at play). Bottom line, the hardest part is usually the initial spark of a song. So why not try using beats, melodies &/or progressions from music u already love then twisting them into ur own original thing. It's kinda like starting a fire... If u put in some fuel & perspiration first, it's bound to ignite ur creativity. Good Luck & Have Fun 😉

Hi bud. Grid resolution is set to 1/32 but snap is off. Btw, I just realized that ripple works correctly if I only press nudge once. After I press nudge the first time, the highlighted section moves further to the left. So if I cant fix it, at least I have a workaround by highlighting then nudging, rehighlighting then nudging, rehighlighting then nudging... 😵‍💫

Hi. When I used to highlight a section of my song in the time ruler to move it using the ripple effect, it moved the exact section that I highlighted. IOWs, it worked correctly. But now it's moving from beyond the highlighted era. IOWs, it's moving a larger section than Im trying to move. Any idea what the problem could be?

Thanks. I do realize that the song & performances are most important. IMO Beatles' production & performances are kinda overrated just cause the songs are so good. Btw, I see online that some mastering engineers let u hear a sample before u pay. I'll prob just sample a couple in the under $50 range and see how they sound vs the Auto Master. If nothing else, it'll be a leaning experience. Actually, Id like to get 0zone 11 for mastering but Im not sure my lil i5, 3.10gz, 16 ram would handle it. (Yeah I know... I really need to upgrade 🫣)

Ok guys. Let me see if I follow... In order to polish my t*rds, I first need to bake a cake using a"$20" mixer and plenty of "yeast". After the cake rises, I add "icing" to the "edge/wall" and finally, place a "Raspberry" on top 🍰. If done correctly, my cake shouldn't taste too sh*tty. Did I leave anything out?

Hi guys. I been taking my time recording & mixing my first couple songs. Although I'm still pretty new to mixing, Ive been a musician for decades and like what I hear in my mixes as far as gain balancing & how each track sits in the mix eq wise. I wouldn't want anyone else mixing my songs nor could I afford that. I'm just curious how much a decent mastering engineer(like $50 per song range) can help a mix translate with overall eq-ing. I'm sure they can't polish a t*rd but I'm hoping they could take a 'somewhere in the ballpark' mix and make it sound pretty professional. I'm assuming an experienced pair of outside ears would help more than just using AI auto mastering. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks 😉

Prayers for Florida 🙏

Yeah, ultimately I leave it to God's will. It's like that quote from the movie Rudy where the priest says, 'I've learned two facts: 1 There is a God & 2 I'm not Him.' 😁

Ok, so u've experienced mosquitos. I'll give u that. But have u ever experienced fat Cajun women?! They crush more innocent men than elephants in Africa. I once had my left foot maimed in a Zydeco dance with a 400 lb Cajun woman. Now that was an earthquake! And until u see a fat Cajun woman cannonball off a wharf into the bayou, u don't even know the meaning of the word "tsunami"! Trust me lil man, u couldn't handle these big southern mamas 😉

Yeah, but in the south we also have huge swarms of angry mosquitos. They may not take ur life but they can certainly ruin a crawfish boil party and leave u with some very itchy welts. (Top that!)

I live just southeast of New Orleans. It's always a bizarre feeling when a hurricane enters the gulf because if u pray it doesn't hit u, that means ur kinda praying it hits someone else instead. And you don't want that either. It feels like ur a pin in a bowling lane just waiting to see where it curves. Those of u who dont live in the south are fortunate. These hurricanes are a big PITB. At the least, they're emotionally exhausting. My thoughts & prayers goes out to all those who are suffering in the aftermath of Helene.

As long as u chug some pink champagne on ice and it should sound fine 👍

Yeah, thats kinda my theory. And I feel what's most important is the song & performances anyway. I'd rather hear a mediocre mix of a great song than a great mix of a mediocre song.

Man, it sounds like all u guys do some neat, clean work. My studio looks like it came out of the movie Hustle & Flow. I got random squares of sloppy cut carpet stapled to the walls with blankets hanging between mic stands for a vocal booth 😄. What can say?... It's hard out here fo a *****!