I seem to be making up for my lack of new songs as of today I went in for surgery for a badly swollen left shoulder in January, which turned out to be an abcess. A week later, I found that if I slung the guitar strap a certain way, I could play without pain! But what to do? Then I remembered something. last year, I had done a YouTube video in which I showed off my recently purchased Squier Telecaster Custom II (basically, a '72 Tele Custom but with P-90s instead of humbuckers). Yes, folks, the infamous "Dubya" video A number of viewers liked it, but had asked if I had a song in which I used less gain, so they could discern better its tone capabilities. You do now. I'm particularly happy with this mix, I think I balanced it out beautifully, and it has an airy quality to it. Go to the Soundclick link in the sig and check it out - and, oh, let me know what you think. All Guitars: Squier Telecaster Custom II through Digitech RP-250 and NI Guitar Rig 2 Bass: Peavey Millennium through Johnson J-Station Drums: Steinberg Groove Agent 2 Organ: LinPlug Organ 3 DAW: Cubase Studio 4 -- Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=121942 Current Songs - "Primordial Soup With Rice" + "Busted Shoulder Shuffle" newest YouTube Video, me on bass! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyKSUB0AF1g
Those arent songs Daniel. Just jams. "Daniel Dreibelbis" <> wrote in message news:fs18o4$bvq$... >I seem to be making up for my lack of new songs as of today > > I went in for surgery for a badly swollen left shoulder in January, > which turned out to be an abcess. > > A week later, I found that if I slung the guitar strap a certain way, I > could play without pain! But what to do? > > Then I remembered something. last year, I had done a YouTube video in > which I showed off my recently purchased Squier Telecaster Custom II > (basically, a '72 Tele Custom but with P-90s instead of humbuckers). > Yes, folks, the infamous "Dubya" video A number of viewers liked it, > but had asked if I had a song in which I used less gain, so they could > discern better its tone capabilities. > > You do now. > > I'm particularly happy with this mix, I think I balanced it out > beautifully, and it has an airy quality to it. > > Go to the Soundclick link in the sig and check it out - and, oh, let me > know what you think. > > All Guitars: Squier Telecaster Custom II through Digitech RP-250 and NI > Guitar Rig 2 > Bass: Peavey Millennium through Johnson J-Station > Drums: Steinberg Groove Agent 2 > Organ: LinPlug Organ 3 > > DAW: Cubase Studio 4 > > -- > Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording > http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=121942 > Current Songs - "Primordial Soup With Rice" + "Busted Shoulder Shuffle" > newest YouTube Video, me on bass! > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyKSUB0AF1g
PS Since you're yet to get a reply to your post perhaps I may be correct in my estimation? "Daniel Dreibelbis" <> wrote in message news:fs18o4$bvq$... >I seem to be making up for my lack of new songs as of today > > I went in for surgery for a badly swollen left shoulder in January, > which turned out to be an abcess. > > A week later, I found that if I slung the guitar strap a certain way, I > could play without pain! But what to do? > > Then I remembered something. last year, I had done a YouTube video in > which I showed off my recently purchased Squier Telecaster Custom II > (basically, a '72 Tele Custom but with P-90s instead of humbuckers). > Yes, folks, the infamous "Dubya" video A number of viewers liked it, > but had asked if I had a song in which I used less gain, so they could > discern better its tone capabilities. > > You do now. > > I'm particularly happy with this mix, I think I balanced it out > beautifully, and it has an airy quality to it. > > Go to the Soundclick link in the sig and check it out - and, oh, let me > know what you think. > > All Guitars: Squier Telecaster Custom II through Digitech RP-250 and NI > Guitar Rig 2 > Bass: Peavey Millennium through Johnson J-Station > Drums: Steinberg Groove Agent 2 > Organ: LinPlug Organ 3 > > DAW: Cubase Studio 4 > > -- > Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording > http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=121942 > Current Songs - "Primordial Soup With Rice" + "Busted Shoulder Shuffle" > newest YouTube Video, me on bass! > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyKSUB0AF1g
Keith Adams wrote: > PS > Since you're yet to get a reply to your post perhaps I may be correct in my > estimation? The reason *I* didn't reply is that I don't bother when somebody I don't recognize cross-posts "listen to my song" links into my newsgroup. This one went to alt.guitar, rec.music.makers.guitar, alt.music.home-studio (my group), and alt.steinberg.cubase. I figure he's just looking for listeners rather than asking for actual critique and discussion.
In article <m3fFj.7819$>, Jim Carr <> wrote: > The reason *I* didn't reply is that I don't bother when somebody I don't > recognize cross-posts "listen to my song" links into my newsgroup. This > one went to alt.guitar, rec.music.makers.guitar, alt.music.home-studio > (my group), and alt.steinberg.cubase. I figure he's just looking for > listeners rather than asking for actual critique and discussion. actually, I always appreciate any critique of the song and the production, as though I've been recording for a few years, I'm still learning and willing to learn. Sorry if I didn't make that clear in that post. -- Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=121942 Current Songs - "Primordial Soup With Rice" + "Busted Shoulder Shuffle" newest YouTube Video, me on bass! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyKSUB0AF1g
In article <47e56384$0$16680$>, "Keith Adams" <> wrote: > Those arent songs Daniel. Just jams. How about posting some of your songs and playing onto a website so we can tell the difference, Keith - or are you too yellow? (Oh, and please refrain from having a temper tantrum for me asking) -- Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=121942 Current Songs - "Primordial Soup With Rice" + "Busted Shoulder Shuffle" newest YouTube Video, me on bass! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyKSUB0AF1g
Daniel Dreibelbis wrote: > In article <m3fFj.7819$>, > Jim Carr <> wrote: > >> The reason *I* didn't reply is that I don't bother when somebody I don't >> recognize cross-posts "listen to my song" links into my newsgroup. This >> one went to alt.guitar, rec.music.makers.guitar, alt.music.home-studio >> (my group), and alt.steinberg.cubase. I figure he's just looking for >> listeners rather than asking for actual critique and discussion. > > > actually, I always appreciate any critique of the song and the > production, as though I've been recording for a few years, I'm still > learning and willing to learn. Sorry if I didn't make that clear in that > post. Glad to see you respond. I'll be glad to take a listen. Don't have time right now, but be sure to check back. -- Write a wise saying and your name will live forever. - Anonymous
"Daniel Dreibelbis" <> wrote in message news:fs18o4$bvq$... >I seem to be making up for my lack of new songs as of today > > I went in for surgery for a badly swollen left shoulder in January, > which turned out to be an abcess. > > A week later, I found that if I slung the guitar strap a certain way, I > could play without pain! But what to do? > > Then I remembered something. last year, I had done a YouTube video in > which I showed off my recently purchased Squier Telecaster Custom II > (basically, a '72 Tele Custom but with P-90s instead of humbuckers). > Yes, folks, the infamous "Dubya" video A number of viewers liked it, > but had asked if I had a song in which I used less gain, so they could > discern better its tone capabilities. > > You do now. > > I'm particularly happy with this mix, I think I balanced it out > beautifully, and it has an airy quality to it. > > Go to the Soundclick link in the sig and check it out - and, oh, let me > know what you think. > > All Guitars: Squier Telecaster Custom II through Digitech RP-250 and NI > Guitar Rig 2 > Bass: Peavey Millennium through Johnson J-Station > Drums: Steinberg Groove Agent 2 > Organ: LinPlug Organ 3 > > DAW: Cubase Studio 4 > > -- > Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording > http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=121942 > Current Songs - "Primordial Soup With Rice" + "Busted Shoulder Shuffle" > newest YouTube Video, me on bass! > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyKSUB0AF1g The songs are definitely not my cup of tea, so I'll confine my comments to the technical aspects. "Busted Shoulder Shuffle" has timing issues pretty much all the way through, and I agree that it sounds pretty much like a jam and not a structured song. "Primordial" is more structured, and timing is better, but I hated the drum kit you used, and the song sounds like a million other songs from the psychedelic era. It's monotonous and boring to me, but as I said, it isn't what I normally listen to. I didn't think either song was mixed very well either.
> > I'm particularly happy with this mix, I think I balanced it out > beautifully, and it has an airy quality to it. > > Go to the Soundclick link in the sig and check it out - and, oh, let me > know what you think. > > All Guitars: Squier Telecaster Custom II through Digitech RP-250 and NI > Guitar Rig 2 > Bass: Peavey Millennium through Johnson J-Station > Drums: Steinberg Groove Agent 2 > Organ: LinPlug Organ 3 > > DAW: Cubase Studio 4 > OK. I've been playing guitar for over thirty years and recording for about twenty of them - mainly at home, but occasionally in a proper studio. I'm not a professional guitarist or a professional engineer/producer. I'm competent, and I'm reasonably proficient. I know my limitations and I know my aspirations. I'm still learning. I've been fortunate enough to play with some excellent musicians in various bands - none of them famous. I do it for fun. I take it pretty seriously, but I have a day job and I'll never be a rock star Most of my recording has been demo's for the band and ideas, or recordings of whatever band I've been part of, but there's several pieces I would consider to be OK or more than just OK. Over the time I've been recording I've learned quite a bit and I have become quite (very) self critical of my playing, my song writing, my composition and arrangement skills, my recording and production skills. Personally I would always rather always play with real musicians than having to rely on automated computer based applications, but when getting ideas down at home there's often little choice and with effort and patience, you can get some really good results. The most difficult thing in recording is perhaps to know when something just isn't good enough and either needs to be dropped from the recording or has to have sufficient time spent on the part to ensure it's right, and one way I find it best to do this, if I'm in any doubt, is to listen to a professionally recorded song which is similar in style and nstrumentation - at least in part - to whatever I'm trying to do. I mentally dissect the song and assess what each part is contributing to the overall result. I try to apply this to my own recordings. When I think a part is actually doing nothing for the song I get rid of it. Every part of every song has to earn its place. The way I work when building up an idea using a computer based system is to start with the main riffs and a basic idea of the chord structure. I then simply set up a basic click in Cubase at the right tempo and record a very rough take of the whole song structure on guitar only. This take is usually so rough and full of bum notes and mistakes that none of it makes it to the final mix. Then I refine it, replay it properly and arrange it better. Once I'm reasonably happy with the structure, I'll add a simple rough bass part and then start to program in some basic drum patterns, plus maybe some keyboard parts. Then I'll maybe leave it a few hours to give my ears a rest, and when I come back to it, I listen carefully to what's there. I make a decision about all the parts I've recorded so far in whether they make the grade or not. If I decide they don't, then it's simple, I redo them. At this point I won't have added vocals or any lead guitar parts except maybe the odd guide here and there. Once the song has taken sufficient shape, I'll start working on the drum parts. I'm no drummer, but I do know that a drummer can only hit four drums/cymbals etc... simultaneously whn playing a normal kit. I take care in my drum programming to try and make it sound as human as possible, and I take care to select what I consider to be realistic sounding drum samples. I shift the timing and velocity at which each drum sample is played very slightly here and there which tends to bring a more human feel to the drum track, and I tend to manually add in cymbal crashes here and there to add variety. A decent sounding drum track can take a very long time (even a couple of days) to get somewhere near right, and a real drummer with any ability will still often be able to do 100 times better in one take In my book, timing is critical. Mistakes that are real howlers are a no-no. Accidental happy mistakes can sometimes work and add a lot to the song. Drum tracks are absolutely crucial to get sounding right. Vocals, if there are any also have to be spot on - unless you're just giving a rough guide to the real singer, but even then they have to be as close to perfect as you can get. Rhythm guitar parts should be no problem to a guitarist. Lead guitar parts should be worked out to at least fit within a framework and should be played where the guitarist pays extreme attention to timing and phrasing - and the guitarist should not be tempted to 'over-egg' the parts simply to see how many notes can be fitted into a ten second gap. Neither should the guitarist, bass player, drummer or keyboard player feel that they have to fill every empty space in the song. I'm a big fan of seventies band Free, who had to be quite minimalistic in their approach due to the fact there were three instrumentalists and a singer, and the fact that technology wasn't as advanced as it is today to allow a mass of overdubs (OK they did overdub in the studio, but not that much). This band live was in my opinion one of the best examples of the time of what could be done. My point is that Free made extensive use of space in their songs, and sounded (IMO) great because they didn't overcook anything. Just to be clear, I have loads of unfinished ideas that no-one's ever heard, and I have loads of cassettes and CD's of half finished ideas which again, no-one has heard. I probably have less than 10% of my song ideas (probably less than 5%) in reality in any kind of state where I'd be happy for people to hear them. About 1% of my output is just about good enough in my opinion. To be truthful I have a lot of stuff amongst all that lot that is truly terrible and some of it is just aimless guitar playing over a few chords - little personal jams for the sake of practice. I don't suppose I'm that different to most guitar players. I don't do it for a living and my time is limited in terms of being able to play/record. Early on, I'm sure I've played some stuff to friends that should never have seen the light of day, and listening to it now, it is truly cringeworthy. Now if I think I'm somewhere near with a song, I always leave it a week, listen to it again and then make a better judgement on whether it's got any value, or whether it needs more work. I no longer rush out immediately with what I think is a great idea before giving myself time to objectively adjust to its real potential. Mixing and mastering a completed song can sometimes take almost a week of work (or more) depending on what's going on in the song. This takes many, many listens and by the time I've achieved something near to where I want to be, I have to leave it a day or maybe two before I can stand to listen to it again - because I'm usually so sick of hearing it, and when it's complete it'll maybe 6 months or a year even before I can listen to it objectively again Now, Dan. I've listened to most of your songs on your site and if they were mine, I would probably have considered most of them to be still at the ideas stage, which isn't to say that they are rubbish, but in my opinion they still need a lot of work. The recording quality in all of them is OK for what it is at the moment. The mix quality is generally OK in terms of levels - for a rough idea, but not good enough for a final product IMO. The drum programming doesn't sound good in general to me and needs a lot of work. I'd say you need to listen hard and mentally dissect some professionally recorded songs and maybe try to electronically recreate and match the work of a real drummer here and there to give yourself some valuable lessons in what a drummer would do to certain types of track. Rhythm guitar playing is mostly OK, but here and there in almost every song you've left the odd mistake in the recording, and the listener (me in this case) has difficulty in trying to ignore it the next time the song is played. Using a DAW, it's so easy to either simply erase or repair a minor mistake, so I would not excuse myself if I'd left something like that in one of my songs. Lead guitar: hmmm.... It's so easy to get carried away in the moment and to just widdle away, secretly enjoying every moment and thinking as a guitarist that you sound great. I've done this on many occassions and still do I'm sure. However when you listen back to unstructured playing and aimless running up and down scales it's usually (though not always) bland, unexciting, unstructured, boring and probably plain terrible. It's clear that you can play the guitar and I'm certain you have the ability and technique to play it well. I think you need guidance and direction or to be disciplined enough to give yourself the necessary guidance and direction. If you ever think "ooo-er, that sounds a bit off", then it's almost certain that it is, and you should re-do it. However, in almost every song on your site, I'm sorry to say that I found particularly the lead playing to have the odd spark of interest here and there, and therefore there are things that could be usefully expanded upon - but which as yet haven't been. It's more about your choice of what to play rather than your ability to play that I think is the main problem. Summing up the lead guitar playing in one word, I would suggest 'aimless' would encapsulate it. Overall without wishing to sound too horrible about it, in general I found the majority of the songs as they stand to be a bit of a turn off. I find the songs in their present state to be somewhat rambling in nature, with no clear point. As they stand, I'm afraid in my opinion I'd say these songs don't yet make the grade, and I think you have a lot of work to do to bring them up to snuff. On the other hand, I do think that most of your song ideas have something and there are some suggestions of good ideas in there and taking these on to another level, they could become something worth being very proud of if: 1 The songs were given a better underlying structure 2 The drum programming was sorted out 3 They were given perhaps a sense of light and shade and a sense of 'laid backness' or urgency/excitement 4 Where appropriate a clear melody or repeated theme could/should be established - I couldn't whistle any of your melodies as they stand and that isn't good (apart from the fact that I don't whistle terribly well - but that's another story) 5 ALL and ANY mistakes in the recordings are attended to by either re-doing the part or repairing the part 6 Extreme care is taken to properly work out lead guitar lines - add a bit of twin guitar harmony here and there maybe Sloppy presentation to whatever degree says everything about the artist, and in the eyes and ears of your listeners that's where you'll stand or fall. If you want to be compared to professionals, then even if you aren't a professional, you still have to adopt professional attitudes and professional standards to achieve professional results. I hope my critique is useful to you. I've tried to be as objective as I can, but it's still only my opinion and therefore subjective. It's intended in a constructive way, and I hope you take it that way. I hope you continue to play and record. It's a great thing to be able to do and can give a great sense of satisfaction to you and your listeners when you get it right. Best wishes Nick
