Wrote a new tune
- Thread starter GuitarStv
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TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Wrote a new tune
Well, that was really enjoyable! Nice tones and a really nice progression; has a nice Mixolydian I-V vibe going on.
Is this the finished product or will you be developing it further?
Well, that was really enjoyable! Nice tones and a really nice progression; has a nice Mixolydian I-V vibe going on.
Is this the finished product or will you be developing it further?
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Wrote a new tune
I had written parts for it and was trying to work out how everything was going to sound together. Listening back at it the bass is a little off the beat on a couple spots (and kinda clashes with the guitar at one part in the middle), it was my first time using hydrogen to do drum tracks so they sound a little uneven (also they seem to be mixed in a bit too high), and I cocked up both solos a few times . . . if it doesn't get redone at some point it'll eat away at me.
Interesting you say that it sounded Mixolydian . . . I was writing it thinking about A minor (and if you listen carefully the chorus, the verse, and the bridge progressions all end on an A minor chord), and was grabbing chords from the Am aeolian mode but it didn't sound strongly minor when it came together.
It was also the first time I tried recording to really capture the sound of my amp/effects in my room. Usually I do just a close mic'd clean or dirty track and then add effects/delay/verb after the fact. Which lead to some weird discoveries to me. Apparently I like the recorded sound of my gain pedals through the clean channel much better than the dirty channel of the amp (or the dirty channel with the same pedals on) . . . but I like the dirty channel more for the quieter/mostly clean parts. It's also a much bigger pain in the ass to record this way, because if you decide later that you don't want as much delay in a section, or want more phaser in another section. . . you're stuck with it.
I had written parts for it and was trying to work out how everything was going to sound together. Listening back at it the bass is a little off the beat on a couple spots (and kinda clashes with the guitar at one part in the middle), it was my first time using hydrogen to do drum tracks so they sound a little uneven (also they seem to be mixed in a bit too high), and I cocked up both solos a few times . . . if it doesn't get redone at some point it'll eat away at me.
Interesting you say that it sounded Mixolydian . . . I was writing it thinking about A minor (and if you listen carefully the chorus, the verse, and the bridge progressions all end on an A minor chord), and was grabbing chords from the Am aeolian mode but it didn't sound strongly minor when it came together.
It was also the first time I tried recording to really capture the sound of my amp/effects in my room. Usually I do just a close mic'd clean or dirty track and then add effects/delay/verb after the fact. Which lead to some weird discoveries to me. Apparently I like the recorded sound of my gain pedals through the clean channel much better than the dirty channel of the amp (or the dirty channel with the same pedals on) . . . but I like the dirty channel more for the quieter/mostly clean parts. It's also a much bigger pain in the ass to record this way, because if you decide later that you don't want as much delay in a section, or want more phaser in another section. . . you're stuck with it.
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GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Wrote a new tune
Drum writing tip request . . . after recording everything I kinda feel like I should be more closely matching what the bass does with the drums. That and I shouldn't completely drop out the drums during the quiet parts, but rather reduce volume/velocity of the hits and simplify the patterns. Does that sound like a better approach to take? How do you guys write your drums?
Drum writing tip request . . . after recording everything I kinda feel like I should be more closely matching what the bass does with the drums. That and I shouldn't completely drop out the drums during the quiet parts, but rather reduce volume/velocity of the hits and simplify the patterns. Does that sound like a better approach to take? How do you guys write your drums?
Gtrjunior
New member
Re: Wrote a new tune
In the intro and quiet parts, I like how the bass plays a busy line. It intertwines nicely with the guitar part.
Just a suggestion, but I’d like the bass to be less twangy and trebly and more round and deep sounding....that’s just me though, if you like it as is then go for it.
I also liked how the drums entered the first time sort of abruptly. I wasn’t expecting it so it caught my ear.
Maybe don’t do that every time as it can lose what made it special. But by all means, each time the quiet parts come up, try to do something different with the drums. Try an all Tom-Tom beat in a more laid back fashion. Etc.
In the intro and quiet parts, I like how the bass plays a busy line. It intertwines nicely with the guitar part.
Just a suggestion, but I’d like the bass to be less twangy and trebly and more round and deep sounding....that’s just me though, if you like it as is then go for it.
I also liked how the drums entered the first time sort of abruptly. I wasn’t expecting it so it caught my ear.
Maybe don’t do that every time as it can lose what made it special. But by all means, each time the quiet parts come up, try to do something different with the drums. Try an all Tom-Tom beat in a more laid back fashion. Etc.
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Wrote a new tune
Thanks!
Yeah, the bass is too bright. It's an all maple J-bass with a maple neck, and has that tendency. I should have rolled the bridge back a lot more than I did.
Thanks!
Yeah, the bass is too bright. It's an all maple J-bass with a maple neck, and has that tendency. I should have rolled the bridge back a lot more than I did.
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Wrote a new tune
That's entirely up to you. Where you place drum sounds can reinforce the pulse or pull away from it into syncopation. It's entirely up to you.
LLL
New member
Re: Wrote a new tune
Record dry rig, but put all your guitar FX (via plugins) in the DAW... and set track to monitor (so you can hear your dry guitar *with* all the FX "candy" while playing+recording).
The end result is of course a bone-dry guitar track that you can fiddle with (delay, phase, EQ, Eventide, etc ad infinitum) until it's perfect.
It's also a much bigger pain in the ass to record this way, because if you decide later that you don't want as much delay in a section, or want more phaser in another section. . . you're stuck with it.
Record dry rig, but put all your guitar FX (via plugins) in the DAW... and set track to monitor (so you can hear your dry guitar *with* all the FX "candy" while playing+recording).
The end result is of course a bone-dry guitar track that you can fiddle with (delay, phase, EQ, Eventide, etc ad infinitum) until it's perfect.
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Wrote a new tune
I sat in on a master class with Jack Jospeh Puig last year and he said, "Never use 'Save As' ". That really stuck with me and I've been doing it that way ever since.
I'm with you. I like to commit to a sound, get it right at the source, and then pull the ripcord! Destructive editing FTW lol!
I sat in on a master class with Jack Jospeh Puig last year and he said, "Never use 'Save As' ". That really stuck with me and I've been doing it that way ever since.
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GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Wrote a new tune
Missed this comment, sorry!
Yes, I've written two solos (one very pentatonic based with some outside note targeting, one very outside sounding) for it and am in the process of fleshing out the whole song now. I'm trying to work in a separate rhythm bit that may or may not fit in the end and will need a couple weeks to finish with the drums and bass parts and record it. I need to get this song finished in a way that I'm happy with first too.
Re-recorded the bass tonight for this song using my bass amp's DI, and less bridge pickup and it's sounding better already. Hopefully I'll get a chance to re-do all the guitar tracks this weekend after playing with mic placement some more.
Missed this comment, sorry!
Yes, I've written two solos (one very pentatonic based with some outside note targeting, one very outside sounding) for it and am in the process of fleshing out the whole song now. I'm trying to work in a separate rhythm bit that may or may not fit in the end and will need a couple weeks to finish with the drums and bass parts and record it. I need to get this song finished in a way that I'm happy with first too.
Re-recorded the bass tonight for this song using my bass amp's DI, and less bridge pickup and it's sounding better already. Hopefully I'll get a chance to re-do all the guitar tracks this weekend after playing with mic placement some more.
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Gtrjunior
New member
Re: Wrote a new tune
Cool! I’d love to give it a listen when you get it all fleshed out.
As far as the bass for the song you’re currently working on...what seems to work pretty well for me is to record the part(s) then copy and paste a second track and split them hard right/left in your DAW. Kind of like what you would do to thicken up a guitar track. It really seems to make the bass sound thick.
I’m not a big Smashing Pumpkins fan but I was always amazed at how huge the bass sounded. That was my attempt to make my own bass parts sound bigger.
And of course eq to taste to make it pop.
Cool! I’d love to give it a listen when you get it all fleshed out.
As far as the bass for the song you’re currently working on...what seems to work pretty well for me is to record the part(s) then copy and paste a second track and split them hard right/left in your DAW. Kind of like what you would do to thicken up a guitar track. It really seems to make the bass sound thick.
I’m not a big Smashing Pumpkins fan but I was always amazed at how huge the bass sounded. That was my attempt to make my own bass parts sound bigger.
And of course eq to taste to make it pop.
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Wrote a new tune
Re-recorded all the guitars today.
I tried putting an SM81 about three feet away from the amp and a Beta 57 an inch from the cab, about two inches to the right of the speaker cone. Panned the 81 hard left and the 57 hard right, and really liked the sound. What I play back it's very close to the amp in the room when you're standing in front of it. Then re-tracked the guitar parts with a little less gain and a lot more volume (wife and kid were out of the house this morning) than the first time, which also seemed to work well.
Here's a (hopefully final) mixdown: http://sclk.co/r/s89c2h No effects or processing added after recording this time. That's the drum machine sounds, the new bass with amp DI, and the guitar in the room with no EQ/reverb/effects/compression added to the individual tracks. I just leveled them so they sounded mostly in balance with each other, did a mix down, and tossed on a touch of 2:1 compression on the whole thing. Thanks a lot for all the comments! I think it sounds better now (although you're free to tell me that I've ruined everything . . . and in a couple hours when the high of finishing a recording fades I'm sure that the mistakes will start to jump out at me).
For those who care:
Rhythm
SSL-1 neck -> small stone phaser (univibe mod) with the knob at about 3 -> Traynor YCV40WRs dirty channel volume up, gain pretty low with an SD Deja Vu Delay set to dotted eighths in the effects loop.
Solo 1
SSL-1 mid -> BD-2 -> Traynor YCV40WRs clean channel with Deja Vu in the loop (knocked back the level a bit from the Rhythm setting)
Solo 2
SSL-5 bridge -> BD-2 -> Traynor YCV40WRs clean channel with Deja Vu in the loop (knocked back the level a bit from the Rhythm setting)
All using my trusty Charvel So Cal.
Re-recorded all the guitars today.
I tried putting an SM81 about three feet away from the amp and a Beta 57 an inch from the cab, about two inches to the right of the speaker cone. Panned the 81 hard left and the 57 hard right, and really liked the sound. What I play back it's very close to the amp in the room when you're standing in front of it. Then re-tracked the guitar parts with a little less gain and a lot more volume (wife and kid were out of the house this morning) than the first time, which also seemed to work well.
Here's a (hopefully final) mixdown: http://sclk.co/r/s89c2h No effects or processing added after recording this time. That's the drum machine sounds, the new bass with amp DI, and the guitar in the room with no EQ/reverb/effects/compression added to the individual tracks. I just leveled them so they sounded mostly in balance with each other, did a mix down, and tossed on a touch of 2:1 compression on the whole thing. Thanks a lot for all the comments! I think it sounds better now (although you're free to tell me that I've ruined everything . . . and in a couple hours when the high of finishing a recording fades I'm sure that the mistakes will start to jump out at me).
For those who care:
Rhythm
SSL-1 neck -> small stone phaser (univibe mod) with the knob at about 3 -> Traynor YCV40WRs dirty channel volume up, gain pretty low with an SD Deja Vu Delay set to dotted eighths in the effects loop.
Solo 1
SSL-1 mid -> BD-2 -> Traynor YCV40WRs clean channel with Deja Vu in the loop (knocked back the level a bit from the Rhythm setting)
Solo 2
SSL-5 bridge -> BD-2 -> Traynor YCV40WRs clean channel with Deja Vu in the loop (knocked back the level a bit from the Rhythm setting)
All using my trusty Charvel So Cal.
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Gtrjunior
New member
Re: Wrote a new tune
Much improved.
I still feel like the drums are too loud. They drown out the rhythm/bass a bit too much.
The clean guitar with the phaser/delay sounds amazing....I want to hear that louder in the mix so that it’s not lost when all of the instrumentation enters.
All that said, I just listened through my phone...tomorrow when I have a little time I’ll listen through my studio monitors and report back.
Love the groove though....I want to take a solo over this. Lol
Much improved.
I still feel like the drums are too loud. They drown out the rhythm/bass a bit too much.
The clean guitar with the phaser/delay sounds amazing....I want to hear that louder in the mix so that it’s not lost when all of the instrumentation enters.
All that said, I just listened through my phone...tomorrow when I have a little time I’ll listen through my studio monitors and report back.
Love the groove though....I want to take a solo over this. Lol
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
Re: Wrote a new tune
No problem, I tracked the rhythm separate from the leads:
Soul - No lead, drums -3 Db: https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13872492
First break is Em-Dm-C-Am, second break is over F-G-C-Am, F-G-Am-Am and ends up doing a bunch of C-Am at the end.
No problem, I tracked the rhythm separate from the leads:
Soul - No lead, drums -3 Db: https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13872492
First break is Em-Dm-C-Am, second break is over F-G-C-Am, F-G-Am-Am and ends up doing a bunch of C-Am at the end.
