I didn't guess ... but love all the reverb threads. It's a fine line, between productive obsession and pointless navel gazing. I sometime fall to the pointless side, but more often just keep learning and trying.

Not sure why, but reverb seems to encourage and reward endless experimentation. Sure has been that way for me. I've owned 5 outboards, probably twice that many reverb pedals. Yes, any one can serve. But which one is right for me? I don't not play while awaiting that kind of answer. It's the opposite. I also don't expect (or need) to find some perfect sound. It's the process of trial and error that hooks me.

Thank god I don't feel this way about dirt pedals. Life is too short.
MD

DannySnyder wrote:

josheboy wrote:

Now if I could get the writing/playing bug again...

One trick is to commit yourself to something first, forcing you to get off your ass and practice. For instance, put together a tribute to one of your favorite bands, book a show 3 monts out, then ask your musician friends to join you. Doesn't have to be a permanent band at all.

Danny's so right! This totally great advice. It's exactly how I went from just watching to playing ten songs with eleven friends at the Ventures Fan Fest last year. It's also how I ended up playing with lots of sg101'ers at the Intro Summit last year, too. Doing it again this year. I'm already committed to the songs I have to play in May, and that's a big motivator to practice lots more.

If I can do it, you can!!!!!!!!!

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

The decision making part of making recordings is a tough one for me as you say. It's a cause for procrastination. Hopefully we can see the light once we get something down to listen to. Eventually push comes to shove and you can move on with the recording. I know I have made some bad decisions and ended up with some pretty mediocre music. Oh well!

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

One place I've wasted a few hours lately is trying to find a YouTube of women talking seductively for 15 seconds for a song that I want to dub in. Can't find it. I know what I want for the song but don't know how to make it happen easily.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

Last edited: Jan 27, 2015 05:31:21

That's a hell of an idea! All I need is, "I love walking on the beach at night". Real sexy like.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

I really dig where this thread has gone.
Goals, Craft, Muse.........good stuff!
I put off completion of music and seeing ideas through to fruition until about five years ago. I had the ideas but I set my standards so high that I paralyzed myself. Then I got pretty hardcore on setting Goals. Not just "I'm going to TRY to do this or that", but "I WILL complete this or that, within a specific time frame. It started with songs and went on to full length records. My band, being mostly younger than me, didn'y understand the full length record goals, but it was a personal thing.

This led me to take a closer look at Craft vs. Muse. When I moved to Nashville years ago I romantically thought the great writers (music, books etc.) did what they did completely through inspiration or creative lightning bolts, muse. I was soon to find that this was not true. While most initial ideas are born from inspiration the completion of those ideas comes from Craft. Most great writers approach music as a Craft, that has to be worked at. If you wait for the bridge or chorus to come to you - it may never come and you may never finish that piece of music.

And finally, letting go of a performance or piece of music to the world and letting the chips fall where they may. If we strive for a type of perfection that we have in our heads we should also ask If we are capable of reaching that perfection at this particular time. Often we get "to close" to the music we create and are our own worst enemies. As much as we'd like to we can't always create art or magic or turn everyone's heads, prick up their ears. The Beatles self admittedly put out some mediocre tunes. It just so happens that the public often thought and thinks otherwise.
Until I took a good look at some of these things and learned to understand them in a way that I could implement I was very unproductive.

stratdancer, On our first record there is a female voiceover intro in Japanese for "Arigato Terauchi". To accomplish that we asked our guitar player's co-worker to read from a script, I recorded her with my iPad using the built in mic and we used that on the recording. Good advice above. Grab a recorder, head to your local coffee shop and ask a young lady (or two) there if they'd give it a go. Tell them what it's for and that they'll get a credit on your release. That'll probably do it.

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic

CrazyAces wrote:

I really dig where this thread has gone.
Goals, Craft, Muse.........good stuff!

stratdancer, On our first record there is a female voiceover intro in Japanese for "Arigato Terauchi". To accomplish that we asked our guitar player's co-worker to read from a script, I recorded her with my iPad using the built in mic and we used that on the recording. Good advice above. Grab a recorder, head to your local coffee shop and ask a young lady (or two) there if they'd give it a go. Tell them what it's for and that they'll get a credit on your release. That'll probably do it.

Ditto. I've been inspired (yes, thanks Jake) to go back & learn some more classics as well, really learn them, add some little touches of me, and then go back over what I churned out for the wife's car player and really nail those so they are literally part of a repertoire. I had to ask myself, "Self, what if you suffered catastrophic success? What if some other guys suddenly came out of the blue ("...what there's a drummer in Sisak?") and said, "Yeah, we'd like to be able to do a set or two for a few of the local events a few times a year...." The craft had better be up to it. So yeah, it's work. (I clearly don't have a muse.)

Jeff, I LOVE the intro to that song - it is a PERFECT peaceful intro, by a koi pond in a garden, followed by a kick-ass song. Good "rest of the story" - thanks.

OK, if the GA thread can get moved from the therapy area into the actual Gear forum, perhaps this thread has morphed into something that belongs in the Musician sub-forum...?

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

CrazyAces wrote:

This led me to take a closer look at Craft vs. Muse. When I moved to Nashville years ago I romantically thought the great writers (music, books etc.) did what they did completely through inspiration or creative lightning bolts, muse. I was soon to find that this was not true. While most initial ideas are born from inspiration the completion of those ideas comes from Craft. Most great writers approach music as a Craft, that has to be worked at. If you wait for the bridge or chorus to come to you - it may never come and you may never finish that piece of music.

I have a different pov on this topic. Usually I get struck by an idea and IMO the most important thing to do is to hit the record button immediately. I keep that snippet/riff/lick and after 20 years of doing this, my folder is stuffed with those muse inspired one-shots. All I do is gather them, pick the ones that fit and put them in the correct order and voilá, there's a new song. This means there are new snippets coming, while on the other side there are songs being created. If there is a snippet that won't find it's way to a song, I will not delete it, but it will never be used. No big deal. Now you could call this phase 'crafting', but as soon as I have to sit down to write a song that won't come easy to me, or force a bridge part between part a and b, that's the point where I will re-think my hobby. I know a place where I have to sit down and force myself to finish things and make them fit...it's called work

The Hicadoolas

stratdancer wrote:

Actually I found a great dub in Japanese. Haven't got a clue what she is saying but it sounds sexy as hell and comes right at the perfect point of the song. This song is starting to come together now and taking on a life of it's own so it makes cutting the remaining little tracks much easier. I like this part of the process!

Send me the dub and I'll have Kiwamu, my band mate translate it.

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic

I'll actually have it in the song and mixed within a day and I'll post it. It's a type of surf song that isn't done that much. Think Laika and the Cosmonauts, "Fadeaway" but different.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases