CrazyAces wrote:

Aren't you concerned with what the translation might mean......?
Could be weird if it was an advert for constipation........or something...LOL

I'll translate it!

biichi totemo oiishi desu

(beach tastes very good...) my Japanese is limited to saying something tastes good and knowing when I did something good or bad.

What is interesting about going direct into Logic...

The hi-pass filter on my Jags pretty much doesn't work on my amps. You can notice a slight change, but it doesn't really sound good.

But going direct into Logic... they sound amazing and are VERY usable.

Not a trick, more a workflow tip to sequencing sampled drum kits, quickest way I found so far for demo purposes.

Start with your basic beat at the convinient tempo, %100 synced to grid.
REC rhythm guitar over it, with loose feel.
MUTE the drums, REC leads over rhythm guitar. REC bass over that. (or vice versa.)
Now open the drum track, and start moving stuff according to the recorded tracks. NO quantisize, NO randomize, NO humanize!* by HAND.
No need to meet the transients exactly, use them just as a guide and your own taste and ear. Fill in (or leave a hole) the spectrum space like a drummer instinctively would. Beat 1 is always crucial to get just right. Pay closest attention to the BD and Bass guitar relation.
This method allows you to stay close to the grid, but in a musical way that is custom fit to your song.
After that, a second take of all the instruments can be even more tight.

• Usually software drummers sound great but feel uncanny and wrong. Either too mechanical (quantisized to grid), random (which is just stupid, no one plays his guitar randomly), or whatever the sequence programmer had intended. If we mix and match, it will still sound off.
  Best way of course would be live playing from beginning to end, with a controller of sorts. Just a snare, bass and ride can be enough to drive the song with all the feel needed.

Had no idea I wanted to post this, and why here ...
Maybe because I too can relate to the idea of having the tools readily available when inspiration hits. I sometimes sing awkwardly in the middle of the night into my phone.

Last edited: Jan 27, 2015 14:16:11

stratdancer wrote:

CrazyAces wrote:

stratdancer wrote:

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.

Aren't you concerned with what the translation might mean......?
Could be weird if it was an advert for constipation........or something...LOL

You may have a point there but then again the rest of the world may find it pure genius while only the Japanese would facepalm shaking their heads at what idiot put this in a surf song. Then again they may think it is pure genius and we get huge records sales and a tour of Japan out of it!

The world is indeed a small place these days!
I hope you're right about the latter idea with huge record sales and a tour of Japan.
That would be awesome.

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I'm so confident Jeff I just put a down payment on a new pool.

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CrazyAces wrote:

We have diverted for sure but the interaction and the subject material are great!

That is the whole point of discussion! The best threads on this board evolve and branch out to discuss a wide array of topics.

And we'll see how wrong it is compared to the Google Translate version:

Watashi no yōna rongubīchi no ue o aruku

Note... this is very wrong! Clearly they took 'long' and 'beach' and combined them.

This is why I sometimes cringe a little when folks will say "just use the search function". Isn't the point of these type of forums to promote actual discussion and interaction?

Same, and opinions and ideas change!

LoedD,
I'm probably not too much help there. I use Garageband on an iPad to demo some things and just use the tap kits/drums you can play with your fingers.
This is why I actually have attempted to learn to play drums and have a small set up with a few mics.
In the 80's I (like most other people) did a lot of work with drum machines and kind of swore off that method for the rest of my life.
Never say never though right?

Cheers,
Jeff

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
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Ah, this is getting interesting!

LoeD, have you tried Hydrogen yet? It's very easy to use, allows a seemingly unlimited number of grooves and individual volume for each drum hit plus a general "humanize" function. I already worked out some surf stuff with it (even some drum rolls) and it sounds more convincing than any other drum software I used so far. And it's freeware.

CrazyAces wrote:

SanchoPansen wrote:

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

It's always interesting to me to learn about the different ways people create music.
I don't really ever feel I've got to "work" at it. I usually dream the ideas while sleeping and wake up and put them down on a recorder quick or fast Garageband, iPad demo. That way, just like you Sancho, I can go back to them when I want to or am inspired to finish. Years ago it used to feel like I was "forcing" an idea when I went back to it to work on it. I don't really feel like that anymore, the ideas come easier, more naturally.

Cheers,
Jeff

This is very interesting. I have to agree with Jeff: Music is a craft; at least to a certain extent. And this is were knowing at least a it of theory comes in very handy. I never recorded any ideas for songs myself. When I have an idea (which often happens when I don't even have a guitar near me) I simply write it down on paper in a simplyfied way, usually just the rhythm of the melody or riff together with some of the essential intervals. Then I work it out the next time I pick up the guitar and it's usually not a problem to reconstruct the idea from the note.

Before that I often lost track of ideas of course, but at one point I started thinking: Well, if even I can't remember it, how hard will it be for other people? I want my songs to be memorable, catchy.

To me writing songs is "inspired work." I do it for fun (i.e. the fun of playing interesting music on stage) but I don't mind "working" for that fun.

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
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