Hi everybody.

Just checking in, are there any of you folks that are making surf music (writing, playing all instruments, recording) without anyone else?

If so, what is your process like?

I’ve got a technique that seems somewhat logical & efficient but am always looking for insight/suggestions to be able to improve.

Nice.
Very similar here, I’m recording acoustic drums but I do use programmed drums to get basic ideas down.

I’ve got an iPad app to remotely work with my daw, which is awesome to be able to record… and then erase and record again right from the drum throne.

Padraig wrote:

Hey driptides, welcome to SG101! When you have a moment, go to the “Shallow End” forum, and the “INTRODUCTIONS! New Members Post Here” thread and tell us more about yourself and your involvement with surf music.

done

Hello!

Also a fellow solo music maker checking in. I do play my songs live with a band, but everthing I put out online is all me.

I play the guitar, bass, keys and use plugins for sounds.

For drums I use EzDrummer or hire someone online to do the drums.

The process varies from tune to tune, but it usually starts with an idea for a riff or a melody.

A lot of times an idea pops into my head when I'm doing other things.
I try to sing it into my phone, so I can try it out when I have a guitar in my hands.
I also use an online midi sequencer to try out ideas when I don't have my guitar.

Beach Bomb - Black Surf from the cold waters of Norway!
https://beachbombband.bandcamp.com

Interesting thread

I keep guitars scattered throughout the house to accommodate my tendency to noodle. Whenever I come up with a chord progression or riff that strikes my fancy, I record it into the Voice Memo app on my phone. Once in a while I'll download all the recent ones to my computer, listen to them again, toss the crap ideas and then label or somehow organize the decent ideas.

When I think I have enough ideas to string together into 6 or so songs, I'll start demoing out what I've got using Garageband and its amps. Usually just a cohesive guitar part, but sometimes a bass part too. Nothing but a click track to guide me.

Once I've got the songs fully worked out and finalize the arrangements, I send them to a drummer. For my first EP a friend helped with that, and we used some kind of digital drums (I forget what software). We spent hours and hours tweaking the sounds and parts. For the second EP (out soon!) I went on Fiverr and hired a live drummer. I have to say that worked out really well and wasn't super expensive. (Since both ways ended with good results, I'm not sure yet what I'll do for my third release, but I have time to figure that out.)

When the drum tracks come back, I transfer everything over to my recording computer, which is an old dual-processor G4 Mac running an ancient version of ProTools. I'm just more comfortable with that system than anything else, and I know I can quickly get good sounds and do all the editing and comping I need to do.

For the final/keeper tracks, I record with amps and a variety of microphones. I'm lucky to have enough space that I can set up my amps in another room and run the cables to where my recording computer is, so I can run my amps fairly loud for excellent results. I will typically record one rhythm guitar track, then bass, then everything else, almost always saving the lead tracks for last. I use a variety of dynamic, large condenser and ribbon mics for guitars, and a dynamic mic plus a direct track for the bass.

For my second EP, I got some help recording the acoustic guitars. When I did my first EP, and in the past, I've gotten quite frustrated trying to record acoustics on my own. It's just a lot to do, and when you turn back to the microphone, you can never get the guitar in exactly the right spot again. This time I decided not to compromise and worked with a friend (who has a studio) to get my acoustic tracks done.

Once I'm satisfied with what I've recorded for a song, I'll send the tracks over to whomever is doing the mixing for me, and we'll go back and forth on the mixes until I'm happy.

Where I am in the process right now is getting the last few tweaks done on the mixing and trying to decide in what order the songs should appear. I know what the closing track is, but everything before that is kind of up in the air. Once I figure that out, I'll send the songs out to be mastered, finalize the release, and get it out to the world!

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Project: MAYHEM by Hypersonic Secret now available!

Ah yes, mixing and mastering. Fun fun fun.

I have a ways to go yet, but I’m getting decent results so far. Part of the fun in all of this is the learning process, seeing (well, hearing that is ha ha) changes in there song as moves are made and then compared & contrasted.

here’s what I have after I told myself “that’s a good start” for a recording template:

https://thedriptides.bandcamp.com/track/first-promo

I can just switch the rig on and get results like this which makes it easy to get to work.

thedriptides wrote:

elmorto wrote:

Hello!

Also a fellow solo music maker checking in. I do play my songs live with a band, but everthing I put out online is all me.

DUDE! BEACH BOMB RULES!

Thanks for the kind words!

thedriptides wrote:

Ah yes, mixing and mastering. Fun fun fun.

I have a ways to go yet, but I’m getting decent results so far. Part of the fun in all of this is the learning process, seeing (well, hearing that is ha ha) changes in there song as moves are made and then compared & contrasted.

here’s what I have after I told myself “that’s a good start” for a recording template:

https://thedriptides.bandcamp.com/track/first-promo

I can just switch the rig on and get results like this which makes it easy to get to work.

I used to do all the mixing and mastering myself before, but I ended up almost hating my own music because I have to listen to the song over and over.

So now I do a rough mix and find someone to do the final result.

Beach Bomb - Black Surf from the cold waters of Norway!
https://beachbombband.bandcamp.com

Right on!

I’ve used drum samples, and loops, and snippets that I’ve looped together myself. Nice to be able to do whatever I want, have a bit of variance in some of the music that I make. Also a great way to snap out of the normal way of doing things & keep it interesting, even if only from a production standpoint.