Newest Tune

[333maxwell]

If anyone is bored, I created this last night.

The Bass, Horns and Guitar were recorded strait into my computer (no FX, Pods, etc).

It started out as a parody of a chat cat i converse with who insists he is the only one who plays jazz and that Mesa Boogie high gain amps are the only way to record Jazz.

It's about 2 and a half minutes long and while nothing particularly special about it, it may be worth a listen.

At the top of the page, its the 'The Lead and Lag of Elevator'

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=676362

Cheers!

[just strum]

Probably not what you are looking for, but I like it. It's a soothing sound that brings images of the end of a long day or maybe a walk on a deserted beach or pier.

I know, pretty lame review, but the bottom line is I enjoyed something that I normally wouldn't listen to. BTW, I listened to it at least five times so I'm not pulling your leg.

[Jimi75]

The file doesn't start. I receive an error message from soundclick.

[333maxwell]

Probably not what you are looking for, but I like it. It's a soothing sound that brings images of the end of a long day or maybe a walk on a deserted beach or pier.

I know, pretty lame review, but the bottom line is I enjoyed something that I normally wouldn't listen to. BTW, I listened to it at least five times so I'm not pulling your leg.


hey, that is very nice.. glad you enjoyed it.. I wouldn't take too many walks on deserted piers though, especialy late at night.. there are some real 'crazys' out there who hang out in such places! *S*

Thanks again, I appreciate it!~

[333maxwell]

The file doesn't start. I receive an error message from soundclick.


Thanks for the heads up.. I tried (after reading your message) and my whole site was missing.. I contacted Soundclick and a few minutes later the site was back up and running..

I still have yet to hear from Soundclick themselves, but I have had my rounds with them before and of late, the site has been very 'dragging' in the wee hours.

[FrankAxtell]

I really enjoyed that...very cool.

[333maxwell]

I really enjoyed that...very cool.

Ahhhh thanks Frank, you've always been very kind!

Appreciate your ear man!

[Jimi75]

Now it works and I am happy that I came back to give it a second chance.
Totally awesome. It reminds me of a Danny Gatton number. Very smooth feeling and the timing and phrasing is great, too.

I can hear that this didn't come together in a couple of seconds, but you worked on that one to make it sound like that!

Very good work.

[aeolian]

Exactly the kind of music I enjoy. I noticed that you did not try to polish the mix much, but the tune and the tone sits right where they should be; wonderful to listen to. And the octave playing is none too shabby!

Like I said before, you are one talented man.

[333maxwell]

Now it works and I am happy that I came back to give it a second chance.
Totally awesome. It reminds me of a Danny Gatton number. Very smooth feeling and the timing and phrasing is great, too.

I can hear that this didn't come together in a couple of seconds, but you worked on that one to make it sound like that!

Very good work.

I wish it took a couple of seconds.. *G*

Truth be told it took a bit over 3 hours a day, two days in a row from start to putting it up on the net.

The LONGEST part was recording the Bass because I like to record my Bass all the way through in one shot, and even though it is only a 2 and a half minute song I easily spent over an hour and a half re-doing the Bass as I kept flubbing it up in the middle or end.. it must of took at LEAST 8 re-trys.. more like 10 probably, before I got it close enough for comfortable.

The guitar came along rather quickly and the 'ambient' effect you can hear from the guitar is a totaly dry guitar, but I doubled it note for note (well, close enough) through the entire song. It screamed for the doubling even though I must admit a few of the lines without the doubling had a nice erie kind of vibe but I opted to double the entire thing to keep it consistant.

__________

thanks for the listen and letting me talk a bit about creating it..

I appreciate your ear and your time my friend!

[333maxwell]

Exactly the kind of music I enjoy. I noticed that you did not try to polish the mix much, but the tune and the tone sits right where they should be; wonderful to listen to. And the octave playing is none too shabby!

Like I said before, you are one talented man.


There was very little editing.. very little indeed.. however I did do a bit of complete 're cuts' of the instruments as I was trying to do everything through the first time as much as possible.

Thanks for your time.. and I appreciate your feedback as always..!!

[aeolian]

I wish it took a couple of seconds.. *G*

Truth be told it took a bit over 3 hours a day, two days in a row from start to putting it up on the net.

The LONGEST part was recording the Bass because I like to record my Bass all the way through in one shot, and even though it is only a 2 and a half minute song I easily spent over an hour and a half re-doing the Bass as I kept flubbing it up in the middle or end.. it must of took at LEAST 8 re-trys.. more like 10 probably, before I got it close enough for comfortable.

The guitar came along rather quickly and the 'ambient' effect you can hear from the guitar is a totaly dry guitar, but I doubled it note for note (well, close enough) through the entire song. It screamed for the doubling even though I must admit a few of the lines without the doubling had a nice erie kind of vibe but I opted to double the entire thing to keep it consistant.

I appreciate and enjoy this talk about the recording process. I enjoy putting a recording together but it is a labor of love. As I get more experience recording I find myself spending more and more time in the production aspect of it. Sometimes I spend hours on panning, volume balance, eq, until I'm happy with a mix. Sometimes I listen back and realize something is not right and I go back and rework the mix. The bottom line, though, is that I record for fun, so I cut corners by cutting and pasting, and many times I don't even fix obvious flubs. Still it is quite a bit of work, but it is still something I created from nothing. For example I have this attempt at 'downtempo' music which sounds quite simplistic, but even that is 4 layers of guitar, one layer of programmed drums, and one of bass. And there is an obvious flub that I did not fix.

Here's the tune if you are interested:
http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/music/midnight.mp3

[333maxwell]

I appreciate and enjoy this talk about the recording process. I enjoy putting a recording together but it is a labor of love. As I get more experience recording I find myself spending more and more time in the production aspect of it. Sometimes I spend hours on panning, volume balance, eq, until I'm happy with a mix. Sometimes I listen back and realize something is not right and I go back and rework the mix. The bottom line, though, is that I record for fun, so I cut corners by cutting and pasting, and many times I don't even fix obvious flubs. Still it is quite a bit of work, but it is still something I created from nothing. For example I have this attempt at 'downtempo' music which sounds quite simplistic, but even that is 4 layers of guitar, one layer of programmed drums, and one of bass. And there is an obvious flub that I did not fix.

Here's the tune if you are interested:
http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/music/midnight.mp3
Thanks for sharing the tune, I enjoyed it.

My recording processes are generaly simple not so much by design, but because of the simplicity of my gear. And I too find myself taking longer than I would like on just about everything.. a lot of that has to do with me being a bit silly about the Bass lines and my stubborness to lay down the Bass in one fluid attempt (which usualy means several re-do's until I get it close enough to right all the way through).. I have no clue why I do it that way, it just seems to give it a bit less (which is ironic as we are talking about bass) structured feel.. a bit more loose if you will.

Like you I just do it because I like making something from nothing.. it's my version of 'therapy' *G*

Thanks again for sharing!

[aeolian]

I can appreciate what you say about bass because I believe it can enhance a tune considerably. When I make a tune I typically do the bass last, but I try to make it so it integrates into the song and hopefully add another element to the whole sound structure. Even in the song Midnight that you just heard you will hear that there are minor variations in the bassline throughout the song. I'm not much of a bass player, so what I can do is limited by my ability on the instrument.

My recording setup is very simple. I have an 8-track digital recorder, a software drum program on my computer, and a multi-track program called ntrack on the computer. Ntrack can be used for recording, but it is much more convenient for me to record on the digital recorder and only use ntrack as a mixing program. I typically play my guitars and bass through a J-Station for the guitar and bass tracks. I have never recorded with a live amp or effects.

I'd like to hear about your recording setup.

[333maxwell]

I can appreciate what you say about bass because I believe it can enhance a tune considerably. When I make a tune I typically do the bass last, but I try to make it so it integrates into the song and hopefully add another element to the whole sound structure. Even in the song Midnight that you just heard you will hear that there are minor variations in the bassline throughout the song. I'm not much of a bass player, so what I can do is limited by my ability on the instrument.

My recording setup is very simple. I have an 8-track digital recorder, a software drum program on my computer, and a multi-track program called ntrack on the computer. Ntrack can be used for recording, but it is much more convenient for me to record on the digital recorder and only use ntrack as a mixing program. I typically play my guitars and bass through a J-Station for the guitar and bass tracks. I have never recorded with a live amp or effects.

I'd like to hear about your recording setup.

FIrst off, (before I forget) unlike you, I always record my Bass first.. well, after drums.. I couldn't imagine playing the crap I do on the other instruments without the Bass driving me on.. my songs are composed in real time.. in other words most of it is spontaneous.. a 'jam' if you will .. as much as possible anyways.

Here is a photo of where I do my recording http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb258/333maxwell/guitar2.jpg As you can see I use a laptop to record on, a 30 dollar behringer USB/Audio interface (lets me put sounds into the computer.. a line in if you will). I use the PA head that is visable (usualy) to run the mic's through and into the computer (have to power the condensers).

I use Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 software as a staple (it is over 10 years old and considered quite a novel antique at best by home recording afficionados these days). I use a VST plug in that allows me to use VST inside of cakewalk (my cakewalk only uses direct X) so I trigger my drums using the cheap keyboard in the photo, and use a VST software sampler I have loaded with individual drum hit samples. After recording and mixing the Drums I then use the Bass in the photo (again I build the song around the bass lines instead of the basslines around the song) add pianos ect (again, using VST sampler that allows me to use free sound samples of various instruments I find on the net.. in the Lead and Lag of Elevator song the piano is a 25 mb sound sample of a 1898 Steinway somone made individual one key samples of.. SOOO.. I record the piano pieces (for example) into a general midi format, then using the sampler I use the midi composition to trigger the 'sound samples'.

After I get the drums, bass and keys/synths down, then comes the horns and vocals, then usualy lastly I record the guitar.

For recording the guitar you will see the blue box on the right, it is a 69 dollar behringer modeler, I used it for everything on my site (electric guitar wise) EXCEPT the Elevator song which I recorded guitar directly onto the computer.

If you look at the picture you can see a digital 8 track under everything on the table, but I never use it.. computer is much better for me as I like the tinkering abilitys of software recording..

And that is pretty much it in a nutshell..

[333maxwell]

Thanks everyone.. lots of hits on this song from this site. It kept it at #3 (the jazz charts are a hard nut to crack) for almost a week.

Appreciate all the ears and time everyone gave it!