Noodling my way through old ideas...

[SweetDan]

For a long time I've been collecting snippets of tunes, chord progressions, rhythms, etc. on my phone when a musical idea strikes me. Recently I've gone back over some of those to see if there's anything worth working up.

This is one of those from early 2018. It currently has no name, and has only the beginnings of a coherent instrumental melody (though I think the chord progression is solid). I'm less happy now with the drum rhythm in the "choruses" than when I sat down to play it; it feels pretty awkward to hear it now.

takeTwoFrom2018-01-06.mp3

Rough-ish mix of rough-ish recordings, lightly rehearsed and captured with just a single dynamic mic per part (Audix f2). Not sure yet if I'll spend more time & energy on it or not. What are your thoughts on the arrangement? The tones of the various instruments? As an idea for a potential piece of music, does it have legs? And if it were to start running, what direction might it go? (What cliff edges should it avoid running over?) EDIT: What things should a future mix of this take into account? Where's it too thin, too thick, and all that jazz?

[Tadpui]

This has got a great vibe to it. Nice drum playing too. This is right in the vein of stuff I have in my own "scratch ideas" folder that I have no idea what to do with, so I'm probably no help with developing it. Maybe find a good spot or two to bring the full snare drum in, especially in those transitional moments between sections where the dynamics all come up. I like the transitions from section to section, the chord changes are pleasing to me.

I love the bass tone, but it could use a little more low end. Not much, just a little. I guess I could say the same about most of the instruments...they're on the "thin" side of things. Could be an EQ thing in post, or maybe just the character of the mic?

The bass tone sounds really good, just the right amount of dirt. That mic did a pretty darned good job of capturing everything. I'd say this is a solid set of recorded tracks. Nice work so far!

[Lt. Bob]

For a long time I've been collecting snippets of tunes, chord progressions, rhythms, etc. on my phone when a musical idea strikes me.

funny, I'm in the same position of looking back over dozens of half finished things ..... once I get this deck finished on the house I'm moving into the studio and doing this same thing.

I agree with Tad ...... this is nice and sounds pretty well recorded ....... i think you could work with this.

[JD01]

Stick with this one, mate. I think this is really good start.

[Alison]

Nice! Wish my more worked recordings were as "roughish" as yours, lol! It'll be cool to see where this goes.

[CrowsofFritz]

I can even hear the bass come through perfectly on my iPad speakers. That’s not an easy task to do and you nailed it.

[SweetDan]

Thanks all for giving it a listen and for the compliments.

@Tadpui - your idea for the snare is a good one. I can imagine how it might go, and it would help give more energy and lift to the choruses. (As would a few well-timed fills on toms in those transitions...)

Regarding the thinner sounds, I'm sure some of that has to do with the mic, since it's EQ curve isn't too far off what you'd get with other dynamic instrument mics (like an SM57). That said, I might place also place responsibility of the tone of the double-tracked rhythm guitars on my choice of guitar and pickups: I played my tele-clonester on the bridge p/u.

As for distortion on the bass, I played a p-bass-style instrument through a pedal (DIY version of the "Bluesbreaker") with the gain nearly as low as it would go, then on into a mic'd clean guitar amp.

[vomitHatSteve]

Yeah, this seems like a decent start on a first listen.

captured with just a single dynamic mic per part (Audix f2)

Isn't that recording challenge #6?

[SweetDan]

Yeah, this seems like a decent start on a first listen.

Thanks.

captured with just a single dynamic mic per part (Audix f2)

Isn't that recording challenge #6?

Maybe it was, though I thought that challenge was a single condenser mic.

I have the single-mic thing going on here because I'm lazy. This past fall I purchased both the f2 and an XLR-to-USB cable in an attempt to streamline my recording workflow by having to plug in only one thing, set up one mic stand, etc. I chose the f2 because it's cheap and it's response curve is every-so-slightly flatter than an SM57 (which I also have), allowing me to get a bit more of the lows while single-mic'ing either the drums, electric or stand-up bass.

I still have a 6-channel Tascam interface, but I haven't bothered to plug it in for months. I've probably recorded 4x-10x more (most of which I haven't shared) with this setup than what I had been doing. I've got got other mics too, both dynamic and condenser, but they've sat quietly in their cases.

I'll pull all that out again when I've got closer to final arrangements of the material, have spent more time practicing, and have a long weekend or sometime when I don't have to quickly get back to the primary purpose of my "home studio", which is to be a "home office" and pay the bills - when plugging everything in and fighting for the limited space on my desk, the work computer has to take precedence.

[Greg_L]

For a long time I've been collecting snippets of tunes, chord progressions, rhythms, etc. on my phone when a musical idea strikes me. Recently I've gone back over some of those to see if there's anything worth working up.

This is one of those from early 2018. It currently has no name, and has only the beginnings of a coherent instrumental melody (though I think the chord progression is solid). I'm less happy now with the drum rhythm in the "choruses" than when I sat down to play it; it feels pretty awkward to hear it now.


takeTwoFrom2018-01-06.mp3


Rough-ish mix of rough-ish recordings, lightly rehearsed and captured with just a single dynamic mic per part (Audix f2). Not sure yet if I'll spend more time & energy on it or not. What are your thoughts on the arrangement? The tones of the various instruments? As an idea for a potential piece of music, does it have legs? And if it were to start running, what direction might it go? (What cliff edges should it avoid running over?) EDIT: What things should a future mix of this take into account? Where's it too thin, too thick, and all that jazz?

I think there's plenty enough there to roll with it. This kind of thing is not in my wheelhouse so I have no idea how to push you into developing it, but use your best judgement.

I think Tad's comment about adding in full snare is right-on though. That will add a ton of dynamics between verse and chorus...whatever they are.

The sounds generally sound okay to me. The cross-stick is real nice. The bass is good. The guitars seem a little thin as they are now but I think they'll balance nicely when you get a full mix worked up and have the bass and kick drum playing a bigger role so don't go fretting over the guitars yet....hahaha fretting.