Musicians, Songwriters and Studio Geeks Thread

reply to post by TheAssociate



Great thread! Here we go:

1)What is your favorite effect (hardware or software) and why?

My favorite effect right now is Rocktron’s Tsunami Chourus. Like you, this will change depending on my mood or depending on the song I’m playing. This pedal is super slick and is now incredibly important to my overall tone.

2) What is your favorite music software?

Pro Tools- hands down! Not only is this software vital in allowing me to share my vision with others, but I think the ability to record and rerecord is a crucial element in the songwriting process, as I’ll will explain below.

3) What is your songwriting process? (i.e. what do you do before you go into the studio to get the creative juices flowing?)

Smoke a lot of cigarettes and drink a lot of beer. Also, the ability to refine my songs by listening and rerecording, then try various approaches aids in inspiration as well.


4) What is your favorite instrument (hardware or software)?
My ESP Horizons. The Horizon gives me the perfect balance of Les Paul-like low end and Telecaster type high end that cuts through the mix. I’ve tried so many guitar/pick-up/amp combos and (for my ear) nothing sounds better than my current rig. ESP Horizon (fixed bridge) with Seymour Duncan Invaders through a Rocktron HUSH, Rocktron Zombie (rectified distortion), Rocktron Tsunami, into my Joe Designer modded 100 watt Peavey head and a Marshall 1960a cab. I used to play through a Mesa Boogie Triple-Recto and absolutely loved it as well (same set up without the Zombie pedal). The economy forced me to sell that rig. I have built a pretty good replacement rig for a fraction of the cost.



[edit on 2-9-2009 by TheDarkHorse]

reply to post by TheDarkHorse

My favorite effect right now is Rocktron’s Tsunami Chourus.

I will definitely have to give that a try. I've been looking into building up an arsenal of Electro-Harmonix pedals also. They're pricey, but I hear they're pretty awesome. Your Horizons sound nice. I've been in the market for a new guitar, but monetary constraints haven't allowed for that. Maybe someday soon I'll splurge on all the toys I want. Thanks for the reply and the gear recommendations.


TA

Don't break me down for this.. but I am talking to guitarists.

First Act.. Do you know the Walmart company guitar? They make some seriously incredible axes. Not for sale in most places, but they do sponsorships for my buddy and he has a guitar that seriously trumps most les pauls i've heard.

Again, these are special order, but I bet you spend less money than if you would buying a great gibson or fender.

You can pick the wood, the inlays, the neck, the pickups, EVERYTHING. They build your guitar, no one elses. It is a signature guitar of your own image. Don't know what else you could ask for.

I love my les paul, but I kind of wish I knew this info before I bought it.. I might have rethought the whole decision.

Still Love my les paul. No sustain even gets near an LP.

And takamine makes the most beautuful sounding acoustics I've ever heard. I wouldn't trust myself to make a better guit.

reply to post by SantaClaus

First Act.. Do you know the Walmart company guitar? They make some seriously incredible axes.

Honestly, I'd never thought to try any of their stuff. I just saw that it was sold at wally world and assumed it couldn't be that great. Guess what they say happens when you assume is true. I will absolutely look into this: if I can get a great sounding guitar for a reasonable price, I don't particularly give a damn what name is on it. Thanks for the recommendation! and


TA


[edit on 4-9-2009 by TheAssociate]

I found this site while scouring the web for an audio clip of people cheering:

www.freesound.org...

You have to sign up to browse and download their files, but they are free (Creative Commons license) and definitely worth a look if you're in need of a particular type of sound. I'm always looking for weird noises to insert into a track and I thought others might do that as well, so there ya go, hope you enjoy.


TA

I play several instruments.
In acoustic I play a pre WWII Gibson Jumbo, a 1946 Global Torino, and an old Martin.
In Electric guitar(professional) I play either my 59 Les Paul, or my Strat which has been modified (like the Steve Vai JEM)in that it now has the Floyd Rose locking tremelo, and a (very hot)bridge pickup, and tree of life neck inlays, sometimes I'll bring out my 57 Gibson archtop double cut-a-way F-holes hollowbody, it has the "Memphis" blues tone circuit.
I use Ernie Ball Super Slinkies exclusively.
I have a double stack of 4x12 Marshalls with a Marshall DSL100MLB amplifier head which I play through, or in smaller venues I play through a 2X12 75 watt Kustom combo.
I can also play bass, it's usually an old Univox 'Lectra, with the F-holes, and twin pickups, it's the same as McCartney played in the early years.
But sometimes I play a Fender Mustang.
The bass is played through the Marshall MB 450H and VBC4 cabs.
I do vocals through an MXL Genesis tube microphone with a Peavy 2600 and 215 Dual towers and two Peavy SP4's.
We use a CakeWalk Sonar V studio 100 multitrack portable mixer on the road as well as a Tascam 2488 Neo 24-track recorder in studio.
I use Cakewalk software when cleaning up a ratty track.
I suppose it would come down to my chorus or phase shifter as far as my favorite effects pedals, outside the many effects the DSL100MLB brings to the show, but really my Weeping Demon and my big Muff, are at every gig, my effects panel is extensive, it is very hard to choose favorites.
I also play drums, mine are Ludwigs, 5 shell outfit, with high hat, crash and ride, Remo batter heads.
I play keyboards, synth, organ, ect.
I play trumpet and trombone, french horn, flute(after the style of Papa John Creech) sax and harmonica.
I play violin, I'm second seat in a philharmonic orchestra, my instrument was a gift from my teacher, it is a concert quality 4/4, is quite old and has a clear voice with a depth and fullness not common to todays instruments. I have an electric violin which I'm experimenting with, I've put that one through every pedal I have...new sounds!
I am a member of a working band.
We are an original material band, but sometimes we'll do a cover.
One member of the band is able to put lyrics to any tune, or lay down lyrics about anything you'd want to hear. He's been a poet since childhood, he definitley is a wordsmith.
We play a wide variety of music, we play Rock A Billy, Rock N Roll, ballads, ethnic, jazz and experimental thrash core and techno-trance. Though I love blues and heavy metal, I also enjoy the sounds of bands such as MCR,RATM, AudioSlave, BoonDox, Kotton mouth Kings, The Cypress Hill Mob, Twizted, and even ICP, 30 Seconds to Mars, and performers such as Joe (the Alien) Satriani, Steve Vai, and of course Mattrach.
At present four music videos by my band are floating around the internet and You Tube.
I do not wish to de-cloak at this time so all I'll tell you is go to Garageband.com ect., you'll find us sooner or later.
Will play for food.

[edit on 17-9-2009 by Luminaught]

To kick things off here are a few questions:

1) What is your favorite effect (hardware or software) and why?

2) What is your favorite music software?

3) What is your songwriting process? (i.e. what do you do before you go into the studio to get the creative juices flowing?)

4) What is your favorite instrument (hardware or software)?

1)My favourite piece of hardware is my mini Zoom 8 track digital recorder. Maybe not the most elaborate recording device out there but it's a beast, you can get some super recordings from it. Good for laying down ideas. Just the 8 tracks is the only limitation. So, my Boss Dr Rhythm does a good job at laying down the drums on one track.

2) I'm not a big software geek, but I've arsed about on Fruity Loops, and from what I've heard it's meant to be pretty good.

3)Just, when it feels right I guess. Sometimes I get an overwhelming urge to go record some stuff and the ideas seem to come effortlessly. Sometimes I'm not so fortunate and it can be quite frustrating.

4)I'm also guilty of owning several guitars and favouring just one. I've got a blue 'fat' Mexican Strat and the way it plays is priceless for me just from years of abusing the strings. It feels like it's been played for years and I feel more acquainted with that than my 80's American Strat despite it's superior looks sadly enough.

reply to post by Luminaught

Your skill set is truly impressive. I've never bothered to try anything besides the guitar (and bass guitar), drums, and instruments with keys, but that electric violin sounds like it would be pretty awesome to play. I may just have to look into borrowing/renting one to try that out. Thanks for the reply and keep rockin'. With that kind of talent, I have no doubt you'll go quite far.



reply to post by IrnBruFiend

It feels like it's been played for years and I feel more acquainted with that than my 80's American Strat despite it's superior looks sadly enough.

I figure that, at the end of the day, it's waaaaaaay better to play an instrument that just "feels right" than to have one that doesn't but looks good. The sound is what really matters and if a not-so-flashy instrument sounds better than its uber-cool looking counterpart, I'll take the not-so-flashy one any day of the week.

Thank you both for the replies and for telling us about yourself and your work.

I'd like to add that if there is anyone out there looking to get into audio recording, I'm more than happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability. I'm not a complete expert but I have been doing this for a pretty long time, so if anyone has any questions related to the recording process, just ask and I'll do my best to get you an answer.


TA

I'm trying to learn the guitar using this:

www.splashplay.mobi; you can watch videos with chords, pretty cool.

I also use:

www.chordie.com and www.ultimate-guitar.com; both have an amazing collection of tabs.

hth other budding acoustic guitarist



[edit on 10-10-2009 by PrisonerOfSociety]

reply to post by PrisonerOfSociety


Cool! Learning to play the guitar is very challenging, but well worth the effort. For me, it's been one of those things in which the learning process has never really stopped, and I like that. Thanks for the links (I'm checking those out right now, awesome stuff!) and the reply, and I hope you learn to shred as hard as you desire to.


TA

My favorite piece of hardware is definitely the API 3124+ four channel mic pre. So simple to use and it always gives you an amazing sound.

For my favorite software I would have to say Pro Tools. Waves' Mercury plug in pack is my second place choice.

I am more of an engineer than a songwriter. So most of my process involves listening to the artist's work and helping them tweak it. I am always trying to get in to the mindset of the artist and manifest their dream.

My favorite instrument is my Mexican Splatter Caster. I have two that I use. One is great for country, funk, and blues. The other has hand wound pick ups for that biting blues tone, gritty rock, and southern rock.

reply to post by MikeNice81

I am more of an engineer than a songwriter. So most of my process involves listening to the artist's work and helping them tweak it. I am always trying to get in to the mindset of the artist and manifest their dream.

I like the way you think!

I sort of start working from the opposite end, but toward the same goal. I'll start with a song idea or a particular sound in mind, write out the music, and then put on my audio engineer hat to try and produce my "vision." Thanks for the reply and the insight.


TA

Well I used to love using Pro Tools when I used loops as it was so easy to copy and past sections together

Plugins wise the LA2A compressor or the Fairlight one was realy good to fatten up the sound on the master fader.Another plugin I used was to make the stereo field wider and I used Antares Tube to give the digital signal some warmth.

The last plugin used was the waves L1 or L2 to get the stereo track to kiss the red as loud as I could without clipping(terrible sound on digital music OS)

I used to use Line 6 Pod Pro or Digitech 2120's to record the guitars with,and vocals went straight into my protools fron end

Now days as I only record in a band situation I have changed it all-I still have a protools rig at our rehearsal area setup but I use a standalone yamaha aw4416 to record us all

SM57s on mine and the other guitarists amp cabs,the same with the bassist and the drums going into it too.Record the songs from start to finish in one go(that can take some time when the drummer messes up!)with loud levels on every instrument(rock music sounds better recorded loud)

Vocals and guitar solos are the last things to do

I dont use any plugins now apart from EQ,but if I imported it into protools I would expect I would use the Fairlight and the L2

This is the quality I get with the yamaha aw4416
www.justinjohnwakely.com...

And this was what I used to do years ago with protools and preamps

www.justinjohnwakely.com...

reply to post by noangels

Plugins wise the LA2A compressor or the Fairlight one was realy good to fatten up the sound on the master fader.Another plugin I used was to make the stereo field wider and I used Antares Tube to give the digital signal some warmth.

Those are some pretty sweet effects, I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play with all of those.

One suggestion, though:

The last plugin used was the waves L1 or L2 to get the stereo track to kiss the red as loud as I could without clipping(terrible sound on digital music OS)

When mixing, you really don't want the output on the master track to peak over -18dbfs.

The general idea is to get it properly mixed, and then master it to make it loud.

But it's important to leave enough headroom in the pre-mastering mix so that you can do what you need to in the mastering phase to make it sound good, without "leveling" the peaks (having them all hit 0), and therefore killing the dynamics. It just doesn't sound right to have a track hitting 0 constantly, it sounds unnatural.

I'm not the best at explaining this sort of thing, it's easier for me to show people how to do stuff rather than typing out directions, but I hope the above made sense, and will help.

Thanks for the reply, and I wish you success in your creative endeavors.


TA

After mixing music I want the last stereo encoded file to be as loud as a comercial cd when mastered -thats why Waves L2 is used to make it comercial rock cd loud.When I play a rock track on cd in the car i have produced,volume wise it sounds the same as other rock cds-other styles with other instruments can go the less volume way,but modern rock/metal is pretty in your face from start to finish.Got stack loads of sound on sound mags and studio dudes always rave on about waves and the l2s finding more volume than they thought was possible

Been mixing and playing guitars for a l o n g time mate and can easily say the stuff I record these days is a lot better than most small bands get when they book time in an average studio-In fact I think a lot of bands waste their money on their small projects booking in studio time thinking that somehow these people are going to make them sound amazing

If you have good gear,musical skill and know how to mic up instruments(doesnt take too long)your going to get great results on your own as long as the recording front end has preamps that work and not hinder you

I dont use any compression on gtrs or eq-close mic off centre is good enough to capture the true tone-No compression pedals,no pedals ever used just a lead ito the head and thats that-very dynamic and makes you have to realy hit each note with conviction

forgot to mention guitars and amps used

I use LP Classic through a Hughes and Kettner switcblade head and 4x12
The other guitarist uses another LP Classic through a mesa dual rec head and cab

A/B'd real amps and virtual amps recording the same guitar parts and tube heads and 4x12 cabs sound the best

For solos I might use other guitars from various makes,all depends on the tone I want

post a clip if you can,i have laid my cards on the table here to show my recordings from a 5 year old recording of an istrumental to a small solo clip of my band from last year.It seems rather pointless to talk about this when you can post a clip to show it

reply to post by noangels

After mixing music I want the last stereo encoded file to be as loud as a comercial cd when mastered -thats why Waves L2 is used to make it comercial rock cd loud.

Sorry, man. I thought you meant that you used the L2 prior to mastering. I've always been taught to leave off the compression and limiting of the overall mix until the mastering phase, and to leave the mix relatively quite so that you or whoever does the mastering has headroom to work with. Didn't mean to question your skills at all. Apologies, again.

Also, in my signature there's a link to a rather mediocre track I entered in the ATS music contest. It's not great because it was just a side project, but it did win second place, so I guess it's not entirely horrible.

But thanks for the replies, and please feel free to post anything at all in this thread you want to talk about in regards to recording, writing, etc. I was hoping to make this more than a "hi, yes, I'm a musician, goodbye" thread, so any and all input is welcome and appreciated.


Keep rockin', and again, I wish you success in your music.


TA



Edit to add:

The song in the link in my signature is NOT an example of proper mixing and mastering. It's just something I threw together, mostly out of boredom, and in my spare time to enter into the contest. I'm rather reluctant to upload the good stuff anywhere, because I know how much people enjoy their "file sharing." But that's another discussion for another thread.



[edit on 5-11-2009 by TheAssociate]

Originally posted by TheAssociate


1) What is your favorite effect (hardware or software) and why?

My favourite technique is to chop audio up, align it into some sort of time signature, then play around with the individual sounds. For instance i will create a track with experimental delays and a touch of reverb for depth, then i'll even go so far as to see what sounds i get if i reverse certain Wavs.

I also like to play around with Eq settings, cut offs and rollo offs.

2) What is your favorite music software?

I use a combination of Reason for my drum beats, and then Cubase or Reaper.

3) What is your songwriting process? (i.e. what do you do before you go into the studio to get the creative juices flowing?)

Coffee and a smoke.


And then most of my tracks are written without any form of planning, through-composition i think it's called. I try to avoid planning my tunes as personally i dislike typical structure.

4) What is your favorite instrument (hardware or software)?

Over my time, i've used dozens and dozens of software synths (vsti), too many to remember, but with any synth you can really mess about with Lfo's and wave forms, effects and routing.

Great thread.

reply to post by mr-lizard

My favourite technique is to chop audio up, align it into some sort of time signature, then play around with the individual sounds.

If you haven't already, give Recycle a try. I have no problems admitting I'm madly in love with that program

Coffee and a smoke.

I believe I'll join you, and then go write make some noise!

but with any synth you can really mess about with Lfo's and wave forms, effects and routing.

Very, VERY true. At the end of the day, it's not so much the synth, but how ya use it.

Great thread.

Thanks, man! Glad you enjoyed it. Please stop by again, I'm hoping to make this a place where we can discuss all the ins and outs of our art, and any and all input is welcome and much appreciated! I wish you much success in your creative endeavors.


TA

I'll pop by all the time, as i'm willing to learn from those in the fields that interest me.



Thankyou for a good thread.

Kudos.

One day, when i'm feeling brave i'll link or u2u my music.

Originally posted by TheAssociate
1) What is your favorite effect (hardware or software) and why?

2) What is your favorite music software?

3) What is your songwriting process? (i.e. what do you do before you go into the studio to get the creative juices flowing?)

4) What is your favorite instrument (hardware or software)?

I'm a home studio producer/DJ. I got into Drum & Bass in the mid-90's and have been into it since. I also love Dubstep, which has gained hella momentum in the past few years.

I started out using Reason, but have since migrated to Ableton Live. The learning curve for Live is steeper than with Reason, that is for sure, but I do still like the Reason interface. Reason is killer for bass, and like someone already said, has some wicked effects, ie. Scream & Thor. You have to love ReWire, which lets you input Reason into Live, thus letting me still use Reason for bass lines.

Really can't say here as to what "motivates" me in the studio!

My favorite software instrument would be the Albino VST & hardware...turntables!