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Post by swurveman on Feb 9, 2020 13:59:58 GMT -6
Gotta say - I miss the real drums that were in some of your other recordings...and I wouldn't quantize if I were you - especially on songs like this. The drums are my biggest issue. I would think it also needs some "pad" instrument. Whether that's a slide part or a steel. Or B3 or whatever. I agree with this. Also, as you've added these instrument textures, I found myself anticipating/wanting something more melodic and emotional from the chorus.
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Post by swurveman on Feb 7, 2020 9:56:39 GMT -6
One artist who I do not think benefited from the 80's sound, and I know this all comes down to personal taste, is Bruce Springsteen. I much prefer his 70's sound to the 80's productions. I can't imagine what they'd do to Thunder Road if it got processed through the 80's meat grinder.
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Post by swurveman on Feb 6, 2020 8:03:51 GMT -6
Now, lets not focus on the fact that I understand that I could hire gun musicians etc ... lets discuss how we get this done ourselves... My biggest hurdle is always the rytmn section.. how I can come up with something that compliments the basic groove and phrasing of my original vocal and acoustic guitar performance.... take this as an example... which is exactly what i hear when tracking its just mics to preamps and a bit of Bricasti and Valhalla Plate I cannot for the life of me come up with a drum and bass part that doesn't suck.... My way of working, if I'm starting with a song with an acoustic guitar/vocal demo, is to start with a basic kick/snare groove with SD2 that feels right with the demo. Then, I write electric guitar parts (intro riff, verse chorus supporting chord parts/riffs etc)., which may or may not replace/augment/change the feel of the song. If I like it and think it improves the song, I then play/add a basic bass groove. Then, once I have my guitar parts working with the basic drum and bass parts, I'll add in drum fills and cymbal crashes etc. to make the drum performance more dynamic and interesting. After that's done, I'll overdub the bass in those places that I changed in the drum performance, to compliment the dynamics. Then, I'll see if there's keyboard parts that can enhance the song. If that all adds up to needing to overdub parts of the lead vocal, or add backup vocals, to compliment the changes, I'll do it. It's an intuitive process that I trust as I go along. So, sometimes I'll add the basic bass part before the keys, or if I think a part needs an organ, I'll add that. It's not the same sequence of events every time, but I let the song change as I add parts and get all the pieces to work together. If it is too much production after listening to the full song after all is done, I pair it down.
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Post by swurveman on Feb 4, 2020 8:32:02 GMT -6
I see your point, a cooler name would be better. However, at this time when you post, "hear/buy my music at this link", I don't think people who are interested in hearing/buying will decide not to click it due to the name. The main thing for me was not giving my music away for free, which is essentially what I'd be doing on the most popular streaming sites, which imo is a fools game. If more independent musicians/bands drew this line, we'd all be better off imo. ...sorry if I'm going to rain on your parade a bit. I'm from New England and we have had attitudes. 😂😂 You're much more likely for random people to stumble upon your music on Spotify than on Bandcamp. What's your goal with releasing this album? Do you already have fans that want to hear an album? If not, the only people who will pay for the album are friends and family. And they'll buy it on whatever format you suggest, just to support you. I don't think cutting off Spotify will generate more money for you. Unless you have a great marketing plan in place with a bunch of content ready to go (and luck on your side), don't get your hopes up. Be prepared for 5-30 record sales. Thanks Jesse. I'm not looking for a big payday. I feel pretty strongly against streaming for all the reasons stated. We'll see how it goes.
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Post by swurveman on Feb 3, 2020 18:47:15 GMT -6
I like Bandcamp. I didn’t realize they have a 3 stream limit per song. That’s great! In my experience there’s only one thing wrong with bandcamp, but there’s an easy fix. The problem is their name. Indie and garage artist might be ok with it, but most people I’ve told won’t even check it out. Clients want to appear professional to people and honestly the word ‘bandcamp’ is word association with school bands, which identifies with amateurs. All bandcamp has to do is make a sister site (or 10) like many web companies do, all with different names or maybe different genres. Stay away from negative name association. Can even target market better. That way users can use the bandcamp service but it’s more appealing to their taste and style. If bandcamp could just get a little more popular and crossover into the main genres, it might be the hand that forces the movement I see your point, a cooler name would be better. However, at this time when you post, "hear/buy my music at this link", I don't think people who are interested in hearing/buying will decide not to click it due to the name. The main thing for me was not giving my music away for free, which is essentially what I'd be doing on the most popular streaming sites, which imo is a fools game. If more independent musicians/bands drew this line, we'd all be better off imo.
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Post by swurveman on Feb 3, 2020 16:45:57 GMT -6
Not exactly. For example in 2017 five of Spotify’s senior executives earned a combined total of $26.5 million. That's personal wealth for one year, not future stock sale wealth. Ponzi or not, string 10 years of that personal income together and it's a lot of personal income. I'm not putting it down, just pointing out the executives are doing pretty well without any potential stock benefits. FWIW: I'm about to release an album and I'm not going to stream anywhere but a few Youtube videos to promote the album. Everything else is going to be Bandcamp, which limits streaming to three per song. I understand, and empathize, with those unhappy with the streaming model. It sucks. I have no problem with executives making millions of millions if they’re bringing in millions for their company. The problem is, A) these companies haven’t even turned a profit and B) this money is made from the virtual labor we songwriters perform. And we don’t even have the right to pull our music if we don’t like it. I totally agree with you that songwriters are getting screwed. You're not going to like what I have to say, but I see music getting even less expensive for the consumer as Silicon Valley goes to the next level of automating jobs and the necessity for a larger welfare state- with cheap, lousy food, cheap highs and cheap entertainment- becomes a necessity. Nobody spends more money than Silicon Valley in Washington and both parties have their hand out. Andrew Yang's "Freedom Dividend" (welfare) is the first political manifestation/proposition of what is going to happen. From this article, you see the Silicon Valley thought process supporting the "Freedom Dividend", because as one guy says, “Being in the Bay Area, you know first-hand the impacts of AI: You have peers working on technologies to streamline and make processes more efficient — which effectively automates away millions of jobs." Unless voters on both side of the aisle unite to force politicians to put jobs over technology, which they've never done, it's a fait accompli. The fact that, in a post Citizens United world, there is so much Silicon Valley money for election campaigns doesn't help.
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Post by swurveman on Feb 3, 2020 16:20:40 GMT -6
Here's the thing, it doesn't matter to the people at the top running these companies. They can show on paper they're losing money and make multi-millions personally. If their "salary" plus bonuses total 250,000,000 a year. it's no surprise the company might show a loss. They're doing the 80's dirty money management tricks and flying their golden parachutes to their sailboats. Another thing - They're gauging "wealth" or "value" by stock valuations, not by income.
Which is fine, as long as the ponzi scheme lasts....
Not exactly. For example in 2017 five of Spotify’s senior executives earned a combined total of $26.5 million. That's personal wealth for one year, not future stock sale wealth. Ponzi or not, string 10 years of that personal income together and it's a lot of personal income. I'm not putting it down, just pointing out the executives are doing pretty well without any potential stock benefits. FWIW: I'm about to release an album and I'm not going to stream anywhere but a few Youtube videos to promote the album. Everything else is going to be Bandcamp, which limits streaming to three per song. I understand, and empathize, with those unhappy with the streaming model. It sucks.
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Post by swurveman on Jan 28, 2020 10:38:23 GMT -6
I'm going to sell my GML 8200 EQ, which I bought from a Nashville producer and I've used both as a stereo and mono eq. Even though I didn't hear any unusual L/R differences when using it as a stereo EQ, I want to check how evenly calibrated both sides are and make sure it's within a sell able range as to avoid any hassles in the sale. So, as I'm inexperienced, I'm wondering what method people typically use. I do have Waves Q-Clone if that's useful. I also could just send it in to GML to have them calibrate it.
Any advice from anybody who has sold stereo EQ would be greatly appreciated!
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Post by swurveman on Jan 23, 2020 13:02:43 GMT -6
Yes, this is exactly what I’m talking about. It’s a combination of factors that goes in to get this much air on a voice. One being the voice itself and two being the mic itself. I just wish there was one trick for all voices! Ha! I've always wondered how they achieve the air sound to a vocal. I have tried many times but can't seem to replicate it. Here is an example of what I mean by "air", on this Freya Ridings track Lost without you, virtually every word has the "air" in the studio recording which is here however when it comes to a live performance here you can hear that while her voice has the same sound/tone the "air" is not on every word or as pronounced. The air seems to be on certain works like first and last words of the line. If there is any quides online that show going from one to the other would be interested to see them! True, but just saying "sing softer" is a big part of it to my ears. I have a GML 8200 and I couldn't turn the live performance to the recorded one with it, and it's considered one of the best.
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Post by swurveman on Jan 14, 2020 19:32:42 GMT -6
This may be a stupid question, but how is UAD able to have live music go through their plugins first before going through their converters? They aren’t. No DSP until things are D. So, nobody is actually committing to a sound if they track using plugin inserts, right? Or, does your waveform have the plugin sound embedded into it, like if you tracked with hardware?
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Post by swurveman on Jan 14, 2020 13:25:35 GMT -6
Same on the ATR. I had almost given up on it, but lately I've found a couple presets that I really like as a starting point, so I've been using it more. I usually dig it more if I mix into it, rather than adding it at the end. This may be a stupid question, but how is UAD able to have live music go through their plugins first before going through their converters?
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Post by swurveman on Jan 4, 2020 9:06:26 GMT -6
A stereo compressor isn't a bad thing. It is more about the detector circuit. For instance on an SSL vca compressor there are two versions. One that has a dual monitor dector and one that's is stereo summed. The dual mono version is often called "Oxford" or "turbo mode" in the diy world. This version oftern sounds better as the detector takes which ever signal is louder from the left or the right. So the compressor acts on whatever is loudest from whatever channel. The stereo summed way sounds much different and can sometimes feel like it constricts the image and collapse's it. So it's really more about knowing how the compressor works then a broad stroke of dual mono vs stereo. This was true of my Smart C2 as well. Even with the same settings on the left and right, the stereo image was less wide than the dual mono.
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Post by swurveman on Jan 2, 2020 10:02:08 GMT -6
I got $150.00 in gift cards to buy something this xmas and wanted to buy a UAD EMT 140 plugin, but they don't sell gift cards and won't let dealers sell their products. So, my $150.00 went to a lot of guitar strings instead.
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Post by swurveman on Dec 31, 2019 9:22:07 GMT -6
Awesome resource! Thanks! Gonna be checking some of those out for sure The Everything Audio studio pictured on on page 2 of the R.E.P. Magazine was my studio designed by Brian Cornfield of Everything Audio. It was located in Claremont Ca. Harrison console, Otari, Lexicon, Urie, Neve, Neumann, Etc. I was there during the 1980's a great time in music. I still have the same analog setup in one of the studios at my present location. I just read this article about Brian Cornfield. Quite a career.
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Post by swurveman on Dec 24, 2019 10:33:17 GMT -6
Thanks for that pdf Christopher! I read the interview. On page 36 of the magazine (pg 32 in the pdf) , Paul Rothchild says, "In mono, you can take instruments and put them further behind one another - you can build "layers" - where in stereo, you're spreading things out and it's a little bit more difficult to create perspectives of depth and distance.With stereo you're "pinpointing" your tracks, versus mono or binaural, where the instruments fall into a more natural positioning. ...you can get much better three dimensionality in mono. You get the feeling of space much better in mono." For anyone: Is he talking about a true mono mix, or mixing a stereo mix in mono? Or, building a mono mix first and then doing the panning? I've always wondered what process people use while mixing a stereo mix, and switching back and forth from mixing in mono and then in stereo. I'll often work on the feeling of space he's talking about in mono, and then not like it in stereo and I'm not sure why. He also talks about keeping the panning the same on the instruments throughout the album so the listener can make friends with the different personalities, which I never thought of. Very interesting interview
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Post by swurveman on Dec 19, 2019 18:06:53 GMT -6
I bought a PDW by DW Encore drum set as a Christmas present for my 10 year and 7 year old grandsons. They can bang away when they visit, instead of sitting in front of a screen. First drum set I ever bought. So, hopefully I'll get to start from the bottom and work my way up.
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Post by swurveman on Dec 12, 2019 11:06:12 GMT -6
I can't make the math work on that versus an iMac, the iMac wins the price battle the way I look at it. Add all the upgrades and peripherals to a Mini and it costs more....for what I need/want. well for me anyways the mini has other pros vs an iMac(not that i have either Im still rocking an old Cheesegratter) The mini can be located somewhere else. If you use a Sonnet xMini server rack you can have it out of your room all together. Then you can have the HDX card there as well plus any HD arrays. The iMac you can't, and they can be loud as they age. We have 4 here and if you load them up with stuff the fan is freakin loud. I also like the ablity to pick your own monitor and mounting solutions. It might be cheaper, but call me old school I don't love the fully integrated monitor into a computer thing. But both would work fine. I'm thinking about a Mac Mini. If you don't mind saying, what kind of a screen do you use and how long is the cable from where your Mac/Sonnet is to the screen on your desk? What kind of cable is it?
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Post by swurveman on Dec 11, 2019 8:05:14 GMT -6
I've had many brands of popular monitors. Many were just not that great. This ribbon tweeters hyped by some companies like Adam Audio seem like a marketing scam to me sometimes, they're so damn harsh. I have a pair of ADAM a7x's and agree that the tweeters are too hyped. Fortunately, you can use the high shelf on the back. I set the HIGH SHELF on the back at -2.4 dB (4 clicks) and they sound much better. My personal opinion is you have to move your speakers around till you find the spot that gives you the most detail and sit inside the triangle.
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Post by swurveman on Dec 10, 2019 11:04:54 GMT -6
I'm looking to grab an acoustic for the studio, but don't have loads of money or play well enough to get something great. The Eastman E2D-CG is catching my fancy right now. Looks good, solid wood, ~$500. Sounds great in this video. Anything else out there I should be considering? Cheaper is better. No need at all for built in electronics. Literally a studio guitar only. When he capo's and finger picks it, it sounded like the high E string was frettng out when he struck it. Can you find one near you? My suggestion is if so, play it and see if there's any fretting out issues where the note doesn't ring true.
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Post by swurveman on Dec 10, 2019 10:57:42 GMT -6
^^^^^^^
Perhaps if you're only using acoustic guitars to support a song and cut through a busy mix I could see the Orangewood, but for acoustic guitar based songs- where the bottom end matters- the Martin was far superior imo. It would be interesting to hear at what price point the bottom end of an acoustic guitar starts to get closer to the $7K Martin.
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Post by swurveman on Dec 1, 2019 10:58:14 GMT -6
I have Superior Drummer 2. Does having bought SD2 give me any discount toward SD3? No.
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Post by swurveman on Nov 25, 2019 8:02:26 GMT -6
Yeah, it seems like the people having problems are with Apple's OS, not Windows. I've gone from Windows 7-10 paying no WUP with no problem. I wonder how long that's gonna last.
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Post by swurveman on Nov 24, 2019 11:10:05 GMT -6
I've haven't paid the WUP in years. All my Waves plugins work fine.
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Post by swurveman on Nov 23, 2019 10:20:40 GMT -6
I’m with others that suggest to enquirer what he listened on and if he heard these problems on different sound systems. I also ask if the bass or treble has been adjusted on the system clients listen on.
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Post by swurveman on Nov 21, 2019 12:31:03 GMT -6
Audience, though I don't think many, if any, people who aren't musicians or engineers would notice.
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