You can talk about this !!

[Strummer07]

Well...................
Prompted by some really top notch vocal plus uploads from Viking B , Blind B, Bad Blues P and Blackhorse , just to name a few ......I thought I'd better see if I had a vocal machine that was worth bothering with

Found this song about 2 months ago ....... I'd never heard it before and didn't even know who it was by .....But liked the sound of it .So ......

via a "Blues Fakebook" I tracked down a tab and some lyrics.

Cranked up my fairly new DAW ........Guitar tracks 4 ...........and had a bash !!

There is some Gibson ES-339 as both a lead and as a rhythm guitar.. there's a Takemine acoustic as a basic strummed backing and a few other bells and whistles which I tried out. Bass is an effect using a standard 6 string electric guitar.

Its a bit of an experiment both musically, vocally and also as a Recording / DAW Learnig exercise ........

So if your feeling brave .............have a listen !!
( there's about 6 secs dead air at the begining ....its there just to increase the anticipation and excitement !!! .. actually I just could not get rid of it without having to totally realign every track ..and there are a few!!)

Listening is not compulsory!!

its 3 minutes of your life .........that you'll never get Back !!

10210042

Any thoughts on how to improve things, would be useful ...

Including "Just don't do it again !!"

Many thanks to my two coaches/ chums for their patience and encouragment ...Mojo J and Golf x

[VikingBlues]

Cranked up my fairly new DAW ........Guitar tracks 4 ...........and had a bash !!

There is some Gibson ES-339 as both a lead and as a rhythm guitar.. there's a Takemine acoustic as a basic strummed backing and a few other bells and whistles which I tried out. Bass is an effect using a standard 6 string electric guitar.

Its a bit of an experiment both musically, vocally and also as a Recording / DAW Learnig exercise ........

I remember well how nervous I was at posting up my first vocal performance. Boy oh boy Strummer - aren't you jumping in at the deep end! First solo piece with your guitar-work, first vocal perforamnce posted, new DAW - all at the same time.

And y'know it's all coming along very well too. I can hearthe guitar's coming along well since the collab. The DAW processing for a bass sound works well. The vocals work very well - and did I detect a bit of double vocal at the end? This is a great big step you've taken - congratulations.

( there's about 6 secs dead air at the begining ....its there just to increase the anticipation and excitement !!! .. actually I just could not get rid of it without having to totally realign every track ..and there are a few!!)

I sometimes save the recording as a Wav from the DAW. Then import the wav file into the DAW as a new file. Chop of the beginning as the recording is now just one track. Export again as mp3 / wav. There may be better ways depending on your DAW - the instructions with the software usually confuse the hell out of me.

its 3 minutes of your life .........that you'll never get Back !!

Even if it had been bad it would fade into insignificance compared to the 4 million or so minutes I've wasted at work over the years! And as it is in no way bad, I'm glad to have listened.

Any thoughts on how to improve things, would be useful ...
Many thanks to my two coaches/ chums for their patience and encouragment ...Mojo J and Golf x

The three of you are making a good team - nice to see. My only advice? Keep practicing - keep trying new songs - keep trying new multi-track recordings. The timing should keep getting better, the notes you're playing will get easier to do as the brain/muscle memory is built up. Looking forward to the next one.

[Blackhorse]

Wow, Strummer, great way to announce yourself as a blues singer, as well as a guitarist!

The vocals sound excellent to me, there is a great sound to the electric rhythm guitar (is that an effect?) and overall it has a wonderful feel, very atmospheric, suits the lyrics perfectly. Nice solo too!



As for how to improve (you did ask!), I'd suggest putting down a strong, simple beat or click track to make timing, tempo and rhythm easier. Using a DAW, you can always take it out afterwards. I still have problems with timing, particularly on solos, but this helps me a lot.

Keep it up, looking forward to the next one already!!

[MojoJim]

Congrats Strummer!!

What a way to make your first music posting!!

Let's see..... I believe that was a lead track, two rhythm guitar tracks, a bass track, two percussion tracks, some effects...and....and....oh, of course ---- vocals as well. That's what I call doing it all at once.

All mixed down into an excellent song using a DAW that you are just learning. Talk about a quick study!

And your singing is a naturally good approximation of the way Chester sang it the first time.

Now I'm waiting to hear more.

[Golfxzq]

Great job there Strummer... Congratulations on putting yourself out there, I'm sure it is tough on the nerves, but you did a GREAT job on this piece. The vocals are terrific as well as the solo playing.... and I bet putting it all together was a breeze since you are such a fan of the DAW technology.

[Strummer07]

Well, thanks firstly for taking the gamble, using up those 3 minutes and having a listen ...VB, Blackhorse MojoJ and Golf x ... really appreciate the listens and your comments ....

Bags of fun to do, frustrating as hell on occasion, and tons of learning in this exercise ........so your feedback is invaluable. ....muchas gracias !

Blackhorse
" I'd suggest putting down a strong, simple beat or click track to make timing, tempo and rhythm easier. Using a DAW, you can always take it out afterwards. I still have problems with timing, particularly on solos, but this helps me a lot."

Yup, this is a must for me .. timing is not my strongest suite .I really need a bloke ( Foxy ladies can also apply !!) with a very loud snare drum just behind my left ear .. giving me a rock solid beat .........Where's blinkin Ringo when you need him !!

and

I sometimes save the recording as a Wav from the DAW. Then import the wav file into the DAW as a new file. Chop of the beginning as the recording is now just one track. Export again as mp3 / wav. There may be better ways depending on your DAW - the instructions with the software usually confuse the hell out of me.

That's a great tip .never even thought about that !!.....This whole DAW arena is a new one for me and as my Guitar tracks software came with the Boss V-Studio interface thingy .... (which is really handy by the way especially if you prefer a physical interface with your PC) .It came with virtually no operating instructions at all ..... lots of 'help' pages and access to some video's. All of which are pretty remarakable in that they always seem to answer every question known to man ..........except the one you are struggling with !!

The challenge this afternoon is to upgrade from GT4 to Sonar Home Studio 7 XL ........and probably have to start .... All over again !!

I have the next song on a loop in my head right now .....as soon as I master DAW's and work out a few notes .... stretch out the vocal chords a bit .. we'll have another bash
Onward and upward !!

[VikingBlues]

In what you've looked at on Guitar Tracks 4 to get to this stage did you notice a feature called "Cakewalk Studio Instruments" (electric bass, drums, piano, and strings) which they seem to be describing as a backing band? Not so sure how they work or how well from what I've read so far. "Get great backing tracks with the included Studio Instruments Suite" they say. Hmmmm?

Not something they had in the 10 year old version 1 that I have and used to use on the old XP PC. Just wondering about whether it's worth an upgrade at reduced price.

[DeaconBlues]

Strummer, that was most excellent! My wife even liked it.

Reminds me of early Bluesbreaker stuff like off of "Beano". Very much in the vein of John Mayall. (Pssst...I hear he's looking for new band members.) You could be the next "Clapner"(sic), Mick Taylor or Buddy Whittington. (I purposely left out Peter Green due to the fact that he's not human.)

All of the TWBB recordings are done via Cakewalk, by the way.

[vancouverois]

It sounds great !
The singing is good, your voice fits very well the piece.
Kudos!

[Blindboy]

Very Cool!
Your playing has improved already (Nice lead ), and you sing better than I do.
The advice about a click track, or simple drum track is good. It doesn't hurt to practice rhythm guitar to backing tracks as well as leads. Good rhythm guitar can be harder to play than lead.

[12bar]

its 3 minutes of your life .........that you'll never get Back !!

I enjoyed them - your voice is great. I wish I could sing that good!

[Strummer07]

Many thanks for the listens folks ...and thanks to 12 bar ,Blindboy and Deacon Blue ( and his missus !! ) ( Early BluesBreakers stuff ... Blimey !! DB Thanks ....and I'll have a pint of whatever your drinking !! ) .....

Yup Bb you are spot on about the whole rhythm guitarthing ......its dead easy to neglect this area as you try to get more proficient at scales / soloing etc ..............but its the basis for any song. I like your idea of practising rhythm to a decent BT.

I'm going to invest in some additional drumtracks .. Just found out that Sonar have a deal on at the moment for their Session Drummer 2 at about £8.95 which seems like a steal ... it provides a whole bunch of extra flexibility over what is already in HS7 ..........worth a punt methinks.

thanks again folks

[HalfBlindLefty]

Darn, the new job made me forget to put in my two cents.....

Strummer, I'm impressed by both your progression in guitar playing and 2nd your voice and singing.
Keep doing that, that is on of my shortcomings.... I make all the glass in my neighbourhood .... suddenly disappear when I try to sing.

Well, very well done.

[DeaconBlues]

"! DB Thanks ....and I'll have a pint of whatever your drinking !! ) ....."

Bar keep! A pint of your finest whiskey for my big, furry, friend from the UK!

Enjoy, Strummer!

[Strummer07]

A pint of your finest whiskey for my big, furry, friend from the UK!

Yee Haa !! ...Thanks DB ....sounds good to me .....won't help my timing much .. but it would be some serious fun !!

HBL .. thanks for taking a listen, appreciate the comment ..... .great to hear that you are back in gainful employ !!
Good on you !! there is one lucky employer out there !

[nxsneil]

Well done Strummer !
Technical Comment - Play around with the Pan settings on your DAW for the individual tracks, try panning guitars to Left and Right and leave Vox in the centre. If you do it right you'll get the Vox jumping out at you