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SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

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Stoke on Trent
There have been several questions lately about inputting guitars into computers and recording gear.
Perhaps we can show our music and how we did it.

I've just started using Sonar 8.5 LE again which for me is a great DAW (Digital Audio Workshop).
I was using a Line 6 Toneport for my input device but recently bought a wonderful synth called the Roland Juno Gi.
Besides being an excellent synth it has got the processor from Roland's GT series of guitar pedals.
This means I can plug guitar, bass and vocals into the keyboard and use that processor to make my sounds.
My guitar is the wonderful James Tyler Variax JTV-59 which I use mostly on normal pickups but with a flick of a switch I can jump into 37 of the greatest guitar sounds ever made.
My bass is a Squier Precision.
The drums are a VST plugin called EZ Drummer although the Juno Gi has some amazing sounds.

Anyway, here are my first two efforts.
I love the first song and because I was enjoying myself playing guitar solo's I extended it.
The second tune, although a joke request from a pub Landlord, was also a song I wanted to cover for decades.

Enjoy, ask questions and upload your efforts.


 
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In the first one, are the multiple voices all you, multi-tracked?

Lol at Laughing Gnome - there's one you won't find on any of the many Bowie compilations out there! Your vocal on that indicates to me that you would do an awesome Lazy Sunday...

I'll have to see if my son has recorded anything decent on his Eleven Rack / Pro Tools 10 setup. It'd only be guitar and bass if he has - we have nothing percussive and neither of us can sing worth a damn!

Eleven Rack is certainly worth a look if you're semi-serious. It's expensive (I think around £750) but quality kit. This month's Guitar gave it full marks.
 
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Snograt said:
In the first one, are the multiple voices all you, multi-tracked?
Click to expand...

Yes, all me.
Funnily enough my harmony tutor (from 1988) has just sent this -

Dave, loved almost all , personally, I think you need to LIFT on the 3rd. & 4th. repeats on the chorus harmonies, your 3rd below and 5th above need to shift up for a crescendo on the chorus, everything else to my ears is spot on, and Dave, this comes with the deepest respect for your song writing / lyrics, and only and as a personal opinion with a wish to help, no offence intended, only a wish to in some small way, assist an old friend. You would always expect ME to have an opinion on harmonies eh !, but Dave I am very impressed to say the least. Go well, love to the family.
 

It's a bit of a joke song. :p All I have in France is my Zoom H2, so the guitar and vocals were recorded with that, whilst the drums were sequenced. As for the bass, I emailed the track to my friend in the UK, he recorded a line, emailed it to me, I finished the mix et voila...
 
Naffa said:
As for the bass, I emailed the track to my friend in the UK, he recorded a line, emailed it to me, I finished the mix et voila...
Click to expand...

That's the kind of stuff that may go over peoples heads.
Perhaps a bit later I'll go in detail about how my efforts were done and it will amaze some people.
A mate of mine came round on Wednesday to learn because he's just spent a vast amount of money on a Mac, Logic Pro & interface and hasn't got a clue.
He sat there gobsmacked when he saw me put a song together because he was thinking of the old 4/8 track reel to reel days.
 
A full, step-by-step walkthrough would be awesome.

I've been using computers all my life (well, as long as they've been available for home use!) yet DAWs totally flummox me. "Proper" recording studios are worse. I see a mixing desk and I need a lie down - give a man more than one knob to worry about and he's lost.
 
I start by knowing exactly how the song is made up and what individual parts there are and how many bars etc.
I know in this song there is an intro which is also the verse and is a 2 bar repeating pattern.
The chorus is also a 2 bar repeating pattern and the outro is a 4 bar on A7 and the song basically goes round in a loop.

Please click on the pictures for more detailed versions.


I start with a very basic drum pattern and decide I'm going to record just half a verse, half a chorus and and outro.
At a later time I can mess with the drums to make them more exciting.




Now to record the instruments.
The bass is first and all I need is to record 2 decent bars of each part and I can then cut & paste to everywhere else.
I do this with all the instruments.




I can now cut & paste so I have a full intro, verse, chorus & outro




Now for the lead guitar.
Using a looping record I can play the solo as many times as I like and it will just create a new track after 8 bars and I can decide which one I want to use.
I could grab 1 bar here & there from all of them to make a solo and it should work.
I accidentally left one of the solo's playing over the top of the chorus and to me it sounded brilliant so I left it and another solo also worked over the A7 outro.




I did exactly the same with the vocals.
I put the recorder on a loop and just sang the 3 verses one after another.
I then recorded the chorus and also recorded 2 backing vocals (later 3).




I now had all my parts recorded which meant tinkering with the drums and fine tuning the tracks with a bit of compression & reverb here and there.
Being deaf in my right ear makes it difficult for me but the best place is in my car where I can get to hear (what sounds to me) like a full stereo sound.




Any questions just ask.
 
Thought I would resurrect this thread with a couple of questions.

1. Can anyone recommend a good pair of monitoring headphones for about £50-£100. I know it's not a big budget, but it's all i have spare atm.

2. How can I get rid of that bloody awful background noise when I choose a distortion sound for my guitar on the Cubase VST rack. Is this always there? I am using a good interface and cable so it can't be that.
 
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