Joined: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 116 Location: Denmark
Re: extremely basic question « Result #23 on Dec 7, 2009, 4:45pm »
Paul, lotta this is pretty heady stuff with steep learning curves. 10 years ago I tried to get how midi worked and failed. Now, the third time around, Im starting to get the grip of it, so if your'e a tech moron like me, prepare yourself on some long winters with lots of patience and coffee..
PM me anytime if you'd like to talk about the midi guitar stuff, at some point. I use it every week, and I love it!
Christmas Dross « Result #25 on Dec 7, 2009, 4:37pm »
We have the usual Christmas ( or rather NON Christmas) dross heading into our charts that either make you wanna cry or even cry. Nobodys writing funny happy Xmas songs anymore - everybody is so depressed !!!
But take heart - here's our little contribution to spread a little pre Xmas mirth and merriment - and yes we did have a right laugh doing it !!!
WRITE ME A SONG FOR CHRISTMAS
free download if you can bear to play it twice !!!
I'm of the belief that one can get a good mix on just about anything, BUT only once you know how your mixes translate to the outside world.
Ern can get good mixes on NS10s because he's used to them, not because they're great speakers. In the world of speakers, NS10s are pretty much crap, but they became a "standard" and thousands of records by big time artists were mixed on those cheapo speakers. --- A hot topic for me.
Mazz, it's a hot topic for you? I never would have guessed!
I get your points --- Very eloquently made! Use whatever you want --- Frank Zappa mixed everything on his cheapo home stereo speakers, because he knew what they sounded like.
But NS-10s aren't crap, nor are they cheap, even though they were when I bought 'em. Look on eBay. The reason they are so sought after is that their midrange IS accurate. And the reason they stopped making them is that Yamaha could not longer buy the wood fiber that made the woofers so accurate. They are basically used now as a substitute for the infamous Auratones, but have a much wider frequency response. NS-10s certainly aren't full-range speakers, but to pinpoint the problems in the crucial midrange of mixes, they work awfully well for that.
That said, if you listen to them loudly for a long period of time, they'll blow your ears out. But most engineers mix at a relatively low level. If I want to listen to mixes at high volume, I'll switch to the KRK's or my Definitive Technology speakers with 2x5" woofers that are, ahem, home stereo speakers.
Re: 8 Dispatch Listings in a Row « Result #30 on Dec 7, 2009, 3:41pm »
I got the email about 2pm my time and decided to do a big push for the Big Band listing. I finished it in time, but I just hope the performances and mixing were good enough for what they need. Time will tell
Two free Christmas songs from the Layaways « Result #31 on Dec 7, 2009, 3:40pm »
My band just released a new holiday album, "Maybe Next Year."
We're giving away a couple tracks as mp3s -- an "indie disco" take on "O Christmas Tree," and a Radiohead-ish instrumental version (piano and backwards guitar) of "Away in a Manger."
Re: Post Rally Forwards on 3 listings! « Result #32 on Dec 7, 2009, 3:38pm »
Thanks a lot Mazz, 10 west and Devin.
That VI plugin you are referring to is a 6'8" Kawai CS 60 piano. You guessed it, it's real. One of my greatest assets is that piano which I saved for like crazy out of college and would never be able to afford now. I'm still experimenting with how to mic it, and with these listings I had to do some serious EQing but was happier with my piano sound than I ever have been. I'm actually only using Studio Projects C1s on the thing, going into my Apogee ensemble.
The disadvantage of having an instrument like that is that if it's out of tune even a little, it can be a serious problem on exposed piano listings like these. Even for that listing, the high notes are slightly out of tune, but it's subtle enough that it's not distracting.
Re: Interesting development - Apple might buy Lala « Result #33 on Dec 7, 2009, 3:35pm »
My "artist/label" payouts from Lala.com have varied slightly, but they've all been around 0.55 to 0.6 cents per individual stream, before CD Baby takes its 9% cut.
As for songwriter compensation, I assume it will be the same as it is for on-demand streaming at Last.fm, Rhapsody, etc. Nothing from Lala has shown up yet on my BMI statement, but the songwriter/publisher payouts I've seen for those services are much smaller than what I've seen as "label" compensation. Instead of per-stream payouts of .5 to 1.0 cents, we're talking, in some cases, a few hundredths of a cent.
I've remixed it a bit, pulled some of the background vox down a little so they don't take away from the main vox line, brought the electric guitars up a touch and smoothed out a couple level issues.
Thanks to all for commenting, I've applied a lot of what was suggested, a few I didn't get to. We're set on the vocal and lyrics, but if you have more comment on the mix/production, keep 'em coming!
Vince you had a couple that I will look further into.
Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 799 Location: Channing Michigan
Re: extremely basic question « Result #35 on Dec 7, 2009, 3:09pm »
Bryan
You sure you weren't a teacher. The systematic tutorial was really slick
It's funny you compared midi to a player piano. When I tried EZdrummer, I got dots and no sound:).
To think i don't even have a MOD wheel. Almost embarrasing.
Devin
Cinematic pieces and Feaker would never shake hands. Those folks are in a league above. Love to listen though.
Band in a box might be a start. BTW. Being a dad is great, but being a grandpi is as good or better.
Orest
My Roland drums are like that. I need a better keyboard anyway:)
Anne
Good to hear from you.
Saw the rally pics with you highlighted:)
Will look into the download.
Ern
Snow must be very rare out there. We have a few inches on the ground and they got 24 closer to Lake Superior. My pond has a few inches of ice. way behind last year.
My puter is not bad, i might not have to gear up?
Songcab
That's not a bad price for a keyboard. I thought it would be much more. My mad money fund is flush right now.
I had no idea guitar midi controlers could do that.
Mark
I will use the cheapo piano for now. I can only play crocodile rock on a piano.
Mazz
How approriate with your reality check at this last post.
I thought building my house would be a stretch until I got a book and found it not to be rocket science. Propped it up and away I went.
My daughters were asking for ideas for the last minute xmas list. I just mailed them the amazon list.
Thanks everyone for the wisdom and encouragement. It will be a great winter project to learn midi and use some libraries.
After listening to yawl, I believe now it is necessary to go to the next level.
I don't use spellcheck either, so excuse some typo's. I don't want to be bothered anymore.
Re: REVISITING "CROSS THE LINE" AGAIN « Result #38 on Dec 7, 2009, 2:47pm »
Very energetic piece, really really liked it!! I felt the orchestra instruments could come in a bit earlier. Don't know exactly what they mean by electronic/orchestra instruments, but I felt it to be more pop/rock/orchestra hybrid. Think you should add some electronic drum/percussion parts as well.
Very James Bond type of music! Great work and great composition! Really interesting to listen to!
Re: QUIRKY-COOL Road Song (**** 12/06 MARC RE-SANG « Result #39 on Dec 7, 2009, 2:41pm »
Nice song!!
I think the vocals are great, can't hear all the words though, but the feeling is definitely right on!
A great female singer can lift the chorus a lot, now I almost feel that the verses and the chorus blend together.
I would also like to hear the drums more up front, but I think you need to work a little on the space for the instruments as well. It's a little muddy here and there, the guitars, keys and drums are in the same range. Stronger panning and maybe different frequencies might make it clearer. Would like a little more high end on the overall instrumental track as well.
Joined: Nov 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 4,359 Location: San Francisco
Re: advice on speakers needed please « Result #42 on Dec 7, 2009, 2:12pm »
I'm of the belief that one can get a good mix on just about anything, BUT only once you know how your mixes translate to the outside world.
Ern can get good mixes on NS10s because he's used to them, not because they're great speakers. In the world of speakers, NS10s are pretty much crap, but they became a "standard" and thousands of records by big time artists were mixed on those cheapo speakers. What does that say? It says exactly what I said above, the mixers who use them can get great mixes out of them because they know them. It's the ears of the mixers, not the speakers.
There's no such thing as an "accurate" speaker. If there was, there'd only be one speaker and we'd all be using it. Frequency response plots, etc. are all just numbers and only tell you how a speaker performs under extremely controlled conditions. There's so much interference in the real world by a little thing called "the laws of physics" that it really just takes getting used to your environment and speakers, no matter what or where they are. If I waltzed into a high end studio, I doubt if my first few mixes out of there would be any good until I learned how the room and the speakers sounded and what I needed to do to make the mixes translate to the outside world.
Yes, it's awesome to have a well tuned room and a $10,000 pair of "flavor of the year" high end speakers, but a good set of ears and lots of experience trumps that any day of the week, IMO.
If a speaker is "accurate" but you can't stand to listen to it no matter what or if it hurts your ears after a few hours of working on it, then it's not for you, no matter what the brand name or the price tag is. When picking speakers there's a balance between how it sounds and the ephemeral "how it sounds to you". Yes, there's a danger to trust the speakers when they "flatter" your mixes, but that goes back to doing lots of comparative listening to your mixes in lots of different places so you can "mix around" those deficiencies and false hopes your speakers might have or be giving you.
Whether you think you can or you think you cannot, you're right.
Joined: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 385 Location: Germany
Re: Heavyocity's Evolve « Result #43 on Dec 7, 2009, 2:04pm »
Good tips - I've got 'em already I have TS2, which I don't even use. I don't know if I'm missing something, but I don't like the sound of it at all. Not inspiring whatsoever. I like Drums of War better than Epic Toms. But they're all kick-ass!
Re: advice on speakers needed please « Result #45 on Dec 7, 2009, 2:01pm »
wow - thank you all for taking the time to give advice. (and for explaining passive/ active monitors) I really appreciate it.
I like the idea of taking some music to a store and listening to different monitors to see which ones I would prefer. And Ern - "That's THE purpose of good monitors: To make your sh!t sound good!" So true! I need honest monitors - not ones that makes it sound better than it really is.
Right now I can't spend very much because we are getting ready to close on a house. I am considering using really good headphones until after Christmas when I would be in a position to buy something nicer than I could now. After all - the monitors that just died lasted 15 years - whatever I buy next should be something I would be happy with for several years to come. (and that way I don't have to pick the cheapest available)
Joined: Nov 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 4,359 Location: San Francisco
Re: extremely basic question « Result #46 on Dec 7, 2009, 1:17pm »
Paul,
Everyone here has given good advice.
I want to throw a caveat into the mix: Many of us that do the MIDI thing have been doing it for a long time and may have forgotten the hill we had to climb to get the basics under our belt. If you are new to MIDI, then you are going to have to step back and take it in little bits so you can get a good foundation under you. It's not rocket science by any means, but it's a skill and technology that isn't necessarily easy for everyone to grasp right away.
The hype of all of this gear stuff is that the new technology makes it easier than ever to make music, and that may be true to a certain extent, but every new piece of gear or library comes with it's own way of doing things over and above the basics. If you don't have the basics under your belt, you'll be at sea pretty quickly with this stuff.
Any one of the first 5 books in this list would be good to start studying, although the 5th one by Jeff Rona is probably the most basic and would give you a good basic understanding.
The basics of MIDI, which is an old technology by today's standards, are fairly easy to learn, it's the application of those basics that takes practice. You can learn all the chords in the world, but if you can move from one to the other in tempo, then you need more practice, right? It's no different with this stuff. A little bit at a time.
It's certainly fun to use this technology, but we tend to get selective amnesia about what we went through to learn it and IMO over-hype the simplicity. I'm not trying to scare you, but I want you to go into it with your eyes open.
Joined: Nov 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 4,359 Location: San Francisco
Re: Sound library selection & compatible computer? « Result #55 on Dec 7, 2009, 12:11pm »
If you go with Vision (I have one of their units for a slave machine), they will not sell you something that won't work with the libraries you want. They know which OS, etc. will work with what you want to do. In fact, they'll load your software and libraries for you and test them!!! I've found their support to be very good.
You could certainly continue to run PT on your current system and run a Vision PC as a slave using Play in standalone mode, I do this all the time. There's a lot to be said for keeping your recording system separate from your sample playback machine. I do a combination of both.
If you were to get a card such as an RME that had lightpipe I/O, you could run it back into your Digi 003.
As far as MIDI goes, Vision also sells Midi Over LAN which I use and it works really well. Basically you'd play the MIDI into your PT machine but you'd assign the MIDI track's output to the Midi Over Lan channel that corresponds to your instrument on the slave PC in Play. It sounds complicated but it's really not all that bad once you get the hang of it.
With a 64 bit system, 12G of RAM and a screaming hard drive, you should be able to load up a GIANT template in Play and have a ton of stuff available to you.
Where it gets dicey, and I haven't gotten around this myself, is when you want to mix Play instruments with Kontakt or Stylus. For that you need a VST host which doesn't need to be a full blown DAW. I've been looking into the Vienna Ensemble but I haven't jumped in the water yet.
Basically EW has great libraries, but you'll need some other stuff too to fill in the blanks. I would consider Stylus and Omnisphere to be must haves these days. IMO Trillian is optional unless you need really good acoustic bass, Omnisphere has plenty of synth bass sounds in it. Also, Kontakt 4 has a large versatile sound library as well, which includes some good basses.
The only restriction with EW that I can remember is in the use of the MIDI files that come with Stormdrum and their loops.
So you're cool to use the multisampled libraries any way you choose in music productions and the loops have to be blended in.
In summary:
Think hard about upsetting the cart of your PT system. Consider running a second beefy computer as a slave and recording it's output into your PT system.
Make lots of time for a very steep learning curve when it comes to these libraries. Make sure you completely understand the basics of MIDI I/O and how to get the signals from one place to another before you dive in. The demos on the libraries sound great, but there's a good chance you won't sound like that for a while, no matter how good the library, so be patient!
Sorry for the rambling post here. This is such a large subject it's hard to cover it all in a forum post. It's such a big subject that there's multiple books on it out there!
Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 799 Location: Channing Michigan
Re: extremely basic question « Result #56 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:47am »
Holy cow guys, thanks for all this info.
Brain is in overlaod right now, but I will come back after my honey-do list is done and carefully break this all down.
I normall personally thatnk each forum member right away ( what a slacker)
I had a bad experience with EZdrummer and have stayed clear of all midi.
I bought EZD a year ago and never got it to work. Got on their help line and they said I couln't get phone help until I updated my cakewalk home studio 2 to version six. I did that and the new format scared me. I went back to studio two and EZD just sits here.
That is why I hoped it wasn't midi.
Off to wax the hardwood floors, change the RO filters.......crack
For every song that's written, there's 1000 thrown away.
Joined: Oct 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 1,452 Location: Minneapolis
Re: extremely basic question « Result #57 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:47am »
If you're pretty good at playing a piano with expression, then a good MIDI keyboard with weighted keys can be a timesaver...you'll be able to play that virtual note the way you want it played.
If you're NOT good at playing a piano expressively, then your cheap keyboard will work just as well, and you can mess with each MIDI note by editing it later.
Joined: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 116 Location: Denmark
Re: extremely basic question « Result #59 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:38am »
No Paul, any midi controller (keyboard) will do. Thats the real simple answer.
You can even play midi on inexpensive ones like the Korg Nanokey or the Akai LPK 25. A good one with dynamic features (as well as mix controllers and drumpads) would cost you about 200-250$, even less on sales.
The basic idea is that software programmes like have small recordings (samples) of instruments in a variety of ways, and when you hit a key on the midi controller, you 'trigger' those samples, making it sound like the real thing. Some are just synths.
As a guitarist I'd like to direct your attention on guitar midi controllers like Axon AX50 and Roland GI20. With those you mount a small pickup on your guitar (guitars with built in synth access are available too), you connect to your software and trigger the samples with your guitar. This works really good, except for but a few things (piano playing is done best on a keyboard midi controller). These are available for about 500$.
There's a guitar system available called Gtak, if you have a guitar midi controller and Native Instruments Kontakt 3 or 4 sampler. This will enable you to play the instruments in Kontakt way better, that you would without it (you can layer using less ressources on your computer). This costs less than 100$, and is a real good investment if you decide to get a guitar midi controller and Kontakt.
The small Sonnus is one string only, so you'd have to layer a lot just to make a chord. But just for synth leads and the like, I'd bet it's fine.
Nothing turns out exactly as I hear it but, it doesn’t mean it’ll be worse in the end just different
Joined: Dec 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 322 Location: Sweden
Re: advice on speakers needed please « Result #61 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:30am »
I think when it comes to monitors it's a matter of taste. There are many good monitors out there. The list of brands are long a few are: Genelec, Adam, Focals, and others mentioned and so on. If you live near a music store, bring your own music and reference music and listen to their monitors. Afterwards you at least know what you don't wanna have but hopefully the opposite. I think it's very important with descent monitors and treatment for the listening. My advice is spend as much as you can afford (probably not what you wanted to hear, but I guess you won't regret it Google around for tests, look in musicmags. Sad about your monitors.
Joined: Jan 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 474 Location: miami, florida
Re: Another Take On Re-Titling « Result #63 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:21am »
Good Article. Thanks Mojo.
IMHO the jury is still out on the future of re-title. There's a whole bunch of libraries out there doing the re-title thing, but I'm also starting to see a few jump ship on the idea.
Earplugs may be required for anyone over the age of cool.
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,790 Location: Ancaster, Ontario
Re: Happy Birthday MOJOBONE « Result #65 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:16am »
I saw this thread and looked out the window...to see the first snowfall of the season has begun!
Besides reminding me of Vince Gauraldi , the first peaceful snow always makes me stop and reflect...as it reminds me that there is a grand cycle working behind all our endeavors. It's just part of the plan.
Hope you had a good day my friend...your company is a blessing to those on the path with you!
We watched Holiday Inn last night!! That firecracker dance is pretty awesome!! White Christmas is a good one too.
Holiday Inn is really a fun movie! White Christmas took from that and isn't as good as the original, but --- I'm in love with Vera-Ellen! (Don't tell my wife!).
This Place Is Haunted « Result #67 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:05am »
This Place Is Haunted
Right behind the barren elm tree It’s the last house on the right And I pull up in the driveway Where the shadows come to hide I can feel our wedding photos Watching me on down the hall And the voices of my conscience Whisper to me from the walls
This place is haunted This place is haunted without her
There’s a scent left on the sofa And a presence I can feel My regret becomes an echo Only midnight will reveal Now the creakin’ on the staircase And the murmur of the fan Tell me when it comes to heartache Time and fate go hand in hand
Yeah, this place is haunted This place is haunted In the dead of night the darkness comes alive Cos her love has died but somethin’ has survived This place is haunted This place is haunted without her
Now I roam these rooms, in a lonely gloom I’ve been dyin’ a little at a time Whiskey on the shelf, makes me ask myself Is it her ghost I feel or is it mine
Yeah, this place is haunted This place is haunted In the dead of night the darkness comes alive Cos her love has died but somethin’ has survived This place is haunted This place is haunted without her
Joined: Jan 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 474 Location: miami, florida
Re: Interesting development - Apple might buy Lala « Result #68 on Dec 7, 2009, 11:03am »
This will be an interesting purchase (if it goes thru). Google recently started using Lala in their search engine allowing you to listen to a song or purchase the mp3. They've been doing something similar in China for a year now.
Apple has been very weary of any other business model that could threaten their itunes store. Looks like it's a good time to be Lala...
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 3,357 Location: L.A.
Re: advice on speakers needed please « Result #70 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:52am »
If Yamaha still made NS-10Ms, those are still the studio standard and my go-to speakers. I power them with a Marantz preamp and an Alesis power amp. BUT, they certainly don't go down low enough in frequency response to hear the bottom end accurately. You really need a sub with them to turn on and off to check the bottom end.
I've got powered KRK V-6s also, with 6" woofers. These guys have so much low end, almost too much at ear level, that I had to modify them with a "hi-tech" device: Two hand towels stuffed in the bass ports!
What I would do is go to a music store with a lot of monitors hooked up, and take a CD that sounds great and that you know really well. Then A/B them until you find the ones that are the most accurate, not the ones that are the most "flattering." You want to hear every detail clearly, with all the "warts." Like they say about the NS-10s, "If you can make a mix sound good on those, they'll sound good on any speaker." --- I once talked to a young know-it-all at Guitar Center who said "NS-10s --- Yuk! They sound like sh!t." HaHa, I'd like to hear this jerk's mixes! That's THE purpose of good monitors: To make your sh!t sound good!
Joined: Jan 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 26 Location: Riverside, CA
Re: COUNTRY/POP BALLAD Is it working? **New MP3 Li « Result #71 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:50am »
Excellent critiques, guys and thanks! That's a part I was looking at.
Dean, yes meant for a romantic "joke". But if it's a bit cloudy, then a publisher may say the same thing. If not a red flag to him, well, maybe a "yellow" flag because of the double meaning.
Don't buy nothin' with a handle on it. It could mean work.
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 719 Location: Chicago, IL
Re: REVISITING "CROSS THE LINE" AGAIN « Result #73 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:38am »
I've had Stylus for awhile now and just recently (briefly) dug into using the "Kit mode", it's a whole other world! there are some electro kits in there. Go to the mixer tab and open up the Factory Kits. It should play your EZD grooves, but I think you may have to select "no drum map" for sound, not sure, you may already know all of this, but just in case.
« Last Edit: Dec 7, 2009, 10:40am by marcblack30 »
I'm not a piano player, but I do have pianist envy.
Joined: May 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 3,813 Location: the wilds of Indiana
Re: advice on speakers needed please « Result #74 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:31am »
Active is another way of saying 'powered' with monitors; the tradeoff between active and passive is this: passive systems are more flexible; in the event of a failure you can quickly swap in a new amp. Active systems have shorter cable runs=less chance of picking up RF interference, but a greater chance of picking up noise from a power amp's transformers/power supply, since it's in much closer proximity with the speaker. All that being pretty much a wash, people seem to prefer the convenience of powered monitors, especially engineers who travel from room to room with a set of actives. The rule of thumb is if you have 8 in woofers, you probably don't need a subwoofer. (unless you do urban/dance styles)
K-Rok's have a sound that's chunky, thick and very, very forward, so they're maybe a nice choice for folks that don't master their own projects, or whose stuff is gonna get pumped up in audio post. For others, they probably won't translate well, particularly in small rooms. (though a little room treatment can go a long way)
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 3,357 Location: L.A.
Re: extremely basic question « Result #75 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:29am »
Hey Paul --- If you can believe it, we're getting snow here in SoCal!
Anyway, the thing about Midi sequencing on a computer is that you do NOT have to have the latest 'puter. Sequencing is like a word processing program. It just records "events," not audio itself. Like the note you play, how loud the note is, the duration of the note etc.
For example, I just sequenced a whole 35 song project on an OLD Mac PowerBook laptop (R.I.P. --- it just died ) with 48 MB of RAM. I used to sequence in the olden days on a Mac Classic that you see sitting on Jerry's desk in "Seinfeld." Worked fine!
The thing is, how do you "sync up" your Midi tracks with your guitar tracks etc. Again, in the olden days you needed a Midi interface than generated SMPTE time code. You'd put SMPTE on one track of your recorder, and that would lock up the timing of your sequenced tracks with your recorded tracks. I still use this method sometimes, until I get a hot new computer with lots of RAM, and then I'll record and sequence everything in the computer.
You can buy a PC these days and a preamp/interface w/sequencing software which hooks up the inputs & outputs to the PC for $500-$700. Since I'm a Mac guy, I'm going to have to spend twice that much.
Don't buy nothin' with a handle on it. It could mean work.
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 719 Location: Chicago, IL
Re: Material that "builds" « Result #76 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:21am »
Allen, very nice piece, I agree that some bass would help here. The string patch didn't really bother me much, I think you have a very useful tune here. Enjoyed the listen!
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 1,364 Location: New Mexico
Re: extremely basic question « Result #77 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:19am »
Hi Paul - one of the other things to consider, before plunking down a few hundred bucks for EW is download some simple midi instruments online to get the hang of it. it isn't hard to use your keyboard and midi but walk before you run - it will save you time and let you buy the "right" software for what you want to do in the long run.
Don't buy nothin' with a handle on it. It could mean work.
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 719 Location: Chicago, IL
Re: The Doghouse Drag (Link Fixed) « Result #78 on Dec 7, 2009, 10:10am »
Al, I had no idea what to expect here and have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Sounds very well recorded, nice production. I think your voice works really well for this character. Reminds me a bit of the Grinch!
Did any of you with stuff on Lala license those tunes for streaming? Was it in the Tunecore agreement you signed, or something else? I guess my question is, where did they get permission to sell your music, and did you agree on the price? And what about the songwriter's portion? (that is, in the hypothetical case you record something written by another.)
Yes, see below from Tunecore on LALA:
"TuneCore customers can select to have their albums delivered into the Lala.com system, where Lala.com members can buy them. When a Lala.com member buys your song(s) or album(s), you get paid the PAY RATE for that purchase, and the album appears in that Lala.com member's account. For every stream, you will get paid the streaming pay rate. For every download, you will get paid the download pay rate."
Thanks, Simon.
Anyone know how songwriters get paid in the case of streaming? The rate paid to the owner of the recording is way less that the compulsory rate that is to go to the song copyright owner.
Re: extremely basic question « Result #80 on Dec 7, 2009, 9:30am »
You need a MIDI keyboard that can handle the dynamic thing. If you are loading a violin in Gold, and you don't have they dynamic keyboard, all the notes will sound exactly the same. But, with a dynamic one you can play soft and hard and the notes will change from piano to forte and everything in between.
Yes Brian. You can get compensated for LaLa through Tunecore distribution. The streams only pay like 1c per stream, so you're not gonna get rich anytime soon.
Did any of you with stuff on Lala license those tunes for streaming? Was it in the Tunecore agreement you signed, or something else? I guess my question is, where did they get permission to sell your music, and did you agree on the price? And what about the songwriter's portion? (that is, in the hypothetical case you record something written by another.)
Yes, see below from Tunecore on LALA:
"TuneCore customers can select to have their albums delivered into the Lala.com system, where Lala.com members can buy them. When a Lala.com member buys your song(s) or album(s), you get paid the PAY RATE for that purchase, and the album appears in that Lala.com member's account. For every stream, you will get paid the streaming pay rate. For every download, you will get paid the download pay rate."
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 43 Location: Hollywood, CA
Re: Post Rally Forwards on 3 listings! « Result #82 on Dec 7, 2009, 9:15am »
Yeah Mazz, I thought I heard the damper pedal too! I'm like...whoa...how cool! I want to buy that software. But if it's a real piano, then that would explain why it sounds so good in the first place. And if so, then great mic technique!
Yes Brian. You can get compensated for LaLa through Tunecore distribution. The streams only pay like 1c per stream, so you're not gonna get rich anytime soon.
Did any of you with stuff on Lala license those tunes for streaming? Was it in the Tunecore agreement you signed, or something else? I guess my question is, where did they get permission to sell your music, and did you agree on the price? And what about the songwriter's portion? (that is, in the hypothetical case you record something written by another.)
Earplugs may be required for anyone over the age of cool.
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,790 Location: Ancaster, Ontario
Re: extremely basic question « Result #84 on Dec 7, 2009, 8:23am »
I'm still a midi-newbie Paul, so I'm not an expert for sure.
Brian is right...anything that can work as a midi keyboard will get you started. After that, the hours it will take to get where you want to go, depends on where you want to go.
If you just want to have fun and create music, then maybe pick up "band in a box" for some solid rock, folk, stuff. It's the midi thing too, with grooves and stuff programmed to get you started.
If you want to do orchestral (violins, etc) then something with those sounds are required. Also takes input from the cheap keyboard.
If you want to compose cinematic pieces like Brian, Mazz, Matto, Vikki, (and all the others that are really good here, but I can't remember without my first coffee!)...then you'll also be on the path to learn how to make those midi sounds as authentic as possible. With the power of the orchestral midi software and sound libraries we can get today, the options and "fine tuning" is truely endless.
And fun!!!
Knowing a little bit about the fine music you've brought to us so far (I still think "Song for Gracie" is my favorite...but I'm a dad, so there ya go!), I'd suggest sending a note to Glenn Galen and/or Mark Blackwell. They're both Band In A Box users, and have made some really great stuff.
Re: Music to Accomp the M.E. story of the Flying H « Result #85 on Dec 7, 2009, 8:19am »
I like this a lot! Thank you for posting it.
I would love to hear this sometime with some percussion (some kind of hand drum... don't know enough about the music from Middle Eastern/ South Asia to know what to call it) and some kind of flute. I think that would be nice.
Earplugs may be required for anyone over the age of cool.
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,790 Location: Ancaster, Ontario
Re: Another Take On Re-Titling « Result #86 on Dec 7, 2009, 8:07am »
And I whole-heartedly quote:
"... I want people selling my stuff like they own it because they do. If you own music and want to re-purpose it please do. But why not re-cut it into expected TV format and sell it to a proper exclusive library with sales, search, and broadcast (back-end) clients? Refuse to re-cut because you “channelled” something or claim “it would just feel like murder”? You are a precious lazy bastard. It’s a reject of some kind. That’s why it’s sitting on your drive. Slap some make-up on and make a :30. If you get frustrated because you cannot re-cut a through-composed orchestral film score, just think what a TV editor will say."
Seems stern taken out of context of the whole article...but it's the kick in the backside necessary to cut through the ego.
Re: Material that "builds" « Result #87 on Dec 7, 2009, 8:04am »
Allen, this is a wonderful piece. It has great build. I did not miss bass as I listened but I can definitely see how it would add to the depth of the piece.
Earplugs may be required for anyone over the age of cool.
Joined: Mar 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,790 Location: Ancaster, Ontario
Netherlands - Royalty collection? « Result #88 on Dec 7, 2009, 7:57am »
A collaborator and friend of mine is shopping for a good royalty collection agency (I guess that's a P.R.O. ?) in the Netherlands.
He reports there is a lot of options, and they even want money up front. Myself, I'm totally clueless about the set-up there...does anyone have information to share?
Ideally, a quick posting here (or PM) to verify the sparse information I have about the situation...and even some recommendations about who to go with (does it have to be someone local? Can he call up ASCAP/BMI and join direct...etc).
My apologies for my ignorance as I try to help him out!
I know there is a thread with a similar question, but mine is more basic.
I only play guitar and can't presently use midi.
I need some background and fill.
When you buy these libraries (East West gold etc) is this a program that you choose a sound and then play it on a keyboard to place as a track in your song? Or, are these midi links?
Part two of the question is. If you physically play the notes on a keyboard and you select, say a violin, do you need an expensive keyboard to get a good sound. I have ten dollar garage sale one. ( would update if i can pull this off)
Last, and not least. Is there a program that leans slightly toward old rockers that play mostly guitar?
Sounds like a little kid asking these questions, but I just don't know. Like when my wife asks me to "take that roast out when it is done". How do I do that??
Just a yes/no on the keyboard actuation or midi would be a big help.
Thank you
Paul
You want to take the roast out of the oven before it burns. Until then, leave it in. But turn the oven down!
To do what you want, you have to have midi. It's not as scary as it sounds. You'll be fine. The East/West intruments are all midi based in the sense that you create a midi track and input notes on that track somehow, either through a keyboard (doesn't matter how cheap as long as it has a midi out on the back!) or by drawing in the notes. Those "notes" are then sent to the virtual instrument and make wonderful or sh!tty sounds (depending on what you drew or played in).
Don't worry, there's nothing hard about midi. You just need a midi interface (Cheap!!!). Think of midi as an old player piano. You load in the piece of paper with a bunch of holes in it and as it scrolls through the song, every time the player hits a hole it pounds a note on your piano. That's midi in a nutshell. You can do some other things with it, but its mainly a note-on, note-off kind of thing.
So you load up a midi track in your sequencer and route that track to a virtual intrument, hit record and start pounding away on your cheap keyboard. The quality of your keyboard almost has nothing to do with nothing. That being said, one that can capture at least velocity (how hard your pounding the keyboard) and has at least a mod wheel will help. And it has to have midi out on the back. Again CHEAP! The quality of the sound is going to be determined by the quality of the virtual instrument your sending you midi track to. Of course, one you're got the note-on's and note-off going to the virtual instrument, you'll have to tweak he hell out of your midi track to make it sound right. Again, fairly easy, but a pain in the ass.
All the midi track is doing is recording when you hit the note (note on) and when you took your hands off the note (note off). And then you end up with an easy to modify "scroll of paper with holes in it".
From there the sky's the limit. Come aboard Feaker, you can do it!
As far as easy software, there all about the same as these days. Just pick one and stick with it. I like Cubase and Ableton. B
Joined: Sept 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,337 Location: New Orleans, LA
Re: Material that "builds" « Result #91 on Dec 7, 2009, 7:15am »
Hey Allen, Good to hear to some new music from you! Beautiful guitar playing. Very clean sounding to me. It's nice to hear a real instrument guide the flow of a piece. You can really feel the subtle builds in phrasing.
Nice writing and playing here. Makes me want to record some acoustic. B
Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 799 Location: Channing Michigan
extremely basic question « Result #94 on Dec 7, 2009, 6:57am »
I need some stuff. I want to step up a notch.
I know there is a thread with a similar question, but mine is more basic.
I only play guitar and can't presently use midi.
I need some background and fill.
When you buy these libraries (East West gold etc) is this a program that you choose a sound and then play it on a keyboard to place as a track in your song? Or, are these midi links?
Part two of the question is. If you physically play the notes on a keyboard and you select, say a violin, do you need an expensive keyboard to get a good sound. I have ten dollar garage sale one. ( would update if i can pull this off)
Last, and not least. Is there a program that leans slightly toward old rockers that play mostly guitar?
Sounds like a little kid asking these questions, but I just don't know. Like when my wife asks me to "take that roast out when it is done". How do I do that??
Just a yes/no on the keyboard actuation or midi would be a big help.
What does it mean that speakers are "powered"? (like Mazz and Allen mentioned about their speakers?)
Right now my studio is in the corner of a large living room. We are planning to turn our second garage into a studio in the future (wooHOO!!!) but I am not sure when that'll be. Until then I am not sure if there is much I can do with treatment unless we put up some walls first... We actually have two boxes full of the kind of acoustic panels Mazz is talking about that are leftovers from building a studio when we lived in Tulsa. Maybe we can create some "walls" or "dividers" that are moveable to put around my studio-space. (I am thinking that should be cheaper than rebuilding a garage for now) Do you think that would be worth it?
Speakers that are powered have built in amplifiers. Ie. you just plug the speaker directly into your system and they work. Unpowered speaker need a separate amplifier to work. I don't know enough about the benefits of either to recommend something, but my monitors are passive, ie. I had to buy an amplifier to make them work with my computer.
Re: advice on speakers needed please « Result #96 on Dec 7, 2009, 6:45am »
What does it mean that speakers are "powered"? (like Mazz and Allen mentioned about their speakers?)
Right now my studio is in the corner of a large living room. We are planning to turn our second garage into a studio in the future (wooHOO!!!) but I am not sure when that'll be. Until then I am not sure if there is much I can do with treatment unless we put up some walls first... We actually have two boxes full of the kind of acoustic panels Mazz is talking about that are leftovers from building a studio when we lived in Tulsa. Maybe we can create some "walls" or "dividers" that are moveable to put around my studio-space. (I am thinking that should be cheaper than rebuilding a garage for now) Do you think that would be worth it?
The only way live gigs will succeed as a money maker for musicians is if there is a greater demand for live music from listeners.
If the demand for live music is unchanged from listeners, then all that will happen is that bars will get their human jukeboxes even cheaper than they do now...because there will be a bigger supply of musicians wanting to perform live.
Money in music has always been about limited supply in the face of a consistent, solid demand, mainly age 12 to 20 or so. The supply was constrained by the cost of recording technology, and of marketing costs.
We are in a new world now. We'll have to see how this plays out.
Yeah Glenn, it can look a bit dismal for the live player. I live in a weird town, where we have tons of "off the chain" talent, but the culture is cheap. Ie. If we have to pay ten bucks to see a show, we won't because someone, probably better, is playing next door for less. But because its a real culture here in New Orleans, everyone kind of accepts it. You ain't gonna get rich playing live shows around this town.
But if you step back and look at who really draws the crowds and is successful you can see some trends. Firstly, they are superbly talented. That has to be a given. Secondly, its genre driven. The Jazz cats here are some of the best in world, and they will make the least and play the most, as it always was and always will be. The "college" bands, ie jam bands, some of our popular funk bands, and the old school cats who still define the music of this town work all the time. And they work ALL the time. Sometimes to crowds of five, and during the big holidays (mardi gras, jazz fest, and the other ten million festivals that go on here throughout the year) they play to hundreds if not thousands. But even then, they play all the time to keep it going.
For example, every wednesday night, you can go an pay 8 bucks to watch George Porter, one of the fathers of new orleans funk (and funk music period) from the Meters and countless albums you've probably heard, who does an improve show at a small bar with one of our town drumming legends and a different guest each week. The crowd is anywhere from sparse to packed and music is always next level. He's in his late fifties and does this religiously. Probably because he has too. I don't know his financial situation, but I do know some of his bandmates and they NEED to. And these are guys who are better musicians than I could ever hope to be. It's a tough life. But they LOVE it. That's what they do. It's all they know how to do. So they do what they do. And they make it.
Live music will always be an important part of most musicians lives. In some genres its all that matters, ie anything not "pop". It's true that The only way live gigs will succeed as a money maker for musicians is if there is a greater demand for live music from listeners. But certain genres have lazy listeners and others have rabid listeners. If you fall into the rabid listener department, which tends to fall left of center (and you are actually interesting and good) most of those folks can find a way to pay the bills doing what they love.
Getting rich off of music should not be point. Making a living should if that's what you are about. It's tough and will probably get tougher, but there are worse ways to squeak by.
I guess my point is, that your fans are all that you have. Some are cheap and some are generous. It depends on how much you bring to them. If you bring enough, they will bring it back. So go and PLAY for them. B
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