tips...026.
okay...the songs starting to get there.
(but before i cover song final "iceings" and lead vocs..just a little aside on some thoughts of mine on songwriting and other points..
before i get back to explaining tracking the CEFE band. )
if your reading this , as one can see, and as i said before ....
doing a song is hard hard grinding work.
theres no two ways about it.
hours and hours of work.
getting the right source sounds recorded, and achieving a pleasing
sound picture with great musical hooks that grab people.
this is NOT trivial work.
and gives one a major appreciation for the gifted audio engineers
who did great records in years gone by.
many times i fail and so do lots of people.
it is VERY VERY DIFFICULT to get the song recorded as you hear
it in your mind.

In your mind you hear this wonderfull finished product.
but achieving the recorded reality is often difficult.
no matter how much gear u have.

which brings me to a point.
some people feel they need to spend a small fortune on recording software,
hi end mixing consoles and all sorts of fancy stuff.
ive owned such fancy stuff..and believe me....what i found out was,
the recording gods often laughed at me.....lol.
why??.. COS I STILL HAD TO GET THE SOURCE TRACK SOUNDS CORRECT FOR THE SONG.
this is why i try n tell people that ptw suffices for recording software.
if u think u need more...your just fooling yourself imho.
you could blow 2.5k on recording software.
but still it means nothing if u cant get those source tracks
recorded right !!

in summary , concentrate on getting the source sounds recorded
correctly. cos u could buy a ten million buk recording studio,
and it wouldnt matter if u cant get those source sounds recorded properly with it.

i'm trying to make the foregoing points at this stage,
cos mebe on one of your first tunes youve reached tr 28.
and your FRUSTRATED. this is your first ever recording.
youve spent lots of time learning the basics and setting up your pc ,
and drivers and sound device etc etc.
youve done a few fx "sprinkles"....and dam...the song isnt coming together
like u hear it in your mind.
thus...being human , the temptation is to look for short cuts
and a quik fix solution. i call them instant coffee solutions.
mebe u think , your friend uses
a multitrack software that cost him nearly a thousand buks.
mebe if i get what my friend has this will solve my problem.
nope...been there done that.
the source track sounds still have to be recorded
properly.
all the software does is create a record of your work.
nothing more, nothing less. the software just provides a blank canvas
on which u paint your creative sound textures.
in fact your great aunt emma could give you 10 million to buy a commercial recording studio.
but STILL u might end up in the same position at tr 28 somewhat frustrated.
and still not hearing the sound picture u had in your mind for the song.
ive recorded in large facilities and faced still
some similar frustrations. cos i didnt get the source traks right.

so what is the solution ??
the solution is u must be willing to put in the time to get the source traks correct.
in this busy age with families and other jobs..not an easy task.

all i can do is give u one pointer.
sometimes what i do is rough out a song on a few traks .
when i get the initial song idea in my mind.
then try to build from there.
remember that ptw songs folder i mentioned earlier ??
that has a folder in it with its own seq for each song ??
i also have a rough song ideas folder called "demos".
with a folder in it for each demo song. each demo song folder has its own
song seq in it.
i write many new song ideas each month.
honing arrangements and lyric ideas
and store them away in "demos".
then i listen to the demos with fresh ears by loading the demo seq up into ptw,
and i try and assess the demo.
main objective being....is it a strong song ??
there are many ptw facilities to help me.
some ive touched on already.
what i will do on a demo is normally about 10 traks in ptw.
use a custom beat ive created or say modify the drum trak created by ptw fill trak
with drum pattern. then lay down a couple of guitar rhythm traks,
and a couple of vocal traks. try some ptw fx, etc etc.
then i step back from the song. and desperately try and assess it.
ie.is it a strong song ??
heres how i do lyrics.
i normally write them out on paper firstly and try to hone them.
then in ptw i record vocal traks and see how well the lyrics fit.
i'm always striving for different song and lyric concepts.
many fail. i dont want to take a song further if it just isnt working.
after 10 traks i'm tough on myself.
cos in 10 traks normally i'll find out if the song has some legs,
and worth pursuing
.
one thing i would urge u to try is actually recording rough vocal trak demos.
this will help you see how the lyrics fit with the song arrangement.
and also give you lots of vocal practice.
and let you hone the lyrics by actually hearing back how the lyrics integrate
with the music.
youll find things suddenly change often once u take lyrics and record first test vocal traks.
mebe some lyric changes are needed for example.

some more things to think about viz songwriting.
if your short of song ideas, soak up everything thats going on in the world around you.
the press and media. think of how you can make a song different.
a new song concept for example. something not done before.
try and strive for 20 new song ideas a month.
this is what i try and do for fun.
also.and i dont wish to anger anyone ...
to expand your abilities..try lots of different song styles.
for example i might write a heavy rok song one minute, a tender love song the next,
a comedy song, then a MOR song, then a pop song.
me personally on some songs i like a bit of comedy in them.
in a song i'm doing now, for fun i'm useing a different comedy vocal accent
from my home countrys accent in parts of the vocals.
this has really changed the song.
if u notice ptw comes with lots of different drum styles.
modify them, come up with your own. anything to generate a new song idea.
if your a biab owner you have a huge palette of song styles to get ideas from also.
thus mebe start your song off in biab with a guide vocal and then bring the midi traks into
ptw and start adding lots more audiotraks and see what u come up with.
for example..notice in ptw all sorts of facilities for changeing midi files.
for example...try filtering out certain midi notes
or changeing them around. adding new notes on top and deleting others in the piano roll.
then bring up the file in ptw's event editor , and change some notes around.
ie..anything to get a new song idea going.
(next i'm going to cover the final icings on the song and
final lead vocals.)