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Originally Posted by Andrew Dee
Originally Posted by Al-David
[quote=Andrew Dee]I've always been a fast worker concerning my original music. Chords are my forte. I experiment with them constantly.
I'm with you on that one, Alan. I reckon 80% of the time, I'm starting with a chord progression too, and I don't mind straying outside the key.
Andrew

About the same here. Melody and chord patterns almost always trigger a song. If it's a vocal, the lyric almost always comes based around the feel and chords.

Alan


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Originally Posted by WaoBand
Gorgeous piece, Alan. I'm amazed that you put it together so quickly!


Thanks a bunch, Chay. A song rarely takes me more than 4 or 5 hours from first effort through final iteration.

Take care,

Alan


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Originally Posted by MarioD
Alan, this is a perfect example of how sometimes a quick and dirty song sounds the best. I believe that is because one doesn't polish it so much at it becomes dull.
Excellent use of RTs
Everything sounded perfect to these old ears.
Great mix.

Many thanks, Mario. If I spend too much time on a song, I'm prone to second-guessing, and then adding too much or straying too far away from the original intent. I tend to trust my gut as I work through the process.

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rayc #848084 03/31/25 10:34 AM
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Originally Posted by rayc
What Tommy said AAA+++


I appreciate that, Ray. I try hard!

Alan


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Quick question Alan - "Sent it to Audacity and did a small amount of EQ-ing. Saved it and sent the WAV file to Soundcloud, mastered it and here it is."
I'm curious regarding your mix & master sequence - I do everything in Logic Pro X beginning to end, how did you send the WAV file to Soundcloud and then mastered it afterwards??
Would love to learn how you went from having copied the chosen BB files and RTs into your DAW to finishing the project, please if/when you can manage a few mins??
After your long stint in country bands (was it arthritis or tendonitis which hampered your playing ability in recent times?) - presumably you were a Telecaster/Fender Twin player when
you were gigging?

Warmest wishes to you and Di!!!!!

Carl

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Another great creation and production. Very pleasing to the ears and soul. I enjoyed my listen.

Charlie


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Hi, Alan.

Who'd have thought that having great ears would be so helpful in making good music?

Solid production, I enjoyed listening. smile


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Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

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Originally Posted by camog
Quick question Alan - "Sent it to Audacity and did a small amount of EQ-ing. Saved it and sent the WAV file to Soundcloud, mastered it and here it is."
I'm curious regarding your mix & master sequence - I do everything in Logic Pro X beginning to end, how did you send the WAV file to Soundcloud and then mastered it afterwards??
Would love to learn how you went from having copied the chosen BB files and RTs into your DAW to finishing the project, please if/when you can manage a few mins??
After your long stint in country bands (was it arthritis or tendonitis which hampered your playing ability in recent times?) - presumably you were a Telecaster/Fender Twin player when
you were gigging?

Warmest wishes to you and Di!!!!!

Carl


Hi Carl,

I'll try to answer all your questions as fully as possible.

First, I don't use a traditional DAW - Audacity is as close as I come to a DAW. I do have Presonus Studio One and Cakewalk but I have no idea how to use either. For whatever reason, I can't wrap my head around them. I'm reasonably intelligent (have a degree in Physics), but the DAW thing totally escapes me. I do all my significant mixing on the BAIB chord entry page. I then save it as a stereo mix and record the final mix in Audacity. I have a pretty good ear for the frequency ranges for the various instruments and use the Audacity equalizer to make final, minor edits to the soundscape. Then I load it up on Soundcloud. I have a premium account there and I can master 4 songs monthly free of charge (other than the normal monthly fee for a premium membership.). Then I choose a graphic, usually from Pixabay, and make the post public. It's actually a very simple process and I can almost always get the sound I'm looking for. I typically get pretty nicer comments on my mixes, so why change what's working?

The problem that impedes my playing skills is a disease called focal dystonia. It interferes with my ability to properly grip the neck, and it makes my fingers painfully stiff. i can still play reasonably good, but not clean enough for decent recording.

If you're interested, here's a link discussing focal dystonia: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dystonia/symptoms-causes/syc-20350480

My dystonia is focal to my hands.

II hope that clarifies a few things for you.

You didn't ask about this, but this is how I record our vocals. It's rather unconventional, too. We use an AT-2035 condenser mic. I plug it directly into the low impendence input on my guitar amp (Peavey Nashville 112) with a quarter inch jack rather than an XLR jack and get the tone settings and reverb how we want them We record with reverb rather than dry and adding reverb later. I run a cable from the amp's headphone jack to the PC's mic input. We start Audacity and record the vocal. It sounds neanderthal-like, and it is. But we get a great sound using that method. Here's a link to two of the many songs we've recorded using that method:

Di (my wife) on vocals: https://soundcloud.com/alananddi/you-remix

Me on vocals: https://soundcloud.com/alananddi/callin-your-bluff-mastered

Alan

Last edited by Al-David; 04/02/25 09:46 PM.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Fogle
Another great creation and production. Very pleasing to the ears and soul. I enjoyed my listen.

Charlie

Thank you, Charlie. Glad you enjoyed it!

Alan


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Originally Posted by dcuny
Hi, Alan.

Who'd have thought that having great ears would be so helpful in making good music?

Solid production, I enjoyed listening. smile


Yep, those ears help! I'm fortunate that almost 80 years old, they still work pretty good.

Thanks for the visit and kind words.

Alan


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Wow - such sweet and sensitive singers both you and Di, love the recordings/songs you
sent links to!! Amazing how you get a great sound via a mic through your guitar amp into the PC!!
Fascinating to learn how your recording setup works - I'm sure others here on the forum
may be interested in learning that there are other ways to record apart from using a DAW!
I was particularly interested in your issue with the hands - I have recently acquired some
pain in my left wrist which is hampering my playing ability, I suspect over-use due to many
sessions during the winter stacking/loading/unloading huge amounts of firewood logs.
The house I live in has 100 rooms and is occupied by around 65 people, we depend
very much on log burners for our heating needs and it's a never-ending job to keep
on top of it. Managing with a couple of lotions/potions locally applied for relief - hope
some summer warmth may help in time?
So sorry for your suffering with Di's illness and your Dystonia - very many thanks Alan
for taking the time to answer my questions so comprehensively!!
Keep well, Carl

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Often, IMHO, drums on the forum are mixed significantly lower than what one hears in multiple music genres.
All meaning they sound fine to us. smile

And speaking of fine the entire production sounds excellent to us.
A LOT of good music for such a quick production.

We enjoyed it,

J&B

PS Basic progressions were our thing for decades playing bluegrass and country. No problem there!


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Really nice Alan! Never has never been easy been so easy man!!

smile

Enjoyed it!

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Originally Posted by Janice & Bud
Often, IMHO, drums on the forum are mixed significantly lower than what one hears in multiple music genres.
All meaning they sound fine to us. smile

And speaking of fine the entire production sounds excellent to us.
A LOT of good music for such a quick production.

We enjoyed it,

J&B

PS Basic progressions were our thing for decades playing bluegrass and country. No problem there!


Hi, Folks.

Many thanks for all the kindness.

It's kind of interesting to hear Bluegrass lineage calling for louder drums! But, I agree with you. I like a strong bass and decently loud drums - kinda lays the groundwork for everything else in most genres

Glad you enjoyed it!

Alan


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Originally Posted by David Snyder
Really nice Alan! Never has never been easy been so easy man!!

smile

Enjoyed it!


Thanks, David,

I enjoy knowing you enjoyed it! I appreciate your time to listen comment so nicely.

Alan


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Wow, Carl. That's a lot of rooms and a lot of wood!

I would think handling all the wood so often could be a big contributor to your wrist pain. And I guess you can't rule out that "friend" that visits the old folks so often - arthritis. I'm fortunate that at 78 years old, I have no arthritis nor any other pain other than the dystonia. The only prescription meds I take are an occasional Ambien for sleep and a low dosage of Lipitor for slightly elevated triglycerides. Mother Nature has been kind to me in that arena.

I was involved in a very serious bicycle accident back in 2001 or 2002 in which I nearly crushed my vocal cords. I wasn't able talk for almost two weeks. And when my voice came back, I went from a mid-baritone to a low tenor with pitch issues. But it's all good. I just deal with whatever life throws at me.

Hope your wrist issues find some kind of resolve. best to you.

Alan


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An unusual song for me, smooth jazz/country. Got used to it on the second listen. Nice job, Alan.


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