So..

I’ve got the structure; intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, decoder, double chorus. (Pretty standard,I know).

Now it’s time to start getting some tracks down. I usually start off playing in any ideas that I have had for the song on piano. Then I listen to it and think, playing around with different drumbeats to get an idea of what goes best. Once I have an idea of what I’m looking for, I then start thinking of how the song is going to start.
I don’t usually like to do long intros because, seeing as I’ve only got about 3/4 minutes of song tops, I like to get into the song as soon as I can.
For this song in particular, I’ve decided to start with some simple electric guitar, then the beat and piano and then bring everything else in.
Next step is to get the piano track down completely and then the drums. That’s what I have been doing today.
So, tomorrow, I will start with the next step…

…

Today I thought I’d do quick rundown of the basic things you need to set up a fairly efficient home studio, for those who are interested in setting one up.
So…

-First you’ll need a computer.
Desktops are usually more stable and powerful than laptops, plus you can upgrade parts later on.
Now the dilemma…
P.C or Mac? Well, this is a tough one:
1: Mac= supposedly better than a P.C
2: P.C= CHEAPER!

-Once you have your P.C, you’ll then need a DAW.
Digital Audio Workstation. This is where all the music is going to be put together. There are lots of diferent ones; Logic, Cubase, Sonar, Ableton Live, Pro-tools, e.t.c..
To me the DAW is like another instrument. It plays a big part in the way I write music, purely because I am able to manipulate whatever I’ve record, until I like the way it sounds!
Moving on…

-Then you’ll need some sample libraries.
Sampled pianos, organs, drums, e.t.c…

-A midi controller. (Keyboard) To trigger the samples.

-A microphone, or microphones.
Essential for recording vocals.
I would definitely recommend at least one condenser microphone for acoustic guitar and vocals because it is more sensitive than a dynamic one, so you’ll get a much clearer sound.

-An audio interface.
This is basically a sound card.
Choosing the right one depends on what you’re going to be doing.
If you need to use microphones for acoustic guitar recordings and more, then you’ll definitely benefit with more than 1 XLR input (a high impedance mic input). If the audio interface has phantom power as well then even better because some microphones, like condenser microphones, need it.
I used to use a mackie onyx 400f, but I don’t think that it’s available anymore. Now I use a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56.

-Some loudspeakers and amplifier.
For mixing, it’s better to use loudspeakers than headphones.
You’ll also need to treat your room so that you don’t get sound bouncing all over the place and bass collecting in the corners, giving you an inaccurate reading. Bass traps are good for this.

-And finally some headphones.
For recording guitar and vocals, e.t.c.. But don’t expose yourself to loud volumes for long periods of time cos you’ll damage your ears!

Hello to all of you who are interested in writing music!
I have decided that I am going to do a blog about the writing and recording of my next song, starting now!

Firstly I need some inspiration..

Anyway, seeing as my job/life, at the moment, is pretty uninteresting, it’s hard to feel inspired to write about anything because nothing stands out. That always seems to be the hard part; finding something to inspire me.
I like to have an idea of what the song is going to be about, so that I can then write the piece to better fit the idea. There are lots of different ways to do this…
Sometimes I’ll find the inspiration by simply playing the piano and singing made up words that don’t make sense, simply daydreaming and thinking about all sorts of things. Then I’ll stumble upon a word, melody or chord progression that makes me feel a certain way about something, giving me an idea on what to write about. This process is very unpredictable and unreliable if I have deadlines to meet, because it can take ages.
However, by doing this every day and not having any deadlines, I often come up with lots of musical ideas that may come in handy for future songs.
Another way, that is also unreliable for deadlines but very easy, is when something happens in my life that just simply inspires me.

And then there’s forcing it out…

This way sucks and is hard to do! I find that I’m able to find ideas of what to write about, but when I try to force a song I usually lose interest from lack of motivation and enthusiasm. A really good way to get motivation is to find someone that maybe underestimates me, or is simply unaware of my capabilities, that way I feel more motivated because I’m then trying to prove myself by impressing them.
Now, I know that sounds pretty bad but it’s just as motivating as competing against someone. So I’m only using it for motivation purposes, to get a job done. The reason for writing the song can be completely different!

Thanks to playing the piano a lot and coming up with little snippets I have a small library of ideas to choose from, without having to come up with something new every time. For this blog I’m going to use one of those bits..
As for words; luckily I have an idea of what I want to write this particular song about.
I’m going to write about silly arguments, you know, the ones that don’t mean anything but can do damage if you don’t realize how stupid they are.

So.. I now have a musical idea and an idea for the words! The next step is to come up with the structure of the song, before I start recording.. So, I’m off to the studio to do that and I’ll let you all know how I get on!

..stay tuned!

O.k so this is pretty weird and annoying…

Just recently my “Loop Soup Explanation Video” has started making a clicking noise! The video plays fine on a resolution of 480p and 240p but not 360p. So the 360p resolution seems to be corrupt! The only thing is that I don’t think there is a way to contact Youtube to let them know that the file is corrupt. So I don’t think that I will be able to fix it! How crap is that!? It used to play fine!

The only other explanation that I can think of is that I don’t have the latest updates, but I have had no problem watching other videos.

..annoying.