6 replies to this topic

[Joel C]

So I suppose if I'm going to do some shameless self-promotion, I might as well do it in this forum, now that we musicians have an official area on the board.

Anyway, I've just (mostly) finished a couple songs that I've put up on my virb page, and I'd love to hear people's reaction. The first is called 'Love is Standing in the Way'; the second is entitled 'Enough'. I'm still working on getting levels right, so you might have to turn them up a bit. Like any good self-obsessed songwriter, I'd like to write a 20 page thesis on both songs that includes a bullet-point section for making excuses, but I'll abstain.

Check them out here. And thanks in advance for listening.

[Greg P]

Sounds good Joel. Unfortunately, for some reason on any streaming audio or video site, my computer at home gives me about a ten second burst and then craps out. I'll have to check it out at my office tomorrow.

How about telling us a little about the recording process for these songs. The little i was able to hear sounded pretty sharp. Did you record these at home or in a studio setting? What hardware/software did you use?

[Joel C]

Sounds good Joel. Unfortunately, for some reason on any streaming audio or video site, my computer at home gives me about a ten second burst and then craps out. I'll have to check it out at my office tomorrow.

How about telling us a little about the recording process for these songs. The little i was able to hear sounded pretty sharp. Did you record these at home or in a studio setting? What hardware/software did you use?

Sure. Um, let's call it a home-built studio with a very basic setup, much of it courtesy of a family member. Basically, it's two Rode NT1-A condenser mics through a Mackie Spike, and then USB straight into my Macbook. I've also been using a Casio Privia keyboard for some of the syth stuff.

As to software, *sigh*, I have Logic Express 7, and had it installed on a previous computer that unfortunately had a HD crash. I've tried to reinstall it on my new computer, but lost the box with the serial #'s. I'm in the process of getting them again, and when I do, I'll reinstall logic on my new computer. Currently, I'm just using Garageband, and when I get logic, I'll import the GB files, and rework them a bit.

Instrument-wise, I'm using an old Guild D-45M, a 25-year-old sunburst dreadnought with a dying barcus berry hot dot pickup in it, meaning I record straight off of a mic. I guess vintage comes at a price. Also using a Remo djembe for percussion, except for what I produce as loops digitally.

That's the wrap! Works for what I'm trying to do.

[yank_eh]

Guild D-45M, a 25-year-old sunburst dreadnought with a dying barcus berry hot dot pickup

For a moment, I thought Dada poetry was back. Can you work that line into a song, maybe?

[Joel C]

For a moment, I thought Dada poetry was back. Can you work that line into a song, maybe?

Heh. See? I'm writing songs even when I'm not writing songs! I have the songwriter's subconscious!

It actually would be kinda fun to work that into a song.

[Greg P]

I can remember as a kid in the early 80's, looking thru a Fostex catalog and pining for even a simple 1/4" 8-track. At the time it was VERY pricey--far beyond the reach of a 14-year old saving money from mowing lawns. And after adding a decent board and mics to the fantasy, it was astronomical. Probably in today's economy, something close to 30K when all when all was said and done. It's really great what can be accomplished now with a decent computer and a couple hundred dollars worth of hardware/software. Keep pluggin, Joel- sounds nice!

I've been using CoolEdit (now Adobe Audition) for about four or five years. It has many shortcomings but i find it more than adequate for demos. On the Mac side, I use Soundtrack Pro at work which still feels a little clunky to me and not not nearly as intuitive as Audition. I'm still trying to find something that will let me tweak loops and samples in the way that I like-- giving me max. flexibility on the cheap, with quatizing and key changes. Audition peforms pitch and speed changes in mediocre fashion, but doesnt have anything that resembles a quantize feature that will allow me to drop lopsided Elvin Jones loops, for example, into a 4/4 timeline and have it fit.

My late 60's Guild D-40CNT has an ancient Barcus Berry as well... and it sucks. The guitar, OTOH, still sounds wonderful.

[Joel C]

Have been putting up some new scratch tracks/demo acoustic versions of some new songs. I'm positive about how the lyrics turned out on 'Tonight', ended up being better than I thought; 'Are You Coming In The Morning' is probably my favorite musically of the new stuff. 'Love You Through My Pride' is the artistic song that is not incredibly pop-accessible, but I'm relieved with how it turned out, as it was a song I really wanted to do well.

Anyway, take a listen at your own leisure [read: caution].

Joel Clarkson on Virb

Edited by Joel C, 06 April 2008 - 01:45 AM.