Musicians Off-topic Discussion Thread v3 - Now with less dubstep and more trap - General

[url=http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1398701&p=44991388]Here's the thread.[/url]

Does anybody here know of any good vocal pre amp VSTs?

I've been toying the idea of making a group/band for a while. I want to make a folk rock/experimental group but I've never really had experience with music making as a group. Hopefully this summer proves productive.

Hey dudes. I'm just doing some probing around in here, wondering if there's a thread for learning guitar around. I've looked through pages 1 & 2, and haven't seen anything for learners. (my apologies if I'm proven blind) I own an electric as well as having access to acoustic guitars here. I've heard it's better to start with Acoustic, but I mainly stick with the one I personally own. I do try and work my fingers on the acoustics now and then. I'm having difficulty staying interested, however, I have learned some basic chords, slowly getting better at transferring from one chord to the other. I hate trying to find proper tutorials on Youtube through all the continuous rubbish you find on that place. So any tips on getting into/staying interested, as well as some good learning songs (I've tried following tabs, but I need something I can move my fingers properly to). I've noticed some bands like System Of A Down, constantly change to strange tunings. I've been trying some Tenacious D, but even that is proving difficult at the moment. I'd like to find something slow, and in standard tune; just so I can stay focused on learning it. So if there is a thread around here for sloppy beginners like me, I'd much appreciate the shove in that direction. Sorry, if this is an annoying question.

Well, first off, you have to ask yourself what kind of music you want to primarily play. Secondly, I'd find a sound for your guitar that makes you want to play more, be it distorted, clean, or with shitloads of effects. The sound of your guitar can be the make or break for your lust to play, I know that when I first started out I never got a good sound for my guitar, and since it sounded like shit I didn't want to continue to play, because well why play something that sounds shitty? The reason why starting on an acoustic is better is because not only is it cheaper, but you can get a guitar that sounds decent for a much lower price than an electric, and since the guitar has a bigger neck it is also a lot easier to learn how to properly hold chords. So my first question for you is, what music do you want to primarily play? We can help you find songs that are easy enough for you to learn the fundamentals on once we know what kind of guitar you want to play the most.

By the way, does anyone of you guys use MusicXray? I've started using it in hopes of at least getting some profesional help on my tracks, I don't know how good it is so I was hoping someone else knows anything about it. :)

Hey guys could I get some feedback on this track? Released it around a week ago, tell me if anything doesn't sound well mastered. [sp]it's the bassline isn't it?[/sp] [media]http://soundcloud.com/color-motion/dance-at-dawn[/media] [editline]13th June 2014[/editline] <snip> [editline]13th June 2014[/editline] <snip>

[QUOTE=SM0K3 B4N4N4;45091044]Hey guys could I get some feedback on this track? Released it around a week ago, tell me if anything doesn't sound well mastered. [sp]it's the bassline isn't it?[/sp] [url]https://soundcloud.com/color-motion/dance-at-dawn[/url] [editline]13th June 2014[/editline] how do I properly do a soundcloud link? [editline]13th June 2014[/editline] no seriously, I'm not seeing it in the bb code list.[/QUOTE] Hey man! Welcome first and foremost to this section, secondly you post it "properly" by placing the soundcloud link within [media] tags, you can go chech out the work in progress thread and quote someone there who alreadh posted to see properly how it is done. This leads me to my third point and that is a rule we've added to this section, and that is you have to give some constructive critisism, or just a few words on someone elses track :) As you might imagine, people around here are always looking for some constructive critisism on their tracks, just like you do now, and without it this forum would wirher and die. So I would recommend heading over to that thread and doing those things, I'm positive you're going to get some cc if you honour someone else with a bit of cc :) Once again, welcome to this forum, we're glad to have you here!

Why don't people read the rules?

[QUOTE=Dead Madman;45091185]Why don't people read the rules?[/QUOTE] well this isn't creative music in progress for a start so [QUOTE=SM0K3 B4N4N4;45091044]Hey guys could I get some feedback on this track? Released it around a week ago, tell me if anything doesn't sound well mastered. [sp]it's the bassline isn't it?[/sp] [url]https://soundcloud.com/color-motion/dance-at-dawn[/url] [editline]13th June 2014[/editline] how do I properly do a soundcloud link? [editline]13th June 2014[/editline] no seriously, I'm not seeing it in the bb code list.[/QUOTE] Put the soundcloud link in media tags and remove the s in the https in your link furthermore post this sort of thing in the creative music in progress thread with appropriate feedback for another person's work. share the love.

[QUOTE=Dead Madman;45091185]Why don't people read the rules?[/QUOTE] It's a pretty easy thing to miss, especially if you're not used to how forums work. Or he read the rules thread a long time ago and didnt know it has been updated. :)

[QUOTE=Dead Madman;45091185]Why don't people read the rules?[/QUOTE] nobody ever reads the rules of any thread, the amount of people who go into fast anime and ask for shows to watch, but haven't even bothered to check out the OP is actually impressive.

[QUOTE=Skeeter;45091100]Hey man! Welcome first and foremost to this section, secondly you post it "properly" by placing the soundcloud link within [media] tags, you can go chech out the work in progress thread and quote someone there who alreadh posted to see properly how it is done. This leads me to my third point and that is a rule we've added to this section, and that is you have to give some constructive critisism, or just a few words on someone elses track :) As you might imagine, people around here are always looking for some constructive critisism on their tracks, just like you do now, and without it this forum would wirher and die. So I would recommend heading over to that thread and doing those things, I'm positive you're going to get some cc if you honour someone else with a bit of cc :) Once again, welcome to this forum, we're glad to have you here![/QUOTE] Thanks, waiting for someone to post something that I can actually criticize since it's sort of hard for someone who mostly works with electronica to criticize a live band. [QUOTE=killerteacup;45091531]well this isn't creative music in progress for a start so Put the soundcloud link in media tags and remove the s in the https in your link furthermore post this sort of thing in the creative music in progress thread with appropriate feedback for another person's work. share the love.[/QUOTE] But for all intents* purposes the song is finished, it just needs remastering apparently, so not really in progress, just going back to put some extra touches on it. Original albums don't become WIPs when the remastered album is released.

[QUOTE=SM0K3 B4N4N4;45095675]for all intensive purposes[/QUOTE] for all intents and purposes :v:

[QUOTE=SM0K3 B4N4N4;45091044]Hey guys could I get some feedback on this track? Released it around a week ago, tell me if anything doesn't sound well mastered. [sp]it's the bassline isn't it?[/sp] [media]http://soundcloud.com/color-motion/dance-at-dawn[/media][/QUOTE] (sorry for giving some feedback here, even tho its not the right thread, guys, i just couldn't find B4N4N4's post on creative music in progress) you definitely got some long sections and tempos there, i mean, it's easy to get repetitive or somewhat tiring when overplaying long bases. Anyway, you might want to add a more presence-ish riff or effects in the post 5:13~14 section - dunno, that's what I'd do.

[QUOTE=SM0K3 B4N4N4;45095675]Thanks, waiting for someone to post something that I can actually criticize since it's sort of hard for someone who mostly works with electronica to criticize a live band. But for all intents* purposes the song is finished, it just needs remastering apparently, so not really in progress, just going back to put some extra touches on it. Original albums don't become WIPs when the remastered album is released.[/QUOTE] I think you should be posting it in the in progress thread anyway. This thread doesn't deal with people posting music in it anyway, and tbh, the 'in progress' section is generally where people post finished music and ask for feedback. Either that or a new thread I can see your logic but yeah

I just bought a Yamaha FG700MS and it sounds soooo good compared to my old, broken piece of shit from the 70's. I'm still learning to play but I'm getting the hang of it now. Can you guys recommend any simple songs to learn?

[QUOTE=KillerTele;45101234]I'm still learning to play but I'm getting the hang of it now. Can you guys recommend any simple songs to learn?[/QUOTE] do you like grunge?

[QUOTE=greeds;45105194]do you like grunge?[/QUOTE] It's one of the few genres I don't like, haha. My last.fm profile should be linked under my avatar, that should give you a good idea of what I like.

Hey I really like recording shit and I'm considering buying a microphone soon (wanna keep it under ~$200). I don't know anything about mics, but I used a friend's condenser microphone a bunch times to sample whatever I could get my hands on and it turned out fairly well I think. I'm not sure if what I'm trying to make matters, but I tend to make of experimental electronic music. I just want to be able to record a wide verity of sounds, mostly textures (crushing things, twig snaps, ringing metal,... etc) and maybe something as simple as field recordings. Any suggestions as to what kind of mic I should be looking for?

A friend of mine has a Zoom h4n which is amazing, I'm not sure how much it costs though, around $200 I think?

I have a Zoom h2n and it's fantastic, I use it for similar reasons for what you want. I don't remember the price. But take a look and the zoom recorders they would be what you're looking for.

Also a Zoom H4N user. Works as an audio interface too. Quality bit of kit.

Why is it so decievengly hard to make house music? Or EDM in general Fuck, I can't get anything to sound good, I need some decent enough vsts to make synths, nexus just got these shitty hardstyle/hardcore type synths...

[QUOTE=Skeeter;45130916]Why is it so decievengly hard to make house music? Or EDM in general Fuck, I can't get anything to sound good, I need some decent enough vsts to make synths, nexus just got these shitty hardstyle/hardcore type synths...[/QUOTE] Don't blame your tools, it's YOU that needs to improve. Dude you could recreate any Knife Party track with just 3xOSC in FL alone, it's just a matter of you using your tools correctly

Well yeah, I don't know how to bloody do it though so all my inspiration goes down the drain since I can't get shit to sound good.

[QUOTE=Skeeter;45131227]Well yeah, I don't know how to bloody do it though so all my inspiration goes down the drain since I can't get shit to sound good.[/QUOTE] Don't put yourself down like that man, all the time you spend telling yourself you're shit and not good enough, you could be spending time practising. Open up your DAW whenever you get some free time and don't even write a track if you don't feel like it, just organize your samples/whatnot. Experiment. Producing isn't just about song composition, it's about freedom of doing what you want and trying your hardest to make your shit sound the best you can. Hell dude if you could even let me know what it is you're a bit weak on, I understand i'm no superstar ultra qualified tutor or whatever but I'm sure I've got enough knowledge on the subject to help you out, so let me know :v:

That's exactly what I'm doing, except the telling myself I'm shit because I know I'm not. :) I open up my DAW, fiddle about trying to get an idea I got in my head working, I make one beat and then I have no clue on how to progress beyond that. Close it down and then fiddle with guitar or w/e, then I get a new idea ; repeat. What I'm weak on is finding the proper synths (both premade and synths I make myself) to fully realize my ideas, which infuriates me to no end and just makes me sit down more and more trying to get it to work :v

[QUOTE=Skeeter;45131625]That's exactly what I'm doing, except the telling myself I'm shit because I know I'm not. :) I open up my DAW, fiddle about trying to get an idea I got in my head working, I make one beat and then I have no clue on how to progress beyond that. Close it down and then fiddle with guitar or w/e, then I get a new idea ; repeat. What I'm weak on is finding the proper synths (both premade and synths I make myself) to fully realize my ideas, which infuriates me to no end and just makes me sit down more and more trying to get it to work :v[/QUOTE] You'd be surprised that how many default synths in most DAWs allow you to take your sound to great depths. The one thing you need to do though is just practise with synths. I personally use FL and have done for about 5 1/2 years now, so I know the ins and outs of Sytrus and Harmor, both plugins that some people would easily overlook in most situations because it's a "stock default plugin" however their utility in music, particularly EDM is probably the best out there.

[QUOTE=Skeeter;45130916]Why is it so decievengly hard to make house music? Or EDM in general Fuck, I can't get anything to sound good, I need some decent enough vsts to make synths, nexus just got these shitty hardstyle/hardcore type synths...[/QUOTE] I started writing music as a hobby about 4 years ago. My starting point was [I](cue the shame)[/I] sample packs - and not using a sample to add to a track, using samples to build tracks. No reverb. No transitions, just carefully arranged samples. It was a bit shameful but I eventually grew to create original tracks by carefully chopping and screwing samples. Other people create everything by scratch. Good for them. Some people use samples as a basis to create tracks. That's cool too. Find your niche and work with it!