My Attempts at Recording Songs: A Chronicle of Musical Nonsense

[Cave Johnson]

I'm not sure if this is the right sub forum for this, but I couldn't think of any others it would fit in aside from Off Topic. 

 

Before I get to the point of this thread, allow me to explain how I got here: Earlier this year, I finally decided to seriously try recording music. I knew it would be hard, but it turned out to be even more difficult than I'd ever imagined. My limited knowledge of music theory and lack of proper equipment didn't help either. After nearly losing my damn mind trying to get "Song 2" right, (I can be a perfectionist sometimes) I quit indefinitely. Now I've become interested in trying again, which has lead me here.

 

This time around I thought I'd share my failures and finished songs (when they happen). I will link to what I have so far, and give a brief explanation of each one. I am open to any questions (preferably music related), comments, feedback, etc. I'm not too concerned with feedback yet, since this is mainly scrapped material right now. I should also mention that everything I do is instrumental and guitar-centric. Worry not, you won't have to hear me sing.

 

Song 0 [probably scrapped] - Despite the name, this is not the first song I worked on. It's a sort of extended intro for the creatively named "Song 2", hence the heavy use of reverb and echo in attempt to make it sound distant. I meant for this to fade in more as well, but ultimately I felt it didn't fit the song, so I didn't bother. I've marked it as "probably scrapped" for now; I may use some of the ideas from this later on.

 

Song 1 [unfinished, might be used for something] - "Song 1" is primarily the result of two things: me trying to write a more upbeat sounding song, and me procrastinating when I didn't want to work on "Song 2". It's also the closest I came to actually naming a song; had I finished it I would've aptly named it "Facade" due to how forced and almost "fake" it ended up sounding. Whether or not I can salvage anything from this will be determined later. Right now I want to try actually finishing something.

 

Song 2 [currently working on a different version, link is to an earlier scrapped/unfinished version) - A lot of what I know about recording now I learned while recording this song. In other words, be warned, as it is quite a mess. Aside from recording issues, I was unsatisfied with how some parts turned out. The final version is supposed to be about 1-2 minutes longer. I have re-recorded and changed some parts already; when it will be done, I have no idea. This song also has more history behind it than the others, in a way. If I'm remembering this right, I came up with some of the parts over five years ago. 

 

Song 3 - still nothing but a blank project file (lol)

Edited October 23, 2019 by Ariadne

[HaserPL]

As a fellow musician, you've caught my interest. Both songs are really good! I wish you the best of luck finishing the 3rd song finally

[Cave Johnson]

Update: Added the link to Song 1, turns out I do still have it. After listening to it again, I think I may have come up with a use for it. 

 

On 10/21/2019 at 2:17 AM, HaserPL said:

As a fellow musician, you've caught my interest. Both songs are really good! I wish you the best of luck finishing the 3rd song finally

 

Thanks! I have a lot of ideas for the third song, but they exist mostly in my head or as short recordings taken with my phone.

[HaserPL]

On 23.10.2019 at 5:21 AM, Ariadne said:

Update: Added the link to Song 1, turns out I do still have it. After listening to it again, I think I may have come up with a use for it. 

 

 

Thanks! I have a lot of ideas for the third song, but they exist mostly in my head or as short recordings taken with my phone.

You've gotta start somewhere right? If I'm not wrong, that's how Foo Fighters originated.

Edited October 24, 2019 by HaserPL
i cant into english and im dumb

[Spaghetti_Grabsy]

I really enjoyed your stuff. Keep up the work, I'd like to hear your music in a more 'fully-formed' context (so to speak). I myself am trying to write some stuff too, but it's difficult to form cohesive ideas out of disparate snippets of 'stuff'. All the best in any case.

[Cave Johnson]

On 10/23/2019 at 2:50 AM, Spaghetti_Grabsy said:

I really enjoyed your stuff. Keep up the work, I'd like to hear your music in a more 'fully-formed' context (so to speak). I myself am trying to write some stuff too, but it's difficult to form cohesive ideas out of disparate snippets of 'stuff'. All the best in any case.

 

Ideally I should have Song 2 finished by next month. I'm not sure why, but I occasionally call it "writing" even though I never actually write anything down. If I have an idea, I'll usually try and record it with my phone before I forget. The closest thing I've done to writing was when I wrote out the notes to the chords I used in one song. The reason being that I don't know my way around a keyboard very well.

 

What I do is pick a lead part, try to build the rhythm around that, and go from there. Either way, I don't think my advice will be helpful since I have a very unconventional way of doing things lol.

[ddstgt79]

I like those!
They remind me of my first recordings?

Edited October 24, 2019 by ddstgt79

[Spaghetti_Grabsy]

On 10/25/2019 at 6:47 AM, Ariadne said:

 

Ideally I should have Song 2 finished by next month. I'm not sure why, but I occasionally call it "writing" even though I never actually write anything down. If I have an idea, I'll usually try and record it with my phone before I forget. The closest thing I've done to writing was when I wrote out the notes to the chords I used in one song. The reason being that I don't know my way around a keyboard very well.

 

What I do is pick a lead part, try to build the rhythm around that, and go from there. Either way, I don't think my advice will be helpful since I have a very unconventional way of doing things lol.

I use Guitar Pro to write my stuff down. There are free alternatives, but I really like GP's UI. I use that to build up a song with rhythm guitar, drums etc. but recently I have a habit of slapping down riff ideas and figuring out how to glue them together later. Not very efficient, but it's a good way to get ideas down before editing or deleting them later. I haven't really recorded anything myself. I have an old 4-track cassette recorder but no mic. All I've done do far is plug my synth direct into it and noodle away to test whether or not it works. I plan to make use of it I'm future. Everyone hates tape hiss but me.

[Cave Johnson]

15 hours ago, Spaghetti_Grabsy said:

I use Guitar Pro to write my stuff down. There are free alternatives, but I really like GP's UI. I use that to build up a song with rhythm guitar, drums etc. but recently I have a habit of slapping down riff ideas and figuring out how to glue them together later. Not very efficient, but it's a good way to get ideas down before editing or deleting them later. I haven't really recorded anything myself. I have an old 4-track cassette recorder but no mic. All I've done do far is plug my synth direct into it and noodle away to test whether or not it works. I plan to make use of it I'm future. Everyone hates tape hiss but me.

 

I tried a few different ones and ended up going with Reaper for recording. I have tabbed stuff in the past, but now when I have an idea I just put my phone up to an amp and use the voice recorder. I don't have a mic either, though I'd like to have a decent one to record acoustic guitar.

[Spaghetti_Grabsy]

3 minutes ago, Ariadne said:

 

I tried a few different ones and ended up going with Reaper for recording. I have tabbed stuff in the past, but now when I have an idea I just put my phone up to an amp and use the voice recorder. I don't have a mic either, though I'd like to have a decent one to record acoustic guitar.

I've used Reaper as well. I find it to be much easier to navigate and use than something like Pro Tools, although it doesn't get much use from me now. I've tried the phone route, but I could never get a sound that was listenable (that might just be the phone mic). As for acoustic guitar, I know that if the guitar has a jack for an amp (I can't remember the technical term) you can plug it into a DI and from there into Reaper. I don't remember how it work as I've never done it myself. I find that using a mic sounds more 'real' as you're picking up the strings themselves as opposed to the pickups with the DI route. Its down to you and what you're using it for (ideas or proper recording) and what sound you're going for. Keep in mind that I'm as far from professional in this area as one can get.

[Cave Johnson]

On 10/26/2019 at 4:30 PM, Spaghetti_Grabsy said:

I've used Reaper as well. I find it to be much easier to navigate and use than something like Pro Tools, although it doesn't get much use from me now. I've tried the phone route, but I could never get a sound that was listenable (that might just be the phone mic). As for acoustic guitar, I know that if the guitar has a jack for an amp (I can't remember the technical term) you can plug it into a DI and from there into Reaper. I don't remember how it work as I've never done it myself. I find that using a mic sounds more 'real' as you're picking up the strings themselves as opposed to the pickups with the DI route. Its down to you and what you're using it for (ideas or proper recording) and what sound you're going for. Keep in mind that I'm as far from professional in this area as one can get.

 

My phone mic isn't very good, but it works for what is like my version of writing things down. I have a cheap acoustic guitar that lacks any electric functionality. Even if it did have it, I'd rather use a mic; I have to agree that it sounds more real that way. Regardless, it probably wouldn't sound too good unless I got a mic and an entirely new acoustic guitar.