Are you happy?

Rickytickly · Mar 7, 2017

Bohemianne said:
After becoming one, you look back at what you do only to find most of your old works cheesy... That is probably the time when even smashing the guitar has no use. But then, you evolve and gets starry-eyed once in a while. Happiness and sadness is just a cycle.

This is true, my old songs, looking back, were cheesy, therefore I never published them. But then I evolved into a starry-eyed monk content to search for the ultimate answer in a place like....the TMF????? Idk.... :crazy:

Bohemianne · Mar 8, 2017

Rickytickly said:
This is true, my old songs, looking back, were cheesy, therefore I never published them. But then I evolved into a starry-eyed monk content to search for the ultimate answer in a place like....the TMF????? Idk....

Hahaha! That's quite deep. In a way, I came here to dump some of my excessive (or maybe failed) idealism in a form of silly tidbits called posts, and at the same time, accomplishing my menial porcupine business of selling (cough) art, which turned out to be a fetish as well.

What sort of music do you do that made you *not* publish them?

Rickytickly · Mar 8, 2017

Bohemianne said:
Hahaha! That's quite deep. In a way, I came here to dump some of my excessive (or maybe failed) idealism in a form of silly tidbits called posts, and at the same time, accomplishing my menial porcupine business of selling (cough) art, which turned out to be a fetish as well.

What sort of music do you do that made you *not* publish them?

Pop, or pap, teenage angst crap. By pop I mean rock I guess. The songs weren't bad but the lyrics...probably coming too much from a young angry person's point of view, so I can do much better now. Likely I'll rehash some of those original musical ideas but with new, more insightful lyrics.

Rickytickly · Mar 8, 2017

....in fact I think that's what a lot of people in the music business end up doing anyway, come to think of it....but at least I never published the originals....

duderino84 · Mar 8, 2017

Bohemianne said:
After becoming one, you look back at what you do only to find most of your old works cheesy... That is probably the time when even smashing the guitar has no use. But then, you evolve and gets starry-eyed once in a while. Happiness and sadness is just a cycle.

True, after all, I sometimes wonder what Roy Orbison was thinking about when he wrote "Pretty Woman". But I think the overall point of music (given my background which went all the way through majoring in it) isn't about making material that can't be criticized; that's something the classical/baroque guys accomplished. It's about being a presence when it comes to the arts. You can either try to perform (and in doing so make it about the right group with the right materials at the right time for the right people at the right venues for the right price) or you can do home audio and put out recordings (which makes people equally as happy after the campaign of "rights") and be current. Either way, it's about being there that's important and what makes a place for a musician. Now if you're looking to make money, there's making equipment that people like using (manufacturing), or being a means for someone to output their material (audio engineering). But even then, you still have to put yourself out there to garner recognition that you are working for (look up Kiesel Guitars, look up local studios). As far as "good" or "bad" ideas....I have a folder of digital music projects that a bulk of them never see the light of day but I can still say that I learned something from them to aid me in a next attempt to output something. It's the value of entertaining. Which is what the arts are for.

Rickytickly · Mar 8, 2017

duderino84 said:
True, after all, I sometimes wonder what Roy Orbison was thinking about when he wrote "Pretty Woman". But I think the overall point of music (given my background which went all the way through majoring in it) isn't about making material that can't be criticized; that's something the classical/baroque guys accomplished. It's about being a presence when it comes to the arts. You can either try to perform (and in doing so make it about the right group with the right materials at the right time for the right people at the right venues for the right price) or you can do home audio and put out recordings (which makes people equally as happy after the campaign of "rights") and be current. Either way, it's about being there that's important and what makes a place for a musician. Now if you're looking to make money, there's making equipment that people like using (manufacturing), or being a means for someone to output their material (audio engineering). But even then, you still have to put yourself out there to garner recognition that you are working for (look up Kiesel Guitars, look up local studios). As far as "good" or "bad" ideas....I have a folder of digital music projects that a bulk of them never see the light of day but I can still say that I learned something from them to aid me in a next attempt to output something. It's the value of entertaining. Which is what the arts are for.

Well just for the record, and no pun intended, because I never made any, I played with a few bands but nothing professional. Some home recordings on a Tascam Porta 5 I think it was called, which was an analog 4 track machine, but that's it. Never been in a real recording studio. I only played onstage with a band 5 or 6 times. I tried pursing the whole music thing when younger but my whole depression/ anxiety problems got in the way, so I finally gave up. So now it's just a hobby, that's all, even though my depression/anxiety isn't as bad of an issue as it was. But I was kidding about TMF being my "thing" now...I find it a joke really and I can't take it seriously. I like tickling, yes, but I don't think it's the place to find a partner, which is my real goal. That I'd have to find at a gathering. But even tickling I can't say is important. It's a physical pleasure, and I don't place much importance on things like that....meaning my main goal now is to survive and pursue my spirituality.

duderino84 · Mar 9, 2017

Rickytickly said:
Well just for the record, and no pun intended, because I never made any, I played with a few bands but nothing professional. Some home recordings on a Tascam Porta 5 I think it was called, which was an analog 4 track machine, but that's it. Never been in a real recording studio. I only played onstage with a band 5 or 6 times. I tried pursing the whole music thing when younger but my whole depression/ anxiety problems got in the way, so I finally gave up. So now it's just a hobby, that's all, even though my depression/anxiety isn't as bad of an issue as it was. But I was kidding about TMF being my "thing" now...I find it a joke really and I can't take it seriously. I like tickling, yes, but I don't think it's the place to find a partner, which is my real goal. That I'd have to find at a gathering. But even tickling I can't say is important. It's a physical pleasure, and I don't place much importance on things like that....meaning my main goal now is to survive and pursue my spirituality.

Well, I guess if we're getting real here, I'll tell my tale. I started out young. Since about 5th grade music was really the course of study that I enjoyed, I had learning complications. Typical deal, English was fine, math wasn't. Had some changes over the years, playing sax and bass (and thinking I was gonna be some lead bass rock star by 18 lol). I DID have a porta studio as well, but I didn't feel you got out what you put in. Bands weren't really a "big deal" in my town, so I worked with one guy after I got kicked out of another group and things were good, until I went to university and he felt like as good of friends as we were he wanted to diversify so the "band" I started broke up against my terms. What really pushed my interest of "recording" was coming across LMMS/FL studio. For a really creative guy who had a lot of ideas that couldn't be recorded in a quiet dorm room, it was the perfect solution for someone who was getting more complex, to "program" machine instruments and put out recordings that way. I had put away bass for a while and focused solely on slapping stuff together.

It was pretty cool for a guy who was into metal (grindcore, death metal, punk rock, etc) to be able to make pure speed music without the complications of a drummer who could bitch about tempo or a guitarist who couldn't keep up. After a while tho I started to notice people calling me out for a lot of stuff sounding similar and having a ....not developed quality of sound (clipping/distortion/etc). So I spent a few years teaching myself how to do this (computer music magazine helps) but I wasn't playing so much because I was working.

So I joined a few bands on the side. I did a 70s rock/soul/RnB group (craigslist), a reggae group (craigslist), and a punk band (previous associations). Aside from the 70s band, who had a contact that did a demo in a house, a lot of guys were like "OK, so a recording is $____, we probably want to do ____ tracks, we have ____ members, bring in ____ a piece." It was pretty easy considering one of the bands actually practiced at this studio (the studio is basically a complex of offices tied together with personal PA's set up). Of course, one rate to rehearse, another rate to record. Not really expensive rates for a casual to moderate level studio. There's the intake session stage which is raw tracks either separate or together, then mixing. A lot of the software/effects techniques I had been reading about for years, and given that these bands didn't last long (some bands are good, some get repetitive/don't have a progress plan, others have hidden motives, etc. Band life) I was kind of like "well maybe I can do this at home." Granted, there are differences....at my level I don't need a full scale mixing board with a converter etc (studios pride themselves as having "the hardware" which basically means that they have every component separate, which gives people the gear jollies and the impression that "this is the only way to record" vs it simply being the most traditional), I can do it internally into an audio interface connected by USB. So I've prettymuch highlighted how I figured out how to play with people, play by myself, and find a way to make something work with or without other people in a "hobbyist" career such as music.

Has this been a long journey? Yes. Was there conflict? At virtually every stage. Did I know a lot starting out? No. Did I pick up a lot of information from a lot of places? Yup.

Long story short man, if you want to make an omelette, start cracking those eggs. Physical or not you're stuck with being here because we know you have a keyboard at least lol. Best of luck.

Rickytickly · Mar 9, 2017

duderino84 said:
Well, I guess if we're getting real here, I'll tell my tale. I started out young. Since about 5th grade music was really the course of study that I enjoyed, I had learning complications. Typical deal, English was fine, math wasn't. Had some changes over the years, playing sax and bass (and thinking I was gonna be some lead bass rock star by 18 lol). I DID have a porta studio as well, but I didn't feel you got out what you put in. Bands weren't really a "big deal" in my town, so I worked with one guy after I got kicked out of another group and things were good, until I went to university and he felt like as good of friends as we were he wanted to diversify so the "band" I started broke up against my terms. What really pushed my interest of "recording" was coming across LMMS/FL studio. For a really creative guy who had a lot of ideas that couldn't be recorded in a quiet dorm room, it was the perfect solution for someone who was getting more complex, to "program" machine instruments and put out recordings that way. I had put away bass for a while and focused solely on slapping stuff together.

It was pretty cool for a guy who was into metal (grindcore, death metal, punk rock, etc) to be able to make pure speed music without the complications of a drummer who could bitch about tempo or a guitarist who couldn't keep up. After a while tho I started to notice people calling me out for a lot of stuff sounding similar and having a ....not developed quality of sound (clipping/distortion/etc). So I spent a few years teaching myself how to do this (computer music magazine helps) but I wasn't playing so much because I was working.

So I joined a few bands on the side. I did a 70s rock/soul/RnB group (craigslist), a reggae group (craigslist), and a punk band (previous associations). Aside from the 70s band, who had a contact that did a demo in a house, a lot of guys were like "OK, so a recording is $____, we probably want to do ____ tracks, we have ____ members, bring in ____ a piece." It was pretty easy considering one of the bands actually practiced at this studio (the studio is basically a complex of offices tied together with personal PA's set up). Of course, one rate to rehearse, another rate to record. Not really expensive rates for a casual to moderate level studio. There's the intake session stage which is raw tracks either separate or together, then mixing. A lot of the software/effects techniques I had been reading about for years, and given that these bands didn't last long (some bands are good, some get repetitive/don't have a progress plan, others have hidden motives, etc. Band life) I was kind of like "well maybe I can do this at home." Granted, there are differences....at my level I don't need a full scale mixing board with a converter etc (studios pride themselves as having "the hardware" which basically means that they have every component separate, which gives people the gear jollies and the impression that "this is the only way to record" vs it simply being the most traditional), I can do it internally into an audio interface connected by USB. So I've prettymuch highlighted how I figured out how to play with people, play by myself, and find a way to make something work with or without other people in a "hobbyist" career such as music.

Has this been a long journey? Yes. Was there conflict? At virtually every stage. Did I know a lot starting out? No. Did I pick up a lot of information from a lot of places? Yup.

Long story short man, if you want to make an omelette, start cracking those eggs. Physical or not you're stuck with being here because we know you have a keyboard at least lol. Best of luck.

I was nowhere near as involved and technical as all that. But I tried as best as I could. I was always into 60s music but was too young to have been a part of it. So when the whole punk/new wave thing came about in '77 when I was a teenager, I wanted to be part of that and get out and play, especially since bands like The Jam were reviving the whole 60s thing anyway. I went out and bought a Rickenbacker 330 and started writing songs and singing, which I'd already been doing for some time on my acoustic. But I was never that good of a player, so I always had another guy on lead, and I stuck to playing rhythm and singing. But as I think I mentioned, my depression and anxiety got the best of me, so by the time I was 30 I gave it up. Not totally, but as far as trying to get in the "music business" and all that, yeah. There's no way I coulda done it anyway with the state of mind I was in, even if I was talented enough.

Since then I've gotten into many other styles of music. I like a bit of everything.

duderino84 · Mar 9, 2017

Rickytickly said:
I was nowhere near as involved and technical as all that. But I tried as best as I could. I was always into 60s music but was too young to have been a part of it. So when the whole punk/new wave thing came about in '77 when I was a teenager, I wanted to be part of that and get out and play, especially since bands like The Jam were reviving the whole 60s thing anyway. I went out and bought a Rickenbacker 330 and started writing songs and singing, which I'd already been doing for some time on my acoustic. But I was never that good of a player, so I always had another guy on lead, and I stuck to playing rhythm and singing. But as I think I mentioned, my depression and anxiety got the best of me, so by the time I was 30 I gave it up. Not totally, but as far as trying to get in the "music business" and all that, yeah. There's no way I coulda done it anyway with the state of mind I was in, even if I was talented enough.

Since then I've gotten into many other styles of music. I like a bit of everything.

Why worry about being "as good"? Were you looking to center in on being lead? Personal nature and ability/willingness to learn are two factors that affect players (the latter is more like a barrier in finding people to play with) and tends to reward people who go for lead. Either way, you've got a Ric, that's a guitar of pretty reputable build if they're anything like their basses, no? If you can play as well as listen to various styles, you're also well on your way. Can't tell you how many years I spent learning various kinds of music when really all I could never shake off just being a metalhead. Of course now there's the electronic thing going for me, but when you don't live in an area where you can openly find information, you might as well return to what you know.

Rickytickly · Mar 9, 2017

duderino84 said:
Why worry about being "as good"? Were you looking to center in on being lead? Personal nature and ability/willingness to learn are two factors that affect players (the latter is more like a barrier in finding people to play with) and tends to reward people who go for lead. Either way, you've got a Ric, that's a guitar of pretty reputable build if they're anything like their basses, no? If you can play as well as listen to various styles, you're also well on your way. Can't tell you how many years I spent learning various kinds of music when really all I could never shake off just being a metalhead. Of course now there's the electronic thing going for me, but when you don't live in an area where you can openly find information, you might as well return to what you know.

No, I wasn't worried about being a good lead guitarist, in fact one person told me I was the best rhythm guitarist he'd ever heard, but I didn't want to play lead anyway, because my thing was to sing, and it's easier to sing if you don't play lead. And yeah, it's a great guitar with a great sound. I also had a Vox AC 30 amp, so the combination of the two had the sound I wanted for what I was after. My songwriting and singing was what I concentrated on, well my playing too....if I had the desire to play lead really well then I would've, but it just wasn't my thing, same as a lot of guitarists don't sing or write; the one lead guitarist I worked with didn't sing or write, but he was an excellent lead guitarist...fuckin' amazing!!! I mean, I may have had some talent, but I wasn't strong enough to keep pushing myself; that's what I meant. Actually the last band I was in was just three of us; me on guitar, bass and drums, and it worked, but it never got past rehearsing. That's when things finally got really bad for me, and I haven't played in a band since...but you never know...I may go out again at some point on my own now, do an open stage thing, or whatever they call it.

Rickytickly · Mar 9, 2017

chicago said:
PTSD and OCD. Everyone has issues or hardships. I just try to accept mine and deal with it best I can. There are good days and bad days.

I have OCD but it's not as bad as it was, same for BDD which is related to OCD and again, vastly improved since when I was younger. Wasn't told I have PTSD but then when I was first diagnosed they gave me a very broad diagnosis anyway; Mixed Personality Disorder, NOS. NOS means "Not Otherwise Specified". Mixed Personality Disorder means you have parts of different ones, and they don't want to specify. I had a traumatic childhood so....if I don't have PTSD per se, I definitely suffered along those lines. I did research and found I have traits of AvPD, or Avoidant Personality Disorder. They never told me that, but then "they" never tell you a lot of things, such is the system....

Bohemianne · Mar 9, 2017

Rickytickly said:
I was nowhere near as involved and technical as all that. But I tried as best as I could. I was always into 60s music but was too young to have been a part of it. So when the whole punk/new wave thing came about in '77 when I was a teenager, I wanted to be part of that and get out and play, especially since bands like The Jam were reviving the whole 60s thing anyway. I went out and bought a Rickenbacker 330 and started writing songs and singing, which I'd already been doing for some time on my acoustic. But I was never that good of a player, so I always had another guy on lead, and I stuck to playing rhythm and singing. But as I think I mentioned, my depression and anxiety got the best of me, so by the time I was 30 I gave it up. Not totally, but as far as trying to get in the "music business" and all that, yeah. There's no way I coulda done it anyway with the state of mind I was in, even if I was talented enough.

Since then I've gotten into many other styles of music. I like a bit of everything.

duderino84 said:
Well, I guess if we're getting real here, I'll tell my tale. I started out young. Since about 5th grade music was really the course of study that I enjoyed, I had learning complications. Typical deal, English was fine, math wasn't. Had some changes over the years, playing sax and bass (and thinking I was gonna be some lead bass rock star by 18 lol). I DID have a porta studio as well, but I didn't feel you got out what you put in. Bands weren't really a "big deal" in my town, so I worked with one guy after I got kicked out of another group and things were good, until I went to university and he felt like as good of friends as we were he wanted to diversify so the "band" I started broke up against my terms. What really pushed my interest of "recording" was coming across LMMS/FL studio. For a really creative guy who had a lot of ideas that couldn't be recorded in a quiet dorm room, it was the perfect solution for someone who was getting more complex, to "program" machine instruments and put out recordings that way. I had put away bass for a while and focused solely on slapping stuff together.

It was pretty cool for a guy who was into metal (grindcore, death metal, punk rock, etc) to be able to make pure speed music without the complications of a drummer who could bitch about tempo or a guitarist who couldn't keep up. After a while tho I started to notice people calling me out for a lot of stuff sounding similar and having a ....not developed quality of sound (clipping/distortion/etc). So I spent a few years teaching myself how to do this (computer music magazine helps) but I wasn't playing so much because I was working.

So I joined a few bands on the side. I did a 70s rock/soul/RnB group (craigslist), a reggae group (craigslist), and a punk band (previous associations). Aside from the 70s band, who had a contact that did a demo in a house, a lot of guys were like "OK, so a recording is $____, we probably want to do ____ tracks, we have ____ members, bring in ____ a piece." It was pretty easy considering one of the bands actually practiced at this studio (the studio is basically a complex of offices tied together with personal PA's set up). Of course, one rate to rehearse, another rate to record. Not really expensive rates for a casual to moderate level studio. There's the intake session stage which is raw tracks either separate or together, then mixing. A lot of the software/effects techniques I had been reading about for years, and given that these bands didn't last long (some bands are good, some get repetitive/don't have a progress plan, others have hidden motives, etc. Band life) I was kind of like "well maybe I can do this at home." Granted, there are differences....at my level I don't need a full scale mixing board with a converter etc (studios pride themselves as having "the hardware" which basically means that they have every component separate, which gives people the gear jollies and the impression that "this is the only way to record" vs it simply being the most traditional), I can do it internally into an audio interface connected by USB. So I've prettymuch highlighted how I figured out how to play with people, play by myself, and find a way to make something work with or without other people in a "hobbyist" career such as music.

Has this been a long journey? Yes. Was there conflict? At virtually every stage. Did I know a lot starting out? No. Did I pick up a lot of information from a lot of places? Yup.

Long story short man, if you want to make an omelette, start cracking those eggs. Physical or not you're stuck with being here because we know you have a keyboard at least lol. Best of luck.

Hey, guys, it's cool to read about musically inclined TMFers (as this obviously makes us happy). Anyway, Cakewalk Sonar + 'playing' skills pretty much sum it up for me as a 100% solo hobbyist.

Rickytickly · Mar 9, 2017

Bohemianne said:
Hey, guys, it's cool to read about musically inclined TMFers (as this obviously makes us happy). Anyway, Cakewalk Sonar + 'playing' skills pretty much sum it up for me as a 100% solo hobbyist.

What's Cakewalk Sonar?

Wolf · Mar 9, 2017

duderino84 said:
Well, I guess if we're getting real here, I'll tell my tale. I started out young. Since about 5th grade music was really the course of study that I enjoyed, I had learning complications. Typical deal, English was fine, math wasn't. Had some changes over the years, playing sax and bass (and thinking I was gonna be some lead bass rock star by 18 lol). I DID have a porta studio as well, but I didn't feel you got out what you put in. Bands weren't really a "big deal" in my town, so I worked with one guy after I got kicked out of another group and things were good, until I went to university and he felt like as good of friends as we were he wanted to diversify so the "band" I started broke up against my terms. What really pushed my interest of "recording" was coming across LMMS/FL studio. For a really creative guy who had a lot of ideas that couldn't be recorded in a quiet dorm room, it was the perfect solution for someone who was getting more complex, to "program" machine instruments and put out recordings that way. I had put away bass for a while and focused solely on slapping stuff together.
It was pretty cool for a guy who was into metal (grindcore, death metal, punk rock, etc) to be able to make pure speed music without the complications of a drummer who could bitch about tempo or a guitarist who couldn't keep up. After a while tho I started to notice people calling me out for a lot of stuff sounding similar and having a ....not developed quality of sound (clipping/distortion/etc). So I spent a few years teaching myself how to do this (computer music magazine helps) but I wasn't playing so much because I was working.
So I joined a few bands on the side. I did a 70s rock/soul/RnB group (craigslist), a reggae group (craigslist), and a punk band (previous associations). Aside from the 70s band, who had a contact that did a demo in a house, a lot of guys were like "OK, so a recording is $____, we probably want to do ____ tracks, we have ____ members, bring in ____ a piece." It was pretty easy considering one of the bands actually practiced at this studio (the studio is basically a complex of offices tied together with personal PA's set up). Of course, one rate to rehearse, another rate to record. Not really expensive rates for a casual to moderate level studio. There's the intake session stage which is raw tracks either separate or together, then mixing. A lot of the software/effects techniques I had been reading about for years, and given that these bands didn't last long (some bands are good, some get repetitive/don't have a progress plan, others have hidden motives, etc. Band life) I was kind of like "well maybe I can do this at home." Granted, there are differences....at my level I don't need a full scale mixing board with a converter etc (studios pride themselves as having "the hardware" which basically means that they have every component separate, which gives people the gear jollies and the impression that "this is the only way to record" vs it simply being the most traditional), I can do it internally into an audio interface connected by USB. So I've prettymuch highlighted how I figured out how to play with people, play by myself, and find a way to make something work with or without other people in a "hobbyist" career such as music.
Has this been a long journey? Yes. Was there conflict? At virtually every stage. Did I know a lot starting out? No. Did I pick up a lot of information from a lot of places? Yup.
Long story short man, if you want to make an omelette, start cracking those eggs. Physical or not you're stuck with being here because we know you have a keyboard at least lol. Best of luck.

That's an impressive background. I was a lead singer, with no other musical talents, so for me, it was simple; show up, help load in, set up, sing, help tear down and load up the van. The only thing I was trusted with was hooking up the microphones and monitors.

Bohemianne · Mar 9, 2017

Rickytickly said:
What's Cakewalk Sonar?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_workstation

^ Cakewalk Sonar: It is software. For the basic home use, first, you need a PC with, say, Cakewalk Sonar (or other apps) installed in it, then a preamp or multimedia box - say Encore - with a USB to connect your musical instruments, mic; otherwise, connect your instruments directly to the audio-in, just check the jacks, but this would have hissing sound or undesirable noise. With Cakewalk, you can input/record both analog audio playing and MIDI. Out of that versatile set-up, you can edit everything on your own. Using plug-ins, you have EQ, effects, console, and etc at hand. Pretty handy.

Rickytickly · Mar 9, 2017

Bohemianne said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_workstation

^ Cakewalk Sonar: It is software. For the basic home use, first, you need a PC with, say, Cakewalk Sonar (or other apps) installed in it, then a preamp or multimedia box - say Encore - with a USB to connect your musical instruments, mic; otherwise, connect your instruments directly to the audio-in, just check the jacks, but this would have hissing sound or undesirable noise. With Cakewalk, you can input/record both analog audio playing and MIDI. Out of that versatile set-up, you can edit everything on your own. Using plug-ins, you have EQ, effects, console, and etc at hand. Pretty handy.

Oh I see, yeah I never got that far, only ever got as far as analog recording. Even those electronic tuners everyone used back then I never had the need for, as my ears are pretty good at detecting things. In fact I often make strings deliberately out of tune to get certain effects, etc.

Rickytickly · Mar 9, 2017

Wolf said:
That's an impressive background. I was a lead singer, with no other musical talents, so for me, it was simple; show up, help load in, set up, sing, help tear down and load up the van. The only thing I was trusted with was hooking up the microphones and monitors.

That definitely makes it easy, yeah. If I would've continued with my last band, I would've had quite a job being both the singer, only guitarist and only writer. Plus I was taking the train down from Connecticut to NYC on weekends to the rehearsal studio to play with the others, probably doing it during the week too. The plan was for me to move down there, but something went wrong and it didn't work. I'm sure my depression, combined with the whole responsibility I took on, is what made me ditch the whole thing. But the other two were happy guys, and liked my songs. All I can say is I tried. At least I never lost my talent; it's not like something that just goes away.

duderino84 · Mar 10, 2017

Bohemianne said:
Hey, guys, it's cool to read about musically inclined TMFers (as this obviously makes us happy). Anyway, Cakewalk Sonar + 'playing' skills pretty much sum it up for me as a 100% solo hobbyist.

I remember ages ago I took a midi class in community college and Sonor was one of the programs (like 2002)....it was kind of cool but all I really discovered was GM midi at that time...people had access to Cubase, but that was way too complicated at that point for me.

Wolf said:
That's an impressive background. I was a lead singer, with no other musical talents, so for me, it was simple; show up, help load in, set up, sing, help tear down and load up the van. The only thing I was trusted with was hooking up the microphones and monitors.

Heh, the band still trusted you with connecting the PA, that's one of the more important/expensive pieces of equipment, no? Personally I've always wanted to do a lead singer position but finding my place is one of those challenges. I'll probably do vocals when I get back into putting tracks out on my own. Yea, music at my early years was a combination of chance and sort of blind passion lol. I was pretty persistent on finding out information as it was relevant. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

Bohemianne said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_workstation

^ Cakewalk Sonar: It is software. For the basic home use, first, you need a PC with, say, Cakewalk Sonar (or other apps) installed in it, then a preamp or multimedia box - say Encore - with a USB to connect your musical instruments, mic; otherwise, connect your instruments directly to the audio-in, just check the jacks, but this would have hissing sound or undesirable noise. With Cakewalk, you can input/record both analog audio playing and MIDI. Out of that versatile set-up, you can edit everything on your own. Using plug-ins, you have EQ, effects, console, and etc at hand. Pretty handy.

Just for note, Sonor and other DAWs do come with the premium for the software and getting a start, but depended on how much you like learning/interfacing with different programs/additional steps, there's workarounds. That's basically what you're paying for, to avoid the extra steps in a self-contained piece of software. Like interfaces are really big in music because people want to "see what they'll be hearing" but for people who are good with numbers/just happen to like retro composition (like video game music starting around the Commodore 64 era and continuing through Nintendo 64 I think?)/don't mind not having much of a GUI option, there are what are called "trackers". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_tracker . At this age of development they are mostly free (With the exception of Renoise, but it's basically taking the same format of composition and offering studio effects etc). If you can output tracks separately you can mix in audacity etc.

Bohemianne · Mar 10, 2017

duderino84 said:
Just for note, Sonor and other DAWs do come with the premium for the software and getting a start, but depended on how much you like learning/interfacing with different programs/additional steps, there's workarounds. That's basically what you're paying for, to avoid the extra steps in a self-contained piece of software. Like interfaces are really big in music because people want to "see what they'll be hearing" but for people who are good with numbers/just happen to like retro composition (like video game music starting around the Commodore 64 era and continuing through Nintendo 64 I think?)/don't mind not having much of a GUI option, there are what are called "trackers". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_tracker . At this age of development they are mostly free (With the exception of Renoise, but it's basically taking the same format of composition and offering studio effects etc). If you can output tracks separately you can mix in audacity etc.

Well, certainly, as I added my analog guitar tracks, keyboards, vocals intermixed with the whole thing, it is humanized already and not nintendo-ish. I don't have drums, so that is what I use MIDI for. That's all there is. I'm after what is handy for my own liking and initial home output, even if there is no one else around. This whole amateur process spells "happiness" (for me).

duderino84 · Mar 10, 2017

Bohemianne said:
Well, certainly, as I added my analog guitar tracks, keyboards, vocals intermixed with the whole thing, it is humanized already and not nintendo-ish. I don't have drums, so that is what I use MIDI for. That's all there is. I'm after what is handy for my own liking and initial home output, even if there is no one else around. This whole amateur process spells "happiness" (for me).

I think the "humanizing" topic is overrated....either way you're going to do some form of compression to the audio to make sure it maintains a good level of quality.... It's a combination of composition skills even with good samples that determines how "natural" a track feels. https://youtu.be/b8vy72p14ro this guy when I first discovered his material was just phenomenal. Nothing other than his vocals are actually "real" instruments. The Guitar is a really well compressed/simulated (amp and impulse response) sound made using a plucked string synth, and despite the fact that it has a bit of a ringtone sort of quality, you can't say you can't "hear" his work.

A lot of breakbeat composers tend to prefer trackers, like Venetian Snares. Idk, I don't really concern myself with realism, naturalism or humane sounding nearly as much as I prefer a well executed track with a caliber of recording that puts me practically in the mind of the artist. Midi gets a lot of shit over the fact that it used the most basic cycle combinations to get it's quality, but take a song and use modern plugins (because at this point midi is mostly just the language) and it's pretty on par, even tho to some it may sound like a caricature of a piece of work.

Bohemianne · Mar 10, 2017

duderino84 said:
I think the "humanizing" topic is overrated....either way you're going to do some form of compression to the audio to make sure it maintains a good level of quality.... It's a combination of composition skills even with good samples that determines how "natural" a track feels. https://youtu.be/b8vy72p14ro this guy when I first discovered his material was just phenomenal. Nothing other than his vocals are actually "real" instruments. The Guitar is a really well compressed/simulated (amp and impulse response) sound made using a plucked string synth, and despite the fact that it has a bit of a ringtone sort of quality, you can't say you can't "hear" his work.

A lot of breakbeat composers tend to prefer trackers, like Venetian Snares. Idk, I don't really concern myself with realism, naturalism or humane sounding nearly as much as I prefer a well executed track with a caliber of recording that puts me practically in the mind of the artist. Midi gets a lot of shit over the fact that it used the most basic cycle combinations to get it's quality, but take a song and use modern plugins (because at this point midi is mostly just the language) and it's pretty on par, even tho to some it may sound like a caricature of a piece of work.

Sorry, wrong use of the word 'humanized'. I add my actual guitar playing (analog playing) to the track. I can't 'humanize' a guitar track that is already played by me. What I meant is, when you combine MIDI with actual analog playing, the output is tamed a bit. Fine now? To each his/her own. I don't mind how good or bad the other composers are and I won't even compare myself. This post is simply about sharing a thing or two with you, musicians of the forum.

Rickytickly · Mar 10, 2017

Bohemianne said:
Sorry, wrong use of the word 'humanized'. I add my actual guitar playing (analog playing) to the track. I can't 'humanize' a guitar track that is already played by me. What I meant is, when you combine MIDI with actual analog playing, the output is tamed a bit. Fine now? To each his/her own. I don't mind how good or bad the other composers are and I won't even compare myself. This post is simply about sharing a thing or two with you, musicians of the forum.

And thank you and everyone else for doing so. But personally, I was always best at just sticking to the music, and just letting an engineer and producer handle all the technical stuff, even though I never did get as far as recording in an actual studio.

Bohemianne · Mar 10, 2017

duderino84 said:
It's a combination of composition skills even with good samples that determines how "natural" a track feels. https://youtu.be/b8vy72p14ro this guy when I first discovered his material was just phenomenal. Nothing other than his vocals are actually "real" instruments. The Guitar is a really well compressed/simulated (amp and impulse response) sound made using a plucked string synth, and despite the fact that it has a bit of a ringtone sort of quality, you can't say you can't "hear" his work.

Well, going back to this link, I do agree about how phenomenal it was made. IMO, it is the good staging of tracks too that add to the quality of the output. I can hear where it is electronic, but it doesn't matter. Thanks for sharing!

Rickytickly said:
And thank you and everyone else for doing so. But personally, I was always best at just sticking to the music, and just letting an engineer and producer handle all the technical stuff, even though I never did get as far as recording in an actual studio.

You're welcome. In that case, you'll need more money if you mean letting a sound engineer work on many of your compositions. But that process is actually more effective and what should be, as you can focus on the composition than in the compiling...

Rickytickly · Mar 10, 2017

Bohemianne said:
Well, going back to this link, I do agree about how phenomenal it was made. IMO, it is the good staging of tracks too that add to the quality of the output. I can hear where it is electronic, but it doesn't matter. Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome. In that case, you'll need more money if you mean letting a sound engineer work on many of your compositions. But that process is actually more effective and what should be, as you can focus on the composition than in the compiling...

I did OK with my home recordings on that Tascam Porta 5 as far as mixing, etc. goes. But if I ever need to do it again, digitally, well, I'm sure I could research it and figure it all out for myself. But yeah, if I had the money, I'd sooner let someone else do it, lol

BlasterMaster · Mar 10, 2017

Wow, what an interesting question. For the most part, yes, I'm happy. Me and my GF have our own home finally, ours jobs are going relatively well, both our cars still run (despite my car needing $500.00+ worth of maintenance this month), my sis is blissful in her marriage to her wife, my parents are doing okay health wise, and right now things are looking somewhat stable. I'm not very happy with the rise of the white supremacy, the religious right, and over all conservatism in the world but I consider it something that will backfire on itself.

Also, Mario? If you've been unhappy for 12+ years you might want to consider seeing a psychiatrist (who can possibly prescribe anti-anxiety/depressants if your not already on them) or a psychologist who can help you work through your unhappiness. Being unhappy for that long can cause health issues and at the very least I think you'll find that medication can at least make things a little more bearable in your life.

Are you happy?

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