What's everyone working on at the moment?

I've been working hard on my upcoming web series...I take bands/musicians from my area that I like, bring them into my garage studio, record them playing a live set, and let them discuss their projects in a documentary-style feature. I'll be sure to post the episodes in the 'Marketing' section if anyone's interested.

I find it very satisfying for a few reasons. Firstly, I have become a local music junkie of sorts (Dallas area) over the past few years of gigging with a alt rock outfit. This allows me to network and get to know some of the key players in the area, building an actual musical relationship with bands I enjoy listening to. It also has given me more recording experience, and prior to this, I had very little experience with live recordings. My first one will be released March 1st, and I'm pretty stoked!
 
dudernut said:
I've been working hard on my upcoming web series...I take bands/musicians from my area that I like, bring them into my garage studio, record them playing a live set, and let them discuss their projects in a documentary-style feature. I'll be sure to post the episodes in the 'Marketing' section if anyone's interested.

I find it very satisfying for a few reasons. Firstly, I have become a local music junkie of sorts (Dallas area) over the past few years of gigging with a alt rock outfit. This allows me to network and get to know some of the key players in the area, building an actual musical relationship with bands I enjoy listening to. It also has given me more recording experience, and prior to this, I had very little experience with live recordings. My first one will be released March 1st, and I'm pretty stoked!
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This actually sounds like a pretty interesting and original idea. You should be able to (hopefully) get bands that can actually play and are well practiced if they're going to record it live in one take. They can't afford to have a record any old shit and polish the turd later attitude. If I don't notice remind me here when you do it. I never look in marketing.

Make sure you cut bits of the discussion in between the songs! It should make it a better watch!
 
JDOD said:
This actually sounds like a pretty interesting and original idea. You should be able to (hopefully) get bands that can actually play and are well practiced if they're going to record it live in one take. They can't afford to have a record any old shit and polish the turd later attitude. If I don't notice remind me here when you do it. I never look in marketing.

Make sure you cut bits of the discussion in between the songs! It should make it a better watch!
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Thanks! Yeah, I'm really excited about it. Fortunately, all 3 acts I've recorded so far have been very prepared and well-rehearsed. But just in case, I'm still recording a few takes of each song so I can use the best. And yes, I am splicing the speaking portions in between songs...great minds think alike :thumbs up:

I'll be sure to chime in here when the first episode is up! Link to the YT channel is below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzYUAAVzjzSA-nwz1s60Veg
 
writing a lot of weird songs
...and trying to figure out how to slide descending octave power chords (like in Cherub Rock). For some reason i can do it with standard power chords but not if playing just the octave. Anyone know why this would be? only when playing them descending. it feels like my hand goes from fluid to feeling like it's stuck in mud.
 
Octave power chords, do you mean like 1-5-8? Have you tried Fast Fret? Or if you can make the octave with your pinky instead of barring the 5 and 8 with one finger, the slide might be easier.
 
Robus said:
Octave power chords, do you mean like 1-5-8? Have you tried Fast Fret? Or if you can make the octave with your pinky instead of barring the 5 and 8 with one finger, the slide might be easier.
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thanks robus. like fretting the E on the 5th string 7th fret and then 3rd string 9th fret. just those two notes (i guess it's not technically a power chord). the song cherub rock takes that formation and slides it up and down the neck like to G# octave chord, A, B, etc. I can slide a regular power chord up the neck just fine, but for some reason when I just do the octaves it's like my hand is stuck in mud. I hope it's just because i never do it and need practice and not some physical deformity or mental hangup. I can play power chords and barr chords just fine usually so it's weird. I notice it's worse when descending the slide. Maybe I have too much pressure on my thumb? I think that's what it is, but I can't find the right technique yet.
 
That is an E5 power chord that you're describing. Guess I'm not understanding what you mean by an octave chord. You're not hanging your thumb over the edge of the fretboard are you? Awful habit, that.
 
Robus said:
That is an E5 power chord that you're describing. Guess I'm not understanding what you mean by an octave chord. You're not hanging your thumb over the edge of the fretboard are you? Awful habit, that.
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E on the 5th string 7th fret and then 3rd string 9th fret. I think E5 is E on 5th string 7th fret and 4th string, 9th fret.

My thumb is on the back of the neck pressing into it. I think that tension is making it so I can't slide, but that's how I normally play power/barr chords, so I have to figure out how to let the tension off to slide. I just can't seem to do it.
 
Nola, you're gonna hate this but it's just practice mate. I song I'm working on at the moment is doubled with octave chords all over the place. Just keep your hand nice and relaxed, this will help with muting the middle string and moving it easily and strike the note fractionally before you move it, it will sound smoother.
 
JDOD said:
Nola, you're gonna hate this but it's just practice mate. I song I'm working on at the moment is doubled with octave chords all over the place. Just keep your hand nice and relaxed, this will help with muting the middle string and moving it easily and strike the note fractionally before you move it, it will sound smoother.
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thanks for that tip jdod.
it's okay I love to practice and just finished a few hours where i worked on those chords. they were a little better tonight, but still kind of stuck in the mud a bit. I think it's my thumb putting too much pressure on the back of the neck, and then also my hands felt sweaty. it feels like on the slide you have to take all pressure off the thumb and move then hand and then put the thumb pressure back on. is that accurate? i guess i don't play normal power chords that way b/c it doesn't feel right. i can mute the middle string and all the others fine it's really just getting that thumb to move fast enough, especially when playing descending chords. oh well i will just keep practicing it.
 
Practice it at half speed for awhile. Something I do often with that kind of thing is a sort of clawhammer, hitting the lower string with the pick while plucking the upper one with a finger. Sounds cool when you do it as you're sliding into a chord.
 
Yeah I reckon you definitely need to relax your thumb as you move the chord
 
JDOD said:
Nola, you're gonna hate this but it's just practice mate. I song I'm working on at the moment is doubled with octave chords all over the place. Just keep your hand nice and relaxed, this will help with muting the middle string and moving it easily and strike the note fractionally before you move it, it will sound smoother.
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The Hedrixesque piece I'm working on has a lot of octave work. I think Hendrix used an octavia pedal on the passage I'm playing in my instrumental (the slow instrumental that closed his Woodstock set) but I learned it playing the octaves back in the 1970s
 
JDOD said:
This actually sounds like a pretty interesting and original idea. You should be able to (hopefully) get bands that can actually play and are well practiced if they're going to record it live in one take. They can't afford to have a record any old shit and polish the turd later attitude. If I don't notice remind me here when you do it. I never look in marketing.

Make sure you cut bits of the discussion in between the songs! It should make it a better watch!
Click to expand...

I posted the first episode yesterday, if you'd like to watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbB0UOcB5AU
 
dudernut said:
I posted the first episode yesterday, if you'd like to watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbB0UOcB5AU
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Cool... regardless of whether people like the music - its a band that can actually play and give a complete performance. Hope you can continue this mate. It deserves a thread of its own.

So, I'm sure they did a few practices. But is this performance all one take with no overdubs? what post production have you done to the recording?
 
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Nola said:
they were a little better tonight, but still kind of stuck in the mud a bit. I think it's my thumb putting too much pressure on the back of the neck, and then also my hands felt sweaty. it feels like on the slide you have to take all pressure off the thumb and move then hand and then put the thumb pressure back on.
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Cherub Rock! great song that introduced me to the usefulness of octaves a long time ago! I put them in to fill out choruses a lot now...they also work very well over related chords, as in the G octave (a string 10 and G string 12 played over the D chord on a second guitar). You can find very cool/interesting combinations this way that fill out a song and make it sound more full. It's all over modern rock, really. You just have to listen closely. Choruses are the most common place to use them over power chords on another guitar. see: My Own Worst Enemy (Lit), Machinehead (Bush), and every Fall Out Boy song, i think ;)

So...not sure why your thumb is giving you so much trouble. Just loosen it up man! Don't death-grip the neck. In fact, my thumb is barely touching the back of the neck on those parts - and it's only the base of the thumb, the "root" of it, i guess. The tip is almost hanging off, very loose, like i'm bending it backwards. It sounds more like an issue with proper grip/hand placement to begin with. Everything should be loose except for the fingers actually pressing on the fret board. keep your arm and wrist loose.

What prevents your thumb from moving up and down the back of the neck? is the grip too tight? is it rubbing in a counter-productive way?
 
JDOD said:
Cool... regardless of whether people like the music - its a band that can actually play and give a complete performance. Hope you can continue this mate. It deserves a thread of its own.

So, I'm sure they did a few practices. But is this performance all one take with no overdubs? what post production have you done to the recording?
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Thanks!! I've already made a thread about it in the marketing forum.
 
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