I have no idea what I'm doing

F

Friday

New member
but here is a little video I made last night,

Summertime - YouTube


now,I'm not expecting the world to catch fire but I am very interested in any tips or hints as to what I can do to improve any aspect of what I'm trying to do here which is to just make an interesting enough video to keep people entertained for a few minutes doing what I enjoy i.e. playing music.

I took a Karaoke backing track from youtube and played a melody on top using Guitar Rig,recorded into FL Studio at 44.1khz. I'm using a Focusrite Sapphire PRO 14 interface and a Logitech webcam.

I'm pretty happy I managed to get this far to be honest but I want to improve and I'm an adult so speak honestly please and it will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Andrew
 
Sounds fine, the video quality is good. Opinion wise the guitar is too gain-ey for the song. Maybe a rounder more mellow tone with less gain would suit the material better. Either way - the recording sounds fairly natural.
 
Thanks,
that was the first thing that struck me after a few playbacks,the tone is too thick for sure and if I do another take I'll reduce the gain on the virtual amp.
It's funny how things sound different after you've published them.

I am going to take that as a vote of confidence though as I spent a bit of time trying to find the correct levels for the guitar and backing to work together instead of against each other so if it sounds natural I'm happy with that.

Is there a section in here where you folks post your stuff for general viewing?
 
Nice job. As a jazz piece, I thought the guitar tone was pretty nice. The guitar seemed to be expressing a deep heartache and it can't really do that with too smooth a tone. I liked it and appreciated the gain setting as it was. If I had any crit it would be to actually drop the level of the guitar 3db or more to better match the backing track. I kind of heard vocals there somewhere but they were drowned out by the guitar. Otherwise, well played :)
 
The backing is a karaoke track and there's a low level guide vocal in there,I was hoping it wouldn't come through too much but what can you do.
Thank you for the rest though,I've always loved that piece and as I can't sing thought I'd have a go at it with a guitar but I think I'll have another pass at it and let it flow a touch more.
It's a lullaby by all accounts but I feel there's a massive amount or raw emotion in the tune for expressing love/heartache etc.
:)


I was hoping for a jazzy/brass instrument sounding tone...
 
Hey - the tone thing is just a personal opinion. I've heard plenty of versions of this tune on nylon string guitar that express the heartache perfectly. YMMV. As far as the technical aspects - it looks and sounds pretty good. Keep it up. Have fun!
 
Cheers,I will.
I'm happy to get a bit of feedback.
:)


nothing unusual in that for a guitarist.....
 
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What can you do? There are customizable backing tracks where you can select what tracks you want. You might not be able to get that particular song in a custom track but its an idea.

I was thinking about the jazzy/brass myself when I heard your guitar, kind of saxophone-ish. I liked it. Would like to hear it again with the backing track brought up more even with the guide vocal. Could sound really great
 
I think I just got lucky to hear some resemblance of a brass instrument be it a sax or whatever because I didn't attempt to find a tone like that but on playback there are moments when you could forgive yourself for thinking of it,serendipity at play and I like that.
:)

I shall research more into backing tracks and I'm thinking about band in a box too as a friend recommended it to me.

Today it looks like I'm going to be chasing after an amp that's for sale a few miles down the road from me so I need to see if I can go and grab that before someone else does and I'll be able to contune my pursuit of a better rendition of Summertime when time allows me.

Thanks for your input chaps,it is very welcome and please keep it coming. Hopefully I'll have a fresh post for you soon.
 
Friday said:
I shall research more into backing tracks and I'm thinking about band in a box too as a friend recommended it to me.
Click to expand...

Definitely get band in a box. If you cant create your own backing tracks, then BB is certainly a help. It is also good for ... I was going to say "visualizing"... a new song in several styles to see how it works with any potential solo you are thinking of putting over it. Defs a useful bit of gear to have in the bag, so to speak
 
I have a number of semi-finished projects on my hard drive but I always fall down on the drums,I use FL Studio and I can't seem to find any drums acceptable no matter how much I tinker with them,it's depressing to be honest.

I did try Chordpulse a while back but it didn't accept 9th or any altered chords,I don't know if that's changed now.
A friend is going to show me around BIAB soon so I'll see how it looks and sounds.

I just downloaded a different karaoke backing for Summertime anyway so with a bit of luck I'll be able to fire that up tonight now and see if I get inspired.
:)

Have you got any links to your stuff out there?
 
I don't rely heavily on BIAB for everything but occasionally I might use it to lay down a new song. I couldn't imagine being unable to use extended or altered chords. I haven't found any that BIAB can't do. I frequently replace the guitars with my own playing and use the synths in Sonar X1 to replace the other instruments that BIAB provides, especially the drums and orchestral stuff. This is one that I did use BIAB for the accompaniment:

Sunny

Certainly no shortage of chords.

This is one of my own that I created entirely within Sonar X1. The guitars are all me, the drums are Sonar. Nothing automatic there, had to enter the drums via sequencer but it has hundreds of customizable kits to choose from. If they sound bad, its my fault :)

Summer

The following used one of the aforementioned customizable backing tracks providing accompaniment for my guitar:

Breezin
 
I'm having no luck opening those links to be fair,I have quick time installed too so I don't think it's that.

I've been having issues with my work flow,whenever I decided I'd do a tune I forgot how to set the DAW up or the ASIO or whatever which I'm sure is a common thing amongst people into this kind of thing ,that is a real killer when it comes to making inspired music though.
Now I'm more familiar with all the technical aspects or at least to a point where it only takes me a minute to be ready to record something I'm hoping that BB or some other similar software will help me realise idea's more quickly and then if I have a good idea that's worth pursuing I can set it up properly and create all the parts I think it needs.
I'm watching ebay for a used Squier bass now as I'm already missing being able to input a bassline myself as opposed to going through a sequencer. I think a sequencer is one of the best things in the world for what it can do but it's soul-destroying to have to sit there and input it all.

I have found some decent synth sounds though and all this stuff is amazing compared to the single track tape deck I used to use when I was learning guitar back in the 80's....
play,listen,re-wind,play,listen,re-wind,yeah I think I have it now,lol
 
Friday said:
I'm having no luck opening those links to be fair,I have quick time installed too so I don't think it's that.
Click to expand...

On the contrary, quicktime will kill it every time... Right-click on the links and select "save target as" or wait for the quicktime player to come up and click the play button. It wont play automatically
 
Breezin is just wonderful,what a great faithful rendition.The joy just pours through,liking that one.

Summer,well I can hear some nice hi-hats in there and I can hear some ,what sound to me anyway,awful hi-hats. It's always the hats I have most trouble with.
Nice enough tune though,I'm not sensing too much movement in the chords for the verse parts but I guess this is what you wanted, I would love to be able to create a track like that to be honest.
Good melody,balance,yes.

Sunny,I'm getting that's a BB backing it does sound slightly mechanical to me.
 
There were even fewer chord changes in Summer when I first conceived it. It had just one chord, Em. Was just an experiment but I couldn't leave it that way so I put the break in

Thanks for the comment on Breezin, it was a pleasure to play
 
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