Bedroom Demo

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kramer
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Kramer

Kramer

Well-known member
Howdy all.New at this so be gentle.

This is Nothing more than an original idea demo'd in the bedroom using an alesis sr-16 drum machine.Appreciate any ideas on how to better the canned drum sound.

Keep in mind,this is just an demo'ed idea and by no means a finished product.Thanks.

Song is titled "I Cant Complain".

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/1/1475/singles.shtml
 
Sounds pretty good. I know what you mean about the SR-16. I have one around here some place. The weakest thing in them are the cymbals followed by the toms. What I've done is to use the toms sparingly and if you can, use real cymbals. It's a pretty good combo. You got a good guitar sound. What are you using?
 
TRACKRAT:

Thanks for the tips on the sr-16 trackrat.Im used to playing drum pads by hand after I get the rhythm tracks laid but with the sr-16 the pads are a little too small for that.Thats why I just let the pattern run and I hit the fill/stop/start footswitches as much as possible to break up the monotony of the drum pattern.I guess I'll have to graduate to a set of real drums when ever I get the cash to get some mics.

At the moment Im Recording with a Fostex VF-16.
Using one cheapo peavey 580-n mic for everything.
The rhythm guitars are recorded direct using a danelectro distortion pedal.(sounds bad)
The intro solo and middle solo are a strat played through a peavey classic 30 tube amp mic'ed with the 580'n.

Ending solo is a Les Paul Special through a Peavey Special 130 with the same peavey mic.

I need some quality mics!I think Im gonna buy a Shure SM-57 this week so I'll have at least one decent mic.

I've got a long way to go.Im from the analog world and all this digital stuff is greek to me.

Thanks again for the tips on the sr-16.I need to figure out how to program the thing.That would help my songs a little.
 
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The best thing about the SR-16 is it has to be the EASIEST drum machine to use. I picked up a DR-770 because it had some decent sounds in it, definately better than the SR-16 but it's not nearly as intuitive to use. It drives me fuckin crazy.
 
sounds great...even if you don't get out of bed to play!!:p Another example TO ME that shows the fingers do the talkin' and cheap mics can work just fine. Your song (and singing)is the strong point here and keeps any recording problems in the background. I also like your gtr sound. One thing...maybe not a direct suggestion, but if your song was 3 minutes, vs 5 minutes, the drum sound wouldn't get on the 'nerves' so much. They were fine to me...if I didn't listen to the HH too much;) . ..but after 4 minutes of them (and your suggestion to clue in on them!!), they started to lose their appeal. Killer lead solo...kinda Satriani-ish to a degree, complete with sound. If the song ended on this passage...I'dda wanted more... (hint, hint) ...and you would have been at the 'magic' 3+ minute mark...

great job...especially as a self declared demo idea...now go record in your living room(get out of your bedroom) and kick some butt.:), and make this a REAL song. ..you're on the right track.
 
mixmkr:

Thanks for the input.I did crawl out of bed to lay a few tracks.:)I appreciate the gracious comments.The song should have went straight into the chorus after the solo and then just fade now that you mention the length of the song.I wrote this song a few years ago just to play live as sort of a jam type song and always thought of it as nothing more than a jam so thats why it so long.It goes a lot longer live and has some concert type break downs.:)

About the satriani-ish lead in the middle of the song.Thats close but it's more along the lines of Eric Johnson.Thats my younger brother playing the solo and He tries to pull of off Eric Johnsons style as much as possible.We were gonna do a straight ahead blues/rock lead sorta like kenny wayne shepherd ,but he had the idea of throwing the song completely into another feel by playing the type of solo he chose and I think it worked.

I need to do a little more practicing with my recording and mixing and asking you guys questions!I've read a lot here and these people have some great ideas and comments and "how to" lessons.I'll be posting some more as I get a little better at this.

Thanks again for the comments and suggetions.
 
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Did you guys raid the ZZtop songbook?;) Sounds cool. The snare and HH might be a little more realistic with a bit of reverb. Great guitar and vocal performances.

Get your gear up to snuff and I'm sure you'll do some cool recordings.
 
TexRoadkill said:
Did you guys raid the ZZtop songbook?;) Sounds cool. The snare and HH might be a little more realistic with a bit of reverb. Great guitar and vocal performances.

Get your gear up to snuff and I'm sure you'll do some cool recordings.
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LOL.The funny thing is my younger brother has never really heard any ZZ Top except for movies soundtracks.:),but me being a little older just might have had a little ZZ influence.:D

Thanks for the tips on putting a little verb on the snare and hi-hat.Im gonna take all the advice I've gotten here and re-mix this song and see what happens.Appreciate the compliments on the vocals and playing.I've worked a long time on my vocals and have finally came to a place where I think it sounds decent on a recording.

Thanks for the tips and comps.!
 
Re: Well, Alriiiiiiiight!

Axe4Yahweh said:
Bro, y'all did an excellent job!

Love the tune! Great theme, too! Good geetar work.

Yeah, a lil reverb on the snare and hat will bring em out some.

Get it down to around 4 mins and you have a commercial winner.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words!This is actually my least Commercial sounding tune.:)It was actually meant to just be a Live jam tune as a commentary on life with some biographical info added to the lyrics.

Thanks for the compliments!It's time to see if I can make it sound a little better now!:D
 
Kramer's going to kill me for this, but this tune is just to damn great and it needs some more ears. I was like "shock and awe" when I first heard this...and still am.
 
Man,talk about raising the dead thread.LMAO!The song isnt located at that url anymore.I deleted that acount along time ago and it still shows up, but I have no access to it.I have a new account at nowhereradio and the tune is located here.

Most everybody has heard this tune though david.LMAO!I havent done a thing to it.It's still in the same pitiful shape it was in when I posted it in this thread.LOL.

Move along folks.......nothing to see here!:eek:
 
Jeez, that guitar solo is goofin' good!

This track surely needs a real drummer...but hey, it's a demo.

Love your vocals, Kramer!
 
well... I haven't heard it... :p

sure.. the drums are cheesy, but dang.. that's some great guitar work... and the vocals are pretty dang good.


p.s.. I would love to put drums to this... (if I could :( )


WATYF
 
damn, good stuff Kramer....i listened to both songs while i was there...i cant believe these slipped by me......

the only thing that i found i didnt care for was panning the lead guitar...Loved everything else.....
good down home stuff.....


MIKE
 
That was some great sounding guitar work and good sangin'. You should finish this one. Sounds pretty damn good now...I can hear it sounding great.

Nice work.
 
Man, I went to the posted site there and its empty. I guess your doing something else to the tune. I'd like to hear a shot of the inner side of Kramer. I`ll keep watchin.
Ken
 
Toki987 said:
Man, I went to the posted site there and its empty. I guess your doing something else to the tune. I'd like to hear a shot of the inner side of Kramer. I`ll keep watchin.
Ken
Click to expand...

It's located here now toki.You can also get it here along with a couple of other tunes.
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/kramer/tracksheets.html
This thread is almost a year old and david ressurected it from the dead.LOL.


To those of you who have checked it out I'd just like to say thanks for checkin it out!Now i'll let this thread die back off.LOL.

p.s. my little(only in age,not size.LOL)brother played the middle solo on this tune.He's an eric johnson fanatic and I kinda wanted something along those lines instead of my blues/rock licks,so I asked him to do the main solo.
 
WATYF said:

p.s.. I would love to put drums to this... (if I could :( )


WATYF
Click to expand...
Wanna take a shot at it?:eek: Anything would be better than that annoying drum machine pattern.LOL
 
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