Quality Commentary - not an mp3

And I'll add, that if a guy like me felt I had to perform a certain way, and live up to standards that are not realistic for what I want to do, I wouldn't be here. There is some very well done music here, both in the performance, and the capturing of that performance. Those are the people that keep me here. I like to listen to there music, and have them listen to mine, and give me pointers on how to improve, both in the performing of my stuff, and how to capture, and put it together. We all have to start somewhere, and can improve if helped. I have no aspirations to make anything that people will go out of their way to purchase, or even download. I do it all for me first, and hope I do it right enough that some people who understand what I do is for fun. If they enjoy it, that is cool. If not, that's ok. I don't enjoy everything I hear. But I also get more enjoyment out of the stuff posted here, knowing it is recorded by regular people, than I do from most stuff out by major labels.
I just figure most people here do it like I do, for their own entertainment first, and to entertain us second. I am one who can hear through some bad mixing, or even a performance that isn't spot on. At least you know that stuff is real.


My rant/drunk rambling.
Ed
 
Dogman said:
I do it all for me first, and hope I do it right enough that some people who understand what I do is for fun. If they enjoy it, that is cool. If not, that's ok. I don't enjoy everything I hear. But I also get more enjoyment out of the stuff posted here, knowing it is recorded by regular people <SNIP> At least you know that stuff is real.
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can i get an amen?

i said, CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?

i'm a sysadmin by day. i sit in front of a computer for 10+ hours a day. i come home, have dinner with my wife (now 8 months' pregnant at last count), and then usually noodle on the guitar or plunk away at the piano for a while, often in front of the tv. occasionally i can manage to get off my ass and go down to the basement and lay something down. i record for me, and i aim to please myself. sometimes i do, but i usually find places that need fixing. even after fixing the last round of places that needed fixing. i give copies of things to friends, and if they like it, great. if they don't, it's no sweat off my back--they didn't pay for it and they don't have to listen. :D

i feel the same way about the folks around here--if they dig something i wrote, played and/or mixed, wonderful. if not, i'm sure someone will have something interesting to say, or have a pointer that i can use to learn from. that's how i take all comments here, regardless of intention or statement--they're bricks that we can build skills from. and the same goes for listening to other folks' stuff--there's some great music being made here, and it's amazing how much one can glean from folks who are "doin the same stuff".

and in the end, isn't that why we've been put on this planet? to learn?


cheers,
wade
 
AMEN




[This message is too short and must be at least 10 characters in length or be rejected by the system.]
 
And where is apl when you need a real amen? I'm talking a Neil Young, spine tingling AMEN!!!

Ok, that said, You all are cool, and I like hangin with ya. That makes my music better, just because I know you will listen, and give feedback. I got so much on my last song, it was unbeliveable. Everyone had ways to make it better, that I had never even thought of. But no one told me I suck. They just pointed out stuff that needed work, and explained how to go about fixing those holes. And, people pointed out things that I shouldn't change, as they are decent. Criticism with positive tone, is very helpful. They don't have to like the music, or even the genre, but can give ideas as to how to make that particular song, better. Goes way further than "You suck ass, and I am better." Gotten that elsewhere, and when I listened, they weren't always better. But, they had excuses for the bad sound. Other people have had music that blows mine away, and they can give criticism that is not demeaning. That comes from a real MAN. (or WOMAN, if they happen to be from the prettier sex. )

Ed

PS. I am drunk, but I am a happy drunk. 4 Margeritas, and 3 beers so far. Guess I'll get another.
 
Yeah. AMEN.
Great place to be. There are some good attitudes here.
And I think that there most definitely is such a thing as 'positive criticism'.
I took a fiction writing class some years ago and at the beginning, the teacher suggested a way to critique the works of others: Start by stating what you liked about the work, and then give some opinions about what you think would improve it.
Pretty simple.
I should think that the one being criticized would be more apt to listen to just such a critique, than drastic harshness or name-calling or whatnot. And that is the point, isn't it? Otherwise why bother?



(Hey Dogman! That's one sweet bus you got there! How fast can you get that son-of-a-bitch to go, ay?) :D
 
...c'mon guys....BE HONEST NOW.....

...i've got to admit that i don't make music DIRECTLY for my own pleasure.... or for learning.... i'm a sucker for people liking my stuff. If they don't like it.... then i find that really depressing :D not that i'd do anything just so people like it, i need to express my soul, or whatever to call it.... but it's totally dangerous, because if you open up too much, and you're rejected, it's difficult not to take it personally :( and if i make something i think is really bloody good, and nobody likes it, then to me, it's pretty much a failure. I want to reach people. Unconditional love ROTFLMFAO.... mummy..... basically heaps of adoring fans who love it when i puke.





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Incanus said:
Yeah. AMEN.
Great place to be. There are some good attitudes here.
And I think that there most definitely is such a thing as 'positive criticism'.
I took a fiction writing class some years ago and at the beginning, the teacher suggested a way to critique the works of others: Start by stating what you liked about the work, and then give some opinions about what you think would improve it.
Pretty simple.
I should think that the one being criticized would be more apt to listen to just such a critique, than drastic harshness or name-calling or whatnot. And that is the point, isn't it? Otherwise why bother?



(Hey Dogman! That's one sweet bus you got there! How fast can you get that son-of-a-bitch to go, ay?) :D
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Totally agree with you Incanus. Most people want some help improving, and someone doing that makes it all worth while. My music is still very ragged. But man, you should hear my real early stuff. It is beyond terrible. So, I know I have learned something.

And the bus, It's kinda low and slow. But, It's got a killer stereo, and TimboZ has become a regular passenger. My driver is out getting Nyquil, but he provides for some wild rides...... :D
Ed
 
madmush said:
...c'mon guys....BE HONEST NOW.....

...i've got to admit that i don't make music DIRECTLY for my own pleasure.... or for learning.... i'm a sucker for people liking my stuff. If they don't like it.... then i find that really depressing :D not that i'd do anything just so people like it, i need to express my soul, or whatever to call it.... but it's totally dangerous, because if you open up too much, and you're rejected, it's difficult not to take it personally :( and if i make something i think is really bloody good, and nobody likes it, then to me, it's pretty much a failure. I want to reach people. Unconditional love ROTFLMFAO.... mummy..... basically heaps of adoring fans who love it when i puke.





...
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I know what you mean, madmush. We all want the good praise, but don't really want to hear any negative stuff. I won't say it depresses me, but it does make me rethink what I am doing. But since it is mainly for me, I try and rethink it in such a way that I will like the tune better if I implement some of the ides given by other. If I don't think I will like the music as well, I just say thanks, and move on. Most people around here are willing to help you improve what you have already startd, and that is fun. Can give you a new perspective on an old tune.......
Ed
 
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but it's totally dangerous, because if you open up too much, and you're rejected, it's difficult not to take it personally
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Interesting subject to me, and one I've often wrestled with. How much to stick your neck out... How much to be protective of your love of making music... I think the music's a little better if the performer does open up. Tough though, because how can you be sensitive and revealing over and over if you come away from your audience feeling invisible, misunderstood or offended? Ever read the Hunger Artist by Kafka?

Tim
 
i've only read samples of kafka, but since you've mentioned it now, Lawler, i'll pick it up :)

Of course, everybody can always learn things and improve. But, you can take any piece of music made in history, and there will be somebody who, even though they loved it, could wish for at least some little improvement. What's perfection?

"Works of art are never completed, only abandoned at some stage." (I don't know who i'm quoting.)

I'm more in it for the "performance", as in, presenting a piece of music, to an audience, not necessarily by playing it live, playing a recording is also a type of performance (even in the law books of the world, usually). I guess, if one presents a piece for an audience with the comment, "what can i improve on here?", that's different from presenting a finished piece, and it makes it easier on the artist for that very reason, there's not the same pressure. Imagine your favourite artist coming here and putting up your favourite track of theirs... or, a reviewer of U2's latest commenting on the recording techniques or the swerving vocals on a track..... it's not on! Or critisizing a Picasso painting (if he was alive) by saying "you could perhaps work on the accentuation of your brush strokes".... :D

I regard my work as, in many ways, finished. I don't keep building on the same house all my life. I move on to the next. And i feel that my finished pieces have a value in themselves. I'm proud of them and they deserve to be performed. I have already heard music on this forum where i'm surprised that they ask for criticism. Just because you're not signed, does not mean your recording is not good enough or should be improved.

And i think, if more people kinda "stood up" for their recordings, that would be a good thing. There's a separation between the signed and the unsigned, but need we recognize that separation ourselves as music producers? Hopefully with the technology of the day, more and more people will be open to listening to unsigned artists (it's so much easier now), whereas a while back, most people wouldn't bother, because if you weren't signed, to them that meant your stuff was probably "shit"... i sure hope that's changing, because i want a bigger audience, and i don't want to be signed!



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Something I've learned from opening up a little to different music than I had been used to is about metal and its various personas. It's similar to what I learned about blues when I got interested in it - that the whole origin and basic idea of the blues in music isn't about wallowing in sorrow, it's about beating it back. Wynton M talked about it a lot.

My previous impression of metal was that it glorified the brutal nature of the world around me. (And hell, I've got enough of that and don't need any more.) Couldn’t have been more wrong. In reality it exposes it, challenges and calls it out... almost exactly the opposite of what I had assumed. At least that's how I hear it now.

Tim
 
Timothy Lawler said:
My previous impression of metal was that it glorified the brutal nature of the world around me. (And hell, I've got enough of that and don't need any more.) Couldn’t have been more wrong. In reality it exposes it, challenges and calls it out... almost exactly the opposite of what I had assumed. At least that's how I hear it now.

Tim
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Should we feel the same way about rap? Gangsta rap? I think all music is a reflection of what is going on around us. And if you think about it, the best songs (in any genre) are the ones that hit you right in the heart, probably because that's where they were written. Look at country music. The best songs in that genre are real life situations put to a melody. The songwriter 'stuck his neck out' and wrote about something very personal to him. Maybe it's therapeutic, I don't know. And then the artist who sings the song was probably struck by the song so he decided to record it. In the case where the artist IS the songwriter, now HE has to stick his neck out every night that he plays that song.

I think my favorite songs that I've written are the ones that reflect something that happened in my life, whether it be riding around in a van and having an idea for a song but not remembering it when I got home or getting my heart pureed by the bitch across town who took advantage of my situation by seeing two other guys at the same time and getting knocked up by one of them! ;)
 
Tough though, because how can you be sensitive and revealing over and over if you come away from your audience feeling invisible, misunderstood or offended? - Lawler
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Don't the metal bands hide behind this ultrahard facade...? I don't critizise that. But i'll admit, i know very few lyrics of metal music. When the singer sounds like a Transformer comic, i guess i don't give him the chance. To me it looks like an aggressive husband yelling at his wife and scaring her, when in fact that's not his intention, he's just scared himself and hasn't got a clue what to do about it... hope i'm not to harsh on the old metal heads! :D

I hide as well. The reason i love punk so much is that if everything else goes to hell, you can always smash the guitar up. I don't trust people!...


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xfinsterx said:
Some do.
Most dont.
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Possibly. . .maybe. . .the difference between good, and not so good?
I don't know. I'm not exactly a big metal fan, particularly 80's metal.
 
G'morning Folks,
Wow...this is a great thread!
I thought that all the people that cared had left. I may have to start spending more time here, again :)
Thanks kids,
BillA
 
Imagine your favourite artist coming here and putting up your favourite track of theirs... or, a reviewer of U2's latest commenting on the recording techniques or the swerving vocals on a track..... it's not on! Or critisizing a Picasso painting (if he was alive) by saying "you could perhaps work on the accentuation of your brush strokes"....
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In a way that's one of the most intriguing things...

[scene: ancient China, true story] The emperor’s royal artist (Ch. brush painting) was walking down a rural road. Though he was fabulously wealthy and respected he preferred to wear a rough peasant cloak over his tailored clothes and go on long walks alone. After a few miles he came to a spot where a local landowner and a few of his guards were supervising a group of workers fixing a fence. When the artist approached, the landowner demanded that he also join the workers. (Peasants had no legal rights so forced work was common.) Instead of removing his cloak and identifying himself (he could have the landowner executed for an affront like this), he bowed, picked up a brush and went to work. Several hours later the landowner returned. Covering the fence was an extensive and delicate mural of the surrounding landscape. The work was immediately recognizable to the landowner and he fell to his knees and begged for his life. The artist bowed, as required of a peasant, and continued on his walk.

Tim
 
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great story, lawler.... :)

...i've heard stories about Oasis, when they were peaking, sending "demos" under a fake name to established labels for a laugh, and getting rejected....

...for a while i really tried to promote the mp3 revolution, p2p, and all that, but realise more and more there's no need to....it's happening, safely, can't be stopped... paradise is here :cool: and we're right in the thick of it...




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I thought that all the people that cared had left.
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I've heard that a few times. In the few months I've been here I've come to feel that there's a more interesting quality of conversatation here in the mp3 clinic than in most of the other parts of HR. Seems like there's a caustic frustrated attitude mixed with a kind of goofy chaos that's an undertone in some of the forums...less so here.

Tim
 
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