Unfortunately I can't play piano, bass, drums, .... or guitar.

[Clam Soup]

Just in case, DAW=Digital Audio Workstation.

So is that the PC, or the mixer?

 

[JimmyS1969]

A DAW is the software that you run on a computer to record digitally. It will enable use of whatever input it is given through an interface or MIDI device. Well, most will. The term DAW just relates to the program that allows recording of 'whatever' to a computer. Reaper, ProTools, Cubase; are DAW's. Even Audacity would be considered a DAW, though a very limited one.

 

[Armistice]

I couldn't play guitar either, until I could. And all it took was years and years of practice. If you can sing in time you can play guitar in time.

It depends upon the level of quality you want to document here - I'm assuming you're posting in the clinic because you want feedback of one sort or the other, so here goes:

1. you've got a few timing issues going on there with the two guitars - I'd try to work on them first - play to a click and then play the second track over the first so you can hear what's going on
2. the voice sounds very good as others have mentioned - a nice rasp. You might want to consider not panning the two takes so wide though and also reducing the volume on one of the takes. Try it with what you have and see if you think it's better.
3. The song itself is standard I IV V stuff... a million of songs like this around - to make them really work you need something else, something different - brilliant lyrics or brilliant melody or brilliant something else, musically....

It sounds like a work in progress to me... keep at it, develop the song more, and have another go would be my advice. Listen not just to the music that people make, but how they make it for clues as to how to make everything sound pro.

Nice...

 

[rayc]

A DAW can be a stand alone recorder.
The Digital Audio Workstation can be hardware or software based.
I have 2 hardware based DAWs (A Disklab and a Zoom R16) and 2 Software DAWS running inside one computer (Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.3 & Reaper 3.something).
Of the 4 I am most familiar with Cakewalk, am learning Reaper, gave up on the Disklab (too complicated) and am learning the R16 (as a control surface for Reaper).
keep at you learning.
I have no skill with any instrument BUT can get by so long as I use collaborators for the things I do particularly poorly, (Vocals, guitar solos & drums). It took time to develop enough of the basics to get to the stage where a colaborator would care to dip in.
You just need to keep at your song & follow up by doing what has been suggested & you can manage.

 

[Clam Soup]

I couldn't play guitar either, until I could. And all it took was years and years of practice. If you can sing in time you can play guitar in time.

It depends upon the level of quality you want to document here - I'm assuming you're posting in the clinic because you want feedback of one sort or the other, so here goes:

1. you've got a few timing issues going on there with the two guitars - I'd try to work on them first - play to a click and then play the second track over the first so you can hear what's going on
2. the voice sounds very good as others have mentioned - a nice rasp. You might want to consider not panning the two takes so wide though and also reducing the volume on one of the takes. Try it with what you have and see if you think it's better.
3. The song itself is standard I IV V stuff... a million of songs like this around - to make them really work you need something else, something different - brilliant lyrics or brilliant melody or brilliant something else, musically....

It sounds like a work in progress to me... keep at it, develop the song more, and have another go would be my advice. Listen not just to the music that people make, but how they make it for clues as to how to make everything sound pro.

Nice...

Exactly feedback of "one kind or another."

Most all of my songs are of the simple progressions. Not entirely for the simplicity, but it is actually a sound I like. Plus it leaves tons of room for musicians to come in and open it up. I am not the musician - I just want to write the songs. But a consequence of writing them is that to pass them forward to the right hands, I have to at least provide some type of footprint. .... that's what I tried to do with this song - to find the lead tones I like.... and wait for someone to say, "dude - your lead sucks... let me do it better for ya."

The funny thing is that I totally stepped all over myself trying to fill that lead essence and this is the song that everyone keeps commenting on.

On another song (What A Love) I tried to leave some sense of drum - and no one commented on that at all.

Currently I am playing the folgers can and tamborine for my next production.

The songs are all so much better than I am. ... and there's a lot of them. I am not going to learn how to play guitar any better than I do other than what happens by the way and through the years.

Local musicians get a crack out of me because I'll get up on stage and tell the audience "I hate being here." ... I'm just trying to serve the songs.

This has me laughing so hard I can't see!

 

[kcearl]

nope you cant play that well...but you can sing very well


you need to find someone who can play very well


then the world will find harmony again

 

[Clam Soup]

nope you cant play that well...but you can sing very well


you need to find someone who can play very well


then the world will find harmony again

That is what I've been saying for years! ... but I don't really want to be "the singer" either. I'd just like to write the songs and keep the flood gates open.

 

[kcearl]

That is what I've been saying for years! ... but I don't really want to be "the singer" either. I'd just like to write the songs and keep the flood gates open.

then your playings fine...if youre just showcasing your songwriting then keep at it

but you can sing

 

[Clam Soup]

then your playings fine...if youre just showcasing your songwriting then keep at it

but you can sing

Thanks - I consider it a part of the same gift.... the ability to push the melody forward can prove the integrity of the songs even when the playing is subpar. Ultimately, for me, it is about getting the endless amount of lyrics off of the page and out to where they will be heard. Had I known earlier in life that this was a gifting, I'd have very likely learned to play better. But none of this was known to me and writing was something I did for my personal entertainment.

I am in fact reading all of the criticisms and trying to apply those things that make sense to me - to make my part of the process cleaner and better. But I'm not going to get stuck on one song. I'll apply the knowledge to the next song, and the next, and etc..... then, return to the top and fix the ugly first takes.

I played at a songwriter's workshop one time and ran about 3 and a half hours without repeating a tune. Made me realize I should probably record them (good or bad) just so I don't forget anymore than I already have.

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