Fretless

Music Theory is written specifically for guitarists. It is thorough, includes lots of examples written in both music score and guitar TAB and has a 94-track CD with many of the examples. It can be used as a textbook or as a reference manual. I have it, have learned a lot from it and thus recommend this book if you do not already have something similar.

Ian, I grew up on Simon & Garfunkel and know this song well. You did a great job with it. If I wanted to be really picky, it would not be with your guitar but with not holding some of the sung notes long enough - but I couldn't do this anywhere near as good as you so I can't really criticise. Regarding the bathroom sound, the situation is that the sound reflects off the walls and arrive at the microphone so soon after the original, direct sound and that creates the sound of being recorded in a small room. If you can find an echoey corridor, like some schools have, or a traditional church building which would have a sound like a larger version of your bathroom, then you would get the bigger sound naturally. Studio recordings usually go the opposite way: record in a nearly anechoic room and add the reverb electronically.

Mandy, I am really impressed at the difference between your original and remixed versions. It shows that you are listening and mixing well. It is an impressive composition and lovely playing, both guitar and harmonica. Well done!

Happy birthday, maestro!

Plantsman, if your wife tried a 10lb (5kg) or heavier guitar (as are many Les Pauls) and a semi-hollow or hollowbody then she would likely be able to choose which she prefers. Personally, the main thing that has made me feel most comfortable with a guitar is the neck: a chunky neck versus an ultra-slim neck. As we do not know what size hands your wife has and what will feel comfortable for her, this is, as you say, difficult for a beginner to appreciate when they cannot yet play an chords. The Yamaha Pacifica which Nutty mentioned is the most popular starter guitar and perhaps because it offers quality, a neck, weight, HSS pickups and more that cover the middle ground well, allowing a developing player to discover which direction they would like to go should they buy another at some point. Taking your wife to a guitar shop would indeed be a good idea. As well as all the colours and shapes that appeal to her, I would find some different neck thicknesses and also different body shapes. I am thinking more of the cutout on the back (as a Strat has) and the body edges (rounded like a Strat or square like a Tele or Les Paul). If you explain what feature you are wanting her to compare between two particular guitars it will make her decision making process easier. The challenge is then to combine all her preferences and find the guitar that best matches her choices. That is how I would expect a guitar to speak to her, whispering, "We were made for each other; take me home."

Many small combos these days have a headphone socket so you can listen to your guitar complete with any effects you have while being almost silent to anyone else.

Brilliant, Ian!

I recommend something within your budget, which is how much: $100, $1,000, $10,000?

Yet, another great one, CapM, both in terms of writing and recording. I continue to be impressed at your progress in all areas. Keep it up! If I was mixing I would have wanted to hear what it sounded like with the guitar 3-4bB quieter so that the guitar is not competing for attention quite so much, but that's just me and my curiosity as I have a different pair of ears to you.

Hello jumiclads, the course may be easier second time around. Here's wishing you much success and lots of enjoyment from the course and playing guitar.

I use a Zoom HN2, one of the self-contained recorders. I record myself, ideas, band practices, church services and other events and concerts. For simply recording so that you can hear what you have been playing most folk have smartphones these days and so an app on that would be a logical way.

I could go on at great length trying to put sounds into words but maybe more succinct would be if I wrote a song to demonstrate, so, hang on and I'll be back in a few days with my explanation and example!

I find it easier to comment by giving you something to listen to and explaining my thoughts, so: GG3 - mixed by Fretless As the lead guitar with the cascading effect is meant to be the lead guitar I increased its volume but then found that it has a brittle-sounding top end so I tamed that with EQ. I think this is a brilliant example of how a lead part can be something simple to play and how an unusual effect can help it be interesting. The harmonica needed to be a bit louder so that it could be heard but, to my ears, it quite quickly distracted the listener's ear (ie. mine) away from the vocals, so it is there but not very prominent - I recall listening to albums when I was younger and after a few listenings I would start to notice quieter instruments I had not noticed at first. I think of the harmonica here like that. The rhythm guitar that is only playing single notes during the verses was made quieter until it sat comfortably in the mix in a support role. I think it works better now in the lead section as it is clearly there but the listener's ear is caught up by the cascading guitar. The bass plus the rhythm guitar sounded a bit too full to my ears so I EQ'd the bass to my taste and then, at the mastering stage, also subtracted 2dB centred around 350Hz and added a high pass filter at 80Hz.

Mandy, I never heard you sing so well; brilliant! As for my part, I was talking through the rhythm so I wouldn't count my part as singing. However, this is a guitar gathering and it works so I'd say the combined vocal is plenty good enough. I know you are doing the official mix, Mandy, but can I request a copy of your vocal track on its own, when you are happy that it is the finished version?

Sorry about the delay; here is the draft lyric, complete with the count-in. I got one word wrong in the first chorus (it's alright in the other two) and I intentionally swapped lines 2 and 4 in verse 2. I am happy for you to do it all, Mandy, however you see fit, or to ask for a second voice, either as verse-refrain contrast or as a harmony. Whatever!

The best gadget I bought when I was young was a metronome. It has turned out to be great discipline to have to stay in time with it. Steve's Play-Along CDs make playing along to a metronome so much more fun. As ever, start at a slower tempo than you think you need to and speed up when you know that you can comfortably keep in time with a slower tempo.

Let me do a draft vocal - because I have the rhythm but no melody in my head - and then we can discuss what to do from there. So, the ball is back in my court!

Let me present the lyrics twice. First, with bullet points showing the beats (quarter notes) in the song. If that is doing your head in, use the plain lyrics, posted beneath. One more thing: Mandy, thank you for volunteering to sing it. I wonder whether a second person should sing the chorus. If so, I'll be happy to sing either the verses or the choruses and leave you the other - or leave you to sing the whole song if you would prefer. Song title: The ballad of Nehemiah Verse 1: •Do •you re•member • •when the •walls came •down? • •Do •you re•member • the •gates of •our home •town? • •Many •years a•go • we •call it •histor- •y • •Rubble •stands on •show • a •city I •hope to •see • •I •have a •dream • the •King has •given per•mission • •Heading •to the •homeland • I •got my•self a •mission • Chorus: O •Lord, come •look at •what they've •done We •need your •help, we •need some•one I •see our •wall, •standing •there •rising •up, all •neat and •square Our •future's •sure for •ev'ry •one •Mother, •daughter, •father, •son Verse 2: •Look •at it •now, • the •builders •are at •work • •Look •at it •now, • the •walls are •rising •fast • •Working •side by •side • a •sword •in one •hand • Twelve •gates •for twelve •tribes • re•buil- •ding our •land • •Future's •looking •good • the •future's •looking •strong • •Gonna re•build the •temple • when •Ezra •comes a•long • - - - - - The ballad of Nehemiah Verse 1: Do you remember when the walls came down? Do you remember the gates of our home town? Many years ago we call it history Rubble stands on show a city I hope to see I have a dream the King has given permission Heading to the homeland I got myself a mission Chorus: O Lord, come look at what they've done We need your help, we need someone I see our wall, standing there rising up, all neat and square Our future's sure for ev'ry one Mother, daughter, father, son Verse 2: Look at it now, the builders are at work Look at it now, the walls are rising fast Working side by side a sword in one hand Twelve gates for twelve tribes rebuilding our land Future's looking good the future's looking strong Gonna rebuild the temple when Ezra comes along

I started in the middle of last week and then was busy from Friday onwards preparing for a gig on Saturday and re-learning 5 songs for church on Sunday - because I normally play drums in church but was needed on guitar yesterday. I am now back on track and am piecing lyrics together on the theme of 'The Wall' (not the same wall that Pink Floyd sang about).

Doug, thanks; it is amazing what can be accomplished with modern technology (edit: plus many years of experience). Mandy, it is there now - here.

I think your assumption was quite reasonable. How were you to know that the guitar player couldn't keep to the written song structure?

Is there a chance you could export the bass track on its own (with the clicks before the start), ideally high quality, namely. AIFF or WAV, 24 bit 44.1kHz?

Mandy, here is an interesting situation: listen to the opening bars of your mix with the bass and compare it to this one. What is different? The answer is that our timing - the rhythm guitar and the bass - is different. Don't worry as this is going to turn out fine and be a great practical lesson in using Melodyne! I did not play the C#m G#m F#m E of the introduction and the the choruses with two quarter notes (two crochets) on each chord, as you did and could reasonably summised from the song structure, but rather, I played C#m and F#m for 1.5 beats and G#m and E for 2.5 beats. Here is a link to a screen shot of the bass audio and also in Melodyne https://app.box.com/s/vjvnr2u1hur291pr6inpyuki53so41q8 Let me start with one extra thing: look at the start of the bars shown in Melodyne and it looks as though the bass starts just before each bar. That is because it sounded odd to me yet when I moved the whole audio passage in my DAW so that the bass starts early, it sits (for me, at least) nicely in the groove. If you look at the audio in the pink bar you can see that the bass notes hit their peak at the start of each bar. Okay, to Melodyne. In bar 26 you can see I have one note selected. I have option-dragged (I'm using a Mac) the start point half a beat to the left, ie. earlier, timewise. That needs to be done to every note that falls on beat 3 in bars where the guitar was strummed - the intro and choruses. Ordinarily we might have said to re-record the bass to match the rhythm of the guitar but as you are relatively new to Melodyne and this is a simple task, I thought you might appreciate a chance to get to know Melodyne better.

Mandy, on box.com I have put 4 files for you to import and see what happens - they are uploading right now. Set your Garageband project to 112bpm and then import all 4 and see which ones play back at 112bpm and which, if any, don't. My DAW, a 2009 version of Logic, copes with different bit rates ok but if the sample rate of the audio I am importing is different to the project's sample rate then there will be a tempo mismatch. Now I know I check before importing; it will help you to know what Garageband is capable of or not.

Mandy, explore importing and exporting 24 bit as that is a significant improvement over 16 bit. I recall that Greg tends to export 24 bit 44.1kHz. By all means use me to test or check your exports or to provide files to import. NB. I have updated the rhythm guitar track, by adding a muted rhythm to the existing one.