?GG3 - June 2018 Guitar Gathering Collaboration ?

[Nutty1]

??Let's work together to write and record another song. It will be another team effort and anyone at any level is encouraged to join in. ??
   
Please volunteer to do the tasks below shown in black.  I will pick up any tasks that do not get volunteered for and I will help anyone who wants to join in. ?

One of the great things about working with others in this way is that we end up with a song that has been crafted by a pool of ideas. I always find it a useful and fun learning experience! ? 
 
The production tasks: 

1) Nutty1 will Choose a tempo (bpm), time signature (eg 4/4), key (eg. C major) and a song structure (eg. intro, verse, chorus, bridge outro) with bars and chords.

2)Fretless will Record a rhythm guitar track. 

3) Gotto will Record a drum track.

4) Nutty1 Record a bass guitar track.

5) Fretless will Write some lyrics and choose a title for the song.

6) Fretless and Nutty1 will Record the vocals.

7) Nutty1 will Record a lead guitar track (solos, fills).

?Nutty 1 will Mix and master the song, this includes providing intermediate mixes for collaborators who want a specific mix in order to or record their parts.

Please note:

• Please record your track in 24 bit and, if you can, at 44.1kHz, saving your track as a wave (WAV) file. If you cannot do that then do the best quality you can. If you do not have any recording software you can use Audacity, it is free to download and free to use. Audacity is available for Windows, GNU/Linux and Mac. We have a shared online space for uploading and sharing the audio files, I will send a PM with the link to new contributors.
• If you have already done a particular audio task (ie. drums, bass, guitar, vocals) in the previous collaboration then you are welcome to do so again but do please let others have a chance to choose first.
• Please do not negatively criticise others' contributions
•  
• P.s.? If anyone wants to play rhythm guitar but is worried that the chord structure and tempo may be too difficult for them, then please reply to this thread or send me a private message. I wholeheartedly encourage beginners and anyone who is new to home recording. We need all experience levels in these collaborations. This is exactly how I got started, I learnt a lot from the experienced collaborators and I am still learning with every collaboration!?

 

This collaboration is now completed. We ended up making a song called The Ballad of Nehemiah

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by Nutty1

[Fretless]

Can I do no. 5, the lyrics and song title?

[Nutty1]

46 minutes ago, Fretless said:

Can I do no. 5, the lyrics and song title?

Yes of course! 

[Nutty1]

OK folks I have had an idea. ? 

I have volunteered to do task number 1 which is to decide on the key, song structure, tempo and which chords will be used. This means that I can work with anyone who wants to have a go at doing the rhythm guitar and tailor it to meet their needs (i.e. you can choose the tempo and what chords you are able to play).

?All we need now is a volunteer to do the rhythm guitar. Come and join in with the fun!?

[Fretless]

On 6/5/2018 at 6:36 PM, Nutty1 said:

All we need now is a volunteer to do the rhythm guitar. Come and join in with the fun!?

On the basis that after 3 days we have no volunteers and I have just heard that our band practice tomorrow has been cancelled, if you can write a song structure (ideally before you go to bed tonight), Mandy, then I will do my best to record a guitar track tomorrow.

Edited June 7, 2018 by Fretless
spelling

[Nutty1]

Great, I will endeavour to do so.?

[Nutty1]

OK here we go!             Key: E       Bpm 112

 

Intro - 4 bars  (has 2 chords per bar)

C#m G#m / F#m E / C#m G#m / F#m E

 

Verse 1 - 12 bars (1 chord per bar)

E / A / E /  E

A / A / E / E

B / A / E / E

 

Chorus - 12 bars (the same as the intro only do it 3 times)

C#m G#m / F#m E / C#m G#m / F#m E

C#m G#m / F#m E / C#m G#m / F#m E

C#m G#m / F#m E / C#m G#m / F#m E

 

Solo -  is the same as the verse

 

Chorus (as above)

 

Verse 2 (as verse 1)

 

Chorus (as above)

 

Outro - 1 bar

E

 

Note: Fretless, please feel free to make any changes or chord substitutions etc

 

Edited June 7, 2018 by Nutty1
I added a note

[Fretless]

Here is my rhythm guitar track, MP3 or AAC. The click track I played to runs throughout. It starts with 2 bars (8 clicks) and then into the song's intro.

It's a bit different - I could hear a synth pad or something filling in behind the guitar on the verses and solo. Let's see how the other parts go.

When we get someone to mix I can upload better quality versions. While we are waiting for a volunteer I can provide mixes for each step.

[gotto]

I will try to put together a drum track over the weekend. Not my strength...we will see how it goes.

Greg

[Nutty1]

9 hours ago, Fretless said:

Here is my rhythm guitar track, MP3 or AAC. The click track I played to runs throughout. It starts with 2 bars (8 clicks) and then into the song's intro.

It's a bit different - I could hear a synth pad or something filling in behind the guitar on the verses and solo. Let's see how the other parts go.

When we get someone to mix I can upload better quality versions. While we are waiting for a volunteer I can provide mixes for each step.

Great rhythm track Fretless. This is exactly the kind of example that I needed to hear to get me out of my beginner strumming! How did you do the verses, did you use muting?

[Nutty1]

I will volunteer to do the bass track and have a go at the mixing. I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me an opinion on my mix at the end as I am a real beginner at this!

[Fretless]

2 hours ago, Nutty1 said:

How did you do the verses, did you use muting?

Yes, palm muted using the 3rd and 4th strings and two notes from each chord. I am less than happy with the choruses and as sson as I get a chance I may have another go to get something that fits better with the verses and solo.

2 hours ago, Nutty1 said:

I will ... have a go at the mixing.

Great! Which DAW are you using and at what bit rate (eg. 24 or 16 bit), frequency (eg. 48 or 44.1kHz) and file format (eg. WAV, AIFF) do we need to use when exporting our tracks?

[Nutty1]

3 hours ago, Fretless said:

Great! Which DAW are you using and at what bit rate (eg. 24 or 16 bit), frequency (eg. 48 or 44.1kHz) and file format (eg. WAV, AIFF) do we need to use when exporting our tracks?

I am using the latest version of Garageband. I have been doing a really comprehensive course on Udemy which has shown me all(?) of the superb features that it has and I need to start using them. I am already using Garageband to correct the timing of my strumming and lots of the plugins and presets for EQ etc.  I also have Audacity and Melodyne Essentials.

The file formats that Garageband can cope with:

• AIFF

• CAF

• WAV

• AAC (except protected AAC files)

• Apple Lossless

• MP3 

• It needs to be 44.1kHz and a bit depth of 16 bits

• MIDI

Note added later - I can export AIFF to 24 bit quality so it might take in 24 bit, we could give it a try.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Nutty1
Added a note

[Fretless]

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.

[Fretless]

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.

[Nutty1]

Fretless, thank you for producing all of those iterations of your rhythm track and uploading them. I have successfully imported them all into a new project which I did preset at 112bpm and played them all back at the same time and each on their own. They all play perfectly and all in time with each other. Wow, I can do 24-bit! ?

I love the new rhythm track, it sounds superb!

[Nutty1]

OK folks, Gotto has produced a rhythm track and uploaded it to box along with this interim mix of the drums and the rhythm guitar

GG3 Rhythm and drums

Thank you Gotto, great job!

I think it is sounding superb. Now I will get to work on the bass part!

[Nutty1]

I have just done this bass track. I did it on an acoustic bass for a change but recorded via an acoustic amp. I had a go at muting the notes during the verses with a polishing cloth. 

GG3 Bass Rhythm and drums

Edited June 11, 2018 by Nutty1

[Fretless]

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.

[Nutty1]

WOW! Thank you Fretless, this is an excellent lesson on timing. ??Thank you so very much for telling me (and any other beginners who are reading this thread). I really love it when our collaborations can also help others as well as those participating. 

I knew that there was something wrong with my mix but I had not figured it out, I brushed it under the carpet and decided that I would deal with it later. I think that was wrong of me because it is probably best to build a mix track by track. I should get the tracks to match up and sound good before I try to add another track to the mix. 

I made an incorrect assumption that each chord in the rhythm guitar parts of the chorus and intro had an equal number of beats when I planned my bass track. I have to learn to hear what I am listening to and analyse it.

Thanks to the superb advice above I have now moved each bass note that lands on beat 3 (of the introduction and each chorus) by 1/2 beat forward and then in GarageBand I moved the whole bass track forward so that the peak of the bass notes are on the beat (hopefully). I also doubled up on the rhythm tracks and panned one track 1/2 to the left and the other 1/2 to the right.  I then listened to the new improved version (V2) and then to my original mix (which you can still listen to in my post above).

Wow, what a massive difference!

GG3 V2 Bass Rhythm Drums

Fretless, this is an excellent lesson and I can not thank you enough. Please let me know if I have not got the positioning of the bass right. I am still learning to hear!??

 

 

Edited June 12, 2018 by Nutty1

[Fretless]

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?

[Fretless]

5 hours ago, Nutty1 said:

I made an incorrect assumption that each chord in the rhythm guitar parts of the chorus and intro had an equal number of beats when I planned my bass track.

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

[Nutty1]

9 hours ago, Fretless said:

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

No, I have to defend the rhythm guitar player. The song structure only said that there would be 2 chords per bar, it did not specify how many beats or part beats each would take. The rhythm guitarist used artistic licence, after all it was the first recorded track so everything was fluid. It really does work!

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

Wow you guys are so talented in recording software. 

I wouldn't be able to do that much

Edited June 13, 2018 by Eracer_Team-DougH

[Nutty1]

18 hours ago, Fretless said:

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?

I have uploaded the new version of the bass track. I can not find a high quality copy of your rhythm track without the clicks, I used the mp4 version for my rough mix. Am I having a senior moment??