Aparently time away from Talkbass didn't make me stop not being good at music n stuff

Matt Till · #1 01-07-2007, 05:09 PM

So, I need help, sorta.

Alright, how ya'll doin'. I missed ya'll, all ya'll been in my thoughts... my dreams, my prayers. Time without yins all has been fairly productive, other than fixing up my house and working, I have been recording more than usual. I got a USB preamp, so recording became a lot easier/cleaner.

http://www.myspace.com/drrskt

3 All new Drrskt songs, ambient, techno, glitch, stuff.

BUT, this is what I need help with:

I've been wanting to work on a prog side project that could eventually turn into a REAL BAND. So I decided I wanted to write my own songs. I've been working on one, but it sucks:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/j4x83o

Why does it suck? Main reason i know of is: No drums. It needs drums, but I don't want fake drums, I'm going to have to find out how to get some real drums recorded once it's all together. It lacks the togetherness it could have with drums PLUS some keys.

I'm going for prog, but it sucks: The song, where should it go? I'd like to have a simpler part that could have vocals... but I can't sing! Hmmm. It's becoming more and more aparent that I'm not a songwriter.

Prog songwriting tips? Anyone? Spare change? Hi.

Matt Till · #2 01-07-2007, 05:10 PM

P.S. i'm nevar comin' back 2 Talkbazs evhr a gin!

seanm · #3 01-07-2007, 06:11 PM

I think the problem is that *both* prog fans are busy today. What where the odds of that?

superbassman2000 · #4 01-07-2007, 11:21 PM

i dig the new drrskt songs!

and welcome back!

leffe luffer · #5 01-08-2007, 04:53 AM

Well all this doesn´t mean that you are not a songwriter. But lets face it. It´s tough to be a one man band.

Maybe it would be a good idea to use Reason to get som nice drums and keys into your songs. I dont really know much about reason but there is lots of stuff you can do with it. For my bands live intro I wrote a stringpart with a cello and a couple of violins by using powertab to write the music and then extracting the midifile and use that in Reason to put some "real" sounds on the part.

I´m more in to progressive metal than the softer kind of progg your doing here but as far as the song goes I thought it was nice but as you said it needs a more straightforward part with vocals.

Keep on groovin!

Mike Flynn · #6 01-08-2007, 05:48 AM

hi Matt - nice to have you back here - I'll check your tunes later - I'm at work now...

matrok · #7 01-08-2007, 06:11 AM

I like the ideas. Do you have a midi keyboard that you could add drums to it yourself?

Matt Till · #8 01-08-2007, 10:48 AM

Thanks for the replies.

Midi keyboard would be nice/ideal. I have one, but there is latency issues. I can only do soft synth stuff, since there is no issue of timing being a huge deal. I have to find a way to make my keyboard sync with my computer.

Fake drums just... nah, I hate 'em at this point, but if I controlled them (human "error" makes drums awesome) it would help. But I just need to get a drum kit... when I move away from college and don't have neighbors so close.

I do need some simple parts, but it's so hard for me to think "oh a melody/lyrics will carry this part." This is more a few riffs for a song than a song.

But the Drrskt stuff has become completely different, it use to be dark ambient stuff, now it's weird trippy stuff. Weird.

Talkbass: well, to put it bluntly, I actually trust the musical opinions around here. I go to another music forum, but it's more just for fun and to discuss metal type stuff. I'm still cutting back... but I still need a place to go to on breaks from work and so forth. So wasting time here is just as bad (maybe slightly better than wasting time elsewhere). The break was nice though, my effects rig is where I want it, my recording setup is 100 times better, so most of my at home time, I'm recording, which is awesome.

Santa rules.

bassmonkeee · #9 01-08-2007, 12:24 PM

I can't check out the tunes right now since I'm busy at work (yeah, still checking TB, but still...), but have you thought about looped drums, like Acid Pro, or Garageband?

Matt Till · #10 01-08-2007, 12:52 PM

Yeah, that's a good point, I might give something like that a shot. Do they have odd timed stuff? Or is it all 4/4?

ric1312 · #11 01-08-2007, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Thanks for the replies.

Midi keyboard would be nice/ideal. I have one, but there is latency issues. I can only do soft synth stuff, since there is no issue of timing being a huge deal. I have to find a way to make my keyboard sync with my computer.

Fake drums just... nah, I hate 'em at this point, but if I controlled them (human "error" makes drums awesome) it would help. But I just need to get a drum kit... when I move away from college and don't have neighbors so close.

I do need some simple parts, but it's so hard for me to think "oh a melody/lyrics will carry this part." This is more a few riffs for a song than a song.

But the Drrskt stuff has become completely different, it use to be dark ambient stuff, now it's weird trippy stuff. Weird.

Talkbass: well, to put it bluntly, I actually trust the musical opinions around here. I go to another music forum, but it's more just for fun and to discuss metal type stuff. I'm still cutting back... but I still need a place to go to on breaks from work and so forth. So wasting time here is just as bad (maybe slightly better than wasting time elsewhere). The break was nice though, my effects rig is where I want it, my recording setup is 100 times better, so most of my at home time, I'm recording, which is awesome.

Santa rules.

Hey don't shoot down the idea of "fake drums," just yet. Most of the prog stuff I listented to reminds me of a good drum machine anyway. Hell most of the new rock and such on the radio sounds like at the very least it was recorded with drum triggers on a live kit, then manually put in perfect time by the producer.

I've used the "alesis sr16," at 140 bucks it's a steal. The drums sounds are taken from real drums. No one who has listened to the tracks thought it was drum machine used.

You can program your own 8 beat loop sections and then program a whole song. You can do this through the pads without having to play the whole thing real time, just play the bass drum the first pass through the loop, then the next drum ect....

You can also just use the stock loops, which I have done. It's all very easy to do and will make your stuff sound much better. It's actually kind of fun if you have the patience. The directions are easy to understand as well.