rough cuts

[parttime]

hey people,

a few ago i posted in the "quarantunes" thread a rough cut of mine and it got me thinking. often, i like to hear other musicians' practice/jamming sessions. it gives a totally different introspection on the mindset, habits, and techniques of other players- way different than hearing the bass in the final mix, or a completed song. i couldn't find a similar thread, so i figured i'd just make one.

a place to post your totally crap practice sessions without fear of judgement! maybe it'd be nice if kind critial feedback was sought. i know we all have these little bits laying around. are you too afraid someone will steal your idea??!! oh well, maybe it was a good one then. so, with total confidence that nobody will take any of my garbage practice jams, here is a little snippet from last night...

gimme something else to listen to besides beautifully produced tracks!!!! i wanna hear the raw you!

 

[Kro]

a few ago i posted in the "quarantunes" thread a rough cut of mine and it got me thinking. often, i like to hear other musicians' practice/jamming sessions. it gives a totally different introspection on the mindset, habits, and techniques of other players- way different than hearing the bass in the final mix, or a completed song. i couldn't find a similar thread, so i figured i'd just make one.

a place to post your totally crap practice sessions without fear of judgement! maybe it'd be nice if kind critial feedback was sought. i know we all have these little bits laying around. are you too afraid someone will steal your idea??!! oh well, maybe it was a good one then. so, with total confidence that nobody will take any of my garbage practice jams, here is a little snippet from last night...

gimme something else to listen to besides beautifully produced tracks!!!! i wanna hear the raw you!

Very cool, I enjoyed listening to that, thanks for sharing!

Like you, I'm also a big fan of hearing more raw recordings, especially of early in the creative process. How the sausage is made is how I'd describe it!

These are two of mine, both recorded after one or two creative sessions and after landing on the general structure and arrangement. Still very rough around the edges with all flubs, especially on bass, still intact as I was experimenting with parts in real time.

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[parttime]

nice @Kro , thanks for dropping something... seems like you guys are up and practicing again! i guess not many other people record their idea sessions (or maybe don't want to put them up).... or don't want to admit we arent all jaco all the time, hahahaha

my best buddy sent me a new fiddle around with one of his newer little jams yesterday. i'll try to do a quick practice take over it and put it up just for quicks and for the sake of all really rough jams everywhere!

happy friday

 

[Kro]

seems like you guys are up and practicing again!

No way, we're still operating 100% virtually and social distanced. Those are older recordings - both of those songs have already been finished and released at this point. We definitely still are creating and releasing new music though.

i guess not many other people record their idea sessions (or maybe don't want to put them up).... or don't want to admit we arent all jaco all the time, hahahaha

Ha, yeah we really only do it once we have a structure down that we all like and don't want to forget it. So we get usually one of these per song. But I hear you about not everybody wanting to show the in-progress clips. I like hearing them though, and don't mind sharing.

my best buddy sent me a new fiddle around with one of his newer little jams yesterday. i'll try to do a quick practice take over it and put it up just for quicks and for the sake of all really rough jams everywhere!

Nice!

 

[parttime]

ah, yeah, social distancing. seems like everybody here has already forgotten what that is! good on you guys for remotely composing though...that is not easy at all, as i have found out. i swear everyones computer or interface is recording at slightly different time signatures, and trying to mix all that down has proven quite tricky for me.

Nice!

well, you know how it goes. i played through the track like 50 times yesterday morning, got 50 takes, and deleted every single one! then i just turned to a new idea i am working on because i was frustrated that i couldn't get something on the bridge that was grooving!

so here's the new tune i'm writing, now it has 2 verses and since this yesterday i've arranged a bit more and decided on a lyrical direction for the rest of the song. but it's still rough, obviously!!

aright, since this is the rough cuts home ill also post up the last run through on my friends tune. he has a lot of tracks still to add so i'm trying to weave my way through his pre-notes....not really working yet...but that's the 2nd track here. i think i'll get to work on it again this morning

 

[Kro]

i swear everyones computer or interface is recording at slightly different time signatures, and trying to mix all that down has proven quite tricky for me.

I know you're joking, but we've been modestly successful with it. If there are any technical issues you're having, I'd be happy to help if I can. I think the key is stewing and layering. One member cuts a track and passes it off for inspiration - then the band stews on it for a bit until the next guy has an idea, then that gets tracked over, rendered, and passed off for digestion until the next member gives another layer... Sometimes those layers get redone, but it seems to work.

aright, since this is the rough cuts home ill also post up the last run through on my friends tune. he has a lot of tracks still to add so i'm trying to weave my way through his pre-notes....not really working yet...but that's the 2nd track here. i think i'll get to work on it again this morning

Hey, all you can do is just keep on working on it until it starts to fall together. Some interesting parts in the files you attached, very avant-garde - I like it. And like I said earlier, I always enjoy listening to how the sausage is made. Looking forward to you sharing these as they progress!

 

[parttime]

I know you're joking, but we've been modestly successful with it. If there are any technical issues you're having, I'd be happy to help if I can. I think the key is stewing and layering. One member cuts a track and passes it off for inspiration - then the band stews on it for a bit until the next guy has an idea, then that gets tracked over, rendered, and passed off for digestion until the next member gives another layer... Sometimes those layers get redone, but it seems to work.

yo kro! i guess i should check out your album! i assume you guys have it out available in the cloud like all the kids are doing these days?

and since you offered, there is one technical glitch that no one has been able to help me with. so i am recording in pro tools first. i get a couple tracks down and want to send it to my buddy. so i select all tracks and export as wav. the problem is when he or i open it, it is sped up and the pitch, tempo, everything is wrong. it's super crap, but basically, if i want something to sound right i have to take the wav from pro tool, open it with audacity, then apply a speed change effect and slow it down by 7.17% then export as an mp3. and now of course a c isn't a c and so forth. so why is it speeding everything up when i export?? that's what i was joking about the recording at different speeds!! hahahah, sort of joking.

 

[Jeff Scott]

These three "songs" that are on Rare Blend's Stops Along The Way CD are really totally improvised jams, taken from our practice sessions. We'd warm up a bit, then hit the recorder. One of us would start a drumbeat, bass line, keyboard part, etc., and the rest of us would come in and we'd jam for a couple of hours this way while recording the jam. This created lots of material to develop songs from. In the case of these three songs, we just found sections that could stand on their own and included them in the album.

 

[Kro]

so i am recording in pro tools first. i get a couple tracks down and want to send it to my buddy. so i select all tracks and export as wav. the problem is when he or i open it, it is sped up and the pitch, tempo, everything is wrong. it's super crap, but basically, if i want something to sound right i have to take the wav from pro tool, open it with audacity, then apply a speed change effect and slow it down by 7.17% then export as an mp3. and now of course a c isn't a c and so forth. so why is it speeding everything up when i export?? that's what i was joking about the recording at different speeds!! hahahah, sort of joking.

Are you willing to share a screenshot of your export dialogue?

I just did some math... 7.17% you say, I think that's close to the difference between a 44.1 and 48k sample rate...

It could be something else though, what interface are you using?

 

[Kro]

These three "songs" that are on Rare Blend's Stops Along The Way CD are really totally improvised jams, taken from our practice sessions. We'd warm up a bit, then hit the recorder. One of us would start a drumbeat, bass line, keyboard part, etc., and the rest of us would come in and we'd jam for a couple of hours this way while recording the jam. This created lots of material to develop songs from. In the case of these three songs, we just found sections that could stand on their own and included them in the album.

I like them a lot, but those aren't rough cuts (I say that as a compliment)

 

[rzamites]

Great stuff, all of you. I’m honored that I was able to listen to this on a sleepy Sunday morning. Coffee, cats and music.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...i like to hear other musicians' practice/jamming sessions. it gives a totally different introspection on the mindset, habits, and techniques of other players...

I like them a lot, but those aren't rough cuts (I say that as a compliment)

But, they fit the OP's criteria perfectly. They really are just 1-2-3-Go! jams with nothing preconceived. You won't be hearing the stuff that is truly rough.

 

[parttime]

You won't be hearing the stuff that is truly rough.

boooo, we want to hear it!

and hey @rzamites , i was once born and rasied in detroit, but decided there were greener pastures. i did spend the last couple years up in tc, which is pretty beautiful. hope all is well in the mitten state!! just a shout out to a fellow michigander...

@Kro , how do i see the export dialogue?? when i export from pro tools it just says like bouncing files and then the box fills us, operation over. it doesn't say anything to me after that! thank you for giving it a shot though, i appreciate your willingness to help me! if you can help me get this solved i'll owe you a big favor...

 

[parttime]

oh, and i forgot to add before editing time-out that i am using an icon cube6 as the interface. i have mixed feelings about it. the problem as far as i have been able to trace, is with the clock settings in the firmware of the icon. they aren't talking with the clock of my computer or something. so when i first got going, i was using audacity mostly because i could plug and play. but then, i would record something, add a new track, and on the playback the thing i just recorded was like a slow spinning, warped record. it was way slow, and even the timings would change throughout the recording. then i got pro tools first up and running, and now i can record as many tracks and whatever i want whenever i want, and as long as i have the project saved all the timings and playbacks are fine. as soon as i export from pro tools tho, that's when i run into problems. anything i open it with is sped up and pitch shifted to around that 7.17% (as close as i can get it by ear). danged if i can figure it out.....

the cube 6 was a good investment in that i can record a lot of stuff super quickly. i have yet to run out of 6 inputs. and like i said, it functions well, except for the issue above, and also a frustrating thing that when i'm not recording the monitor is wonky. it kind of goes in and out of like a built-in compression setting or something. as soon as i hit record, it's all fine. anoying, but whatever, for the price i think it was an ok forray into this whole thing.

oh, and here's yesterdays rough cut...

 

[Kro]

oh, and here's yesterdays rough cut...

Nice, I enjoyed that while I was searching for the PDF below

how do i see the export dialogue?? when i export from pro tools it just says like bouncing files and then the box fills us, operation over. it doesn't say anything to me after that!

Check out PDF page 38 of [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], but also pay special attention to PDF pages 6 and 7.

Make sure you're setting things up from the start to match the specs of your interface. This is the one you're referring to, right? To set up hardware:

Hardware Setup
Configure your audio interface using its own Control Panel (consult the manufacturer’s instructions for information specific to your audio interface). This will be audio interface that is selected as the Playback Engine in the Playback Engine dialog. To configure your audio interface:
1 In Pro Tools | First, choose Setup > Hardware.
2 Pro Tools | First launches the Control Panel for your audio hardware.
3 Configure your audio hardware to suit your needs according to the manufacturer’s instructions

Hope that helps!

 

[parttime]

mornin! @Kro

thanks man, i have read that, but i'm motivated to now actually solve this problem instead of some vague retiming operation. i'll let you know if i figure it out! thanks again man...

 

[parttime]

well, figured i'd just keep dumping stuff! here's today's daily riff/rough cut. decided to bust out the ipad video! hahahaha!

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