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Post Your Music [OT]

I don't usually share my music, because it's not good enough to be presentable, but considering this is a pretty small community I think it might be kind of fun to at least throw it out here. I tested out some basic Metal vocals for my last album, and I think the second track was probably the best one, which the link should directly take you to:


Please disregard the 3rd track and everything else on the channel lol
 

ymoc

Member
Finished a new track. Finally got a name for this new album I'm working on too.

https://shiftershapes.bandcamp.com/track/middle-points

I like it, BUT, the track is kind quiet. I can hardly hear the guitar, especially the higher strings are barely audible? Which is a shame since it could add a lot to the sound.
I know the pains of mixing classical guitars altough it seems your arrangement is fairly simple so it should be easier to push it a bit more.
Did you record everything on 1 mic in a single session?

If I'm being pedantic some parts could use a producer's "No no no, don't sing this phrase like this, let's redo this one more time", but it's absolutely ok to keep it honest as is.

All in all nice work :)
 
I like it, BUT, the track is kind quiet. I can hardly hear the guitar, especially the higher strings are barely audible? Which is a shame since it could add a lot to the sound.
I know the pains of mixing classical guitars altough it seems your arrangement is fairly simple so it should be easier to push it a bit more.
Did you record everything on 1 mic in a single session?

If I'm being pedantic some parts could use a producer's "No no no, don't sing this phrase like this, let's redo this one more time", but it's absolutely ok to keep it honest as is.

All in all nice work :)

Thank you so much for being straight with me.

I'm a terrible mixer. Which is part of the reason why I don't often find myself 7 tracks deep on a song.

Guitar was tough cause it comes in really bassy and it drives me nuts.

I use GarageBnd for mixing and I got a way better mic than what I had before, but if you have any suggestions on presets or settings that could bring out the sound, I'd love to know!
 
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Not everything was recorded on a single session. Guitar and vocals together don't sound too great to me on one mic so I try and split the difference by playing the guitar first and then going back and singing.
 

lil puff

Member
I am not good at mixing either. It's all just for fun, here is something I did without even worrying about mixing or arrangement.

 

ymoc

Member
Not everything was recorded on a single session. Guitar and vocals together don't sound too great to me on one mic so I try and split the difference by playing the guitar first and then going back and singing.

That's a good way to do yeah.

Yes the lower/mid frequencies are usually problematic with guitars. It is up to how you set up the mic position too, but you'll most likely need to EQ the track in any case.
All you need is just some EQ cuts on guitar and then I'm sure you can boost your master up quite a bit more.
If you send me the master wav file I can check what's happening real quick.
 

ymoc

Member
OK enough talking with no music, so here's one of the things I'm currently working on.

Our guitar ensemble is making a few new songs and I'm making arrangement and mixing for this wonderful piece (props to my brother).
I haven't really tackled the transitions, so they're not perfect. There's some rough parts naturally, some peaking, but it's slowly coming together.

I would prefer we rerecord vocals because they are off a few times (dont want to auto-tune) and need some serious remaking, but I would also love to do that when we get a better studio vocal mic. Right now we're mostly using our live setup for recordings.

Enjoy the first part (excuse the rought cut at the end).

 
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OK enough talking with no music, so here's one of the things I'm currently working on.

Our guitar ensemble is making a few new songs and I'm making arrangement and mixing for this wonderful piece (props to my brother).
I haven't really tackled the transitions, so they're not perfect. There's some rough parts naturally, some peaking, but it's slowly coming together.

I would prefer we rerecord vocals because they are off a few times (dont want to auto-tune) and need some serious remaking, but I would also love to do that when we get a better studio vocal mic. Right now we're mostly using our live setup for recordings.

Enjoy the first part (excuse the rought cut at the end).



Great mixing!
 

TFGB

Member
This thread is dedicated to all the musicians on GAF who write and record their own music. This is a place we can share our music creations.
Here's my contribution. I released these recently. Feedback appreciated. Don't forget to share yours and keep this thread going as we create new music.
You've got some cracking melodies on there Punks. You've probably heard it a few times, but some of those are gagging for house mixes.
 

Snoopycat

Banned
Haven't done anything for ages but got a few days off so I had a quick mess around. It's not right but maybe once I get some proper echo on the drums and beef up the middle it might turn out ok

 

lil puff

Member
Was looking for some fresh ideas after completing a track and stumbled onto a neat trick.

I basically opened up an old file, selected all the midi events and used a command to reverse them. So the notes are inverted, but not quite reversed. I kept the structure the same. It actually worked in a strange way. It's interesting because while the song is in the same key, it sounds different, but still familiar. The timing was a bit off in some areas.

Next, I'll change the instruments/synths, reprogram the drums, since they don't make sense and see where it goes. Will post it if I remember.
 

ymoc

Member
Helloooo....


It's a little quiet in here.


Heh :)

Anyway,
I had a little "ooooh" moment with one of my sound libraries last week, namely Action Strings. It's a library with some serious limitation if anyone is familiar with it. To the point, when I first tried it out it just didn't sound right. It felt super artificial, thin...just wrong.

Cue last week when I wanted to try to make an XCOM inspired track and I was again greeted with not having a suitable string library for fast paced writing (slow attacks, long releases etc.). Well, except for a couple articulations here and there (which are used in the track too).

Something made me load Action Strings up again and lo and behold I noticed a small print text next to some string patters. It was a number. And it got to me. It was the intended BPM to be used for the track.
I matched the tracks tempo to the library and sure thing things started sounding quite nice!!! I felt like an idiot. Sounds weren't warped unnaturally anymore.

I finally had some nice fast paced strings and with what time I had after working a second job this month I went on building perhaps a slightly generic track, but I'm just making excuses.

What I'm wandering is how close to the "am I there yet" is this?
My skills to mix and master for a quick project can only push me this far right now.

Clicky here
 
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Malmorian

Member


If you're interested we have some other videos posted on YT as well. Sadly no longer together, but we made some great albums along the way. I'm the bass player
 
My newest album, linked to what I and others think is the best track on the album;


And some bonus material based around the Albums Creation:

 

Ichabod

Banned
Finally stopped being a procrastinating little bastard and made a new track.




It took an embarrassingly long time to master/mix. I'm open to tips for cutting down on mixing time if anyone has any. As it is, its a laborious process where a track can sound awesome in my headphones but when I play it through my stereo, the levels are all off and it sounds like shit.
 

ymoc

Member
Finally stopped being a procrastinating little bastard and made a new track.




It took an embarrassingly long time to master/mix. I'm open to tips for cutting down on mixing time if anyone has any. As it is, its a laborious process where a track can sound awesome in my headphones but when I play it through my stereo, the levels are all off and it sounds like shit.


I like it. 80s vibe with hints of 90s.
Blade Runner inspired?

I do know the pains of mixing&mastering. Do you use any professional reference tracks to compare your mix? That can really help sometimes.
I can't really give much tips for improving the track. The low mids do sound very prominent though. There's a lot of competition in those ranges from your synths.
 

Ichabod

Banned
I like it. 80s vibe with hints of 90s.
Blade Runner inspired?

I do know the pains of mixing&mastering. Do you use any professional reference tracks to compare your mix? That can really help sometimes.
I can't really give much tips for improving the track. The low mids do sound very prominent though. There's a lot of competition in those ranges from your synths.

Thanks! I love synthwave and recently watched Bladerunner 2049 for the first time and wanted to try my hand at something that would fit in with that world. I've never tried using any professional reference tracks for comparison but I'm willing to try anything that can help cut down on mastering time. Writing and composing is easy but the mastering process drives me insane.
 

Avasarala

Emoji Emperor
X-Com inspired music.....

I hadn’t thought of that...

Like... original xcom???

(Years of my life chucking light sticks around in the dark to the sound of ‘dum dum dum dum dum dum...’ )
 

SKM1

Member
I compose on guitar pro for fun. Little bits from time to time.



And sometimes just on my bass.
 
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joombo

Banned
Thanks for the inspiration guys! I also started learning how to make my own music recently. I found easy songs to play on keyboard for beginners with videos. Right now it’s more of a fun hobby, but I hope in the next few months I'll be able to make my first track.
 
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Kev Kev

Member
i was gonna post this in show me your arts topic but then i found this so 🤷‍♂️

my problem writing has always been that i try to perfect every song, as if it has to be my next epic masterpiece. as a result, i havent finished or released shit in years, lol... so the other day, i decided to just write and release it. threw this together yesterday afternoon and im pretty happy with the result. sure beats telling myself im a failure bc i cant write the perfect song lol... anyways, hopefully ill be showing a lot more on here in the future. enjoy.
 
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deafmedal

Member
i was gonna post this in show me your arts topic but then i found this so 🤷‍♂️




my problem writing has always been that i try to perfect every song, as if it has to be my next epic masterpiece. as a result, i havent finished or released shit in years, lol... so the other day, i decided to just write whatever comes out and release it. threw this together yesterday afternoon and im pretty happy with the result. sure beats telling myself im a failure bc i cant write the perfect song lol... anyways, hopefully ill be showing a lot more on here in the future. enjoy.

I had considered doing the same (Show me your arts...)!
I have songs from 15+ years ago that I am still unhappy with. Not so much from a perfection POV but just generally unhappy with my vocal takes. That probably comes down more to my refusal to stitch my vocal tracks together usually, I have an internal hang up on insuring that any vocal takes I do must be from front to back. I may select different takes for verses and choruses tend to have a little copy pasta but generally if you hear it it's a 'live' take so to speak. As I don't really share (I make music for me and don't expect many would like it tbh, proven to be true when I have shared) my music it doesn't really matter if it's ever 'finished'. I do quite enjoy the process but sometimes I wish I had a partner in crime, someone to help write/arrange and to hit the buttons when I'm recording but not having/wanting many friends and not knowing where to look... 🤷‍♂️

That said, here is a track that I wrote a little under a year ago:



Vocals are rough tracks for me to learn the words and get a feel for how I would like them to flow. Definitely not finished but I still enjoy it.


Some cool stuff from other Gaffers, I only did a quick perusal but will try to listen more later (plus my frame of mind is a bit off today...). Would be cool if we could have a little, active music making sub-community!
 

Kev Kev

Member
I had considered doing the same (Show me your arts...)!
I have songs from 15+ years ago that I am still unhappy with. Not so much from a perfection POV but just generally unhappy with my vocal takes. That probably comes down more to my refusal to stitch my vocal tracks together usually, I have an internal hang up on insuring that any vocal takes I do must be from front to back. I may select different takes for verses and choruses tend to have a little copy pasta but generally if you hear it it's a 'live' take so to speak. As I don't really share (I make music for me and don't expect many would like it tbh, proven to be true when I have shared) my music it doesn't really matter if it's ever 'finished'. I do quite enjoy the process but sometimes I wish I had a partner in crime, someone to help write/arrange and to hit the buttons when I'm recording but not having/wanting many friends and not knowing where to look... 🤷‍♂️

That said, here is a track that I wrote a little under a year ago:



Vocals are rough tracks for me to learn the words and get a feel for how I would like them to flow. Definitely not finished but I still enjoy it.


Some cool stuff from other Gaffers, I only did a quick perusal but will try to listen more later (plus my frame of mind is a bit off today...). Would be cool if we could have a little, active music making sub-community!

good stuff man! i was feeling a very mindless self indulgence vibe, little bit nine inch nails too.

and my philosphy is, jsut release everything man. people are smart enough to be able to figure out that you didnt quite finish it or master it, and mostly they dont care. your the one who is going to criticize yourself the most, whle others jsut want to get the idea of your song. they arent analyzing the way you are. so just release it into the wild and move onto the next, learning from your past experiences, and applying what you learned to new projects.

this will not only keep you from the frustration of second guessing every little thing you do, but it also helps to feel accmplished and inspire you to keep writing. i think thats key in being a creator. you just gotta get in thee, do your thing, and get out. worry about perfecting the next project instead of just staying on one thing for months at a time.

at least thats what im working on now. and so far ive created and released more music int he past 2 weeks than have in the past 2 years.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Well...I guess my identity is revealed (unless no one reads this post). I've been playing multi genres on multiple musical instruments since about 1996. I didn't start to publicly publish my music until about 2010. I'm very insecure and some of these instrumental albums/EPs went through a lot of production and promotion...which was a total failure. People buy my music out of pity. These are not for sale and I'm pretty sure it would violate GAF policies to be trying to buy them anyway. If you like anything (there are like 13 releases)...message me and I can get them to you for free (provided the mods are okay with that...I've never tried it). You can listen to any track freely with these links.













 

Kev Kev

Member
dusted off an old piano tune i wrote when i was in high school. its midi, like most of my stuff. been getting away from electronic recently, but there are a lot of old ones i want to pull back out and show off, like this one...
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
dusted off an old piano tune i wrote when i was in high school. its midi, like most of my stuff. been getting away from electronic recently, but there are a lot of old ones i want to pull back out and show off, like this one...

Whoa, that was like hearing Liszt, Chopin, and Keith Emerson so rolled into one! You have a gift Kev Kev Kev Kev
I'm still sub-par on piano.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
i wasnt playing it, i only wrote it. its electronic. but ill take the compliment anyway :messenger_tears_of_joy: post some of your stuff id love to hear!
I figure to write on MIDI still takes a musical mind to organize all of that. I posted some music above in a previous post. I have two electronic E.P.s out of the 13. The electronic ones were mostly MIDI.

I wrote this jazz one on my Hammond organ 2-years ago. Went to a local studio to record and decided to play guitar and bass on it, too. The electronic piano is supposed to sound like an old Wurlizter. Drummer never showed up...so I had to implement my embarrassing drum skills. I played the drums while listening to a click-track. I released a last instrumental album in January and have been dormant on playing music since. Tough year and I don't feel as motivated to play like before.

Here's that jazz track I played. Studio time is fun but it's expensive. I recorded on 2 albums in a professional studio. All others were from my previous home in the States running a Zoom H2 through audio software (SoundForge for editing, Magix for recording).

 
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