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Share Your Music Share your .not or .mid files of your arrangements or compositions.

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  #1  
Old 03-17-2005, 01:42 AM
Sherry Crann (sherry)
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Default Howdy, Well, as threatened,

Howdy,

Well, as threatened, here's another one

This one has been floating around for a while, as I wrote it for Bill (my husband) for his first Father's Day as a Daddy. Mahala was about 8 months old, and he took her on their first Daddy-Daughter date - to an old Godzilla movie She came back from that experience and launched into a time of roaring never matched by any of her younger siblings. So anyway, since Father's Day was not too far off, and Bill likes the blues, I wrote this song for him for the occasion.

<center><table border=1><tr><td>Dadzilla
Dadzilla pro.not (220.7 k)</td></tr></table></center>

The .not file here is only part of the song that is recorded at www.soundclick.com/beanfield_castle What is labeled in the .not as the "melody" track is not pitch-corrected, but is rhythmically pretty close, and I only put it in to help me keep my place a little easier as I was adding and editing things like the piano and brass.

Speaking of these parts, once again they are the "hack and hone" method - I used my Casio keyboard to record in the rhythms into Composer Pro, and then went in and adjusted the pitches that were incorrect (I'm getting better at getting some of them right the first time ) For the recording that I made, I actually only used the drums, the right hand piano, and the brass, which were all soundfonts.

I tried using the GPO trumpet(s), but they sounded too nice for what I wanted I'm not totally happy with the brass, however, so it needs some work. Any suggestions for soundfonts, or other manipulations that can make the horns work better? I'm thinking perhaps a little portamento slide off the ending. I could also use a few pointers for the attacks and such, too. As I said, these parts are just me trying to hack them in and then fix them, so I'm quite open to suggestions from those who know more than me about playing the actual instruments!

I'm also thinking of adding the bass walking line back in for the choruses, and if I do I'll probably record them from a real bass as opposed to using a synth for that, unless someone has a killer bass soundfont they know of, or other suggestions for a nice punchy tone.

For the recording at my soundclick site, I actually used my soundcard to record the drums, brass and piano part while playing it in Composer Pro, then I recorded another file with the guitar part (my trusty Taylor 812), and another with the vocals (that'd be me), and yet more short ones with the roars (those are my kids ), and then put those all together in Cubasis to render the final .wav file. I then clipped out the quiet front and end with my Creative Wave Studio software, and saved the mp3 for uploading. As I said, it's rough (it's not even in true stereo ), but I find it helps me to hear how things are falling in place (or out) if I do this kind of rough mix, then listen, then re-work it.

ttfn,
Sherry
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  #2  
Old 03-17-2005, 01:33 PM
Sherry Crann (sherry)
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Default Howdy, I should also add a

Howdy,

I should also add a couple other notes about the recorded version.

You'll notice that in the drum track, there are some "keep the beat" notes in the drum track that aren't there in the recording. I simply went in and temporarily deleted them before recording the drum/brass/piano audio track, then restored them for when I was recording the guitar and vocal audio tracks. For the vocal and guitar tracks, I set my soundcard to record only input from my little US 122 unit, so although I could hear Composer Pro's playback, it didn't record at that time.

I used Cubasis VST 428 (it was a bundled version) for putting the final thing together, but I had problems if I wanted to combine audio and midi together. If I did all audio (or all midi) everything was fine, so since I haven't been able to transfer my vocal to midi, I went the all audio route, and that is why I recorded Composer Pro's performance of the drums/piano/brass tracks.

I'm also thinking of adding some sort of guitar solo for the little interlude between the second chorus and the third verse. Some little blistering acoustic/electric solo is what I think it wants, but I'm open to other thoughts, too

I'll post a midi of the file here, for those who may want to see the notes, but don't want to use Composer Pro to do it.

<center><table border=1><tr><td>Dadzilla Midi
Dadzilla post.mid (22.1 k)</td></tr></table></center>

And it also occurs to me that if you want to demo any examples for suggestions, please feel free to take the midi (or the .not, just please re-name it) and modify it, then re-post it here, complete with explanation of what you did, of course ;)

ttfn,
Sherry
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  #3  
Old 03-17-2005, 06:20 PM
Mike Mandaville
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Default Hello, Sherry. I like this

Hello, Sherry.

I like this tune. I haven't listened to the audio version yet, so my comments therefore will be directed towards the MIDI version. Of course, it does lack a lead melody, though this really doesn't concern me too much, since everything else is in place, as far as the basic song is concerned, and so fitting a melody to the lyric and to the arrangement should not be difficult.

What concerns me at the moment, though, is the mix, and, in particular, the drum track. I split the drum track, so that I could mix it to be more to my liking, and the sounds changed. I'm not sure why this happened, although I did notice when I brought up the track setup box for the drums that it seems as though you have entered a bank number manually, so this could be the reason.

By the way, the drums themselves sound fine except that I do prefer a different mix. What I mean specifically is that I like for the triplets on the closed high hat to be brought up the 127, and for the bass drum to be brought down to about 20, and for everything else in the arrangement to be adjusted accordingly. This is normal for me, although I do confess that I end up remixing everything that I hear.

Well, I need to get ready for work, because the weather has finally warmed up around here. And, by the way, I live in the country also, and I have a sister who is a home school teacher.

Cheers

Mike
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  #4  
Old 03-17-2005, 07:39 PM
Sherry Crann (sherry)
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Default Hi Mike, Thanks for the fee

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the feedback

Your observation about the drum track is a good one - I did use a soundfont (which is a very nice rendering of some acoustic drums - it sounds really nice), and it does indeed change the sound.

I haven't messed around much with the drums for this particular song, but after listening to the recording a few times, there are a couple of places where I want to change some dynamics and perhaps even a couple of instruments for a space. What is really nice about using Composer for all this is that I can change the dynamics and volumes so precisely for each note, using either the loudness of the note, or the volume control, and get some really crisp playing out of it.

So for drums for something like this, do you usually lean more toward the higher frequency instruments (cymbals, high hats, etc.)? I'm also wondering what effect EQ on anyone's "listening apparatus" may have. I tend to lean more toward the lower frequencies anyway, so that's probably just my personal preference coming into play, too. (I play bass a lot ).

I've also found that sometimes I get into doing some really fine adjusting of a drum track, and then all that work sort of fades out in the mix, so I have to sort of watch myself so that I don't go too overboard only to have it not make much (if any) difference to the song I've only got so many hours in a day...

BTW, if I may ask, what part of the country do you live in? We live out in the Thumb of Michigan. Very much "stereotypical midwestern", complete with crop fields literally miles long. And that is cool about your sister - I was a homeschool teacher even before I homeschooled our kids I started out by teaching science to some homeschooled kids. I love it all

ttfn,
Sherry
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  #5  
Old 03-17-2005, 09:35 PM
Mark Walsen (markwa)
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Default Hi Sherry, I listened to th

Hi Sherry,

I listened to the hi-fi of Dadzilla at SoundClicks. It seems that volume of the vocal track needs to be bumped up a bunch so we can hear the lyrics, which are a particularly important part of this song.

Cheers
-- Mark
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  #6  
Old 03-17-2005, 09:53 PM
Mike Mandaville
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Default Hello again. Well, this mor

Hello again.

Well, this morning, the temperature was in the thirties. After it warmed up, at first I thought about driving on into town, but then I finally decided to just hold off until tomorrow, when I probably should be able to put in a full day, and maybe even some overtime. It's normal for my mowing season to start "in fits".

I need to reorient myself now, because I just downloaded the audio version of "Dadzilla", and, after listening to it, I have to say that I am very impressed. I still would like for the high hat to be brought up in the mix, though the song overall has turned out so well that at this point my high hat idea now appears to be of little consequence.

Therefore, rather than attempting to redo the mix, it now makes more sense to me to follow up on your suggestion of adding a guitar solo. I do think that this song could use a guitar solo, so I will put one together, and then you can tell me what you think of it. Of course, this will give me a chance to work on some of those pitch bends that I've been talking about. :-)

I thought about explaining my EQ situation in my last post, so, since you have brought the matter up yourself, I will therefore explain. I have my keyboard hooked up to a little ten watt amplifier right now, which has three tone controls. I keep the bass on maximum, and the midrange and treble on minimum. These settings, of course, tend to bury the high hat, so I am sure you can see what is going on here.

And, while I am on the subject, I might as well mention that my basic goal for this year is to get myself a bigger amplifier. Considering what I have now, this will not be difficult!

I live in what we call "the hill country", just southwest of Austin, Texas, within hollering distance of the Cowtown Restaurant, where Willie Nelson filmed a few scenes for his movie "Honeysuckle Rose". Since Janice Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughn both once called Austin their hometown, we are, of course, no strangers to the blues around here. You have said that your husband likes the blues. Well, I'm sure that he must like "Dadzilla", because you have certainly done a good job on it.

Cheers

Mike
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  #7  
Old 03-18-2005, 04:57 AM
Sherry Crann (sherry)
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Default Howdy guys, For Mark, my ap

Howdy guys,

For Mark, my apologies for the roughness of the mix, but I think if you turn up the left (or for you it may be right) stereo component of your setup, you might hear the lyrics more clearly. When I recorded the vocals, I forgot to set it up to record in stereo, and it was more hassle than I wanted to do to re-record it by the time I realized my error, so the vocal parts are "one sided" right now. I plan to fix that after Mike works up that blistering guitar solo ;)

Which brings me to Mike, and your offer of coming up with a guitar solo, complete with pitch bends, to which I reply COOOOL! I'll be interested to hear (and see) it! I've never been very good at the soloing thing, though I am getting incrementally better at getting things out of my head and on paper or into music. So I'll be interested to hear what you come up with - coming from near "Austin City Limits", I'm fully confident it'll be good And thanks for the offer Also, no rush, of course. I KNOW first hand about how the lawn care business goes Next winter (or rainy day) is just fine ;)

Maybe Mark or Tim would like to improv a piano solo over that first little interlude from the first chorus to the second verse, just for a change of pace Or feel free to suggest improvements or added "reality" to what piano is already present. I'm no keys player (as I'm sure you know by now), so I'm always open to suggestions.

BTW, Bill thinks it's just a scream that we're doing this kind of thing in "virtual reality"

Gosh, this is fun
ttfn,
Sherry

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  #8  
Old 03-19-2005, 02:08 AM
Mark Walsen (markwa)
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Default Sherry, It turns out I was

Sherry,

It turns out I was having a problem with my speakers. I now can hear the Dadzilla vocal track fine. Your kids' giggles and roars in the song are delightful!

Cheers
-- Mark
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