Nigel

I´m looking for a good VST that will give me a guitar sound like a Fender Telecaster. I have tried FreeAmp but couldnt get my audio to sound any different than it was before. Does anyone know of a VST that I can use on a guitar track to give it a more twangy and country sound. Oh and also, I need it to be free. Don´t ask for much do I!

Wow!!!! Well we really got into that subject didn't we! Thanks to everyone who took the time and trouble to post their comments on this subject. I feel somewhat relieved to think that anything I put onto Soundclick will be reasonably safe and may indeed be safeguarded. And to Lazz, my sincere apologies to misspelling your name by missing off the second z. I cringe with embarrassment.

For recording using a PC you could do a lot worse than look at Power Tracks Pro Audio from pgmusic.com. I bought a copy of Power tracks Pro Audio version 4 many many years ago and really enjoyed messing around with producing some quite good tracks. I have just bought the latest version, version 12 and cannot believe the difference they have made. The good thing about this program is the cost in my opinion, only 49$. So take a look at their site shown above and see what you think.

This is a subject that has had my interest for quite a while now. Some very good advice there Laz! This is such a difficult business to get involved with, if anyone were ever to be lucky or talented enough to signed by one of the big publishers then it would a crying shame to lose it all through a some legal loophole that you didn´t know about. I would be interested to know though Laz, what sort of protection a songwriter would need to get if he wanted to showcase his work on sites like Soundclick in the hope of getting some interest. I´m not sure if the methods you mention above might be a bit overkill for someone who is still looking for some interest from the music business.

This is a great topic, I just stumbled across it today! It hit me over the xmas period that I call myself a songwriter but in fact I hadn´t actually written anything in a couple of months. I have spent time trying to learn recording and production technics better and get to grips with improving some of the songs I had written in the past, but not actually written much to mention. I have done a couple of verses on different songs but then sort of petered out and left them. So,I have given myself a mission to write something everyday, not necessarily a complete song but a couple of lines of lyrics at least. The idea is that from what I have read the first couple of dozen songs you write will be crap, so if you manage to write the crap out of you then everything you write from then on will be good! Well thats the idea anyway, but life being what it is, I have not even been able to keep this up even after only a couple of days, far too many other things keep coming up that need to be dealt with and get in the way. But this is something I really intend to try and do, write for writings sake, to try and better myself. If I want to consider myself a songwriter surely this is something that can only help. Thats my thought on the matter anyway for whats its worth.

Hi, I want to try and push some of my songs to Daniel O´Donnell and have been trying to find contact details for either his manager or Publisher on the internet, but no luck so far. I know his manager is Sean O´Rielly but no contact details. And I can´t even find who his publisher is. Does anyone know a way of finding out this sort of information? Is there a website that gives this sort of information? Any ideas would help. Many thanks

Has anyone come across Audio Socket Music before? www.audiosocketmusic.com Just come across them on the net and wondered if anyone had heard anything good, or bad, about them or even dealt them. In the back of my mind I can´t help visualise a big fish with a huge fin, but you never know until you ask. So are they sharks?

What a lovely piece. Thanks for that Lazz. I wonder if those days are long gone now, when you could be discovered and make a living doing something you enjoy. Happy days

Hi guys, Thanks for that info. As I said previously I have quite a few local independent radio stations near to me and thought this might be an ideal thing to try. Since writing my thread I have listened more to these radio stations, not just normal listening but with a purpose to find out more about the jingles they use. But what I found is that they only ever seem to use a jingle to advertise their own station or show. From what I have read on the internet they mostly talk about writing a jingle for a local advertiser about their product or company that is either total singing or singing and speech. Am I understanding this correctly, because when I listen to these stations they don´t do this at all. Is this more of an American thing or just considered old hat now? The other thing is that it might be they just can´t find anyone to write these jingles for them. But I would be interested to know if any of you still have this form of jingle in your local area and if so where your location is.

Anyone had any experience of writing jingles? I´ve got quite a few radio stations near me and I´d like to have a go at writing some jingles for them and also their advertisers. Just wondered if anyone had any tips they could pass on regarding the subject?

The voice in the head is the real frustrating thing. I often write songs which in my head sound fantastic but I just can´t get that sound to come out my mouth. No range, can´t get the right key. The really sad thing is, because I can´t write music, how do I get someone else with a better voice to sing my songs if I can´t demonstrate how it should sound. Most frustating.

Hmmmm, strange reply I think.

I always kept my lyrics written out in pads in various places over the years. But, when we upped and moved to Spain I searched round and put everything in an old briefcase ready for the move, along with some cd´s of recorded work. Thank god I did! After nearly four years of living in Spain I stumbled across that old briefcase a few months ago and found all my work, recordings and scribblings going back over thirty years. And yes Steve it kick started my desire the write again. Funny thing is, I can look at some lyrics I started but never finished some thirty years ago and the melody comes flooding back. Amazing, some of these songs I had completely forgotten about. I also have worked stored in computer files, but computers have a way of crashing and never working again, to think that work could be lost would make me weep. Anyway that´s my story.

I came across this interesting page on the BBC website, about songwriting. I thought it might interest some of you. The link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/guide/song.shtml Cheers

Hi Neoism, It´s actually much easier than it perhaps looks. It should open up in a window where all you do is enter the chord that you want to play in that bar. Then you pick a style you want it to play, like rock, jazz. It´s as simple as that to get started. Have a good look through the help files or even try www.pgmusic.com website. Once you get used to it I´m sure you will find it fantastic. Click onto my soundclick link and have a listen to some of the song I have recorded using BIAB to give me the backing I wanted. Hope this helps.