mykalallen

Ol' Red - Blake Shelton

Hahaha.. Flava In Ya Ear - Craig Mack

Hey everybody I'll be releasing a self recorded demo in the next few weeks for free. Well.. Whenever I reach 150 likes on my music Facebook page. You all have been great help since the beginning dealing with my music, and I'm happy to be able to share it with those of you who have enjoyed it so far. If you feel anyone you know who would enjoy my music - then pass my Facebook page along Thanks for everyone's time, past critique, future critique, and I can't wait to release to you all the far better recorded copies of my music. My music Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mykalallen My music Soundcloud (Some rough recordings here) : Thanks for reading!.. /end shameless plug

Pretty much along the same lines as Motu here. I've found some really cool artists that I've enjoyed in the backgrounds of films - I wouldn't mind getting a few of my songs into some independent movies as well.

Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

Definitely some great music so far.. Been giving everything I havn't listened to as unbiased of a listen as I can. Heres a song I feel really hit the mark perfectly.. It's new, but pretty undeniably great. Supreme vocal/guitar/bass/melody/catchiness/originality .. and many other things.

Re-read old song lyrics and poems.. Didn't do anything with them, but a new life should be brought to a few of them soon.

Also, enjoyed the song and video - Definitely worked together. You know you have the video posted for only people being linked to it being able to see it, right?

I definitely need to download Itunes so I can buy this from you

Well, I meant all the stuff before those points and after those points.. I was just mentioning the song changed progression, and what not.. haha..

I'm talking about extremely simple drum parts, but of course, I understand it'll take an extreme amount of practice. Will more than likely be paying for some kind of lessons as well - I'd rather pay for lessons than hire someone or acquire software. I'd rather acquire at least some skill in drumming itself - I mean, if I can get my drumming to the "level" of my guitar playing (only been playing guitar for 4 years), then I'll be more than alright.

Hey all, I'm a budding songwriter and want to be able to introduce some drums to my music.. I've posted around looking for someone to drum, but it doesn't seem like there are many drummers who are interested in my genre of music. My real question, though, is what kind of drumset should I get? I play fairly simple music - and dont plan on playing any kind of heavy metal/double bass required.. whatever music, haha. I'm not sure if I should invest in an electronic drumset.. or an actual drumset. I'll probably only really be using drums for the recordings themselves.. if it came down to it I would probably be able to find someone to play my drums parts for me live.. but untill then I guess I'll be up on stage with that acoustic alone. Or maybe even get Superior Drummer, one of those programs.. but I have no real idea of how to play drums.. so.. You can check out a few of my songs.. although they aren't all ready for drums, you can at least get an idea. I really dont want to spend far too much - just enough to get a good enough sound for the style of music I do?

Great suggestions so far everyone.. Ive listened to every sing song suggested, even the ones that I'd knew very well. I'm a big fan of that Kings Of Leon song.. really does defy that verse/chorus/bridge structure - And still made it well onto the radios and mp3 players of many. Gangleri - thanks for that unique suggestion.. Im definitely a fan now, and I'd never heard of them before. I'm a solo artist and trying to get skilled enough at bass/drums/ and my trusty old guitar so I could get to that level where I could just switch.. it'll definitely be a while for drums, haha.

There is no video of this guy playing this song.. and I've spent a few hours trying to put this all together, but I guess I'm pretty much a failure at playing back what I hear.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFJbwoq59b0 Maybe one of you all could offer your help? Theres a change up around 1:50 then another at 2:05..

I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers

This is all extremely useful information.. Thank you. I had read your post on panning before - but I far more understand what you're saying there. What I really don't get is the whole "Sampling two points" bit, and are you saying, every song should peak between 20-22KHz? I understand that the human ear can really only hear 20, and even that unsuccesfully, but what else did you mean by that top section? That low passfilter will make that the max of course, but the other stuff.. Yeah, I'm quite an novice.. so a lot of this lingo is lost with me..

Ive heard far too many of their songs.. funny stuff..

Hey all, Mykal Allen here. I think it'd be great to start an ongoing thread here of songs that you think any aspiring artist could learn from. An aspiring singer/songwriter/guitarist/tambourine player/flugelhorn player/rap beat producer.. just anyone. Just a song that you feel like really defies genres, or changed music as a whole, or just has something unshakably amazing about it that no musician could deny. I haven't been at this whole music thing for too long (2 Years) and I have worlds to learn from you all that have spent your whole life enjoying and enriching your passion for music. Share a song that you feel even shaped you personally, and dont be at all afraid to post a little back story - I'll be posting mine right now. Four Winds - Bright Eyes I never used to listen to any music close this this, and it sent me all the way back to Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and worked as a bridge from the same old same rock music on the radio, and the amazing artists that reside in practical obscurity, and since then I've heard some of the most amazing lyrics in the world. This is my piece.. Hope you all enjoy getting this out there.. and I didn't really look if there was a thread like this already... Mykal

Thanks for the help - Completely understand that.

A lot of this sounds like another language to me, and I hope you dont feel too put out sitting here explaining it. When you say "make a mix fairly flat up to about 18KHz" . What do you mean? And.. what is widening, really? I know youre supposed to keep the drums center.. but yeah, thats pretty much sums up what I know about widths.

Falling For You - Colbie Caillat

I guess I just have to learn how to use that - that's the hardest part. Finding how much compression I would need for acoustic guitar/vocals.. I've looked around a lot, and there doesn't seem to be any standard, seeing as each mix has its own unique instruments and what not, so I guess the settings would be a trial and error type thing. I've read a lot about limiting and finding buzz and nasty noise and cutting it out.. but one of the things I dont understand is which setting do I do to subtract a decibel or add one to a certain frequency? Is it the band one? Or notch.. or what? I'm pretty confident I can get a pretty decent sound, and this is just a demo - I'd just like to be able to do some equalizing, compressing, mixing.. something to just add that extra crispness or "Ooomph" or what not.

What I meant in reference to trial and error was mic placement, and room types and what not, not specifically those changes. By a compressor, do you mean a physical compressor? Can't you do said things digitally, with enough practice and/or research. I'm only recording a demo of myself, and of course I'd like to make it sound great, but I'm pretty much done buying recording equipment, at least for now, and if I can find a better digital alternative then I will. I'm just not sure what hardware you can substitute for plugins.. that's something I need to come to terms with.

Thank you very much for that - it's good to get a touch of reality. I have medium diaphram condenser, and a few sm 57s. I dont have any physical compressors.. or anything else really besides an interface. I also have a house that I'll be recording in.. in the middle of nowhere, literally, so noise isnt an issue. I have all the songs ready, and a decent idea of how to record each instrument. Just trial and error though, I suppose. Most of the songs are just going to be acoustic guitar and voice, but there will be some electric guitar and bass every once in a while as well.

Sorry about that - I have no affiliation at all with the link, just like you assumed. I was thinking I'd let them do one song.. but I felt like I wouldnt be able to sit there and listen to it with them and what not, so how would they even know what I liked? I guess its only 5$.. What are better options for mixing and mastering then? I make extremely simple songs, and have looked a lot into all of that stuff myself, but its all pretty overwhelming.