starise

March 26

I guess I still need to do that.

March 19

Well this thread is a little dated like a few other son the site. That's a good thing really to see how time might have changed things for some.

For me personally I have stopped using Cakewalk which has been Cakewalk by Bandlab now for awhile. They are going to have a paid tier once again. I'm actually surprised it hasn't been taken that way much sooner.

I bought Cubase pro last year. Amazing DAW.

Eventually though it has been Ableton for me recently mainly because of the way I work. When I finally figured out I could, create audio ideas in small blocks, rearrange them and then record them as a unified whole on the linear section of the software that was all it took. It does everything I need it to do and it doesn't get in the way.

I still go by the Cakewalk forum under a different name because those guys are the best I have found in terms of musicians just stopping by to chat with some hanging around. That core is significant to me, but it has zero to do with that DAW. I still have it on one of my computers but don't remember the last time I booted it up.

The other thing I really like about Ableton as well was the stability. My moving back and forth in DAWS has been like almost everything else in my life. I moved around before settling on something. This isn't to say they all aren't amazing.

If the tool helps to get the job done in the most efficent least problematic way, and becomes almost invisible in the process, this is the best I could hope for.

I recently tracked on my laptop remote guitar and vocals. Using only the plugins in Ableton I was able to make a good mix.

March 19

All depending on one's age I suppose old and new could be different. I still refuse to call myself old.

I have little interest in new music, or at least the promoted music. Why? Because most of it is a packacged product only intended to sell.

There are some really creative talented people who are not promoted.

March 18

Yeah, I wonder where he ended up.

Easy mistake to make Bridget. I have done it here.

March 18

Welcome!

February 22

On 2/20/2024 at 8:04 PM, john said:

One is from Spitfire labs (their stuff is always awesome)

https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/uilleann-pipes

and

Dicky Deegan’s Uilleann pipes

https://xtant-audio.com/product/dicky-deegans-uilleann-pipes/

Well that's pretty close to the fart library Soundiron makes. Yes I have it.

I am mostly kidding here. I have heard them played well. Not often

February 20

On 2/16/2024 at 8:47 PM, john said:

There are a couple of awesome Uileann pipe VSTs…. I tried them out a couple of years ago. I’ll need to dig them out. Not perfect, but good.

It's a miracle there are any

February 20

I glad you jumped in here because I don't use PT. Sorry I pointed you the wrong way there. Maybe I'll suggest to the UNIFY team they should look at that format. My hunch is it's copy protected in some way. Either that or there is some kind of a technical hurdle.

The good news, at least I think, is that any of the good pluging catering to the larger professional sector of the industry SHOULD have AAX for their plug ins. I know Waves does. And higher tier plugins like Fabfilter.

February 16

On 5/12/2020 at 2:33 PM, john said:

The bit that always annoys me is the install paths for plug ins. What is the point of industry standards when companies install to their own chosen folders.

I would be addressing windows computers here. One very common folder for many manufacturers is "Steinberg" as a folder. They install plugins into that folder presumably because they were the original designers of the standard, so I guess that makes sense.

I think having options sometimes confuse at installation time and allowing a user to select their own folder can be a problem if a person isn't organized.

In Windows there is a vst program files and a vst program files 64 where most manufacturers have a sub folder. If a 64bit plugin gets installed into the older system 32 folder it may not be scanned.

AAX is the pro tools standard and then the apple standard. Those are generally offered.It's funny because when I look at instructional videos the users as 'assuming' we all use apple computers.

Should we select both vst 2 and vst 3 if offered? I generally do but in some DAWS you may need to reconfigure your plug in scan folders. It's probably less cluttered to just select vst 3 and be done with it. Ableton is finicky in telling it where your plug in folders are if they are in numerous folders. It wants to see only new shiny 64 bit plugins.

Since I had used Cakewalk and since there was a bunch of Cakewalk plugins before it went to Bandlab, it was a default folder in my computer for plugins. The entire Nomad collection was once a part of that DAW. Also had Addictive drums in it, and other stuff. When I would install plugins I didn't realize that many of them were going into that folder. There are also ways an manufacturer who has made deals with a plug in company tie those plugin specifically only to that daw. This made for all sorts of issues when I went to Ableton as I liked those older plugins. In some DAWS like Studio One my nomad plugins worked while in Ableton they didn't.

Maybe in conrast to many DAWs , Studio One actually has a channel strip that can be used in any DAW.

I relocated the positions of a bunch of them into more common plug in folder VST under Program files, and for the most part that works unless you used a manufacturer portal that identifies the folder location and flags you. That happened with Toontrack and I had to contact them. They worked with me to get it all to work again.

Since many manufacturers are now using a portal download system it's important to know what you want up front in terms of plugin locations. Several use PACE and the newer itinerations of it allow the option to store the license either on your computer or on their usb stick. I prefer having the info on their dongle. In some computer options a server is dialed up to make sure you are legit. What if you aren't connected to the web? Not a very good system.

Worst case, if I made a mess of everything I would simply uninstall, contact the maker and reinstall the product after I deleted everything from before. That's really not something I ever want to to unless I am building a new computer.

February 16

16 hours ago, GregB said:

'Celtic Starise - Emerald Sky' ... really nice vibe.
I would have liked to hear the bagpipes takes the lead, at least for a section, and establish a core tune (rather than all being passing phrases buried low in the mix). On keyboard, did you use 'true' bagpipe pitch and scale?
There's SOMETHING about Celtic music which always tugs hard at my core. Quite strange as, although I grew up in the UK, I have no recollection of being exposed to the music and have no Irish/Scottish family, but I think it eventually heavily influenced the old/traditional English folk music ith which I'm more familiar. There is a song of this ilk during the end credits of the small indie film "The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry" (which I happened to watch last night) that made my eyes quite misty!

This was an older vst that no longer is for sale to my recollections Was from Bolder sounds I think. I still have it. It had a unique stereo field that was more than one bagpipe, so it sounded like multiple pipers all playing.

When I listen back to it I would agree with you that it was a little too abstract and could have had more of a motif.

There is English traditional acoustic music too but I never learned much of it. Most modern Irish have the top 40 radio just like the rest of the world. Maybe only in the local pubs will you hear the traditional music. Lots of them have no interest.

The bug bit me when I went to Ireland and then playing in session here I learned a lot of the music. One of the world renowned fiddlers is really an englishman who moved to Ireland. Kevin Burke. I have a pic of us together at one of his concerts which are usually smaller venues.I was able to talk with him some. Down to earth and talented beyond belief.

I could go on and on about what makes that music attractive to some people. It really takes quite and effort to play a lot of it to speed and those guys know like 100 tunes by memory.

February 15

On 2/12/2024 at 6:08 PM, GregB said:

Are you aware that you can turn down the complexity of the whole kit and/or any one element, or even turn off that element? Also, if still too busy, you can select to play at 1/2 time. Then, if close, you can drag the resulting block back into the "tap/search" window to narrow the list provided.
Also, don't forget that the options provided depend on the MIDI libraries you have installed. Depending on your genre, then it may be worth stumping up for some extras ... e.g. there's 4 Songwriter pack (currently 20% off at 23 Euros each). There's an audio demo for each.

From memory, the main hurdle was 'tapping' a beat (especially with latency on my system). I eventually found that the simplest approach was to click in the simplest of main beats ... one kick and snare on 2/3/4 as required ... then, on a supplied block, ramp up the hit hat/snare/kick to get nearer to target, then drag THAT to the Search bar.
Took me a while to figure how to extract what I wanted from EZD, and my usage is sporadic at best, but happy to help if you want (and if I can). If so, perhaps message me away from this general discussion.

@GregB

I very much appreciate your offer to help. I'm sure I only scratched the surface of the program . I plan to try these suggestions out. My guitar playing while in time, tends to be very different since I don't play with a pick.My rhythm comes through a down or upstroke like a pick but often not as apparent. I can see why the AI would not be able to match a down beat on me. Even so possibly those suggestions may help.

My acosutic mixes tend to only need light drumming in the background. I've even been ok with UJAM's ONE for that, just shakers and things, which is why a lot of this will be overkill on me. I still make denser more rock like mixes and that's where this will really shine, and I don't see any harm in having a drum part I like and building on it instead. The issue for me sometimes lies in a tune I've already recorded trying to fish around for a matching rhythm. Sure I could hand drum it on the keyboard I guess.

The very best thing for me is a matching set of midi loops intro, verse 1&2, chorus, fills and ending. I have already mixed and matched but I don't prefer that.

@john

That's hilarious

I know we like to pick on certain instruments, but I really like bagpipes when they are played well, which in my areas isn't very often.

Here's one I did that's a sort of dream thing but I like that bagpipe vst.

February 15

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

Are you telling me that we actually had a thread where anyone could simply waltz right in, for no apparent reason, and start yelling at complete strangers, while handing out verbal abuse and snide remarks as if they hot cakes?! 😮 Well as far as ticking time bombs go THAT IS gracious indeed! Practically therapeutic! 🤣👍

Well, it was mostly musicians here and it was really only two individuals who didn't get on with me. I regularly debate now as a part of what I do. I like to call it discussion that doesn't always agree, so really they were probably a typical sampling if I had walked into Manchester where one is from or a state here in the US and picked anyone on the street. It's really a sampling of most people nowdays who have a view they are comfortable with and are confident they can rationalize it to themselves, but when pressed they can't so they resort to other measures. The people I talk to now are really friends so we don't have a problem disagreeing and still being friends. I wouldn't dare go there here any more as this isn't the place for it.

I liked it though because all of the facade was stripped away and we seen each other in a more real way. I like real, not socially presentable

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

You know, I actually have a rather different take on that situation. While its true that such a thread was obviously going to get closed at some point because removing all filters tends to bring out the worse in people, I also happen to think that thread may have been rather useful. After all, when you give people a free pass to say anything they want, you also get better insight about them. Especially if they go off rails.

And if by chance most if not all the troublemakers and their friends would volunteer to be in the same place.. then.. well.. that would be rather convenient, wouldn't you say? Better than chasing them around, if you catch my drift 😅

If a person doesn't dislike that kind of friction which I think can also be helpful and if there is a set of rules such as, talk about the subject and not about the person. That's where most of those types of things degrade. For instance if I generalize a group of people and call them all morons, I see that as a negative stereotype generally associated with someone who has a world view they don't agree with. By default any person in that group is a moron supposedly. There are the red herrings and the straw man arguments too. That's really what brought that thread down IMO. No matter what a person percieves about another group I don't think it can be accurately said that all memebers of that group or similar groups which may number in the millions, are the same or are in the group for the same reasons, or that I even have a good grasp of the group or groups itself as I might not have a total grasp of the group I'm attacking.

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

There's nothing wrong with finding out what you're okay with. The internet is filled with armchair critics whose advice could potentially be harmful to your production. That's one of the reasons why I personally don't pay much attention to suggestions given to me by people whose own production value leaves much to be desired. I'd rather listen to advice from people that know what they are doing, but also posses an in depth understanding of what would benefit my specific needs.

I have a friend. He has made many many albums. He regularly tours the US and abroad. I will accompany him the next tour. I have begun to get his input. He is very gracious so he drops the hammer gently lol. I think we need to face one thing here that may come off as cocky, but really it isn't. Some people lack self confidence and feel a need for affirmation through their music. If our music is a big part of who we are, there can be a thin shell to criticism. To affirm is to encourage. To find fault is to tear down for them. It's human nature really. Some people place their intrinsic value in what they make, so if what they make is not that good they feel useless. A person can easily wind up continually changing things someone else thinks need to be changed and spend years in critique threads instead of finding their own way. The main thing is do I like it? If I like it then why am I putting it on a critique thread?

This isn't to say newbs don't need basic mixing skills in a home studio, and none of that has to be overly complex.

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

Wow that's cool! 😮 Is there somewhere I could read/listen/watch said interview?

I wish. John will tell you because I interviewed at least one person here who was at the time probably the "star" of the site so far as popularity and plays on SC.The engineers would probably remember me. I am on X as recording hound with that old logo. I should have saved the audio files in the chance that I might restart in the future, but unfortunately I didn't. I know. I could kick myself.

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

Its nice to meet you too! I've actually been here since 2019 though my activity varies depending on my work. That's probably why we haven't bumped into each other until now. Not to mention, I mostly hang out in the Musician's Lounge because that's where the fun is for me.

Its interesting that you're an Ableton guy. I am familiar with it I know many people that swear by it. Though personally, I mostly use Nuendo and Pro Tools. They fit my needs nicely and I probably won't switch to anything else in the foreseeable future.

👍I am similar in that I don't go as to technical areas and I end up in lounges instead. I took a very long hiatus for varying personal reasons from here.

I think we all have our favorites. Those two DAWS are excellent and if you like working in them and you know them why move to anything else?

Ableton is moving to version 12 so I'll probably upgrade it from 11. I went through a process when I tried many of them. I have Studio one. It is packed with many nice features including an excellent mastering suite, Cubase is nice and has a lot of great plugins included. Instruments not so much. When I began on Cakewalk it was a DAW with many instruments included that were all pretty good. It was payed then. A very linear way of making music similar to many others.

I'm glad I went to Ableton because Cakewalk is tied to Bandlab and has a nag screen. Still ok, but not as stable overall as Ableton which is also cross platform.

Ableton is really like two DAWs in one with those two screens one more abstact and the other linear, so you can build the arrangement on the first screen and then record it to the linear section.I have two monitors so it's dope.

For me, I don't think there is a better arrangement tool on the planet, in addition ot it's excellent time stretching features once you know how it works.I love it!

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

ou know? I used to feel the same way as you do for a very long time. That is because much like you I didn't come here because I needed something. In fact, you could even say that I was rather hostile at the beginning. However, that was a long time ago. Nowadays I can safely say that this is pretty much the only forum whose community and staff I care for.

And coming from me I think that says alot because my attitude is inquisition-style: "If you don't interest me as a person, you might as well be a fly on the wall. And I expect the same treatment from you". Pretty harsh but also fair 👍

Interesting. I'm glad you are here and like it. The forum has been through many revisions. I came here to get mixing advice originally, but not so much any more. Many of those who frequented here no longer come by for various reasons.

I hop around to three of four forums of different types, so I guess this isn't as much of a mainstay for me any more. I do like a lot of the things and people here though.

Well I hope I made the grade lol. The more you know me the less I'll probably interest you, so there's that

I don't have an off button for anyone, but I realize that some people are caustic and so they are not the kinds of people I would surround myself with. A true friend is always honest. I don't see that as caustic. They want to be helpful.

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

Same here. Give me interesting people to talk too and I'm golden 👌

👌

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

I don't really know. I wanna say.. an active one? 😅

This isn't the only forum around that is slow from what I've seen lately. There tend to be slumps. I think part of it is people are more into social media and sites with media, Facebook, Tictoc,X,Youtube. Youtube is probably my favorite.

I imagine myself coming here for the first time. I would be like, no I don't need that, I don't want that, where is the actual forum?? Oh wait, there's a lounge and people are talking about recording and DAWs! For everyone else that answer will likely be different. If a person comes here looking for education and there is a course offered, they will compare it with other similar courses and make a decision. In that respect it's more of a vendor thing to them maybe? LIke I have this tune I made, how good is it?? and if it is ok, then how can I promote it? I know for a fact it's a jungle out there. Say I have a tune and I put it on a hosting site that puts it out to all the major places Amazon, Spotify, Youtube etc. One of my friends who is a very good musician does that and gets pennies for it. If financial viability is what a person is looking for you almost need to tour and sell merchandise.Even then you ain't typically rich. Prolly make more as a Nashville studio musician doing recording gigs on the side.

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

I think that Songstuff has ALOT to offer to musicians of all ages. Though whether or not Songstuff reaches what I believe is its full potential remains to be seen. Though I am rooting for us all and I think that John knows what he is doing. I have faith in him.

Yes John has a vision. Best to him.

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

Way that I see it, if a person can't handle criticism in a place like this, which has a relatively mature audience, and is very tamed if compared to, lets say, Reddit, social media, Youtube, then how on earth do they expect to deal with a bigger audience? 🤔 I'd worry for their mental well being. I don't like to say it, but I do think that some people are simply not stable enough to share their music.

A lot of my music is intended for specific groups, so most anyone else isn't going to get it. And it's funny because I was part of a team that had to dismiss a guy from a site and one of his parting comments was " Oh and I went to your website, your music is the worst effing stuff I have ever heard". TBH I didn't loose any sleep over it as I knew he was hurt. In a song trade situation where I'm giving you critique and you are giving me critique, I believe probability is high that good comments come and bad comments are often subdued. Not always, but noone wants commentary from "that guy".

I remember wanting to hear there is a bug on the windshield that needs to be wiped off,or my tail pipe is hanging and this person wanted me to rebuild the car. After spending hours on a mix to have someone wanting you to rearrange your song or make major changes to it is an impossibility for me. Not to mention reworking something I like. Intrinsically I don't have any desire to change it that much.

If I'm writing a tune with you or someone else, then yes, you have that ability to make those suggestions. I will listen at that stage, but not after the tune is completed. And if it isn't that great. I move on to make something better. I'm always moving forward. I did make some major revisions to one lately and I'm still not happy with it, but I decided that what I didn't like wasn't going to kill it, so off it goes and on to another.

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

Oh I'm sure that you could. These days practically everything is marketable. Though thankfully I don't think that we'll be seeing here any power hungry billionaires anytime soon 👍

I was a salesman a few times in my life and I ended up pointing them to the place down the street because I knew it was better When someone comes to me and is looking for something, I hope there's nothing in it for me because then I won't be tempted to point them to a decision based on me.

February 14

15 hours ago, john said:

Nice interviews to have done!

Just like there are different cars, there are different forums. Songstuff has been around for coming on 24 years. How forums fit in socially has changed. Online groups of any kind are at once similar and very different to groups of old.

Take any grouping of people on any platform and the group members will play a major role in shaping the group itself. Group leaders, official or unofficial, play a huge role too. The exact balance point depends on the group and the platform.

I learned a lot over the process. Things go in cycles, but some axioms hold true at any point. I also learned some painful truths.

For example, I took people at face value. I try to be fair, giving people second and third chances. I also tended to give more chances than they really deserved, and often the result was at the expense of the community and myself. The change 2 years ago was to increasingly move towards, “You knew the rules. You knew the consequences. For the greater good it is better that we firmly apply the rules and are not drawn into this ‘multiple chances’ approach. You are the weakest link, goodbye.”. Perhaps a bit more leniently than that, but we have increasingly made this choice with members making up their own rules as fits them.

For years I paid for the community. I largely still do. That meant it was free to everyone else. I got to the point of thinking “why am I paying for something that I get little thanks from a small group while the majority show little loyalty and no thanks, and give little respect to the site or me and ultimately I am paying for the whip to hit my own back. Crazy.

The painful lesson I learned was that while some people really people recognised the work done to provide this place and truly appreciate that it is free, a lot of people completely take free for granted. It doesn’t cost them anything and so it has no real value to them. I think it’s kind of sad, but I’ve seen it again and again.

That manifests in a few ways. While for a small group of forum members they get on with using a community, many others think something along the lines of “It was free before i came along, I don’t need to do anything, this place will still be free if I come back.”

What I learned from a bunch of forums that charge, is that charging triggers the “I want to get my money’s worth”. Paying members invest more time into communities. The more that is paid, the more people tend to invest their time. However, the psychology of even paying $1 a month still holds true.

If you look at many of the surviving and thriving forums, they are product oriented forums, like the fruity loops boards, or as you mentioned the previous cakewalk forums. Instead of a subscription fee, many such forums had entry fees in the form of the product cost. Now of course the software as a service model has brought that back to subscriptions.

The change for Songstuff is that while on one level we are retaining the essence of free boards, free articles etc, we are introducing a base subscription tier and we are introducing a support forum model for our courses etc. Yes the money helps offset against running costs, but a part of the motivation is to help foster increased loyalty and increased activity… and with forums and any social platforms, activity breeds activity.

Songstuff has always relied upon the outreach of staff and members for helping to draw in future members. Often that has been people reading our free articles or our music showcasing. That continues, but we will be supplementing that with people drawn through our course promotion and through info spread around about our courses. There is also a subtle difference in the profile of the people being attracted.

Some people are attracted to free info because it is free, others because it is just useful info. The point is, demonstrably the audience hasn’t had to make any commitment to progressing their art other than clicking a link. For a product based forum, the members have invested in themselves and their interest in music. That speaks volumes towards their psychological outlook. Sure, not everyone will be that typical member, but by investing in themselves they are making a statement to themselves and those around them… and that is important when it comes to behaviour.

At the same time, money raised will improve Songstuff. Staff wise, we hope that frees up existing staff. Instead of being bogged down in server updates, I get to spend more time making music and participating in the forums.

I could go on. The changes we have been making have many motivations, they address many issues.

I think we started with the best of intentions, and we are pivoting for the best and most positive of reasons to move in a positive direction, to make a better site and a better forum that supports our members in a better way.

Things are not set in stone. As it is we are not putting all of our eggs in one basket.

I am hopeful for the future. We’ve built Songstuff up several times over the years. What we do not in part addresses the choke hold my personal funds caused regarding site growth. I know why our boards are quieter. I know how to build them to be busier by a number of routes. The reality is that with a firm set of goals we can adapt and grow in a healthy way.

Onwards and upwards!

Well I've seen a few of those easy to make forums popping up here and there. They generally die a slow death or only have a few who drop by. You stuck with it when things were like that, so I think you deserve some return on that effort.

Sometimes it's a butt hurt member who decides to strike it out on their own and finds that it isn't as easy as it may seem. For one thing you have Google on you side in this in all of the searches. Hopefully it isn't articles from 2002. Sometimes these are the kinds of things that get hits because the tag is searched.

I want to encourage you in all of it. The reality is also hundreds of videos are posted on recording in YouTube every day by high level engineers. Lord only knows what they get from it. I mean an ego stroke only goes so far when you're on video number 1346 and you need new content at least every few days to stay relevant. Some of it is subsidized by vendors I would guess. When I had my podcast I was asking a year into it who the next peformer or engineer was going to be. It takes more than a passing interest in it to keep it going as they get about the same kind of thanks you get over time.

Staying the course will bring something. I stumbled on the fact that advertising entities were reaching out to me to endorse a client. I learned it was an entry into another world where deals are made to position clients, and any author has interest in a podcast where that review will be online for years to come. I got out of it for various reasons. I had a decent radio voice and could have kept going with it. It's a lot like I thought I would love the restauraunt business and imagined running such a place. That would be cool. Wait a minute, I would be making food and hiring and that basically is a non stop job. You can't just turn it off over the weekend. No thanks.

You can delegate of course but then you need competent reliable people. If you are looking for volunteers I can see where that could be a challenge.

On modding, yeah people often feel they have more freedom online. At that other forum we have methods for giving them a fair chance. Thankfully there is a team, so it works pretty well.

I am attempting to find relationships between what I do or did and what you are doing. Maybe there really aren't as many. I haven't had a lot of time to be around. This looks to be a busy year. It doesn't take long to make a post here, so it isn't an all day thing. Paying something for server costs is understandable but might be wasted on me. I say might. I throw something at that other site to help in costs. I think they use the same software you do. My income is due to drop this year as I am retiring young, so I will have an adjustment period to see what I need to do. I have a lot of monthly fees but most are small. I don't rent plug ins. Spotify and I pay like 12.00 a month for wifi in my Tesla. I believe my wife subscribes to Amazon music. Some other small stuff like charities and stuff like that. I don't think it's unreasonable, just not sure if I'll be here that much. Maybe ?

I'm certainly not the main criteria, I wish you the very best and hope it all works out well for you.

February 13

9 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

Well if a person is not interested in critique they could simply apply to post in the showcase. Might save them the trouble, no? Or if they are indeed looking for critique, they could specify what sort of feedback they are looking for exactly. That way if they see a response that is irrelevant or even offensive they could call it out 👍

That being said, I must say I am rather curious as to what happened. With your permission, would you be willing to fill me in? (perhaps via PM, if you'd prefer). I find that old drama makes for a fun conversation, if nothing else 😅

John was gracious enough to have an anything goes thread which I liked. All of that ended in name calling. I don't remember calling any names. I have better learned how to handle those things since then, so I handle those things differently. Most forums don't allow name calling. My skin has grown much thicker since then. I would laugh those guys off now.

Musicians are typically a liberal bunch and I knew that going in, basically anything goes but I think everyone has a limit to that especially if it steps on someone else. The outcome of those discussions was probably expected. I have no idea what happened to all of those guys. One is on my FB but maybe he blocked me. For the record I don't argue or enjoy arguing, so it wasn't really fun to go there any more and John closed it down. The other one who referred to himself as a walking gut bag, not sure.

There are two reasons anyone goes to a critique area and at one time I didn't know what I liked so I was open to letting someone else suggest things. I still am to some extent, but I don't feel I need approval. I could nit any of the top ten hits and find errors. I think there's a page somewhere that has all of the little mistakes hits had in them. AC/DC made some drasitc tempo changes which would not fly today. Most of the time when I upload something I hear all of the stupid things in it. I just made changes recently and I'm not finished yet to a few of my recent ones. That's really what works best for me. Just listening to it and trying to decide if what I heard was bad enough to warrant correction. Since mixing is a bit of an art there are lots of ways to mix an given song in addition to the artistic music decisions. Chances are if I released something in one mix at midnight I will be very sorry the next day, but it's a snap shot of where I was then and shows room for improvement.

My music is in between showcase and critique so I don't post a lot here lately. I was honored to interview two of the most famous mixing engineers on the planet and have autographed books from both of them. MIke Senior and Bob Katz inventor of the K system. I have read everything in those books and was glued to SOS for years, plus lots of trial and error. I know there's always something new to learn so I'm not saying I am above that, but neither am I by any means an amateur.

9 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

From my limited experience in forums I find that most people that look up forums tend to do so for a reason. As such, it would be fair to say that they want something. Could be critique, sharing for the sake of sharing, business opportunities, promotion, education (etc etc), or even simply as fans wanting to interact with musicians. I could come up with more reasons, but you get the idea.

I don't know what other communities you frequent, though I think its great that you took the initiative and encouraged people to step outside their comfort zone. It would be nice if we had something like that in here. Also. Much like you, if Songstuff would host an event I would indeed try to attend, if given the opportunity.

Though whether or not I would get invited in the first place remains to be seen, I suppose 😅👍

Well it's nice to meet you here! I would probably not be on forums as much if I were not working a computer job that has frequent times of intermission in waiting for programs to load etc. A forum is a great way to draw in persons we assume have similar or the same interests. I had something like 30,000 posts on the cakewalk forum when bandlab bought them. That's the DAW I cut my teeth on.When the site changed I lost my post count. I'm still there but not as much since I adopted Ableton as my main DAW, and unfortunately Ableton has a terrible forum area IMHO. Maybe similar to Cubase. Like the girl you knew lived down the street you never gave much thought to, and then later got a crush on her, that's how Ableton grew on me. At first I didn't get the concept. Now I won't work in much of anything else. Cubase has lots of capability and I was using it successfully as well, but then I figured Ableton out.

I always maybe falsely assumed forums were more about community. I mean really I don't come here for anything other than discussion and sometimes I'll put a track up. I don't need anything here.

I suspect most music gear is now sold to hobbyists. Same with a forum. A subset of members might be interested in courses. I like a basic forum. I just want to go where I want to go. I don't need anything flashy or necessarily "different".

What is a successful forum?

Young people ( that's me too) well sort of They need a vision.They think they can do it, they just need the tools and those willing to show them. We can't be selling them wind. There is a reality about all of this. If a person likes making music none of those things will really matter. They can be guided, but ultimately it's up to them.

10 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

You've been labeled as a negative stereotype? 😮 I had no idea but man it sounds like you're days here are far more interesting then mine 😅 That being said, if this is the case, I'd like to offer you an interesting perspective in regards to giving feedback.

I don't give feedback to people who I believe are too sensitive to handle it. How can I tell which is which? Its easy: Look into their interactions. People that can't handle criticism wave that red flag loudly and proudly. As such, instead of asking yourself: "But what if I could help them?", its better to move on and focus your energy on the people who are NOT just looking for praise.

Sounds about right to me I would not say a person who doesn't want criticism is weak in some way. If they come here though and post in the songs area they are likely looking for other opinions. It was at one time a habit to come here and post my songs.

10 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

That's very true. People do try to put their best foot forward. Its also good for business. Though to tell you the truth, personally, when it comes to getting to know people, I have no interest in someone that constantly attempts to project an image of success and control. That's their way of attempting keep people at arm's length and its kinda sad if you think about it 😅

I can't sell anything. Probaby because I have no desire to do so.

Success and control- Money and power? Look what that does to most people.

February 12

8 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

I hear that 👍 Though to be fair, I know that if I started posting all the things I find as being silly or funny, without any reservations or filter, and on a regular basis, I'm pretty sure that I'd get banned 😅

Another issue I often face in terms of sharing random silly things, is that I find that most music related stuff just isn't that funny. Not to mention, what's funny for a musician might not necessarily be funny to none-musician. Which means that, when I do share something silly, I prefer sharing something that might lead to an interesting discussion that anyone can join in on.

Just my two cents of course 😶

I shared a few of my musician things to non musicians and yeah, none of them got it.

February 12

On 2/10/2024 at 2:18 AM, john said:

Oh please be silly.

It’s a too serious story for a silly thread, but I’ll post the short form lol. The site is indeed much quieter right now, but it won’t stay that way. We know exactly why it is quiet and exactly what to do to fix it. Some may have heard it many times, but much has changed behind the scenes… the staff and I could be better at communicating our progress.

I posted an update here:

Songstuff 2024

I can explain some of the reasons the site is quieter, but some I would prefer to keep to PM if you are interested.

On Achazia, and a number of other members, I think she is far less musically active full stop. Time passes. New interests etc.

I think it's vital to have visions and goals. If something doesn't work, there's nothing saying you can't try something else.

Yeah shoot me that PM. Now you have me curious. I think I know though already.

It's a shame we all get older over time and sometimes things change that crowd out other interests. I also have some thoughts but I think they are best for PM, and even then I need to be careful or I'll be misunderstood.

None of that was silly.

I'll have to work on that.

February 12

On 2/9/2024 at 11:11 PM, GregB said:

I DID upgrade. The best thing for me was a resizable window. The 'rhythm-from-a-recording' you mentioned was not a feature I needed nor have I used it other than to see what it does. No doubt, there's more features than before but the interface seems to have become a bit TOO complex ... and I can't say it's helped me to generate better drum tracks than EZD2 - which did a fine job for me.

I tried it for the first time over the weekend. I liked it overall. BFD3 went to a less realistic graphic which never hurt the program but to me it seems to lack something when they went that direction. I know, it's just a graphic, but I need to feel like they are real drums so those graphics help me to see it that way. A very minor nit that I liked as a feature in this version which is very drum graphic intensive in comparison.

The bigger window, yes I love that. The size in EZD2 was 2.5 gb and in EZD3 it's 15gb. A LOT more sounds. Sounds are pretty nice and very tweakable.I like the visual of the patterns in the patterns area as looking at the midi helps me to get an idea for the pattern. Those patterns can be dragged over.

The biggest thing I had hoped would be helpful is that AI feature where EZD3 is supposed to find a drum track for your part by dropping it in. I played a fairly well timed guitar part . It couldn't find anything that fit perfectly. It was fairly complex though. Maybe a more simple part would have been fine. I had higher hopes that it would have been close because I often play guitar parts on an acoustic and try to put drums into it.

February 12

@john

Those were great. I harvested them to send to a musician friend. I have some I'll post up later. If you have more of these I'm game.

@VoiceEx

I can tell you're a deeper thinker. Interesting question(s).

There were a few here who didn't care for me because we got into a back and forth, but with me that's kind an expectation I have that not everyone agrees with everything. Who knows? In person we may have hit it off wonderfully.

A word that tends to get used a lot "agenda".

I don't have one. I'm just me and you're just you. If the event was close I would probably attend it. One online site had a zoom meeting on another site I frequent. It was my idea. Most either chickened out or could not fit into a time zone that worked which is the difficulty with having a web site that invites people from all over the world in different zones, and as one of the mods on that other place I can see people droopping in from all over the world. I imagine John has seen it all.

Everyone is both like you in some way or ways, and different in others. I place equal value on all. I tend to fit a negative stereotype I don't really typify, so I think it's probably best to get to know me aside from that. I won't even say what that stereotype is, but most know what it is. WE are all individuals with gifts in different areas. Pluses and minuses are in us all.

If you wanted to get into the psychology of some of this, people mostly put their best foot forward. It's human nature. So in meeting people initially we see that best side, or what they percieve to be the best side. Me? I'll put dumb videos of me playing a bouzouki or show a lot more of myself online than many will. I guess it's because I just don't care any more, so long as it isn't rude to anyone else. I never intend that ever.

Anything silly?

February 11

Silly?

That’s pretty much my entire day.

February 11

February 11

February 11

1 hour ago, VoiceEx said:

I'm always up for silly things 👍 Is there something silly that you'd like to share?

Don't get me started

February 10

I mean I guess we could still make this one silly because it was supposed to be silly, or you could start another silly thread.

The unsilly thread would then be disguarded for the silly thread. In any case that would be a flip flop sort of thing where one can be the other. So it's your call, but I think unsilly can be silly.

I don't really think this is silly yet but it could be, or then it could be unsilly. What is the default unsilly or silly?

February 9

10 minutes ago, john said:

Use EQ to roll off some bass content and / or to cut EQ holes in instruments with overlapping frequencies (use side chain triggered from the bass drum) that helps the bass drum cut through the mix. I’ve seen the latter used on pads, organs etc, bass guitars, FX returns and even an entire mix minus the kick drum. Using stereo slap back delay in preference to reverb also helps reduce overall frequency soup washing out any clarity in your mix. It means you can add mild reverb too help pull the mix together while leaving more effect ambience to the slap back without paying the murky consequences!

Noted and all good. Done all of em:) It seems to me even doing all of that the kit just isn’t the same in some mixes. Maybe it’s just me.

Ozone uses a kind of AI which often gets pretty close. I usually don’t use it. Some frequencies step on one another to a small degree no matter what, I try to minimize And it’s odd because I have spent hours on a mix and no better or not by much, while other times everything clicks.

February 9

I was in the middle of a studio move over when I had some health issues that seem to have subsided. That held some of my plans back.

I have never been serious about selling my music. I mainly just liked making it for the sake of making it, so in that respect I never pushed much of it.

With the health things behind me, I am going to continue my studio move over which could take months because the room itself it is going into is just a shell and I will be the one who makes it into something

.

At that point I want to equip it with video capability and a state of the art computer and sound treatment. I know something about sound treatment, but my nephew is an acoustical engineer and was recently flown to Nashville to scope a studio there. I plan to take his suggestions into account before I get to the finer details of the space.

At that point plan to get more serious about top notch music and marketing.

I don't hold high expectations though. One of my friends who has played for 30 years or more has all of his material up, which is quite good and he is only getting pennies for all of his efforts. He does better in merchandise and CD sales at the places he plays. Since CDs are basically gone or going that doesn't leave a lot of hope, and compared to him I am small peanuts, so I guess I just want things to be productive to their maximum, moneys aside because even with a huge social media push it's tough out there.

My end game never was that however, but neither do I want to make music someone else is profiting from.

Until the move I still have a studio and I'm still making music, so that's what I plan to continue doing in the meantime.

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