Retrosaurus Rex

See my edit in italics. Sorry for the confusion...

So we're on the same page... This starts off with two verse/chorus cycles, just like the form JM suggested. At 3:04 there's a quick guitar solo that seems to recapitulate the verse melody, and at about 3:16 it goes into another vocal section which, musically, is quite different in feel from either the verse or the chorus, this is the bridge... At about 3:45 it goes to the part you mention, where the music is very understated and the vocal is almost whispered, but this is just an arrangement decision, not a distinct new section, as it is recognizable as the familiar lyric and melody from the chorus.

How are you listening to the tune you're learning? A lot of commercial speakers have a resonance at their lowest frequency... it wreaks havoc if you're trying to mix on speakers like that, and it occurs to me that it could confuse the ear as to the actual note as well...

The most likely way is to compose a melody to the lyric, which hopefully will imply both groove and harmony, but yeah, there's bound to be a certain amount of feeling around as well...

Lyrics first or melody first comes down to personal preference, and starting out you should try both and see what success you have. Since that's obviously not very helpful on it's own, I'll try to expand with some thoughts about each... For me personally it's easier to write a melody and fit words to it after, but the downside is that I often have a hard time creating variety/ contrasting sections unless I have some song form in mind, which leads to lyrics... I'm making a conscious effort to address this... also, I know of people who struggle with the melody-first approach far less than I do, and very seldom write music to existing lyrics. On the other hand, a friend of mine has little trouble putting music to existing lyrics, at least when the lyrics are somewhat inspiring to him, but he writes only a few lyrics of his own, and very seldom if at all writes instrumentals that he intends to add lyrics to later. Since you say your writing lyrics already, it might seem that the latter approach is better. I think the primary pitfall you might is encounter is the syndrome of being too attached to your lyrics. This can cause a particular problem when the combination of lyric and melody becomes very difficult to sing... there has to be some give & take on each side... The most concise advice I can offer is learn to sing. At the very least, sing the lyric as you compose the melody, identify spots that might give a singer trouble... alternately, you can sing the melody with nonsense syllables, and see if a lyrical line is suggested... This is kind of rambling, I hope it's helpful...

This maybe should have been asked in the guitar forum, but since you asked from a songwriting perspective I'll leave it here and try to approach the answer as such. In that sense the question is not confusing so much as it is incomplete... So, a B5 chord is about as simple as it gets... B-F# and maybe B an octave higher. If all your doing is jamming on a B5 chord, pretty much anything goes as far as note choice. More immediate concerns in creating parts that go together would be the tone of the instruments and rhythm of the individual parts. But I will further presume that you intend your song to have a vocal part, so whatever is going on there would affect your note & rhythmic choices as well... For example, let's say you're jamming on the verse section of a song using the B5 chord, and the singer is singing in E Major. Depending on how busy the vocal part is, you might not be able to do much riffing while the singer is singing, but even playing sparsely, the lead guitar could imply a chord progression over the static B5. For fill riffs between the vocals you wouldn't necessarily have to stay in the key of E Major, but there would still likely be certain notes you would want to avoid depending on what notes the singer uses to end and begin her phrases. I hope this answer is not too confusing...

60 seconds in a minute, 1,000 milliseconds in a second...

True, but even a low-ball offer should give you an idea of the ball-park you're playing in. Also, you could take the opportunity to ask the buyer what the basis is for the cost. The history, rarity and condition of the particular guitar are all factors in its' value, and it's good to get an somewhat expert opinion on those factors before searching the net. Not that the guitar store buyer is necessarily an expert, mind you, but you should be able to glean some useful info from what they tell you, and probably figure out some questions to ask that you hadn't thought of. Other than that, you might start by Googling that exact model, and see if there are any in the market, and what kind of mojo they have for collectors...

http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

I have not personally found a "process" that reliably works... I compare it more to how a craftsman views his tools and materials. I think it's better to start off with a hunk of material and whittle it down, rather than starting with a lot of little lumps of clay and trying to make them stick together. Having said that, I do sometimes find that it's like a scavenger hunt, other times it's a jigsaw puzzle... So, generating ideas on the front side is something I do find helpful, whether it's brainstorming on imagery (like you mentioned) or maybe I come up with a hook and then try to think of rhymes, similar-sounding words & phrases, oppositions, juxtapositions, and see what shakes loose...

If you want to make money, you're better off to invest in penny stocks or hit the craps tables in Vegas before you invest in a singer. Even a independent film would be a better bet, probably. If you want to be a player the music game, however, you have to pay the entry fee. Like Prometheus said, if you have a capable team that's willing to defer compensation you can get an album produced for next to nothing, but the marketing roll-out (even if done on a regional basis, or to a targeted audience), is a hurdle that very few can overcome...

The more dynamic the singer, the less compression can help... better to use volume envelopes, or ride the fader to adjust levels.

Apropos of nothing...

Hell no it doesn't matter! If it sounds good, it is good. Having said that, it would be helpful if you learn the standard terminology for chord names and scales, because eventually you'll want to communicate your ideas to other musicians, and a common language speeds up that process for sure. I would also suggest digging deeper into music theory, seeing where the chords and scales come from. It can only be an impediment to creativity if you let it; in fact, it should expand your horizons.

But that link is to your personal page, not your fan page, yo!

I think it's pretty cool. I have a bunch of guitar parts, but never actually got around to the building stage... I think for the first attempt I would try to find a junker at a garage sale or something. If the paint job is successful you could always improve playability by replacing the neck and hardware. Another option would be to buy just the parts. I think Carvin used to sell a build-it-yourself guitar kit, I'm sure there are other reputable makers that do the same. That would probably save you some money and some sanding...

Hi Bakolito, drop a post in the introduction board! But welcome anyway! I think your experience confirms what anybody who pursues this game seriously figures out sooner or later.

I think you're mixing a lot of programs together in one toy-box and making the question harder than it really needs to be... VST is pretty much the standard plug-in format for computer recording at this point, and unless you've got your heart set on using Pro Tools, you don't need to think about anything else for audio. All the major DAW programs including SONAR, Cubase, Reaper and many others, fully support the VST standard. All the DAW programs save projects in a proprietary format, but a project can generally contain any of the standard file formats that are operative, such as WAV, MIDI, Acidized Loops, and many others. Reason is a super-capable software instrument, and while recording capability is available as an add-on, most people use it as a plug-in within a DAW, as Rob described above. Refill is a proprietary file format that can only be opened by Reason. BiaB is also a very useful program that saves projects in a proprietary format, but can also open and save as standard MIDI files. It has additional capabilities, but I mainly use it for MIDI, which I ultimately work with in SONAR. I personally found SONAR to be the bang-for-the-buck leader as well. I know some people who find Reaper easier to work with, and I have one friend who uses Cubase because he swears VST handling is much more stable in that vs SONAR. I've never had a problem, so YMMV... Are we helping?

You're on the right track. There's a lot of variations that are possible. If the verses seem a little too long, you can drop a teaser of the hook in between v1 & v2, or maybe have only one verse before the chorus. If you're looking for a mainstream sound you generally don't want the people to have to wait too long before you get to the hook, about 45 seconds or so is good (some say even that is too long...). With rap it also depends on how many MCs are on the track, sometimes a change in style from one MC to the next is enough to keep it interesting. Check out the songwriting articles for more in depth info. They're more or less geared toward pop-rock-country, but the info is perfectly applicable to R&B & Hip-Hop as well.

Hi Chris, I'm glad the lawyer got you acquitted, I knew the DA didn't really have anything on you... Now that you're out of the joint, are you trying to write music, lyrics, or just play some guitar? In any case the answer is pretty much, "just pull your head out and start". I get like that sometimes, and I find it helps just to play some games with notes, or words... rhyming, matching sounds, playing a phrase with different rhythms or styles. It's obvious after some time away from the guitar that you lack some of the facility you have when you're practicing all the time, it the same with creativity. At the same time, those down times help you move forward, you're not so likely to repeat yourself, it's easier to break old habits. Another thought is to go thru your old unfinished works in your new frame of mind and see what shakes loose. This doesn't work for everybody, but I find it useful. Hope this helps!

Old skool, yo!

You ain't never lied!

Most of the gear that people are selling is just due to a change in circumstances... a lot of those people aren't even really serious musicians, gear might be a couple of years old but hardly used. The guy I used to take lessons from made some pretty good coin buying/ selling/ trading used gear... a stupid good deal like a Mesa for $500.00 is mostly a matter of being in the right place at the right time... like I said, if you can't trust your own judgment (and you're wise if you recognize this), get an independent assessment from an expert. What is the average lifetime? Depends on amount and type of use. Gigging is hard on gear, it get moved around constantly, knocking into door-frames, drinks get spilled, who knows? Also, amps generate heat, which wears down the components. If the amp is dirty & dusty the problem is magnified. When you say hybrid do you mean tube/solid-state hybrid or tube/ digital-modeling hybrid? When you say live performance, what type of gigs or venues are you expecting to play? Because in smaller venues you might not need 100w to get the sound you're looking for.