Retrosaurus Rex

Please leave me off the Paramount mailing list!

For those interested: http://forums.songstuff.com/topic/12259-scansion-a-basic-primer/

Sorry I haven't read your song, it probably won't happen soon... about scansion... it's simple, but not as simple as just counting syllables, altho that can be a good place to start when something seems off. The scansion topic actually goes pretty deep. You were probably thrown off by the description of different types of rhythmic feet; you probably don't need to memorize all that right now, and you certainly don't have to memorize their names unless you really want to... but the important thing to take away from the discussion is an understanding of how the placement of stressed syllables interacts with the overall meter of the piece. Basically, you want to avoid having the meter of the piece force stress onto a syllable that would be unstressed in normal speech. Another thing to remember is that you don't have to be too rigid with all this when writing a lyric. Often the melody will dictate some stretch & contraction in the syllable count, and that's OK. In fact, too much syllable counting can make your stuff start to sound like a nursery rhyme (or a naughty limerick, if that's your thing...). Mostly it just takes practice. If you're a lonely lyric-only person without a composer to bounce ideas with, you can practice by writing new lyrics to an existing melody

Hi Bob, I had a listen, nice tunes... I like the high-end you're getting, and I noticed the objectionable resonance you're worried about... I was wondering if you notice that resonance at all when you play the guitar acoustically, it could be that the guitar itself has a resonance at particular frequencies, and the pick-up is magnifying that. That would also account for the EQing problem. If you have access to a parametric EQ you might try isolating the objectionable frequency, that might give a better result in this case than a general low-end roll-off. EQ before or after recording shouldn't matter, but the EQ following compression gives a different result than comp following EQ... food for thought...

That has to be it... it's extremely fundamental...

I believe there's a Facebook app that gives you not only your band name, but the title & cover art for your album as well...

I think I noticed that you already posted some lyrics (I haven't actually checked them out, sorry...), and I presume you're commenting, that's a good start. You might also check out and comment on songs that people have actually recorded. It's a good way to see if someone's style, both personal & musical, is compatible with your own. That will also lead you to the sites where people host their music (Soundcloud for example...) and you can browse around there... there might be a music store nearby where you could post a notice, a club that has an open mic night... once you start looking you'll discover possibilities... put yourself out there, and don't be afraid to approach people. Be prepared for rejection, or at least, don't get discouraged by it, there are all kinds of reasons, having nothing to do with you, that someone could be not interested, take it in stride. Nothing happens on its' own, as you've already noticed, but remain confident in yourself & your abilities, and keep trying, and believe something will happen...

Well, if someone's posting a service for hire they should use the advertising board, but if they're generally good citizens in public and only offering you this via PM I'm not sure how we would police that... As far as sharing rights, I don't know how else it could work, or what problem someone could have with it. There might be some details depending on circumstances, or the deal might not be 50/50, if one side has particular leverage, but even that would be exceptionally rare. It's like you have a truckload of wood, and I have time and tools, and you're going to pay me to build a house that we're both going to live in. Does that sound fair?

If you're tone-deaf you can't learn to sing, but then, you wouldn't be interested in music, either... so, safe to say anyone reading this can learn to sing...

You have a decent start with the # of lyrics you've written, but what you're talking about is an uphill struggle, so be aware... first, nobody (with a capital "NO"), in the industry is looking for lyrics only, so approaching record companies and/or semi-established artists looking for co-writes is pretty much out of the question. The other thing about that is that it doesn't matter if you're lyrics are "better" than what you hear on the radio. In pop & r&b the lyric is a distant second to the music, and even in country, which is much more lyric-driven than the others mentioned, the music is a huge consideration. In either case, the lyric is often judged on the basis of style and tone and how appropriate it is for a particular artist. Everybody wants songs that are ready to record... the way is much brighter if you can hook up with a composer who will co-write with you and help push the finished songs. Better yet, if you can hook up with an up-and-coming performer who needs help on the lyric-side. None of this should discourage you, just make you realize that you have a certain amount of business & networking legwork ahead of you to get where you want to be. Generally composer & lyricist share 50/50... the finished song would be registered with both persons as authors. If you've already registered the lyric by itself it might require a revision of some kind, refer to www.copyright.gov... I would only worry about the laws of the US (because it's the biggest market, and the laws are peculiar) and whatever country or countries you're actually operating in. There are a lot of people who offer to compose music for a fee, and you shouldn't bother with these, because generally the music isn't very good, but that would be a work-for-hire (get it in writing), and no authorship rights would go to the composer. A legitimate co-write shares expenses and proceeds 50/50, as mentioned above. I can't imagine a situation where money would change hands before a song is ready to demo. Which is another thing to watch out for, people who offer to compose music for you, and make you pay way too much for a poor-quality demo...

I don't have any personal experience with them... Look at the frequency response, if a chart is available... a mic suitable for music will be more or less flat thru-out the audible spectrum, at least from about 60Hz to 16KHz (maybe even down to 12KHz is OK...). A lot of mics intended primarily for spoken word have a bump from about 5KHz to 10KHz, which can result in some undesirable effects when recording a guitar, for example... if I understood, you said you're just looking for a cheap way to get your songs down, and you'll use it mainly for vocals, so even this type of mic might be OK...

That does seem high, unless $ = £, in which case they're about the same... you might do a general search on AKG, Audio-Technica, Behringer, Nady and/or Shure. Any of these might have something more in your price range. Shop around and read the reviews. I know that Behringer, for example, as of a few years ago, was best known for spotty quality, but that seems to have turned around since, and they seem to be turning out solid if not spectacular products at a reasonable price. Good hunting!

The first question is: why do you want to use an alternative tuning? Do you just want to challenge yourself or break out of your rut? Do you want to learn a song in a particular style that typically uses a non-standard tuning? Maybe you're thinking about playing some slide guitar?

There are a couple of people making USB mics which are supposed to be pretty good, but I don't personally have any experience with them. Some dynamic mics have 1/4" plug (better ones have an XLR-type plug), while most consumer level computer sound cards have a mini-input jack, so either way you'll have to get an adapter, easily found at Radio Shack... also, you'd need a program to record into, a well-regarded freebie is Audacity... http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Our young friend Rohan among others use this program, you'll be up and running quickly, I think... Back to the mics, a dynamic mic is probably the choice for you, the difference between a $20.00 mic from a department store and an SM-57, for instance, is partly sound quality, but also build quality. Look around for a deal on a high quality mic and spend the extra money if you can at all afford it, you'll be glad in the long run...

I'll refer you to another recent thread on this topic, most of the same advice applies... check it out and come back with more ?s... Basically, there are a lot of fairly low-cost options... you're better off spending a little more (just a little...) and getting something that will serve you for a long time, rather than just the cheapest option available now...

Some items are more useful than others, but this whole suite of plugins (and there are a lot of them) is pretty good. The no-frills appearance belies the quality...

I agree with Tom. I would also say you're ahead of the game in a lot of ways, if you're comfortable singing and reasonably proficient on any instrument. Maybe you're getting too bogged down in the words as you have them on paper (or whatever medium), and instead think about the words as musical objects. Another thought is this: you probably often find yourself returning to familiar scales or chord progressions, so try to force yourself out of that by writing a song using only one chord type (e.g. only m7 chords), or write a simple melody and harmonize it with chords drawn from an unusual scale (e.g. a half-whole diminished scale). Lots of places you could go with this.

dBs? Don't get me started on dBs...

Starting now, listen deeply to everything... in particular, learn to pick different instruments out of the mix, think about decisions that might have been made during recording...

I thought it was interesting, maybe over-broad... my first thoughts is that there are standards of integrity in conducting business, e.g. on-time delivery, paying bills, that are common to the success of any enterprise, and also the attention to detail and quality one puts into their artistic "product", whether or not they view their work as commercially valuable...

It sounds like a sample-rate issue... if your DAW is recording at 44.1kHz, but your sound-card is receiving at 48kHz, for example, it can cause out of sync playback...

Good point, the SM-58 is also well recommended, and as you say is better suited for vox. This is also commonly used as a stage mic, even by people who are better served in the studio by a condenser type mic... like the SM-57, it's well-built, and something you would probably keep forever...

There's a good topic in the lyric forum relating one person's practical experience in this... To expand on what BUDD just said, it's not something that just happens, you have to find people who share your interest, have compatible temperament, etc... this may be easier or harder depending on where you live, but once you start looking you'll probably be surprised how many people you find in your local area who are involved in music on some level... it's also good if they're better at music than you are, you'll get a better idea what to do to improve. Hang around a music store, go to shows... don't try to force yourself on people, just make some friends... doors will open. In the meantime, improve your craft, lyric writing, singing... take some singing lessons, or study another instrument. Even if you don't really achieve competence it will give you some vocabulary to talk to other musicians...

Formal hellos go in the introduction board, observe the etiquette... Anyway, voice is an instrument... if you can come up with a good melody you should be able to work out some harmony just by plunking around on the keyboard (piano, that is)... that would give you the basics of a song... Anyway, you're only on the first steps of a long journey, enjoy it!