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.

Hi Fellers, Thanks for that advice, it more or less confirms what I thought about recording through the mike connection. I will have to have a look at my laptop and let you know, at the moment I am in our shop so can´t take a look. Or, perhaps even, see if I can utilise an older desktop we don´t use anymore. Anyway, thanks for the advice. Nigel

Hi everyone, I did a lot of recording some years ago and am just getting back into it again. This time the only computer I have available to me is a laptop, its a resonably good spec so no problems there. The problem I do have though is that from what I can remember when I did recording before is that I always used the line-in connection and not the mike. On my laptop there is no line-in, only a mike connection! Is this going to cause me any problems with my recordings? If so, is there anyway of getting over the problem or improving the quality? Any answers would be welcomed. Many thanks Nigel

I´ve just gone back to listening to some of my songs that I did over 10 years ago, put the disc in a drawer and forgot about. When I listened to them a month or so ago I was knocked out by them, which is very unusual for me as I can be very self critical and lacking confidence, but I thought they were really good. Okay no one else other than the wife does, but at least we do, well I think she does but you never can tell with someone as close as a partner. Trouble now is that I´m wondering if I can do anything as good ever again! There you are you see, that lack of confidence thing again. But in summing up, I would never trash anything. I found old lyrics in a suitcase I had forgotten about, some of them must be twenty to thirty years old and you know from just looking at them I can still remember the melody straight away. It´s also true what others have said about writing, you have the words and tune going through your head all the time in your attempt at writing the song, it gets so catchy that you think its the best thing since sliced bread. So to go back to an old song and find you still like it is kinda refreshing I think.

Hi John, Thanks for the reply. I guess my aim would be to get a deal as a writer. Performing is something that doesn't interest me, but I have made it my goal to get at least one of my songs published. When I hear the recording I think it is my voice that lets it down, I am quite satisfied with the music just not the voice. Many thanks Nigel

Hi everyone, One question that springs to mind, and I'm not even sure if this is the right thread for it, is producing the demo. When I produce my songs using Band in a Box I am quite pleased with the result, but when I add my vocals to it I am less pleased. In a nutshell, I would the first to admit that I am no singer. Click onto the link below and listen to my songs and you'll see what I mean. Does this matter as far as the overall demo goes. My idea of a demo is to demonstrate how the song should sound, but I feel my singing lets it down. Is there any way of getting round this? I'm not really in the music scene here so don't know any other people who can sing so is there a serive that can add the vocal to my midi file and produce a good quality demo. With money being tight at the moment, I guess what I'm looking for is someone who wants to demonstrate the singing ability whilst I demonstrate my songwriting ability and by this I mean for free. Does any such person or service exist? Ah well, here's hoping.

Hey Lazz, I read that article in the Guardian too and I never knew he was involved in writing lyrics either. It was a very interesting point he made regarding the music business and the internet now though. I must admit so many people seem to think that the internet has ruined the music business but as Clive says it may well have opened it up for many more people as they can publish and sell their own songs themselves now. Very interesting point in what turned out to be a very interesting article. Well obviously the Guardian makes it way over here to Spain but I never knew it turned up in your neck of the woods though Lazz.

Try looking on Ebay for Band in a Box, a cheaper way of obtaining it rather than buy it new. It is very good for getting your lyrics into music, I´m suprised more people don´t use it. I can play the guitar which is what I use to write with but I now put my composition through Band in a Box to give it a more professionally arranged feel to it. I think its brilliant, although it can take a while to master how to use it to its best ability, but hey its only time.

What way do you find most productive to start writing a song? Do you start with a song concept? Do you start with lyrics? Melody? Rhythm? For me this varies, sometimes it can be from just messing about on the guitar and hitting upon a chord sequence that sounds nice and a lyric will jump into my head. Other times I get a phrase or line for a lyric and build it up from there. The other night just before going off to sleep I had an idea leap into my head for the medody and first two lines of the lyric. I´m working on this song at the moment. Do you have a common way of developing your original idea? For me this can vary from song to song. Sometimes I get an idea in my head the way I want a song to go but then as I´m writing the lyrics it takes a different direction. Each time can be different. Hey ho! At what point do you start recording? With the song I mentioned above I have only written the first 2 or 3 verses and have not even worked on the chorus yet but I have the chord structure worked out on guitar for the verses and even at this point I have layed down the chords in Band in a Box and begun to work the arrangement of the song. But I must admit this is a first, normally I would have completely written the song out and played it over and over before even attempting to record it. Well that´s how I do things anyway.

Just wondered what you guys thought about lyrics that don´t rhyme? Maybe its my age or something but ever since I started looking at writing songs and in particular the lyrics (back in the 60´s) they have always been based on a couple of the lines in the verse and chorus rhyming, at least thats how I saw it. This is how I have always written the lyrics to my songs, and in some way making some of the lyrics rhyme is part of the challenge in my view, but now I notice having looked at a lot of lyrics that members have sent in that they don´t rhyme at all. I know that David Bowie had a way of writing songs by writing different lines of text on different pieces of paper and then laying them down in some sort of order and that was it, the lyric for his song. Well it obviously worked for him but what do you think? Does a lyric that does not have any lines that rhyme just become a series of statements in confused manner? I´d be interested to know what other people think.

Hi, Does anyone else use Band in a Box to finish off their songs one they have written them on a guitar or any other musical instrument? If so, what is your experience of it and what do you think of the program. Is this the right area to write about Band in a box by the way? thanks