GregB

A famous creative, amongst the pantheon of his craft, was asked ... Q. If ... a young aspiring [creative] asked you for advice, what would you say? A. I always say the same thing. Get your own voice. Stay true to that voice. Get every single element of the [project] as close to perfection as you can. Do the best that you can. Stay true to the idea. And never turn down a good idea, but never take a bad idea. And always have final 'cut'. Don't ever let anyone take away your creative freedom to make the [project] the way it's supposed to be made, based on the ideas. The above is part of an Empire magazine (Feb 2024) interview with David Lynch, the masterful and stylish film director. And while it is his personal take on filmmaking, it is 100% relevant to ANY creative project including songwriting, performing, arranging, production, etc.. The commonest thing I see on the Songstuff boards is people seeking advice, feedback and affirmation. Self-doubt and imposter-syndrome is natural for creatives, but there is little point in succumbing to negativity. We are musicians, writers, performers, producers (etc.) because we have a need to express ourselves. And though while it is nice to be 'liked', it is more important to be true to yourself, make decisions and stand proudly by them. We each have a unique combination of life experiences, skillsets, abilities, tastes, emotional triggers, strengths and weaknesses. Not one of my own music/videos has taken the world by storm nor earned any useful money. But I poured myself into their creation and, by my own yardstick, I did the best I could with what I had. If I can still like something after having heard it a hundred times during the length of the project, and can think of nothing else to improve it, then that's the end of story. I'm pleased and proud with the result ... other people can take it or leave it. Mind you ... we all bang on about stories/quotes we agree with! 😄 Greg

Technology is always changing. "Better" is subjective, but faster is indisputable. What was pathetic/laughable just two years ago is now truly amazing. But there's no need to panic or be afraid ... and there's no point. It is what it is. Just be aware. This applies to books, screenwriting, images, design, music, video, etc, etc.. And most of us over-estimate the taste, judgement and threshold-acceptance of the everyday consumer. Greg B The full July 22 Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/22/artificial-intelligence-panic-time-change A short while ago, a screenwriter friend from Los Angeles called me. “I have three years left,” he said. “Maybe five if I’m lucky.” He had been allowed to test a screenplay AI still in development. He described a miniseries: main characters, plot and atmosphere – and a few minutes later, there they were, all the episodes, written and ready for filming. Then he asked the AI for improvement suggestions on its own series, and to his astonishment, they were great – smart, targeted, witty and creative. The AI completely overhauled the ending of one episode, and with those changes the whole thing was really good. He paused for a moment, then repeated that he had three years left before he would have to find a new job. In 2020, I participated in an experiment that I gave a lecture on the following year, later published as a booklet titled My Algorithm and I. In it, I describe my failed collaboration with a large language model at a time when these AIs were not yet publicly available. If you want to understand AI better and analyse our current situation, please do not read my book. It has been so overtaken by technical development in the past three years that today it is so outdated it’s as though it came from a different period in world history, like a text about the first railways or a biplane airshow.

Welcome, Jerry. I've only ever done one purely 'orchestral' piece. But I use strings quite often in my acoustic songs/instrumentals, e.g. violins for texture or a single cello for emotion (or just instead of bass guitar), though I doubt whether my implementation is as good as you could do. My library is Garritan Personal Orchestra https://www.garritan.com/products/personal-orchestra-5/... the ‘GPO 5 Compilation’ example track in the link sold me AND (at $149) it was not only good quality but also 5-10 times cheaper than alternatives (East-West, Hollywood, etc.). It was a further 30% cheaper at www.Sweetwater.com at the time. Other times I use pure synth instruments because they cut through the mix, or else stack the synth with the 'real' to get the best of both worlds. I'm currently in the foothills of doing a cover of the Beatles' recent "Now and Then". Do you know what BOWING technique is used for the short violin stabs starting here ... ? The options available to me are: Cheers, Greg B

For me, EVERYTHING is an obstacle ... even just switching on the damn computer and firing up the DAW I outlined HOW I produced a home-studio album in the first episode of my new podcast ... My 3 home-produced albums were released in 2015, 2020 (for the obe shown above) and 2021. I was aged 64, 69 and 70 respectively and was increasingly concerned about the natural decline in the accuracy of my hearing. It helps if you have people who's ears you trust. It's not about whether they LIKE the track, but whether they can hear what you want them to hear. Obviously, it first has to pass muster with ME ... I'm the only one who knows what the ingredients are ... can I hear one? Then I have ONE friend who also does home studio stuff. He'll usually comment on whether a particular instrument or section is out of balance (even down to one part of the drum kit), and whether there's any bum notes or flamming I've overlooked. My last port of call, before I release an album, is a husband/wife team of producers who I pay to listen to it and give me precise feedback regarding compression, frequencies, reverb etc.. Cheers, Greg B

"Ghosting"? Digital comms is an amorphous/nebulous world. We all assume everything works, but both technology and humans are problematic. If direct contact via email/facebook etc., did they a) receive it? and b) read it? If via this site, have they logged back in to check your message? If important, the only way to be sure is to track them down and CALL them

All true. But keep in mind that 'acceptable' and even 'good sounding' music (via SUNO, UDIO, etc.) has only been around for 6 months. We're right at the bottom of the J-curve. Businesses commissioned composers for music because that was the only option ... either that or paying for use of existing stuff. Filmmaking has been fast moving away from the big studios and big budgets. And, BTW, not all big-budget compositions were great! Sub $10-million productions have to, and will, definitely chase the cheap music option. Good enough is good enough. Music for stirring action, horror, love scenes, open-vista views, futuristic cities ... it's all do-able now and will only improve along with better tools to modify, extend, shorten etc. to exactly fit the scene duration. I'm neither an apologist for AI, nor an avid supporter. Just being realistic. Greg

It's not a case of "fright" for me, rather a clear-eyed assessment of whether performing is for me. And it's not I've expalined this elsewhere before but, to recap ... I have performed solo in public on occasion over 50 years, but it has never ever delivered anything for ME personally ... apart from mental and physical discomfort! Preferring complex songs and being a control freak, I would have to practice a set for hours to get things right as I believe a performer should not use cheat sheets. Songs I perform usually have instrumental breaks and embellishments, requiring substantial extra effort in the arranging and practice. So, totaling the hours for preparation/practice, travel, setups/teardowns, backup gear, wear and tear on equipment (and sanity) ... the true hourly rate earned (prior to COVID) was way, WAY below the bread line! There's also the nerve build-up, on-stage discomfort, plus inevitable bad acoustics and audience noise. Also, there is the heat under bright lights ... I HATE playing guitar with sweaty hands. My last ever gig was as a community-volunteer performer at a conference dinner with approx. 200 guests. They were appreciative but as soon as the wine was served I discovered I was playing purely by sense of feel due to the raised volume of normal dinner conversation ... my PA speakers were within 3 metres of my head but I still couldn't hear a thing!! Even though I had been volunteering, and playing for free just to remove any pressure of having to give value for money, I finally accepted that performing is just not my thing. By contrast, I find there are many benefits when writing, performing and recording at home: · no preparation, practice or travel · no time pressures and no backup for gear/travel etc. · only playing/writing when the mood is right · no pressure to be 'entertaining' at all times · not having to be upbeat and smiley with venue owners/customers · no haggling over money · no insurances · no worry about gear getting stolen/damaged · no problems with acoustics or boozed-up audiences · not being a living juke box · freedom to create multi-layered and multi-instrument productions · no need to wear a stupid “performer’s hat” or close my eyes to show a faked deep emotional connection to the music I’ve played a 100 times before

For me, it's whether 1 voice + 1 instrument can sustain a song for its running length. For me, that's rare. My voice simply isn't good enough (strength, emotion, range, dexterity, etc.) to sustain an album. MInd you, I'd get bored hearing ANYONE (let alone myself) doing just voice+guitar. All the great albums from the likes of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Cat Stevens etc.. had a variety of instrumentation. Out of my own 50+ tracks, only 2 are voice + guitar. For the others I've used one or more of percussion, bass, keys, choir, strings etc. where something was needed to provide interest plus light-and-shade. I can't say WHY I used what I did for specific songs or sections ... it was instinctive. And you should trust YOUR instincts, especially if you have listened to a lot of music and know what you like or don't like.. Your voice, Mahesh, is great! The choice of simplicity vs arrangements is yours. But even ONE extra instrument can make a huge differece ... e.g. a single violin/cello at the right moment(s) can magnify the emotional heft. And even an EP can benfit from variety. I'm sure, if you provided a draft session, there are several people here who would give their opinion on what extra MIGHT lift a song. Probably best done via direct Message rather than in an open Topic.

I've just logged in to find EIGHTY (80) people are online ... but only SIX (6) are MEMBERS i.e. 74 are anonymous visitors Who are these shy people who don't want to be known, or post, or respond to posts? (Obviously they can't tell us, because they can't post!). Has anyone joined recently after being a long-time Vistor? If so ... why DIDN'T you become a Member earlier?, and has becoming a Member met your expectations? how many posts, replies, reactions have you done?

I've been visiting Songstuff on-and-off for 5 years, and the most common themes/gripes I see are along these lines: how do I get heard how do I get more listens how do I make contacts in the industry how should I market myself To my surprise, rather than can get crushed by the rush, I've been buried by tumbleweeds in response to the OPPORTUNITY I posted. And it's still the ONLY entry on the "Opportunities" Board. https://forums.songstuff.com/topic/59445-an-opportunity-for-songstuff members/#comment-377926 Then again, I remember when I was developing my first home-produced album back in 2014, I attended a lot of industry networking events. 90% of attendees identified themselves as Singer/Songwriters, yet none could offer me links to their released works. Anyway, I'll plug away and do my own thing if I have to, and today I've released the 4th episode after finally recovering from a throat-infection (the scourge of any aspiring podcaster) 😀 It's definitely not great, but it's something. It offers YOU exposure for free ... IF you have a good story that YOU are willing to tell, and YOU can illustrate it with audio for which YOU have the Rights. The APPLICATION LINK is in the posting. Cheers, Greg

I MUCH prefer reading (where you can skim and speed-read) to watching, which is the ultimate SLOooooW linear experience especially when the video is not Chapterised. I can ansorb that transcription in 10mins, retain overall context, AND jump back (or text search) for something I know I 'heard'). Whereas the video HAS to be watched from start to finish (NINETY minutes!!), and woe betide you if you want to jump back to somewhere! I always prefer information to 'content' Greg

Hi. I listen to your latest four tracks on YouTube ... Shackles, Blinding, Once, and Healing. Great production and GREAT vocal. Certainly a 'smokey'/sultry voice in the lower register but you should do more in the upper register where there's power and purity that's not widely heard elsewhere. You obviously take a lot of care with your lyrics which I read on your website. There's not much repetition (which I like). But they are not always intelligible in the audio, which is a shame. It would be nice to hear your "story" on one of the Boards ... a Blog ? ... e.g. how you write & arrange, what you play/perform, and the recording details (who, what, where, how). All the best with your journey. Greg

I'd probably do more, and more often, but I hate the thought of seeing my face listed (as the most recent commenter) next to EVERY Board! 😳 As it is, I'm STILL listed on a few from a few months back.

Yes. 'twas Martin. I'm a chords strum and fingerpicking guy ... I've never once done lead guitar in my life!!

Used to be the Mbox 2 (2 inpus + MIDI) until ProlTools dropped support without warning. Replaced in 2018 with Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (2 inpus + MIDI) which has worked well. The only time I use both inputs is when recording my 12-string ... I use condenser mic + DI to create two separate by sync'd tracks that can be EQ'd, Compressed and Panned differently. Inputs are only for voice and guitar, input separately. Everything else is MIDI input from a 67-note keyboard.