GregB

Whenever writing or recording I'm always plagued by doubt. Am I any good as a writer/performer/producer? Is the track any good? But, when the process is complete, if I'm pleased/proud of it and I've done my best ... that's all that matters.

YES. Blossoming late in life, I've written music which I think is good. I've been amazed that I've been able to create quality finished products at an affordable price via the remarkable tools available to the amateur with a home studio. It has been a pleasant but unexpected surprise that people outside of my family and friends have listened and expressed their appreciation. Greg

yeh ... I only accidentally found the Send area when moving borders on the channel strip!

I purchased Pro Tools 7 in 2006/7 along with an MBox 2. The upgrade to v.8 was free (as within 12 months). The 1000+ page manual was daunting ... the days before YouTube tutorials! By the time I got around to doing my first home-produced album in 2015, I had fallen off the upgrade path ... you had to have at least v.9 to upgrade to v12. So I had to pay full price again! While I managed to be productive, the organisation (AVID) was giving me the sh*ts. They stopped supporting my Digidesign MBox2. The MIDI 'CC-Learn' feature was dropped, so I was unable to use the faders on my keyboard. Finally, with just 2 months notice, the customer base was told that the Support Plan (access to new versions) was doubling from $99 to $199 pa. I was livid. Within a few weeks, Presonus was offering a cross-upgrade to Studio One Professional at half price (equivalent to the cost of ONE YEAR's Plan from AVID), so I bought it in anger. But, as is always the case, when you have stuff to do, one returns to the familiar. I did another 12-track album in Pro Tools, and a few other small projects. However, the niggly things in Pro Tools have mounted and kept chipping away at my loyalty ... continuing with AAX only (no VSTs can be used!), random problems with latency and playback, internal instruments (XPAND!2) suddenly producing no sound at all, no renewed Support Plan meant that several of my 'special' bundled instruments were no longer available, etc, etc.. All the time worrying that my little plastic iLok USB might fail or get stolen/lost ... and nothing works without it! Now two NEW projects have come up. The lack of deadlines has given me the opportunity to switch and try doing a complete production in Studio One (5.5). These projects are: a cover/rearrangement of a German friend's song Nächster Schritt for which I translated the lyrics to English a few years ago a cover of Shine on You Crazy Diamond ... both tracks (Parts 1-5 and Parts 6-9). I've already made a start on Nächster Schritt as a reason/test-bed for learning. I have the full production in my head and am taking small steps to implement it. I've managed to interface my Scarlett 2i4 and test recorded my acoustic guitar to two tracks simultaneously as well as my MIDI keyboard. I can happily replay, edit, make MIDI music via different inbuilt instruments, apply effects like Reverb on a bus, use my old friends EZ Drummer and Ozone 9 in this new environment. I've mapped the stem of the original woman's vocal to a slightly different tempo that I've chosen. I've used the Arranger, Chord and Marker rulers, which work really well together and provided massive structural benefits. While I am now confident that I CAN do whatever I used to do in Pro Tools, in reality the going is VERY SLOW for several reasons: the interface is substantially different, and many important buttons/edges are hard to see the shortcuts are different ... simple things like Zooming are a pain a lot of the actual terminology is different ... e.g. a ProTools 'clip' is now an 'event' in Studio One the documentation is truly woeful. The Reference Manual is a joke at only 450pp, the 4 page index having less than 300 keywords. Many common DAW terms are totally absent (and Ctrl-F shows they're not anywhere in the Manual), e.g. Clip Gain. There is NO section in the manual on "MIDI", and the term is completely absent from the Index!!! [By contrast, the Pro Tools Reference Manual is 1520pp, while its Index alone is 44pp and contains 1500+ keywords). I LOVE manuals! Why spend 10 minutes watching a video when one can get straight to the chase in a manual via the Index. ANYWAY, I've made a start and will hopefully post new 'learnings' (both plusses AND minuses), as well as the actual music that results. Fortunately all DAW should allow the basics ... the environment, record, edit, mix, at least EQ/Compress, and bounce. Hopefully, more than just John will be in the Studio One conversation! Greg ,

The draft version MP3 supplied here has now been deleted because the final/official version has been released. It can be heard (and discussed if desired) in this 'Showcase' forum link ... https://forums.songstuff.com/topic/57145-running-from-red-extended-mix/ Hi In the absence of any NEW music, I'm re-visiting an old track. Considering history is repeating itself in Ukraine, I'm giving a new twist to Running from Red from Prescient (2015). The original is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0wp17gtQDE. Below is the first draft which passed my wince test. The central core of the song is the original vocal and guitars (thank God for home recording and backups) placed against dance-flavoured electronic drums. Several new themes have been added before and after this core. Although the new version sounds faster, both are 150bpm! This EDM approach was inspired by Jeff Wayne's remix, The Spirit Of Man (DubUlladub), from his “War of the Worlds” album, a great favourite of mine. Because this is my first ever foray into EDM-style arrangement, I'd appreciate some feedback on: do any of the structural elements seem ill-judged or feel out of place/style? is the mix suitable for the instruments/sounds being used? is anything screeching or uncomfortably 'pumping' in your ears? Please don't hold back on ... I understand that comments can only ever be personal opinions based on experience/taste. If worried about appearing overly critical, you can message me direct. Cheers, Greg

Hi. Appreciate the interest. Yes I have a MIDI keyboard to input notes to ProTools (when note manually writing the notes ). The keyboard's pitch wheel allows me to smoothly pitch change -2/+2 semitones, but it's is difficult to accurately control the speed and smoothness because the wheel has a 'notched' middle point. In ProTools, I can automate pitch over time distance by drawing it in. But am limited to -2/+2 semitones. So, e.g. with a D note or chord, I can smoothly glide from C to E. But that's the limit ... I can't for example do C to F, or B to E SImilarly, if I played the chord of C on guitar, I'd like to smoothly pitch change the wave form e.g. to F, gliding at a speed (distance) of my choosing. Greg

Great concept, man. You could better match the concert's vibe by: A dynamic mic, if you have one, requires closer physical contact. If you only have the condenser, move back from the mic and belt out the vocals .. which will cause visible throat and general body movements. Stage performers use dynamic mics, not condenser mics like yours. Standing up would also better match the concert visuals and create a visible singing 'effort'. A good subtle edit trick would have been to have the concert audio (piano intro) fade in underneath your video title, and then visually cross fade to you starting to sing (rather than you just 'waiting'). Enjoyable. Keep at it! As always, personal opinions from a non-professional. Cheers, Greg

Hi Gary. Nice. It cries out for some light arrangement, e.g. drums and bass, and perhaps an extra instrument to add interest to an otherwise long and repetitive ending. The 'looking up the nose' video is rarely flattering (and I notice you have others with the same format). Think critically about the angle, location and background. Hope to hear more songs from you 👍 Greg

Hi Logan. I had seen The Swan & The Ram elsewhere on the site. Well done for taking the rare tongue-in-cheek visual approach to music pioneered in Hard Days Night and The Monkees. It really is great fun. Music videos are peppered throughout Songstuff, e.g. Showcase, Performance, Videos & Images, Blogs etc. The Music Video Club is also a 'please watch this' platform but is specifically background/explanation about the creative and technical side of the filmmaking. The concept, planning, shooting, editing, equipment, problems, decisions, etc.. You did provide a little about the location shoot (buried in the middle of your interview video) which was interesting and, by the way, exactly why I don't do location or performance shoots! I look forward to reading something about your video journey. A write-up (mini article) is never wasted effort as it can always be re-used elsewhere, e.g. sent to journalists, or posted on your own online platforms. Cheers, Greg

Hi Z Needs commitment! I only made the switch from Premiere to Resolve by going cold turkey on a new album project. It was PAINFUL! Fortunately the required editing features/skills were limited (compared to music production), but even after 40 music videos I'm still make mistakes with shortcuts and the interface. I've been trying to make the final switch from Pro Tools to Studio One but I always scurry back to familiarity when frustrations build too high. I'm waiting for a new simple project which is do-able using limited features. That first zero-to-hero finished project will then cement my confidence levels to continue solely in that new environment. Greg

GREAT music production and a TOP video!! 👍 I'm not into Rihana so unaware of how close this cover is, so my only comment is that the vocal (the focal point) should have been more up front (up at least 3db?). [Personal opinion as always from a non-professional] Greg

Was this your first recording/video, or one of many? Either way, I imagine this project was a lot of fun to do. The following are MY personal opinions only ... and probably other would disagree. MUSIC: The music track was well done - a high quality production The song is a classic, and the cover works well as a duplication (vs a re-interpretation or re-arrangement) Did YOU do the backing track from scratch, or was it a third-party product? (If the latter, it would have been good to see the attribution in the end credits). You have a nicely-textured voice. In this track, it rarely hit that top note properly. Transposing the arrangement down one or two semitones would have brought the arrangement right into your power zone. Or else do what most of us do ... and auto-tune ... even if just on the weakest notes! I've sat with an engineer friend who spent two hours fine-tuning a professional vocal that sounded great to me! So it is NOT cheating! (I always fine-tune my own vocals, but only the really obvious faults before getting too bored with it all!) VIDEO: This is a separate set of opinions depending on what I like doing/seeing in videos Your 'staging' and camera angle was great and interesting BUT it became UN-interesting because it never changed ... you never look at the camera, you never smile, and you break the fourth wall of 'performance' by regularly taking your hand off the guitar (to turn the page?). The lack of visual change/excitement instead focused my attention on the performance (miming) of both guitar and singing. The miming was problematic throughout One solution is to do multiple video takes (e.g. by musical section) and editing together the best ones, or else having multiple camera angles ... e.g. behind, or side, and switching angles to avoid the worst of the sync mistakes. To avoid the whole miming/syncing issue, have a video with minimal (or no) 'performing' element. E.g. you at the computer putting it together, with headphones on nodding to the beat, lost in thought while walking somewhere, third-party clips or stills. OK. I have too much time on my hands! You have real talent that, with very little extra time/effort, can be showcased at the next level. I'll watch out for the next one. Cheers, Greg

Appreciate the reply. Do you have an example of this (the pitch wheel by default does 2 semitones up/down). Any suggestion for doing similar to for a waveform (i.e. NOT midi)?

Q1 - How can I take an audio sound/noise and smoothly: change its current pitch to any target pitch over a specified time period (e.g. 1 bar or 10 bars) Q2 - how can I smoothly change the pitch of a MIDI note/chord beyond a total of 4 semitones? MIDI keyboard pitch wheels seem to impose a limit of 2 semitones above/below, as does the pitch automation lane in my DAW. All suggestions gratefully received. My available desktop tools are ProTools, Studio One, Logic Pro X, and Audacity. Greg

You can get great insights into how your releases are doing by analysing the data freely available from your Digital Distributor. In my own case, all my releases have been through CD-Baby. This means sales reports are all-inclusive and are identically structured. I use Excel to analyse the reports to provide comprehensive listings and graphs. Apple's Numbers and Google's Sheets will probably do the same, but I have zero experience with them. As of mid 2022, I have 55 tracks with CD-Baby in the form of 4 albums and 1 single. Dates range from 2004 to current. Once the latest data is downloaded and added to any existing records, a couple of clicks updates the analyses to show performance of tracks by quantity, platform, country, track name, album, date (e.g. month, quarter, year), etc., etc.. The 'database' on my computer currently has more than 13,000 records (see below), each row representing a consolidated CD-Baby sales report for an individual track. Total plays currently exceed 620,000. Once the raw data is structured in a Table like the above, then it is playtime to show anything you want, e.g. ... The only 'problem' I ever had when starting out was date format inconsistencies. CD-Baby uses MM/DD/YYYY. Most other countries (like mine) use DD/MM/YYYY. But I have a fix which is applied to any new incoming data after being added. I'd be happy to share the basics about how I use, build and analyse reported data. If interested, please respond to this post, explaining your data sources, spreadsheet software, and what you want to achieve. If there is sufficient interest and overlap of topics, I'd be happy to create a tutorial video and/or a Zoom meeting, else I'll post individual responses.

My albums (2002, 2015, 2020, 2021) have all been distributed via CD-Baby. One benefit has been that all stats are consolidated via one set of reports. But recently the numbers have become increasingly wacky. As of the end of July 2022: my top two tracks by far are instrumentals the top platform by far is Tik-Tok (!) the top 'listener' countries by far are all ex-southern states of the USSR, topped by Ukraine the top tracks are among my longest! (in order below: 5:02, 4:07, 5:49, 4:21, 11:01, 4:48) Agincourt and Last Post are spoken word tracks Go figure! Most of the Tik-Tok plays show ZERO payment (i.e. not even a fraction of a fraction of a cent!).

It also helps to be young, project 'sexiness', and be totally assured of one's self-worth. Counts ME out (old, bald, self-critical) Anyone else?

Hi John. My heart always sinks when "genre" is discussed. The categories are far too confusing, and most overlap. I think there's only about 10, but the industry thinks there's between 50 and 1000. So ... what do YOU mean by the 'electronica' you're looking for? EDM? Anything with synths? Complete absence of acoustic instruments? etc.

Whooshka! Making a public statement of so many goals is a great way of staying focused and motivated. Congrats Looking forward to seeing/hearing results as they become available. Greg 👍

It's hard to believe that a multicam production is SO easy to do and leaves you totally in control. It is offered by all the front runners - Premiere, Resolve and Final Cut. It is especially easy to contemplate when we all have multiple high quality phones, either from friends/family, or the devices we've recently replaced and are simply lying unused in a drawer! Full HD, 1920x1080, has been standard in phones for close to 10 years! Here's an example done in Premiere (before I switched to Resolve). It used: My Samsung phone for the close-up on me (unfortunately the lens wasn't clean!) Martin's iPhone for his close-up My Canon 70D DSLR on a tripod for the wide shot A Zoom stereo field recorder on the corner of the table between us (camera audio is still poor by comparison). You might prefer to record directly into your DAW via one or more mics. NOTE - ensure all cameras are set for the same frame rate. 25fps works well as this is the YouTube standard, but anything is fine as long as common to all. I used the traditional hand-clap to provide a sync point all four audio stream being recorded ... the spike in the waveform is easy to identify visually in the editor and line up manually if needs be. This is essential when there may be several seconds between each device being placed in record-mode. But note that all editing software has the ability to sync the videos if they contain the same audio content, and it seems to do a good job. The hand-clap is cheap insurance! Once the 3 video clips were sync'd, I MUTED the camera audios and just used the file from my Zoom device. Depending on your taste, you may wish to process this audio (e.g. some EQ/Compression) in your DAW before importing into the video editor. (My example is the raw recording.) When selecting 'Multicam' in the editor, you are shown a window with (in my case) the 3 different camera views. Whilst playing in real time, or scrubbing through to specific points, you simply click the camera angle you want at that moment. The editor creates the new timeline with the clip/cut in place. You can go back at any time and edit those cut points, e.g. to change the chosen camera angle. More often, a cut point needs a dynamic roll to extend one clip and shorten the other. If I performed more, I would take this approach this all the time. It makes for a far more dynamic product. It also helps to avoid visual problems (e.g. an unwanted excessive flare in glasses, fiddling with a cheat sheet, or even a dog walking past) simply by switching the view.

Strange - I only saw this when visiting to start my own new post ... i.e. I wasn't notified of your new post!! The dolls in the "Fairytale" music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvCkyuT6Dgc) were posed on and against a dark blue cloth and, because they were stills, the background was removed in Photoshop before being imported as PNGs into the video editor. I've only ever done video 'solid colour' background removal as concept demo-examples for friends and clients. The main things I discovered to save HEAPS of time are: the background has no sags/folds. Sheets CAN work but need to be pulled taught. the background has its own even lighting. If only using lights in front of the subject, then shadows will be cast on the background (requiring extra work to set the masking colour range, or require manual masking) be careful of colour reflections from the background onto the subject's hair/clothes, causing odd changes in subject outline. John, from memory, you use Premiere? If consistent background colour is an issue, Resolve has a very quick/easy way of selecting area masks. Find the most problematic frame, draw a line through an area (and expand with other lines if not complete), and then tracking the mask back and forward. Unsure if this is available in the free version.

"Guilty Pleasure"? No such thing. You like what you like. Who cares what others think!

There are far more audio tracks in the world than there are music videos. So videos, just by existing, can help draw attention to your work (and you, if desired). Music videos are held in high regard by the Songstuff site. A club dedicated to music video making is available to all Members and is a good place to discuss creativity, hurdles, successes, and technical processes, tools, costs and skills. (Be aware that Club Posts may NOT appear in the Forum listings depending on the the Forum 'view' format being used!) All Members involved (or wanting to be involved) in video production are welcome to join.

Hi John I’ll offer the following four with videos (out of 50+): Fields and Sunny Skies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdql1tbRoqM - My first song and first recording (2002), re-recorded here (a cover) in 2021 The C-Bomb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laI4VpOutds - My strongest environmental statement Remote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KIu46rfxI - Short-Film Score Old Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvbuJHLYxzk - My shortest and simplest song

Hi Heyboardcoach521 If "How many of you ..." seeks an answer (rather than a discussion), you could create a poll. People may prefer clicking buttons to formulating long-form responses.