Stuart Scholes

Brilliant, thank you very much @VoiceEx. 😄 I'm not massively struggling with Ableton yet, just overwhelmed with the size of the playground before me. At the moment I need to put the graft in to learn, but I'm sure I'll get there, especially with the help of experienced folk such as you and the others here. Thanks for the help, I'm sure there'll be more questions to follow.

Thanks. VoiceEx, I'm pretty much starting from scratch for digital recording - when I started I used my dad's old reel-to-reel and recorded part one onto the left channel, then part 1 and the new part 2 onto the right channel, bouncing them (by the way, I'm 38, not 90!! 😄 I just had to improvise with what was available). Very destructive an ineffective but taught me a lot about recording concepts. I then moved to an 8 track digital recorder and played around with that. That hopefully gives you an idea of how little comfort I feel when trying to move into Ableton and Audio Interfaces! 😄 Therefore, it may be some time before I have enough knowledge to be able to crank out something worthwhile. 😐 Thank being said, I do have a youtube channel where last year I uploaded some jams (to backing tracks) and a few covers, you're more than welcome to check them out. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCygGpYNvwfbqbc9Mj6rnGKg

Hi Jeff, what is it exactly you're looking for an explanation of? Do you mean the breaking out of the 1,4,5 chords of blues/rock n roll, or I you talking about the rhythm element? Or is there something else?

Nice comments guys, thank you. John, I'll try that.

Hi Michael, welcome.

Thank you.

Hey Jammie, welcome. I'm new here too. For me, I'm trying to improve by actually writing something instead of just thinking about it! Not sure particularly what else to suggest, but wanted to say hi.

Extroversion, or how sociable you are - I love being with close friends and family, yet I feel uncomfortable if I feel I can't have my personal space. I'm extremely open with people and wear my heart on my sleeve, regardless of the many imes that has bitten me in the butt. The thing that stands out for me though is that I LOVE performing. I'm happy playing music for 1 person, 50, 150 and I dare say if I ever got the chance to do it, I'd love playing for 50,000! 7 Conscientiousness, or how self-disciplined and organized you are - I'm very organised, and pretty disciplined. I've had some health problems recently that have undermined the self-discipline, but I'm well on the way to rebuilding. 8 Agreeableness, or how warm and empathetic you are - Difficult to say on this one. I feel like people are often alien and imcomprehensible, yet people are consistently drawn to my company because they tell me that I'm understanding and kind! I think it's a product of my disciplined mind to shelve the feelings before I analyse them, so I can analyse them at 3 in the morning after I've helped the person feel better! 😆 9 Openness, or how receptive you are to new ideas and activities - I can't stand stagnation. It drives me up the wall. For my need to be disciplined, organised etc. - the reason I want those things is so I know the basics are taken care of, therefore I can concentrate on new things. 10 Neuroticism, or how depressed or anxious you are. - probably not the best one to answer at the moment. I'll come back to it at some point. 🙂

As a guitarist of 25 years, I really came at songwriting with the semi-subconscious intention of using my songs as a vehicle to allow me to showcase my guitar playing. I realise now, having spent a bit of time thinking about it, and doing research on the subject, that I'm no longer bound into that box. I grew up with a strong blues influence, which led me towards the guitar. A lot of blues music is simple in songwriting form (if you'll please excuse the reductive, generic approach I'm taking for the purposes of this exercise). Especially the older stuff, you can write 6 lines of lyric about "your woman" leaving, or drinking, or needing to "find another woman". While these sort of lyrics may have their place, I realise now that my creative beast could never be sated by 3 chords and 6 lines of lyrics about the same thing everyone else is talking about. There are so many good songwriters out there, even in the age of disposable music, and I'd like to feel that I could one day count myself among them. If I make money, that would be great, it'd sure beat my day job. I'd love to make a living doing something musically related. However, I have a job, a family, relative security, so I have no NEED to focus on the financial or fame element of music. What I really have the intention of doing in my songwriting is: 1. Trying to express how I feel and sharing my perspective on life 2. Connecting with people 3. Creating music that I can enjoy sharing, whether digitally or live Probably in that order, although it can flip on a dime. 😆

Really nice. I wish my songs that were just squeezed into a busy week were this good. I've been trying to think of something a litle "critcal" to bring to the party, but honestly I'm struggling. The lyrics, the feel, the chord and melody is all excellent. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks Clay, I'll be checking in regularly. I already started work on a song, so I'll share soon hopefully. 😊

Hi everyone, I've played guitar for over 25 years and am looking to start/improve on my songwriting process and recording skills. It's been a long term dream of mine to write and release an album but unfortunately I've never had the guts. With joining this forum and a couple of others, I hope to get the confidence and feedback that will allow me to achieve my objectives. I look forward to enjoying working together musically.