Jump to content

Your Ad Could Be Here

Talk To Bears Music

Sticking Around
  • Posts

    30
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About Talk To Bears Music

  • Birthday January 7

Critique Preferences

  • Getting Critique
    Detailed

Music Background

  • Band / Artist Name
    Talk To Bears
  • Musical / Songwriting / Music Biz Skills
    Lyric writing, bass, guitar, songwriting, home recording/production.
  • Musical Influences
    Beatles, King Crimson, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, lots of funky R&B.

Profile Information

  • Interests
    Music of course, recording, model railroading
  • Location
    United States of America
  • Gender
    Male

Music Pages

  • BandCamp
    talktobears.bandcamp.com

Recent Profile Visitors

196 profile views

Talk To Bears Music's Achievements

Contributor

Contributor (5/14)

  • One Year In Rare
  • Collaborator Rare
  • One Month Later Rare
  • Week One Done Rare
  • Dedicated Rare

Recent Badges

18

Reputation

  1. My most recent single https://spotify.link/dA8iEU9ruDb
  2. LOVE this song, rocks like mad! Sex, drugs and Rock and Roll in one convenient package. 👍😁
  3. Very versatile and unique band we'll never see the likes of again. I've always regarded John Paul Jones as their secret weapon, owing to his instrumental and arranging skills. My fave tunes include: Good Times Bad Times Ramble On Immigrant Song Friends Misty Mountain Hop Four Sticks When The Levee Breaks The entire Houses of the Holy album Ten Years Gone Kashmir In The Light Achilles Last Stand
  4. I chose Talk To Bears because: 1) I like bears 2) It's a line from a Captain Beefheart song (Wildlife) I always liked 3) I've long thought that if bears could talk, they'd be rather sardonic and biting in their humor, my lyrics tend to lean in that direction.
  5. I've been a very happy Cubase user since 2005. It was relatively easy to get the hang of. I have an assortment of handy VST plugins such as: Positive Grid BIAS amp (virtual guitar amps) IK Multimedia Amplitude 5 (virtual guitar amps and effects) IK Multimedia plugins like Officially licensed Hammond B3X organ Leslie 122 and 147 speakers iZotope Ozone mastering software
  6. He made the point with a vengeance. It blew my mind how acceptable things like over-repitition, overuse of that gawdawful Auto Tune, minimalist beats and no real harmonic content has become.
  7. Over time I learned how to mix my music to my liking. Having good monitors helps a good deal as well as knowing when to stop and give your ears a break. You can only do so much critical listening before you hit the point of fatigue and diminishing returns. As for a recording/mixing DAW, I've been a long-time Cubase user, always been very much at home with it. I've had things professionally mastered before and it taught me a lot as to what to listen for. Out of desire and necessity, I got some Ozone iZotope mastering software, just perfect for a non-technical person like me. It was well worth the purchase price. It has a ridiculous amount of presets that you can tweak to your liking. So far, I've been very happy with the results, the last ep I did "How Dare You In Front of Public" had the best final mastered sound I've gotten so far.
  8. 1) You may reserve the right to be boring but please don't go there 2) Not every song needs solos. But if it calls for one or two, keep them short and musically interesting. Nobody likes an egocentric showboat always trying to prove how fast they can play for days on end. Don't be a w*nker. Leave your audience wanting more, not demanding you stop playing altogether. 3) Regarding lyrics, corny love songs, songs about trucks, girls and beer have been beaten to death, DO NOT GO THERE!!! Seek out the unusual, off the beaten path subjects or a good story, real or imagined. Also, avoid the sour grapes, angst ridden complaining about girls, politics and mommy or daddy issues. If that's what you obsess over, for God's sake, get into therapy!!! 4) Guard against over-repetition 5) Humor does belong in music 6) Pauses, spaces and dynamics are wonderful components of music. Let it breathe. 7) Given the choice between an antiseptically clean perfect take or a slightly imperfect one with a great feel and vibe, I'll take the feel and vibe approach every time (It worked for Eddie Kramer quite beautifully). Work to expand your vocabulary both with music and lyrics. Add interest but be careful not to bludgeon your audience with your knowledge. 9) Don't take yourself so damned seriously 10) Yell at imaginary kids to get off your lawn every so often. It's very cathartic. 11) Even if you don't make a dime, creating music is good therapy and keeps you sharp.
  9. I've felt the influence of Jeff Beck very strongly (along with Allan Holdsworth, Clapton and Hendrix). Jeff could pull sounds and nuances out of a guitar nobody else could. He was indeed a true original. Why Jeff Beck is Uncopyable
  10. Great topic! When I plunged full tilt into lyric writing circa 2017, , I laid down several ground rules for myself. 1) Don't worry about rhyming. The more important thing is to convey an idea or tell a story. If you can do it with rhymes (which I have on several of my tunes), great! If not, just get to the point and convey your idea/story by whatever means necessary. 2) No corny love songs under ANY circumstances! It's been done to death. 3) NO political or religious songs under any circumstances! Done to death, too preachy and become dated very quickly. 4) Search for, research and write about unusual, quirky, little thought of subject matter. There's lots that can be written about, satirized or told in story form that is rarely approached. In my "mental Rolodex" for example are things I've written about (and eventually recorded) like; AMTRAK Owls The Wedding/Industrial Complex Akron OH Ageism Model Trains and Escaping Reality The Mojave Desert phone booth A girl who dreamed of being one of the Ray Conniff Singers And tons more. 5) Humor does belong in music Sadly, the story song is a lost art these days. I cannot help but look back on coming of age in the 70's and hearing 2 masters of the story song, Harry Chapin and Chris De Burgh and how they could hold you spellbound or even have you laughing almost uncontrollably. I loved when Frank Zappa could pick well deserving targets of his satire, and how Steely Dan could conjure up vivid characters and locales. The Bear is doing his part to keep tropes at bay 😁
  11. Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos Finch - Glory of the Inner Force McCartney/Wings - Band On The Run Style Council - Best Of
  12. Thank you everyone! I have a feeling I'll seriously enjoy myself here.
  13. Though I do primarily original music, this song by The Fastest Group Alive was impossible to resist. I did the guitar, bass, organ and loops plus the spoken vocal. My old buddy Jaya Drats did the backing vocals. https://youtu.be/8NnxTr0wM9U
  14. Hello Everyone, I'm a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (bass, guitar) lyricist working under the name of Talk To Bears. After an unplanned 6 year silence, I started to create music again in 2017. I also took the plunge into the realm of lyrics. I do all my recording and production at home. Musically I would consider my strongest influence to be The Beatles, King Crimson, Steely Dan and Frank Zappa. After laying in the basic instrumental tracks I collaborate with vocalists and folks who are skilled with keyboards, horns etc.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By continuing to use our site you indicate acceptance of our Terms Of Service: Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy, our Community Guidelines: Guidelines and our use of Cookies We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.