HoboSage

What a truly wonderful post, Greg . . . and a well written too. Bravissimo! David

I've been writing and recording music/songs for a long, long time, and of course, my "process" has changed over the years. One aspect of my process that has remained constant though, is that when starting a new work, I always start with something musical - something on a guitar, some sound in my DAW or synth, or some drum/percussion pattern or loop. When I start with something on my acoustic, I also finish it on my acoustic. By that I mean, I come up with the complete acoustic guitar part and the complete lead vocal arrangement (which also means I complete the lyric) before I start any recording or do further arranging for the song. Sometimes I'll record it as a guitar+vocal 1+1 and leave it that way as a finished recording, and sometimes I enhance the guitar+vocal 1+1 by adding further instruments/sounds and/or vocals to the arrangement. How do I decide what to add to the arrangement and when to add it? I think that probably varies from song to song. But I'm sure it significantly involves a lot of trial and error guided by my musical intuition, which in turn, is probably grounded in years of experience listening to good music and writing and recording my own. In other words, I'll try this or that, and if I like what I hear, then I keep it and move on to what else might sound good to me., until I get to the point when I consider it done . . . for the time being anyway. When I start a song with a sound in my DAW, then by default I'll record what I'm doing with that sound. So I'm starting with an initial recording of something musical, and as I continue the process for that work, there really are no distinctly separate writing, arranging, or recording phases. It all kind of meshes together. And again, it involves trying this and that and listening to the results. I've been doing this long enough to believe that what I might imagine is most often a mirage tempting me to go down a rabbit hole trying to bring it into reality. What truly inspires me, is how something actually sounds to me - not something I only "hear in my head." That includes lyrics. A big factor in deciding what words I want to sing, is how the words sound in the arrangement as I sing them in various ways. I've been doing this musical creativity thing for so long that my process is now pretty efficient, and many, if not most of my songs, take less than 48 hours from that first musical snippet as a start to a fully produced recording of a finished song, and I often I finish in the same "session" that I started, because once I do start, I get a bit focused on it - perhaps obsessively so. Even the trial and error aspect of my process is fairly efficient. I know almost immediately when something sounds good and when something doesn't, and when something that sounds pretty good might sound even better with a change. I also know when I sing words whether they are conveying what I want to convey in the way I want to convey it, and I know when I'm not meeting that goal. For example, "I want to leave" sounds okay, but if I sang "I have to go" and held "go" with that long "o" vowel sound, and added harmonies, that would sound killer and better convey my emotions. * Disclaimer. The one instrument sound that I do rely on what I imagine it sounding like during my process until I actually record it, is my singing voice. It's just too physically tiring (and embarrassing if another is within earshot) for me to actual do a bunch of singing out loud when I'm trying to come up with a vocal melody and lyrics. I know my voice pretty well and what it will sound like when I sing out loud. But I confess, sometimes I am surprised when I actually go to record my vocals - Shit! It's out of my range! <heh-heh> I doubt any of this is of any use to you, Mahesh. So let me close by saying this. However you arrange and mix a recording of one of your songs, always make sure your singing is center stage. You're a fine acoustic player, Bro. But when you play the instrument of your voice, you're a virtuoso, and the sound is glorious. David

The 32-Bit Float audio recording revolution and its HUGE headroom before clipping (making clipping and gain staging for it a thing of the past) is underway. DAWs and VSTs have been using it a long time for internal processing. Zoom may have have been first out of the gate with a consumer audio interface - this one:. https://www.amazon.com/Zoom-UAC-232-Converter-Interface-Headphone/dp/B0BW1VDHNS/ref=asc_df_B0BW1VDHNS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=647293221758&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9200862543381157809&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9009415&hvtargid=pla-1968708094295&psc=1&mcid=df63d616fb4f3e5bbf09b08b69b770d6

Hi, Mark. I'm David. Welcome.

LOL Sorry, but I really thought that was pretty funny.

If you do get that guitar, get the see-thru purple sunburst version of it. I think it looks the coolest. it may also be the least expensive of the colors available for it. Double-plus!! ++ ++

Wes. Dude. There is only one Bruce Hornsby. Listen to him . . . do it multiple times a day if need be. Ignore all the rest. The rest pale in comparison.

WTF? I'm supposed to be having fun doing music? Hmm. I must be doing it wrong. Welcome to my nightmare, Palmiro. David

Video killed the radio star. I have a Youtube music channel that I do not upload anything to. f*ck Youtube. That's my "strategy."

The Google app for Android or iOS has Google Voice Assistant that you activate by clicking the microphone icon in the Google search window, or by simply saying "Hey Google." After that, ask "What song is this?" or click on "search song" if that icon comes up. Then hum or sing da-d-a-das (that's what I do) of the melody in question for 10-15 seconds. After "listening," Google Voice Assistant will display known songs matching that melody. It can be pretty useful.

Save your Vocaroo recording as an .mp3, then upload that .mp3 file as an attachment to a post you make in a forum here on Songstuff.

I just finished watching a documentary on Gordon Lightfoot. I had forgotten what a truly great songwriter he is, and I've been listening to his stuff again. In my opinion, this is still one of the best songs ever recorded.

He's a musical artist. If you're a musician, record producer and songwriter - you're a musical artist. https://artists.teamwass.com/music/rick-beato/ So, let's agree to disagree about that. I have watched and liked many of his videos. I think he crossed the line here - regardless of whether he did it to make money.

He's entitled to his opinions. But, I think he should have kept them to himself and to private discussions with others. This went way beyond analysis: He was trashing these songs. I personally find it very distasteful when a musical artist publicly trashes the creative works of other musical artists. Millions of people love these songs. He's insulting them too. The world is full of non-artist art critics. We shouldn't be criticizing the works of each other unless criticism by peers is being asked for. Anyway, that's how I feel.

No worries, Greg. I just wanted to clarify why I am not posting for critique, and I appreciate you clarifying what you were saying. You were talking about . . . for lack of a better term . . . drive-by-posters looking only to get without giving back. David