john

Have you had a listen to Mahesh’s music? Hobosage does some great songs too. We’re lucky to have a bunch of talented artists on the site.

I will be soon. I have some stand alone singles being recorded, plus I have enough material for 2-3 EPs followed by an album under my own name, and enough for an EP under Deep Red Sea. As yet none planned with bodhran though most still have to be arranged, so there’s still scope, especially for some of the acoustic songs that could work with a modern folk vibe. Are you planning to release any music Bridget?

Thanks Bridget. I’ve been playing bodhran for about 30 years now, and still learning!

An interesting selection! I remember as a teen when Iron Maiden Iron Maiden came out. One of my friends played it relentlessly. Rock in Rio must have been out about 20 years by now, surely? I’ve never really listened to Epica. I’ve heard perhaps 2 tracks off it, maybe 3. Cradle of Filth are a little different. Funny how both Cruelty and the Beast and Rock in Rio start with short scene setters. Vocally entirely different. Ok, there is a difference musically but vocally it is like chalk and cheese.

Hey DnD Nice to meet you David. I look forward to hearing your album. Can you drop a link to it? What plans do you have musically for the rest of 23 and then 24? Cheers John

Nice. Do you have any of your lyrics online? Have you had many collaborations so far?

Hi I just bought a new microphone, a Shure SM81, for recording instruments, but primarily for recording guitar. I did consider several microphones right from Rode M5 microphones up to a Neumann KM 184, and/or a matched pair of Rode NT55 microphones. What do you guys use for instrument recording? If playing live I use an electro acoustic, but a microphone gets a so much better sound that for finished recordings I would always use a microphone. I’ve used electro acoustics on demos, but finished recordings are there to last and it just bugs me every time I hear it otherwise! I’ve used SM81s before in studios, years ago, but I always remember them as having a good sound. What do you use? How do you use them? Cheers John

Nice to seem some of the hundreds of hours of tour videos making it to edit! Honestly, it’s great to see. You should have some great advice to offer to gigging musicians as well as some interesting gig stories… and at last some of them can be shared on our boards lol Other than tours, I would suggest looking at one-off larger gigs as a way forwards. I won’t drone on in here unless you are interested but I will say it can be lucrative if you have some local draw, based on selling tickets for a larger venue. I’d be interested in hearing something about the places you played, the venues, the locale, the people etc. as part of the context of any performance footage. Perhaps in your blog and/or your channel? Just a couple of thoughts. What are your plans for new releases?

Thanks Alicatt! You can hear some music by our members by using the Songstuff Media Player… music while you browse. Songstuff Media Player

I’ve just ordered a pair of Rode NT55 microphones, mainly for recording my acoustic guitar. Otherwise I have only added two Lavelier lapel mount microphones and the Rode VideoMicro on camera microphone.

Well said Steve.

Nice to see you back on the boards Tim! You mention some good subjects in your answer. EQ carving is often overlooked, and double tracking is often a lazy copy these days. Out of interest, you get some brilliant blends on double track vocals when you pan vocal 1 to the center, make two copies of vocal 2, pan hard right and left, nudge the two vox back to create a slap back delay, in time to the music, perhaps a 1/64th and a 32nd, and apply a high pass on them somewhere between 400-800Hz (also worth experimenting up to 2k). It thickens but keeps it lively without cluttering the usually busy mid channel.

Hey Michael! Welcome to Songstuff Do you currently record demos of your songs?

Hey Charles, Good to meet you! Welcome to Songstuff I hope you are well now? Cheers John

Hey Getting your vocal sound is probably the highest impact aspect of creating quality recordings that faces anyone recording modern music. Often it is the only point where someone making new music has to bring audio from the real world into their masterpiece. Everything else is generated with loops and virtual instruments. Sure you can use vocal loops, but it isn’t the same. It’s one thing getting the basic voice recorded into your recording environment. What microphone do you use? What is your recording environment? What vocal treatments do you use (if any) when recording? It’s another to get that track to a finished standard as recorded audio that shapes the sound What effects and processors do you use? How do you use them? What are you trying to achieve? And how do you integrate it with the rest of the track? Do you sit the vocal above the music, further forwards in the mix? Do you sit the vocal within the music, further back in the mix? There’s a trend that has been pushing vocals further and further back in the mix it’s been becoming increasingly like that for years. So I am interested in what you guys do to get your sound? What effects chains do you use? Cheers John

Hey, you can release EPs and albums for fun too you know. To be honest, even an official release without all the bells and whistles can be done for less than the cost of a cafe lunch for one. Most often your time is more in question. Point is playing gigs can be just for fun. Recording can be just for fun. There are even those that consider radio, tv, even films are just for fun, building a fanbase of listeners… can all be for fun with no money or commercialism in sight. Even those who do all that commercially might still be doing it largely for the fun of it. So, I ask because you never know! Having your music played on radio is a buzz, though it’s a moment, you can’t quite believe it… usually because you often encounter it unexpected, as a listener, while you are doing everyday stuff. It stays with you a while. TV is more of a drawn out event. Filming takes anything from a couple of hours to several days depending on what you are filming. You can then take days to months before broadcast. Normally you get a heads up. If your music is being used in a 3rd party production after licensing you have zero visibility until a broadcast date months to years later depending on what. Then if you like the association you might be proud and smiling, if you don’t you might be cringing and hiding or braising it out consoling yourself with the bucks you earn. Weirdly, in both cases it takes getting used to the fact that your work is now public property and everyone and their dog will have an opinion. After TV or even newspapers getting recognised is a sure trigger for paranoia. Everywhere you go people mutter, point and weirdly smile or look at you jeeringly. It takes getting used to. Anyhoo, yay radio! Lol

I tried it with DALL-E 2 and had a well generated female with worse spelling and wrong number of letter groups (I can’t call them words), so it isn’t a new thing. It has to be said I thought regurgitating words I gave it would have been easier than generating a new person. Who knew?

Hey Tony Nice to meet you. Welstillhere… it seems a little late to say welcome! Do you have any recording goals, such as an EP or album etc? Cheers John

In reality I think there are a spectrum of different things to do with your music from: park on a shelf at one end through use them for discussion purposes and interacting with other musicians about your music through posting them onto a public Soundcloud account (or similar) with no announcements through a formal-ish release process (an as-if release) onto Soundcloud or similar as free downloads through to a full on unsigned independent release to commercial-only platforms and on Do what suits you. Though number 3 gives you a load of options as it is the first that realistically allows you to grow your fans base. Challenges wise I’ll try and post a new one later today or tomorrow. If you are likely to participate regularly that motivates me to post more challenges!

Hi Krystal Sorry no, but it seems like a good idea. I don’t know how easy it is to cross borders there, regarding visas, working, equipment etc. Plus there seems to be some tension between Serbia and Kosovo atm. Cheers John