Nick

My inability to understand how to use the reply and quote stuff RTFM as they say

Coincidentally Patrick I think you have a great name but it may be a huge advantage or not ..

So what are the two books? They may be good. My wife has bought several self published books from friends and some of them are and some of them are Like songs and tunes and stuff and pictures Actually the stranger is that you chose to write two books. I think there is a song in that It's writing as I type and it's called Just In Case Song that writes itself

I first used Cakewalk Guitar Tracks. Then bought Reaper - I tried it and bought and use it for all sorts of stuff now. It's the one I know most about - though I don't know very much! I have actually bought Reaper twice as my deal only saw it through two version numbers (3 and 4) so I bought 5 when doing a potential project with a friend and there was some functionality that I wanted I have copies of Garageband - which I have occasionally used for drums but very rarely Ableton Live 8 - which I have never really got round to using Sonar Home Studio - which again I haven't really used Tracktion 6 - which I have but have never really looked at For me Reaper does what I currently need but like people who acquire guitars I tend to grab good offers on DAWs if I see them (like FREE) - just in case Mostly I use Reaper as part of a practice workflow rather than using it as a DAW for recording "proper projects". I play and sing with two friends. We meet up and I record on my (old) Zoom H2. Download into Reaper and edit, normalise and tweak bits and bobs in there and then send back to other members. Occasionally add extra tracks in etc but I just find it easy to use and do things like that in it and then create and export a bunch of mp3s And I use it to record keyboard ideas and (very) occasionally do things with drums (this is a cover that shouldn't probably be on reverbnation but hasn't been taken off yet - https://www.reverbnation.com/nickblair/song/28856761-harvest-for-the-world - if the links a problem delete it) and that's probably as complicated as I do these days The intention is to do a more 'proper' project and I'll use it then

Queen. 15th December 1973 at a University hall of residence in Leicester. (http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/live-1.htm) Just to see if they were really that good because I can't remember if they were. Strangely a couple of years later (1976/1977ish) I lived in a shared house and the girl upstairs who I used to share an occasional smoke with had a boyfriend who was a sound engineer on one of their albums and loved them to bits I remember a lot of people and bands I saw at that time but don't particularly remember Queen. I remember Cockney Rebel at the same place and also seeing Sweet and being surprised how good they were. And how disappointed when I saw Caravan who I loved to bits in those days as they were the back drop to my A levels

They are giving the Home version away free on Computer Music magazine this month I see. I'm sure it isn't connected

Jacob Collier fan by chance?

I'm using it at work at the moment to test some things on and my initial reaction is very positive. I find it very simple to use with no need yet for any instruction. I installed the test version from download and just started running software on it. Easy to navigate with many of the nice features of both 7 and 8 - traditional start menu but easily accessible programs by just typing and searching from the desktop. I'll see if I can try a bit of music on it. We have a 64bit and 32bit version at work and both seem to be very straightforward - though I doubt there will be many who run the 32bit version (we have an older piece of software I am testing and it runs very well which came as something of a surprise!) And - yes - every indication that it will be the last Windows with constant additions and modifications. Edge the new browser works well and so far is less clunky than IE So far so good

Haven't quite worked out the font sizes on this site - I just increased the small post to 18pt and that is NOT 18pt type. Anyway... I am meeting up with someone tomorrow night who would like me to play some of his fiddle tunes for some gigs that he has written and work out some accompaniments. He is a guitarist/banjo/mandolin etc player so will no doubt have his idea of what he wants. Also quite keen that I use a DADGAD like sound etc Which is well and good. So my aim is to as quickly as possible get to know those tunes so that I can add to them hopefully. I have decent ears for fiddle tune accompaniment and have sat in quite a lot of sessions so I reckon tomorrow will probably go like this (with one BIG proviso which I'll put further down). For each tune I'll ask him to play through it and just try to get a feel of playing along as I hear it to get some thought of how I think it might go At the same time I'll record what we do on my little Zoom H2 recorder so that I can take it to bits at my leisure If he has the dots too I'll grab a copy of them to save me time working them out. If he hasn't no problem I'll also ask him how he hears it and whether there is a chord progression that he has I will want to know the structure and whether or where it repeats I probably also want to know how much he is prepared for me to do it my way That tends to be the way that I'd work with something new. But in short my aim is to find out as much about it as quickly as possible so that I can make a positive contribution. If it is an Am - Em - G thing we'll get there quite quickly and I can then go away and really get to know it. If it has lots of precise and important changes then I'll need something more precise. if it doesn't work out that way I'm quite happy for us to work out how we get to the point where I can play it with him so that we are both happy and satisfied so that we can make it better and better until we really 'know' it. But my way isn't everyone else's. If someone hasn't got great ears for chord structures or whatever there is no point, in my view, in letting it get in the way of a decent result in a short period. The few things that I have written and the songs that I play often exist in little books (if I'm organised) or scraps of paper. And if someone else wants a three bars of C and two bars of D and then three of F etc approach I probably already have it to offer. As I say in my mind the aim is to get to playing as quick as possible with as few barriers as possible. We had a young fiddle player who was going to come and play who wasn't sure what we wanted. So to help I sent along a recording of the song, a midi file, and a suggestion of the sort of thing that I heard in my head. BUT with lots of things saying 'you bring what you want - it doesn't need to be like this'. It seemed easier than spending hours of time potentially wasting four or five people's time in person. And once you have done it once you always have it to give to someone else. Just my view I wonder what size the font will be this time...

Everyone you play with will be different. It's important to get on with people generally. I don't think you could play very long with someone you genuinely can't stand. Personally I've fallen out with lots of people in bands mostly though my propensity to drink lots. Don't do that these days so hopefully that will make it easier for others! How quickly people pick things up is such a range. I am lucky to have played with some people who are VERY quick to pick things up and have wonderful ears and musical abilities. I've also played with people who relatively take ages to pick things up. And then would take eons working on every nuance of light and shade on the song. Only to play it completely different when we played it live so it was a bit of a frustration. I'm off to Scotland in a couple of weeks to meet up with a friend who is a very able professional musician. I'm the lucky one in that he will put up with me. When we used to play a few gigs he used to launch into fiddle tunes or songs that I had never heard or played and he trusted that I'd probably be ok - and I probably was. But later in the year I am supposed to be playing at a public gig in quite a big venue with someone who I only know a bit and for that one you can bet that I will want to be much better prepared. Best thing is probably to ask. And if the music is worth it and it sounds good and doesn't drive you mad then it is worth the initial (relatively small) pain.

Hi. I used to post here some years ago when my friend Alistair McIntosh was fairly active here and I used to play in a band with him and help out a bit on some of the backing for the songs he wrote. With the exception of one song I was never a song writer but I have recently started a collaboration with a local guy called Edgar who writes poetry and lyrics and I have started going through some of his lyrics and am trying to come up with some tunes. So it seemed a good time to come back and offer some comments on other people's efforts and hopefully get some feedback in return. Musically I like a fairly broad range of music types and play or have played in various things. Currently I sing and play guitar locally either by myself, with my wife who sings, or in an acoustic band who plays odd gigs but also enjoy just sitting round trading songs at home. Mostly it's a range of folk, countryish, singer songwriter stuff, blues, jazzyish things but I have been in rock, irish and blues bands in the past. Guitar or bass is main instrument though I can add in some keyboard stuff or mandolin and experiment a little bit more with midi these days having bought a bigger midi keyboard. Mostly it is for creating examples of arrangements of the songs. My playing and singing limitations invariably frustrate me but that's one of those things and increasing arthritis in my left hand is a real p*** off. So far I have four songs in some state of finish from my collaboration with Ed and will put them up for comment in due course. They are reasonably diverse - one is quite folky, another quite upbeat, one an upbeat blues and one a slower one. I have a great pile of songs to work through though so there will be various sorts. Nice to be back and regards to John

I play chords with my thumb

I haven't played in a band for the last couple of years which I miss. I love playing in decent sessions when people let me and am currently working on a thing with Alistair for a charity thing he is doing. Sing in singarounds and the odd open mic which sometimes work well but that is the limit. Was up in Arran not so long back and had the most fun I'd had for probably 4 years. Summer day. Beautiful view. Nice harmonies. Smiles. As it happened with no practice - usual stuff for me and pinching the best songs in life because I can't write The first I love because I love the song even though everything went wrong The second I think Nickey's harmonies towards the end are lovely The last one is just fun http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83110759/Nickey/caseof.mp3 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83110759/Nickey/sweetheart.mp3 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83110759/Nickey/sweetman.mp3 End of the year we'll do it again together. I feel a huge pressure to write. If I do you'll be the first to hear