Music General

[AP_Pastor]

I'm not really into game soundtracks that much, but I can appreciate some of them, especially ones with no lyrics. The Sims 1 and 2 soundtrack as well as the Max Payne theme are my favourites.

 

Me and some of my friends started jamming together in this makeshift studio. Just 3 guys with guitars doing some 12-bar stuff. I hope to record some of our jam soon, we just need to set up the recording equipment first.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Guest (see edit history)

[Selfsurprise]

Bringing this thread back because decent thread is decent.

 

The Pastures took part in a Battle Of The Bands on Wednesday. Even though I knocked out the power to my pedals, causing me to cut out for about 20 seconds while I frantically tried to find out what happened, and waving my bass about so that my strap came off, and generally playing like arse - we won the first round!

 

We're potentially appearing on local TV in the near future - if our drummer can get time off work.

 

We've also been offered a festival slot later in the year, requiring a 90-minute set. Gonna need to get a whole lotta songs written!

Excellent work Binky The description of your BOTB set sounds like pretty much all of my favourite bands live performances, on a good day. I don't suppose you can say what festival lineup you'll potentially be appearing on?

[Binky The Rabbit]

Cheers man!

 

I actually don't know the name of the festival itself, but it's a small one - we're at least a year or two off making it onto relatively major festivals (e.g. Belladrum Tartan Heart, Cambridge Rock etc). We're also yet to break out of the North East too, but...if we win the final of the BOTB, we get a three-day tour, which takes us to Belfast and Nottingham, which could open quite a few doors eh!

 

Two festivals we're on which I know the name of, are "Coquetfest" and "Mighty DubFest" (which is all about old Volkwagens). Both of these - and this third one - are near Alnwick, if you feel like googling it

[Scorpia]

why is it so hard for me to record correctly? i can't get my music to sound... three dimensional? it sounds like i'm singing flat, i know i'm not, but i don't know if there's some magical setting i'm overlooking that makes fuller sound.

[Selfsurprise]

Cheers man!

 

I actually don't know the name of the festival itself, but it's a small one - we're at least a year or two off making it onto relatively major festivals (e.g. Belladrum Tartan Heart, Cambridge Rock etc). We're also yet to break out of the North East too, but...if we win the final of the BOTB, we get a three-day tour, which takes us to Belfast and Nottingham, which could open quite a few doors eh!

 

Two festivals we're on which I know the name of, are "Coquetfest" and "Mighty DubFest" (which is all about old Volkwagens). Both of these - and this third one - are near Alnwick, if you feel like googling it

Mighty DubFest rang some mental bells, I looked it up and saw your band's logo in the lineup. Congratulations for landing that gig! I did check out the Coquetfest's site but there didn't seem to be any information on the lineup page other than the various stages where acts will be playing. I'll just to take your word for it and assume you weren't adding yourself to imaginary music festivals... ;p

[Jeb_CC]

why is it so hard for me to record correctly? i can't get my music to sound... three dimensional? it sounds like i'm singing flat, i know i'm not, but i don't know if there's some magical setting i'm overlooking that makes fuller sound.

 

Get a decent mic!

[Binky The Rabbit]

@Selfie: I noticed that too - if I'm honest, I'm taking our singer's word for it too!

 

We've recorded two new songs and need to get them mixed now. I'm thinking of making a third EP with them as the main tracks, with a couple of exclusive rough tracks we could record without spending £££ at a studio. Would mean making more artwork, which I'd like to do again.

 

 

why is it so hard for me to record correctly? i can't get my music to sound... three dimensional? it sounds like i'm singing flat, i know i'm not, but i don't know if there's some magical setting i'm overlooking that makes fuller sound.

Have you tried double-tracking?

[Scorpia]

what do you mean double tracking? I'm not really a formerly taught musician so I'm not good with industry terms. i just do whatever works. do you mean like recording twice into one track? if so, no i haven't. is that a normal method to make fuller sound?

 

And Jeb: Not so sure if my mic's the issue. and i don't wanna spend 300 bucks for an upgrade if i'm wrong.

[AP_Pastor]

what do you mean double tracking? I'm not really a formerly taught musician so I'm not good with industry terms. i just do whatever works. do you mean like recording twice into one track? if so, no i haven't. is that a normal method to make fuller sound?

 

You got the definition alright. There are two ways of doing it. Like recording your voice twice, or you can do automatic double tracking just so you can double the one track you recorded. There are videos in YouTube that can help you make a good double track recording.

[PriestOfJudas]

I think someone on Accursed Farms showed this to me once. To that one person, I trully thank you with all my heart. I was slowly losing interest in heavy metal before I heard this. Many thanks for revitalizing my love for it.

 

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[DeWolfeJV]

Finally got around to doing a new recording (out of boredom mind) but I'm quite happy with it. Simplicity does go a very long way. Listen here if you would be so kind

[AP_Pastor]

...at last, I got to record properly. By properly, not the "guitar amp facing the laptop microphone" technique, but a guitar through an audio interface (thanks to my buddy/bandmate) running Guitar Rig. Here are two tracks i've done:

 

A heavy blues jam in A:

 

A cover of the overture to Queen's A Day At The Races:

 

I'll admit this is not my best playing, this is just me having a grand old time messing around with my guitar.

[Binky The Rabbit]

Finally got up to date with all your recordings guys. Fantastic stuff!

 

--

 

At long last, a decent live video of us! Even though I was in the dark most of the time. Oh well.

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[AP_Pastor]

I was just checking out what my vocal range is through this video:

9IejHKpfHso

Apparently, with my voice ranging from F3 to D5, I'm under the alto range.

 

Anyway, anyone like to know how high/low they can sing?

[Epsilon]

I was just checking out what my vocal range is through this video:

9IejHKpfHso

Apparently, with my voice ranging from F3 to D5, I'm under the alto range.

 

Anyway, anyone like to know how high/low they can sing?

 

F3 to D5 would make you a countertenor. Have to admit, I'm sometimes jealous of you tenors and your ability to hit effortless higher notes (heh).

 

The vocal aspect of music probably interests me the most, so I enjoy discussing it whenever it arises in this thread (admittedly, I know rather little about any instrument other than that or the piano...). E2 to A3 here, but I have discovered an uncommon technique that allows me to maintain decent volume down to an octave beneath that E2. Not exactly the best range on the planet but I do obsess a little over the lower register. If you want to hear what that technique sounds like, bass singer Pavel Myakotin uses it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?start=144&v=_l299pb2DL0 to great effect, filling the room with a B1, and then an F#1. What he's actually doing is producing a B2 and F#2, and relaxing his vocal folds to produce a very convincing "subtone" an octave beneath that. There isn't much in the way of scientific research on this phenomenon, sadly. Something to do with differential tension of the vocal folds, I think.

 

Anyone else interested in vocal range and whatnot?

[AP_Pastor]

I'll have to admit, I was struggling a bit by B4. Like i needed to breathe. I used to be able to do a high falsetto, but age and not caring for my throat that much limited my ability to do falsetto and my head voice. Also, I should mention i couldn't sing, I wanted to know just how high or low my voice can go.

 

I didn't have much interest in vocal ranges in music before 'til I bumped into a Youtube vid breaking down Freddie Mercury's vocal range. There was even a research paper done on his vocal range recently, along with the techniques Freddie used in his singing here, where it was suggested his singing voice ranged from F#2 to a G5. All fascinating stuff, I must say.

 

Y'know, in light of the research they did on Freddie's voice. I wanna see that kind of research done on oktavists. I wanted to know how someone like Mikhail Zlatopolsky could reach notes as low as a B0 from the Prayer for the Dead. I'm honestly jealous of bass singers. Countertenor's alright, but i love that feeling of depth, or weight when I hear bass vocals.

[Epsilon]

Agreed. Lower frequencies offer so much warmth and fullness to music that it's both a pity and a surprise that they aren't more widely used. Sure, there are genres like dubstep that make heavy use of them, but sometimes it's a little excessive in their case. As for research done on oktavists and other extremely low-lying basses, I haven't managed to find much since it's such an extremely rare phenomenon, and even more rare outside of Eastern Europe. Their depth and resonance seems to mostly stem from three things: years of training and learning to use their chest voice to the absolute maximum, their extremely long and thick vocal cords, and their huge physical build (seriously, a typical oktavist is an absolute giant of a man; it's a little terrifying). Zlatopolsky, however, is simply on another level.

 

I believe Freddie Mercury actually did use that subtone/subharmonic technique I mentioned, but more to add a sort of "distortion" to his voice than to expand his range. This article was an interesting read, though. Mercury was legendary, and a good reminder that even a typical baritone can become famous in the music industry.

[DeWolfeJV]

I was just checking out what my vocal range is through this video:

9IejHKpfHso

Apparently, with my voice ranging from F3 to D5, I'm under the alto range.

 

Anyway, anyone like to know how high/low they can sing?

 

I managed from G2 to C6 quite clearly. I surprised myself.

[PriestOfJudas]

That shitty moment when all of your favorite guitarists get outplayed in their own styles by some British guy.

 

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[AP_Pastor]

^ I just cried listening to that, especially when he did Gilmour's and Townshend's guitar playing.