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Brazilian Dirge


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Description
This is one of my first attempts at recording. Its a chord progression I stole from someone else and made my own. I'm looking for tips on how to enhance production to make things sound proffessional. so feel free to be critical.
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Song Stats
Hits: 1255
Comments: 21
Fans: 5
Plays: 98
Downloads: 61
Votes: 3
Uploaded: Jan 25, 2008 - 02:48:42 PM
Last Updated: Jan 02, 2009 - 02:51:08 AM Last Played: Nov 17, 2009 - 03:58:57 PM
Song License
Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Creative Commons

Song Actions
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Hardware:
Fender Strat recorded dry into garageband.
Software:
Garageband 08 with echo on the drum loop
Comments
Pixelfrog said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Nice
Reminds me of the type of music you hear at Starbucks or bookstores, nice and relaxing. Mastering has it's limits in Garageband. For that you probably should think about switching to Logic Pro. Good luck!
Check out my latest song called The Other Day
drakonis said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Welcome aboard...
Nice laid-back enjoyable bit of music, sounds quite well-played, but I'll let knowledgeable guitarists critique that :-) Recording sounds pretty good... the guitar "tone" is OK, but sounds like a little less midrange, and a little boost of bass/treble might help fatten the sound a teeny bit... also adding a teeny bit of reverb* on the guitar might help it melt in a little bit. Drums sound like a standard single loop, so they get stale quickly, need to add a little variety in there.

*There's simple reverb (GB slider), and then there's complex (better sounding) reverb (AUMatrixReverb) with lots of knobs and stuff, which takes more fiddling, but eventually sounds better.

Hope this helps! Sounds like you are quite "at-home" with that guitar, nice.

ttfn,
Drakonis
Check out my latest song called Lullaby for the Inner Child
Elevator_Funk said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Thanks....
...I'm going to try the guitar tone edit you suggested tonite. We'll see how it goes.
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
Feter said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Brazilian Dirge
cool guitar playin ..I dont have anything to say
but I do realy enjoy this .clean sound .thnx for
shain !!!
ktb said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
sweet
Brian, great post. If thats your first attempt, I can't wait to hear whats next. Nice pace, vibe, and tone. It all gelled nicely. I'm with Drak on the tweak for the midrange. Pro sounding
Check out my latest song called off the deck (w/Z293)
Elevator_Funk said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Hmmm.....
.....Logic pro. I 'spose I should figure out the basics in garageband before i jump up to that tho, huh?

Thanks for all the good comments by the way. I can see this MJ group is going to be addictive. Thankfully I can take a lot of days off from work this winter. Especially next week since it's so cold. Yay! : D
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
Montgomery California said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
good tune
this is a great try at GB... first off, which version are you using? we run GB4 for our Monty Cali tunes.....
tone wise, try this;
on your rhythm tracks, first off, use two different tones, and do two tracks. you can copy and paste the same track and effect and eq it differently, or you can play two different tracks. up to you. keep one track exactly the same as you have it. take the second rhythm track, add a touch more high end, and maybe a little dirt to the tone, like a subtle distortion. keep them both panned center, but feather the volumes to compliment the tones of each track to taste. on the solo, some reverb, and a little more crispness. now, me, i add the reverb and such to the track itself, not to the master. effecting everything with the same reverb tends to muddy the mix. also, you have alot of low end boom on your kick drum. dont know if this is fixable, or not, but if it is, use the track eq, set it to 10-band, and play around with that. you lost your bass guitar in your mix due to the battle between the bass and the rhythm guitar for the same frequency. the virtual eq is good for that kind of fix. try an 'increase bass pluck,' or a 'control bass boom,'.....
and hey, this is a good mix on it's own..... i am not baggin on your tune at all, just some ideas to throw around. another thing is how you are recording you guitars... if direct, record flat and effect and eq in GB... if recording via amp, sm57 is the best way to go. it has proven year after year to get the best guitar respone of any mic setup out there. for bass, try recording direct, and using the bass tone settings in GB. me, i play one bassline all the way through, copy it onto another track, then use a different bass setting for both tracks. for instance, on one bass track, i might use hip-hop bass, and then for the other use rock bass. then like the guitar tracks, i feather in the volumes to give it a nice crisp tone. it can really make your bass come alive.
check out some of our motgomery california tunes, as well as smooth riffin on the Allen Dean page. welcome to MJ, and hope your experience here is a good one!
MC
Check out my latest song called Montgomery California--Master
Elevator_Funk said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
OK..
I read about people doubling their tracks on MJ this week. I'm going to try that too. I'm using Garageband '08. Also, I didn't use my bass on this track, I wasn't sure if it needed it so I didn't bother. The kick drum i think is because I'm addicted to heavy thumping bass, I'll dial it back in my new mix with all the suggestions and see how it sounds

Thanks again for all the constructive criticism, this is exactly what I was hoping to get out if MJ.
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
thetiler said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Here is my take / the buzz has to go!
I would like more depth in the kick, the bass would do well to have it resonate with more contrast to the lead, in that it should be boomier with added depth. This piece as a very nice groove. I am not sure what is getting the buzz but that is paramount in getting higher scores here on a constant basis.

I thinking your pluging right into the computer, but make sure your cords are ok, It almost sounds like an amplifier buzz. But I noticed that really quickly. I really got chastised for having too much white noise with my acoustic guitar and that was because I used a cheap mixing board. I think it took me quite a while before I got it in my thick head to go out and buy a tascam 122 interface and that really helped cause it had halfway decent pre amps. But I don't think you have that problem it is a different type of buzz, but it is very apparent at the start.

But the main thing is when you get noise and it isn't on any instrument sound track, like a beginning of a tune before any musical sound. In your master channel of GB, take down the volume completely ! You can do that on each individual tracks as well. But primarily do it if you get sounds that you don't want on your recording!

A terrific first post! Lots of electric guitar style. A very nice melodic thang going!
Check out my latest song called The Bluebird Cafe (with two other guest)
Elevator_Funk said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
I think...
...that the buzz is because I was playing thru a single coil and I had my TV going in the background. Real professional huh? We'll I'll start turning my tv off in the future.
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
Elevator_Funk said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
OR....!!
You could look at it like I do when I listen to Stevie Ray Vaughans version of "Little Wing" if you turn it up on some good speakers you can hear amplifier buzz. It makes you feel like he's in the room with you. Sends chills down my spine every time.....
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
8piscean8 said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Day Dream
This reminds me of the time right between sleep and waking up in the morning. The part where dreams and reality collide and create their own little universe. Nice and mellow, I dig it! I think the bass drum is a little busy though and should be complimented with a snare drum. Basically I would like to hear a full kit with brushes but I'm always picking on people's percussion!

Great first post. Looking forward to more!
Check out my latest song called The End
Alannah said 666 days ago (January 25th, 2008)
Nice tune and groove ...
... now here is the advice from the non-musician type (I know nothing about drums and guitars etc. ... but I can comment on what my ears hear while listening) ... my only nit is the drum chosen ... it has that "tippy tappy tippy tappy" sound which I hear in some of the drum loops .. and I find that it detracts my ear away from the meat of the song cause I get distracted by the tippy tappy ... does that make sense? I know comments above gave you some direction about the drums ... so I will shut up now ... I just felt compelled to mention that ratta tat tat tippy tappy thing ... hahahaha looking forward to hearing more from you ....
Moviz said 666 days ago (January 26th, 2008)
Well
I liked it. Nice and relaxing and very subtle, but there are some nice tips here for you to follow from others. Great first post, regards M
Check out my latest song called A Soldiers Dream (Remix/record)
VicDiesel said 666 days ago (January 26th, 2008)
Sweet track
Hey, this is nice stuff. A pleasure to listen to. You're grooving really nicely on that strat.

I have just a few comments. Try to have a real bass part. GB has plenty of basses, so taht shouldn't be a problem. That bass drum is now a bit in empty space: it wants a buddy in the low frequencies.

Your low strings boom. Cut some low/mid frequencies.

You're using two guitars, but the sounds are not different enough. Try to distinguish them a bit by playing with EQ, echo, whatever. Maybe pan it a bit to the side?

But on the whole this is very nice stuff.
Check out my latest song called Desert Stars
Elevator_Funk said 665 days ago (January 27th, 2008)
Hmm...
...but what to play on the bass line without getting too busy, i'm afraid of losing the chill factor, i'll try it, but i'm not sure if you'll hear it here unless it sounds stupendous : D ......
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
announcer said 666 days ago (January 26th, 2008)
There is a lot of good stuff here
From my experience, the reason you have gotten so many comments and so many tips from the folks here at MacJams is because they think your stuff has a lot of merit and potential. This song has good "bones", it just needs some "fleshing out". I, for one, forward to hearing more from you!
Check out my latest song called It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
MikeBishop said 665 days ago (January 26th, 2008)
Nice playing.
This could really turn into something when you get more mastery of GarageBand. I agree with Monty Cali about the doubling, it will give you so much more control of the sound, and it will fatten up the guitar. You mentioned Stevie Ray in one of your replies, and he did a similar thing by using multiple amps/heads running at the same time to create one monster tone. You can do the same thing with virtual amps, and it's a lot easier. Also, unedited GaragBand drum loops can get really boring. There are many ways to get really good drum sounds - sample CDs, Drums on Demand, real drums, of course (if possible) or even editing the loops you have in GarageBand.
It sounds like you can play, and this is a good start, and with more understanding of the recording process you'll be able to sound great.
Check out my latest song called Pinger Fickin'
Elevator_Funk said 665 days ago (January 27th, 2008)
Thanks....
....again for all your comments. They are not going to waste. I tried to apply them to a new song, but it still doesn't sound as good. I also know I need to master playing with the drum loops a little bit more. We'll see as time goes on.
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
guitapick said 664 days ago (January 27th, 2008)
~
Sweet tune...nice lookin' Strat, too. I love Strats.

I like the use of chords in your soloing. And you listen to the rhythm guit, too, playing off of it. Not just chops. Nice stuff...

Welcome to MacJams...
Check out my latest song called Outside the Corral
Elevator_Funk said 661 days ago (January 30th, 2008)
...
thanks man...
Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip
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Name: Brian
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There's only a few things you really need to know about me. I love listening to music, talking about music and playing music, and that's pretty much it.... [see more]

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