Very nice uplifting tune. There is a lot of energy in the melody and in the sound. Enjoyed listening, made my day :-)

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appreciate your comment. your music is pretty amazing... especially your vocal stuff.

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I really how happy-melancholy this is...I guess that makes it happycholy :-). The bass work is really VERY nice and I'm trying to figure out if you're getting that lead guitar sound from a guitar or a keyboard. You said you're new to music, but if that's you on guitar, you're a scary fast learner. The overall feeling, the arrangement and the tightness of the playing, all of it is really good.

Welcome to macjams, stephen. Great first post!




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heh heh, no, that's not my guitar playing. maybe in 20 years or so... actually it's made in GarageBand - 100% software instruments. which isn't always good... kind of a flat sound. i did mess with the pitchblend sliders a little though to get the slides. yep, happycholy is the sound i was going for. thanks for commenting - i really like your stuff.

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Nice job with the piano here, it caught my attention from the beginning. The guitar is great as well. Good song altogether, thank you for posting!

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Thanks man! Your piano playing is really good. I actually barely play - that was all done with a mouse. I know you can get much better sounds from really playing... I just haven't learned.

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Hey great work Stephen. I do not see any areas where you need improvement.

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Thanks! I appreciate your praise... but I'm sure I could improve a lot. I see this is your first day and I look forward to seeing your work soon.

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I'm listening in snippets because the MJ downloads are taking forever today for me.

First impressions: good sound, and lots of good ideas for someone "pretty new to music". Especially impressed with the way you "think bass" - unless you've been a bass player, the basslines you've made are quite nicely placed against the melody and rhythm. I am hearing an upbeat pop song hiding in behind this. Some areas you might like to think about: the rhythm sounds like it's been quantised pretty much totally. For more lifelike (or "real") sounding keyboard rhythm you can use (I think they're in GB) the more "human" quantise options which allow a little movement from the rigid beat. Secondly, it sounds like all the notes are the same velocity which makes me think you either pencilled all the notes in from scratch or that you have a non touch-sensitive keyboard. Again, there are digital ways of improving this - in Logic it's the "humanise" option or a random velocity change - and you'd notice the improvement almost immediately. Finally (and I'm hoping I'm not being too negative here with all these suggestions) I think this would take a good drum track very easily. You can use the standard tracks within GB for some fairly real sounding drum tracks.

Anyway, as people have said, a great first post - lookng forward to seeing more.

Cheers,
Neil

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Thank you, thank you, thank you! I really, really appreciate someone taking the time to tell me how to improve. Yes, I agree that it's very stiff sounding. I don't know of any humanizing tools though. Are you sure they're in GB? And yes, I penciled in all the notes. *Sigh* One of these days my instrument-playing skills will skyrocket... or do you have to practice? Maybe it would sound good with a drum track. I was kind of holding off on that. I'll try. Again, thanks. I love your music!

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nice pop theme my friend ..welldone !

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Thanks for the comment! Do mean you think the genre would be pop? (Like I said, I have no idea...)

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a great first post with some wonderful ideas and performances. Especially like the basslines. well done!

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appreciate the compliment. hopefully i can do some more work on it soon.

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Great start to your Macjams experience! Being new to music may be working for you, you've got lots of ideas coarsing through this. Great melodies!

Welcome to the greatest corner of the interweb!

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i'm not really gonna run out of ideas am i? just kidding. i really liked your new one. thanks for commenting.

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what instruments did you use to make this?

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I didn't use any real instruments, just software. I used the Electic Tremolo and Fingerstyle Electric Bass from the default set in GB, and then the Boldt Andre Grand Piano, the Boldt Accordion 1, and the Boldt Roland Bassoon from the Boldt 24-Pack volumes I & II (benboldt.spymac.com/instruments.html).

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thanks dude!!!

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I love the title of your piece.This is a fine firsty.The overall mix is good,as is your use of various instruments and your sense of song structure.Just needs some refinement to make it less robotic feeling and predictable and that will all come in time.Technology for musical creation is practically limitless...have at it!

Blessings,

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thanks for stopping by! yeah i feel a bit limited right now with just GarageBand and not really any instrument playing skills, but i am only 18. i guess i've got enough time to collect some. thanks for your post!

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Good chords... I like hearing the piano plays... It's so much peaceful.... Good guitar... Great upload... Thanks for sharing...

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appreciate the compliments. i really like your voice and piano playing.

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Hey there, this made me so happy to hear! It's the kind of music i like to listen to in general. The rhythm and chord progression was wonderful. The undertones and overall mood of the song is really mellowed out, but none the less it put me in a great mood, which is a great start. I'd love to hear more :) keep it up... i really hope you find some time for music, you clearly have something here.

-Bre

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so... if putting you in a great mood is a great start, what's my goal? jk. thanks for the encouragement. i just recorded part of a new one today that i'll be adding to and tweaking a bit before posting. you know i like your music. keep up the good work.

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Yeah, very cool tune, nice groove it gets me in. I can def hear the potential, keep it up! Maybe a little reverb will help blend the piano and guitar tracks in.

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There is a great mood to the track, and you arrange it very well. I think there could (and perhaps should) be a drum track, and I think jiguma has some excellent suggestions in his comment about sounding more natural. The key thing is that musicianship can be improved, instruments can be learned, and software can be mastered. Having the initial idea, though, requires some kind of spark, and I would say you most definitely have that spark! Very cool. I hope you find time to continue making music. I look forward to hearing what you come up with. Nicely done. Peace.

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Great first post. Music begins in the soul, not on an instrument. The ear is of course important, but you show with this piece that your soul and your ear are connected. The musical technique is of course tougher, because like an olympic skater it can only be had the old fashioned way, by practicing and falling a million times before it comes out the way you want. Garage Band can be a virtuoso instrument. For an example of such an artist try davevan. Dave gets amazing professional stuff from GB loops and SW instruments.
The other Stephen

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Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here - this song is just makin' me feel happy. Thanks!

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This song make my happy an uplifting tune.
Very nice done.

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Hi I really enjoyed every thing about this it was very uplifting and you did an excellent job with the 100% percent software instruments. I too 2nd that comment that
ledebutant made further down. This is a very Happycholy tune indeed.
and 100% percent well done. I thouroughly enjoyed the listen and will be
back to hear more very soon. soo refreshing. and also loved the piano and guitar too.
Peace Dee.

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This is a good first post. It has a 'They Might Be Giants' sound to it. Its a very good track. Cannot really give any constructive feedback apart from its very good. Really enjoyed.

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