been awhile since I've done a full-blown song, and it's also been
awhile that I've had a chance to play with Apple's GarageBand . Now that
I've had a chance again, I fired up some loops and this came out. It's
jazzy with a blues flavour, and I found some bongo loops that meshed
nicely with the drum loops I used in the piece.

I also did something else this time different - instead of using the
POD, I used Garageband's built-in amp modelling, as I never really gave
that a fair chance since I first got the program. And I think I wound up
getting some pretty interesting results, particularly the clean rhythm
and the bass sound. The lead's a bit lazy and not as accurate as I
usually like to have it, but it was fun playing with that tone.

Used - Peavey Predator Plus (using GFS Rail pickup in neck), rhythm
and solos; Dreibelbass, bass line.

Mac G4, Garageband, Samson mixer, POD 2 (for solo, the rest of the
guitars used Garageband's built-in amp emulation).

As usual, have a listen and give me an idea how I did.....


http://fileserv6.soundclick.com/fast...bongocongo.mp3

--
Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording
Now On Soundclick for your listening pleasure!
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/da...elbismusic.htm
new song "Bongo Congo"

Daniel Dreibelbis wrote in
:

been awhile since I've done a full-blown song, and it's also been
awhile that I've had a chance to play with Apple's GarageBand . Now that
I've had a chance again, I fired up some loops and this came out. It's
jazzy with a blues flavour, and I found some bongo loops that meshed
nicely with the drum loops I used in the piece.

I also did something else this time different - instead of using the
POD, I used Garageband's built-in amp modelling, as I never really gave
that a fair chance since I first got the program. And I think I wound up
getting some pretty interesting results, particularly the clean rhythm
and the bass sound. The lead's a bit lazy and not as accurate as I
usually like to have it, but it was fun playing with that tone.

Used - Peavey Predator Plus (using GFS Rail pickup in neck), rhythm
and solos; Dreibelbass, bass line.

Mac G4, Garageband, Samson mixer, POD 2 (for solo, the rest of the
guitars used Garageband's built-in amp emulation).

As usual, have a listen and give me an idea how I did.....


http://fileserv6.soundclick.com/fast...bongocongo.mp3


Not my cup of tea...sorry.

I'm listening to Jane Monheit. mmmmm...good!
Too much compression/limiting though! Arrgh!

r

The one thing you could do, especially since it's such a basic song, is to
make the rhythm part worth listening to. You have it patterned and it's
repetitious but not only that, you didn't perform it correctly throughout
the pattern.

And remember, most people who could help you take your music someplace want
to hear something really outstanding within the first 10 seconds. If you
haven't gotten through enough of the intro after 10 seconds to establish the
entire pattern, you've alreadly lost the battle.

But, overall, and if I were one to give a score, I'd have to say that you
have a ways to go both with your playing AND your recording/loop making, so
rather than be confused, I'd suggest you concentrate on the playing. Know
your songs inside and out, backwards and forwards. If you can't pick up a
song on the 3 beat of measure 52, work on it until you can - from memory.
You're no good to your recordings until you're good to your music.
Arrangement is key to a song's acceptability, but it's not something
everyone knows or understands. Playing ability is key to acceptance past
the 10 second mark, but arrangements will make that a moot point. In both
cases you've already lost your listeners because the drum beat in is four
measures and 36 seconds long.

Try this for ****s and giggles. Do the drum intro for one measure, jump to
the 5, glissand down to the 4 and go right into the rhythm on 1 of the 4th
measure. Hey, you're already into the song and it took about 8 seconds.

And btw, songs are told by lyrics unless you're a world class composer that
can illicit an immediate response to the creative side of the average
person's mind. Don't make them try to figure out what the guitar riffs
mean, tell them what the song is with lyrics and then make the guitar
visually elucidate what the lyrics tell them. This is such a basic tune
that it really only needs maybe 15 words to make lyrics, and it takes until
1:36 to get to anything worth trying to listen to, and believe me you don't
want to hear what I have to say about your guitar lead playing. At least,
if you don't have lyrics you could have a recurring theme that would be
called, oh, I don't know, maybe the melody?

So my suggestion to you would be to re-read what I wrote, think about it,
learn how to do your job, forget about loops and such unless you've actually
got the chops to play with them, and learn what the idea behind music really
is. Honestly you'd have just as many people wanting to jump up and dance to
just the drum loop, and even more honestly, they'd probably sit back down
when the rhythm comes in.

Blunt, I know. You're lucky that I even gave it a listen, but I do try to
find out what some of the people here do and often come away wondering just
what newsgroup they think they are on. It's like watching a cable show at
11 PM and then seeing a kiddie commercial for some toy. Who the frick do
they think they are marketing too? And who do you think your "base" would
be? I know that you're more than likely going to take all of this as some
asshole who's coming down on you, but the fact is that A) you asked for it,
and B) if no one tells you, you'll never know. It is honestly more
beneficial to understand the why of music before you understand the
technical details of making music. Reach inside, find what makes music move
you and go from there. But if this is the pathway of your endeavor, then
you have a long row to hoe.

If you're going to be a GarageBand artist, they you won't be an artist.
Work on being an artist and come back and tell us how it worked out.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio

"Daniel Dreibelbis" wrote in
message ...
been awhile since I've done a full-blown song, and it's also been
awhile that I've had a chance to play with Apple's GarageBand . Now that
I've had a chance again, I fired up some loops and this came out. It's
jazzy with a blues flavour, and I found some bongo loops that meshed
nicely with the drum loops I used in the piece.

I also did something else this time different - instead of using the
POD, I used Garageband's built-in amp modelling, as I never really gave
that a fair chance since I first got the program. And I think I wound up
getting some pretty interesting results, particularly the clean rhythm
and the bass sound. The lead's a bit lazy and not as accurate as I
usually like to have it, but it was fun playing with that tone.

Used - Peavey Predator Plus (using GFS Rail pickup in neck), rhythm
and solos; Dreibelbass, bass line.

Mac G4, Garageband, Samson mixer, POD 2 (for solo, the rest of the
guitars used Garageband's built-in amp emulation).

As usual, have a listen and give me an idea how I did.....


http://fileserv6.soundclick.com/fast...bongocongo.mp3

--
Dan Dreibelbis, Guitar Nerd - Better Living Through Home Recording
Now On Soundclick for your listening pleasure!
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/da...elbismusic.htm
new song "Bongo Congo"

Roger W. Norman wrote:
The one thing you could do, especially since it's such a basic song, is to

Roger, you're far too kind. Really..