Open Mic

The way I've got my rig working now (and it's actually working very well) is I have my Guitar-signal going from my Mustang Amp to my computer through USB (going into both Ableton and FUSE). In FUSE, I handle all the Guitar-tone oriented stuff (EQ, Gain, Effects, that kind of stuff). In Ableton, I handle all the actual recording and MIDI-parts (Drum-loops and Bass-lines). Ableton receives the Audio Input for my Guitar-parts through USB, and Outputs it all through the Amp, using its AUX-jack (since my amp's speaker is superior to the speakers in my actual computer-speakers, I use my Amp for monitoring my recording).

I did learn one very nice thing, though, while working on setting up my recording-rig properly. My timing doesn't suck at all, it just sucks when I can't hear the drums! I tried playing a bit around, just strumming a chord on each quarter-note beat, and in the vast majority of the cases, it was so accurate that I couldn't see any delay between the beat and my strums. Now that my Audio-issues and recording-rig setup-issues have been resolved, I say it's time to enter the studio tomorrow! Or, at least it's time to enter the music-room that serves as a sort of demo-recording studio. If things go according to plan (that is, if nothing else comes up), I might have a rough recording or two ready tomorrow.

Excellent! Glad to hear you figured out what was wrong. Yeah, if you can't hear the drums, your timing is certainly going to drift and be off.

Looking forward to your recordings!

Thanks. I'm actually looking forward to hearing some of it myself. At least I've learned just how important it is to make sure drivers are configured properly. My audio problems were all caused by a few errors in the ASIO Settings. I simply hadn't gotten all inputs except my Amp turned off, and enabled Rear Output, which is the one that leads to my speakers.

Today I'll try recording some stuff. I'm not gonna try and record songs yet. That'll wait until I become better at using Ableton. Until then, Instrumental solos it is :)

What version of Ableton are you using? I was checking it out last night and I find it interesting to be able to use MIDI to create backing tracks. The versions go from $99 up to over $700! I wonder if the cheap $99 version is good enough for some basic stuff.

The whole MIDI thing intrigues me since you can have access to various instruments without having to physically have them or know how to play them.

Now that we are starting this band, I'm going to have to try to squeeze this type of stuff in between learning songs! Better late than never, but I wish it was 20 years ago when I had all the time in the world for this stuff :-).

I'm just using the Ableton Live Lite 8 Fender Edition. I'm not sure if it is any different from the Live Lite edition. I hear that Live 9 should have even more features, though.

Also, I did a quick recording and threw it on YouTube. I think I could do better than this improvised piece, but it's not my worst playing either that I managed to record... Check out the Listening Post if you haven't already :)

You inspired me to upload a recording of mine to Listening Post also. Thanks!

You're welcome :) It's always good to inspire others and in return let them inspire you :)

Originally Posted by: ThorfinnFriskenYou inspired me to upload a recording of mine to Listening Post also. Thanks!

The more the merrier. I think it is so motivational and inspirational when people post recordings. Months ago Slipin Lizard posted his "late night jam" that inspired the hell out of me and motivated me to do something similar. From there started the steps of me playing in a band.

Originally Posted by: KasperowI'm just using the Ableton Live Lite 8 Fender Edition. I'm not sure if it is any different from the Live Lite edition. I hear that Live 9 should have even more features, though.

Also, I did a quick recording and threw it on YouTube. I think I could do better than this improvised piece, but it's not my worst playing either that I managed to record... Check out the Listening Post if you haven't already :)

OK, I definitely need to check this out. The background track you made for your recording was really awesome.

I would check the prices of the software. Ableton Live Lite 8 Fender Edition comes free with a Fender Mustang I amp which costs $120 (Well it did for me). So if software is greater than that, I would buy the amp and get software free. :)

Originally Posted by: maggiorThe more the merrier. I think it is so motivational and inspirational when people post recordings. Months ago Slipin Lizard posted his "late night jam" that inspired the hell out of me and motivated me to do something similar. From there started the steps of me playing in a band.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Slipin's late night jam is also what inspired me to do something like this. The idea of 2 months off just made me go through with it, and finally I have some results :)

[QUOTE=maggior]OK, I definitely need to check this out. The background track you made for your recording was really awesome.

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I'm going to work a bit more on it. I think the Rhythm Guitar-part could be a bit cooler, or at least a bit more complex, but that's just me. If you want, I can extract the Backing Track and upload it to the internet and give you the link :)

Originally Posted by: ThorfinnFriskenI would check the prices of the software. Ableton Live Lite 8 Fender Edition comes free with a Fender Mustang I amp which costs $120 (Well it did for me). So if software is greater than that, I would buy the amp and get software free. :)

Interesting way to look at it :-). With the software itself being $100, it would be like getting a small practice amp for $20. Hmmmmm....

Originally Posted by: KasperowAgreed. Slipin's late night jam is also what inspired me to do something like this. The idea of 2 months off just made me go through with it, and finally I have some results :)


Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I'm going to work a bit more on it. I think the Rhythm Guitar-part could be a bit cooler, or at least a bit more complex, but that's just me. If you want, I can extract the Backing Track and upload it to the internet and give you the link :)

Thanks for the offer for the backing track. Actually, I'm thinking I need to learn how to do this myself. My drummer's husband does very complex midi tracks to backup his singing group, so I may talk to him where a good place is to start. I'm thinking I should have some sort of midi controller too.

You mention rhythm guitar, which reminded me of something else I wanted to point out:

Don't lose focus on your rhythm playing.

As guitarists, we tend to focus more on honing our soloing skills. However, good rhythm playing is just as important and can make the difference between getting a gig or not. In my band project that just ended, my guitar was in the forefront most, if not all of the time. It wasn't because of my soloing skills, it was because of my rhythm skills. The other guys had focused too much on their lead playing and couldn't do the required rhythm parts of the songs we were doing. For each song, I offered the primary rhythm part to somebody else because I didn't want to hog all of the cool fun parts. Each time it fell back on me because I was able to play them well.

Rhythm may not seem as glamorous as face melting solos, but I have to tell you it's still fun!!

Originally Posted by: maggiorThanks for the offer for the backing track. Actually, I'm thinking I need to learn how to do this myself. My drummer's husband does very complex midi tracks to backup his singing group, so I may talk to him where a good place is to start. I'm thinking I should have some sort of midi controller too.

You mention rhythm guitar, which reminded me of something else I wanted to point out:

Don't lose focus on your rhythm playing.

As guitarists, we tend to focus more on honing our soloing skills. However, good rhythm playing is just as important and can make the difference between getting a gig or not. In my band project that just ended, my guitar was in the forefront most, if not all of the time. It wasn't because of my soloing skills, it was because of my rhythm skills. The other guys had focused too much on their lead playing and couldn't do the required rhythm parts of the songs we were doing. For each song, I offered the primary rhythm part to somebody else because I didn't want to hog all of the cool fun parts. Each time it fell back on me because I was able to play them well.

Rhythm may not seem as glamorous as face melting solos, but I have to tell you it's still fun!!

Wait... MIDI Controller? I just used the good old-fashioned Keyboard and Mouse... Ableton has a Draw mode, that just lets you do all the MIDI with your mouse. I used that almost exclusively for my backing track because it was easy and it worked :)

I agree on the part with not losing sight of Rhythm skills. I'm going to jam with a Bassist pretty soon, and if things work out, we'll be starting a band where I'll be handling both Rhythm Guitar and Lead Guitar until we find a Rhythm Guitarist (and even then, I'll be playing Rhythm on top of the other guitarist's Rhythm). So it is pretty important to be a great Rhythm Guitarist. Besides, where I live, there's a lack of talented Rhythm Guitarists, because everyone wants to play Lead. I'm going to have to work a bit on adding a better Rhythm Guitar part to my Backing Track. Just add some actual Rhythm to the Chords, so it sounds even cooler :cool:

Originally Posted by: KasperowWait... MIDI Controller? I just used the good old-fashioned Keyboard and Mouse... Ableton has a Draw mode, that just lets you do all the MIDI with your mouse. I used that almost exclusively for my backing track because it was easy and it worked :)

I agree on the part with not losing sight of Rhythm skills. I'm going to jam with a Bassist pretty soon, and if things work out, we'll be starting a band where I'll be handling both Rhythm Guitar and Lead Guitar until we find a Rhythm Guitarist (and even then, I'll be playing Rhythm on top of the other guitarist's Rhythm). So it is pretty important to be a great Rhythm Guitarist. Besides, where I live, there's a lack of talented Rhythm Guitarists, because everyone wants to play Lead. I'm going to have to work a bit on adding a better Rhythm Guitar part to my Backing Track. Just add some actual Rhythm to the Chords, so it sounds even cooler :cool:

See, shows you how much I know!!! I didn't realize you could do this with just mouse and keyboard.

You got the idea then with rhythm guitar. A tricky aspect of doing rhythm and lead is switching between the two smoothly. I do it OK as long as I don't think about it too much! I had to practice it though.

Originally Posted by: maggiorSee, shows you how much I know!!! I didn't realize you could do this with just mouse and keyboard.

To be fair, I didn't know there was something called MIDI Controllers. That's why I just went with the resources available.

I can strongly recommend trying out Ableton. I don't know if there's a free trial version available, but the Fender Edition I use only comes with the Mustang Amps. I don't know what the Mustang I costs, but it is essentially the same as my Mustang II, just in a 10W amp with smaller speaker. As Thorfinn suggested, it might be most economical to buy the Mustang I for Ableton, since that way you get a practice amp and a good Audio Interface for about 20$ (assuming Ableton costs 100$ and the amp costs 120$ as Thorfinn said). I can't really see many better bundles for starting a small demo-recording studio :)

Finally got the last bit of info I need for the Upcoming music school gig. I get to do things my way! That is, I get to play what I can play best and more importantly, what I want to play :) So now I just need to get my Distortion Pedal in there at the gig, so I can get the tone I want for "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Whole Lotta Rosie". My teacher will be handling the Rhythm Guitar parts, while I get to play Lead (and improvise on "Whole Lotta Rosie").

On a less positive note, I've run into a "writer's block"... I can't seem to get the MIDI tracks to sound good for my current Instrumental-Project... I want to get this thing done soon, but I don't want to force it so it turns out bad...

Very cool!!! Sounds like it worked out for the best. Be sure to record it somehoe, even if just audio with your phone. This is a big event and it will be fun to listen back on.

Yeah, things did work out for the best at long last. It's a bit late to be asking the song-students if someone wants to add vocals, but I'm okay with that. I'm pretty sure someone is going to know Knockin'. It's a classic after all. And he'll, if there's a mic, I can probably handle the vocals this one time.