Making Music

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, Mel81x said:

That was one I looked at when I was looking around for a drum machine. The reason I finally went with Maschine is the number of sample plugins I could get installed with it and the fact that I already own an AKAI Midi Keyboard for piano which is great for the price but it is going to give way soon. 

That interface is so intuitive (the Korg) for when you want to see beats in a line. I have learned two sets of drums now - Jazz and Rock. The next step is to try and write the drum piece after the bass piece then I'll start composing stuff.

The one I really wanted was this.

https://www.roland.com/us/products/tr-08/

but we dont get it here and we get some weird variant that I was truly not interested in. Plus I didnt pay for it so I figure be happy with what you got haha.

The only reason I went with the Volca Beat is purely because I know someone with one and I remember it being pretty easy to use. They sort of pushed it on me haha. And it was extremely discounted on Sweetwater the day I bought it, so it seemed like a good opportunity.

It’s actually a shitload of fun putting beats together and learning how to use it just by doing random things.

I’m pretty sure the one your wife got you is considered by a lot of people to be one of the best drum machines around on the market. So I’m pretty sure she did a great job picking one out for you

[Mpache]

Almost done my next song. Should be out by next week. Trying the reggaeton route to have a bit of variety  

[Mel81x+]

Its a workout trying to do drumrolls on a beat machine don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Also, I imagined having the skill to play a guitar/bass would be useful when it came to working my hands independently but its terribly hard to keep the beat in both hands when you want to do more complex pieces. Obviously you can just layer stuff but trying to write a drum track is quite a task.

[Dr. Gonzo]

8 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Its a workout trying to do drumrolls on a beat machine don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Also, I imagined having the skill to play a guitar/bass would be useful when it came to working my hands independently but its terribly hard to keep the beat in both hands when you want to do more complex pieces. Obviously you can just layer stuff but trying to write a drum track is quite a task.

I'm absolutely shit at it and it's infinitely harder than I would have thought.

[Mel81x+]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I'm absolutely shit at it and it's infinitely harder than I would have thought.

I find myself trying to fast tap with my left hand and its good at lets say 90BPM but then I crank it up to something like 120 and all of a sudden I start making terrible mistakes. The good news is that I can quantize it and get it closer to human touch but still its not where i want it to be. Also, check this guy out if you want to get better with your fingers.

Its a bit complicated but he has other exercises as well. 

[Mel81x+]

It may pertain to arranging on Maschine but there's plenty of good take away for anyone wanting to try their hand at how to write a song without having some kind of predefined melody or rhythm in mind. I've tried this and it kind of works, well most of the time.

[Dr. Gonzo]

So turns out the neck on that Ibanez I was modding is pretty much irreparably warped. Or fixing it would be too expensive to justify. Ah well, a bit sit I was learning how to do all of this tech work on my guitar itself and when I had to ask an actual pro the one thing that’s really beyond me fixing... happens.

At least I didn’t pay for the fucking thing. So I’ve taken the pickups and the Floyd hardware I’ve bought for it off. And I’m going to get a cheapo Jackson Dinky JS to throw it all into.

[Mel81x+]

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

So turns out the neck on that Ibanez I was modding is pretty much irreparably warped. Or fixing it would be too expensive to justify. Ah well, a bit sit I was learning how to do all of this tech work on my guitar itself and when I had to ask an actual pro the one thing that’s really beyond me fixing... happens.

At least I didn’t pay for the fucking thing. So I’ve taken the pickups and the Floyd hardware I’ve bought for it off. And I’m going to get a cheapo Jackson Dinky JS to throw it all into.

Dont want to get a new neck instead?

[Dr. Gonzo]

14 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Dont want to get a new neck instead?

I thought about it, but it’s just about the same price as one of these cheapo Jackson’s and truthfully I prefer a Jackson neck

[Mel81x+]

On 06/08/2020 at 18:18, Dr. Gonzo said:

I thought about it, but it’s just about the same price as one of these cheapo Jackson’s and truthfully I prefer a Jackson neck

I have never played for long on a Jackson but I am seriously considering trying them out. I remember being younger and seeing them do all kinds of crazy designs, especially the Flying V but I think that would be too much for me right now haha.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Mel81x said:

I have never played for long on a Jackson but I am seriously considering trying them out. I remember being younger and seeing them do all kinds of crazy designs, especially the Flying V but I think that would be too much for me right now haha.

For some reason Jackson necks just feel right in my hands. It’s a thinner neck profile than most Fender necks, but a little chunkier than most Ibanez necks. Some Ibanez necks are just too thin for me, causes cramping. Some Ibanez necks are pretty perfect though. I’ve only played one that made my hand cramp up with how thin the neck was. But cramping in my fretting hand is sort of more of an issue for me after that accident with my hand 2 years ago - it’s really like the only lasting impact from the injury.

But imo, generally speaking, I find Ibanez and Jackson necks the most comfy. I just prefer a bit more chunk in the neck profile. Also the compound radius on the fretboard is every Jackson/Charvel is... just a really cool feature imo... it makes their guitars even more comfortable to play.

I love their King V, RR, & Kelly shapes... the Kelly is especially cool because it’s like someone gave a Gibson Explorer some crack  - but I’m getting a Dinky (or a Soloist because my wife told me the finishes for the guitars I was looking at were too ugly lol, although my goal was just to get something cheap for a mod project). So something pretty normal looking with an extra comfy neck.

[Dr. Gonzo]

I went in to a guitar store yesterday looking for that Jackson model I’d been talking about, or maybe something a bit more expensive for my project guitar.

Unfortunately I didn’t find a guitar that would suit my project needs in my price range. Most of the Jacksons and Ibanez’s in stock with 2 humbucker pickups were around a grand and are probably guitars I wouldn’t need to mod.

But I ended up buying something. And it’s something that won’t be able to take those pickups I bought... so it wasn’t the “wisest” decision. But the guitar caught my eye... played fucking brilliantly... and sounded really really really good. I didn’t want to put it down, so I bought it. It’s a Jackson SL4X with 3 Duncan Designed Hot Rails pickups (which are really nice and surprisingly versatile, I must say) & it is one of the cooler guitars I’ve played.

If I got covid at the store... worth it lol

[Mel81x+]

On 21/08/2020 at 21:55, Dr. Gonzo said:

I like that colour scheme. Looks clean and I especially like that pick-guard. Congrats on your acquisition.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Mel81x said:

I like that colour scheme. Looks clean and I especially like that pick-guard. Congrats on your acquisition.

 

Thanks, it’s for sure my most “unique” guitar.

Now I’ve just got to figure out what to do with these 2 extra pickups I’ve got!

[Mel81x+]

25 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Thanks, it’s for sure my most “unique” guitar.

Now I’ve just got to figure out what to do with these 2 extra pickups I’ve got!

I'd imagine you can sell them to someone through Reverb?

[Dr. Gonzo]

18 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I'd imagine you can sell them to someone through Reverb?

That’s probably the easiest option, but it seems weird to just sell them after spending a long time researching the pickups. But they came second hand off reverb so I could probably just make my money back... yeah I should probably just list them on reverb.

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Mel81x has covid been pretty shit for your “‘music making” like it has for me? I haven’t jammed with another human since March, I’ve tried to get over my fear of recording by just recording whenever I practice but it hasn’t really solved my issue of feeling nervous as fuck for the first few takes.

I really miss playing with other people - aside from it being really fun, it makes me a better guitar player.

And on an unrelated note, if you take a TV remote and push a button on it while holding it up to a hot rails style pickup... pickup will pick up the signal and make a beeping noise.

[Mel81x+]

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

@Mel81x has covid been pretty shit for your “‘music making” like it has for me? I haven’t jammed with another human since March, I’ve tried to get over my fear of recording by just recording whenever I practice but it hasn’t really solved my issue of feeling nervous as fuck for the first few takes.

I really miss playing with other people - aside from it being really fun, it makes me a better guitar player.

And on an unrelated note, if you take a TV remote and push a button on it while holding it up to a hot rails style pickup... pickup will pick up the signal and make a beeping noise.

So for me its been all kinds of hits and misses. I sit down with the work we're trying to get done as a band and sometimes Ill plough through things quick, e.g. I had to rewrite two bass line pieces the other day for that song I posted in here and I got the first part done lickity split but then I got to the second part and I really wished I was sitting in a room to play with someone as I went just blank. Then we've tried Zoom meetings but honestly thats just poor long-term so we went to pure writing and it helped for a bit but that also has its limitations. Can't wait for this whole covid shit to end so I can actually get in a room every week and sit down and jam.

On the plus side, I have improved theoretically and practically on so many things its a bit unreal what giving me time does for my learning. I spend an hour still everyday trying to perfect things. Whether its a song, theory or just plain riffing. I took a leaf out of Oleg's book and am perennially connected to my DAW now so no matter what garbage I do I have it recorded haha. 

"I really miss playing with other people - aside from it being really fun, it makes me a better guitar player." - This right here is also what I miss. Sometimes you'll practice for hours, show up in a room and then its a matter of being in sync with the rest of the band and that's definitely missing from my learning. Taking an online class for pocket playing basics on bass as I think I am really just not feeling the groove right now so I'll have to see how that goes.

[Mpache]

@Mel81x @Dr. Gonzo

Don't think I posted this one, but it's blowing up in popularity (for my standards)

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 minutes ago, Mpache said:

@Mel81x @Dr. Gonzo

Don't think I posted this one, but it's blowing up in popularity (for my standards)

 

This is for sure your most radio friendly track

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Mel81x - do you know an easy way to intonate a Floyd Rose? I’ve checked YouTube but I haven’t come across anything that makes it any easier, other than a tool called “the key” that I can use which seems frustrating in its own right.

[Mel81x+]

47 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

@Mel81x - do you know an easy way to intonate a Floyd Rose? I’ve checked YouTube but I haven’t come across anything that makes it any easier, other than a tool called “the key” that I can use which seems frustrating in its own right.

Saw a video some time back with a wooden block to allow tension holding and its something you can use at home too but I don't do it anymore and just hand it in to the shop to have it intonated.

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Saw a video some time back with a wooden block to allow tension holding and its something you can use at home too but I don't do it anymore and just hand it in to the shop to have it intonated.

Yeah I had to block it once I wanted to slack the strings to loosen the intonation block lock and fiddle around with it. I also used painters tape & a small screwdriver with painters tape on the end to be able to make small adjustments once it was unlocked but I’d recheck the intonation after each adjustment before moving onto the next string.

That took me 4.5 hours, holy shit 

But now my guitar plays really nicely so it was worth the effort to set it up all the way.

[Mel81x+]

On 30/08/2020 at 02:34, Dr. Gonzo said:

Yeah I had to block it once I wanted to slack the strings to loosen the intonation block lock and fiddle around with it. I also used painters tape & a small screwdriver with painters tape on the end to be able to make small adjustments once it was unlocked but I’d recheck the intonation after each adjustment before moving onto the next string.

That took me 4.5 hours, holy shit 

But now my guitar plays really nicely so it was worth the effort to set it up all the way.

I learn a lot everytime I have to retune an instrument or spend time adjusting the saddle portion. I am genuinely scared that once I do it wrong I am never going to get it right but over time and countless hours of mistakes I have gotten very good at it. Mind you, I won't touch someone else's instrument for fear ill fuck it up.

[Dr. Gonzo]

15 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I learn a lot everytime I have to retune an instrument or spend time adjusting the saddle portion. I am genuinely scared that once I do it wrong I am never going to get it right but over time and countless hours of mistakes I have gotten very good at it. Mind you, I won't touch someone else's instrument for fear ill fuck it up.

I’ve never had much of an issue with it on fixed bridges - mostly the tunomatic style. When I had a Fender strat I hated doing it on that. But holy fuuuuuuck, having never done that on a Floyd (and very badly needing it done)... I could not believe how absolutely tedious and frustrating it was to get even close to properly intonated.

Good learning experience though. And now that I know there are SEVERAL tools out there that help with intonating double locking trems... I’m probably going to buy one before I set this guitar up again (granted that’ll probably be in a year or 1.5 years).