So I Play Music

[drenrin2120]

I know you guys aren't really into ska, and maybe not punk, and especially not skacore/punk, but I wanted to show you some stuff my band is doing. I put these together to send to my bassist, who is away at college right now. It's hard to coordinate our efforts so I make these "mock" demos for him. The guitar is real, my voice is real, the drums are not. I assure you my drummer plays everything you hear just as well as these synth drums and with plenty of other nifty fills. Also, there is no bass.

We'll start with this one and see how it goes.

This one is just good ole' ska/punk.
Song
OH YEAH, lyrics:
Small complaints and scraps of notes,
a simple thing has broken you.
I've told you what you need,
a gallon of gas will do.
Let it settle at the bottom,
soak it deep into the fiber.
And watch the words become ash
let it burn in the fire.

We can sit under these lights
With our heads held high.
Never caring to step out.
No one is allowed.

And everything that can be said,
has been spit up over and over again.
Stuck on eternal loop,
there are no instructions I can use.
And at the end of the day,
when you're not up to talk,
no matter what the time,
we're always on the clock.

Sitting hopeless in the mud
or in a mansion all alone,
a tomb is still a tomb
even if you call it home.
Everyone's afraid
that everything's the same.


I messed up on the singing, it was a first attempt. So yeah, shoot me. Plus my voice is damn terrible.

[Valiere]

The instrumentals are quite good! Your voice though.....it's a bit weak. I don't know, maybe someone here's a singer and can give you some suggestions.

[drenrin2120]

I am in pretty desperate need. =P

[drenrin2120]

So, I've often talked about wanting to actually play some of the music I write in MIDIs. I think I can get away with a lot of the other instruments being synthesized. And btw, I'm not trying to pass this off as "well recorded" or as if the synth is completely realistic and as awesome as real instruments, cuz its not. It's the closest thing I can come to making my MIDIs come alive. With that said, here's an experiment. It's a small bit from one of my songs called "The Last of Them All". It was the 26 minute one and it was suppose to be the last of them all (them all being the pointlessly long songs). It was.

Here

The guitar is me. I've realized now that while a body can play a lot of the music I write, I really never took the mechanics of it all into consideration. That goddamn riff alone will give me carpal tunnel.

[zuhane]

It's not really my style of music. I'm more into funk/60s/classic rock, but I really respect you.
I'm a guitar player myself, and some of those riffs sound really well executed

[Archem]

Sounds pretty rad.

[drenrin2120]

Thanks!

Here's an extended version of it. **** takes forever and it still sounds sloppy in some parts.

Here

The bit I just showed you is in the middle of it, the intro is a bit long so, if you want to skip to about 1:45 in, that's when the excitement starts.

And if anyone is interested, this is the midi that inspired it all.

[Archem]

Any reason for the static? I mean, it just seems like wasted time that could have been better used. It's fine to do that at the end of an album or something, but in-between parts of a track, it's just obnoxious. Anyway, the meat of the song was fantastic. I mean, it's definitely something I'd listen to.

[drenrin2120]

well, I was just messing around. If it were on an album, that whole section would be a single track before hand.

[drenrin2120]

Well, I got a little more done. This is is really time consuming. I spent a good part of the day trying to make this work. The guitar riffs just keep getting harder and I'm not getting any better. So, as you're listening you may notice the quality of the guitar riffs go down. I'm definitely going to have to practice them and return to some parts, especially the jazz solo I raped (and not rape in a good way).

Excerpt3

I'm curious how many people even think this is a good idea.

[Archem]

I think things are shaping up rather nicely.

[Zerlina]

****ing epic.

[Prpl_Mage]

Yeah, this is high level soundgasm.

[drenrin2120]

Here's a really... REALLY rough recording of my band. Some of it I'm kind of proud of, some of it I'm afraid to show people... So, yeah, hereja go.

This one's the best. Except it's not at all.

Here are six others you should definitely try to listen to. Though I'm warning you about "In Plain Sight". That song came out really bad.

In Plain Sight
She Doesn't Exist
All Too Common
The Life You Would've Given
But We Didn't...
The Irrationals

Not that I could prove it to you guys, but we sound a lot better live. Plus, if you know anything about recording, these were done in one day in someone's bedroom. Sooo, yeah, more evidence in my band's defense.

[Natako]

This one's the best. Except it's not at all.

LMAO. I should play this sound clip to all of the customers that give me a hard time at work, because that's certainly what's going through my mind.

Anyway, you've got kind of an interesting style. It kind of reminds me of a cross between Sublime and a heavy metal band, but I like it.

As for your voice, well...you're great at screamo, which is something that I can't do with my silky girly voice even though I favor rock/metal. I do have some recommendations though. Sometimes, your singing gets kind of out of tune. The best way to remedy that is just to listen to your music (as well as other music) as much as possible in order to train your ear. Find out where you have a hard time staying in tune (for me, I sometimes go sharp on low notes) and focus on practicing those spots until you're completely satisfied with the result of your recordings. Remember that what you hear while you're singing isn't what the audience hears. You have to listen to recordings of yourself and adjust according to that. I also recommend experimenting with your tone to try to find what works best for the parts of songs that are supposed to be sung rather than screamed. A good strategy for this is to listen to some of your favorite bands and try to emulate their singers' styles. Recording your voice also helps a lot with this. It's a slow and tedious process, but it can really help you mature as a vocalist.

Another thing you may want to work on is timing. There are places in the songs where your voice falls behind or ahead of the tempo. And finally, make sure that your voice and the instruments are balanced in your recordings. I could barely hear your voice in "She Doesn't Exist", but the chorus in "The Irrationals" was so loud I had to turn down the volume on my computer.

I wish I could play guitar half as well as you can. I have an acoustic steel string, but I just don't have the time to practice with my work schedule.

Looking forward to hearing more from you. This is an interesting project, and I'm looking forward to hearing what your band is capable of.