EWB Musicians

[VerbalPuke]

So literally a month later. SO yeah, as I Described above one acoustic singing, and one yelling. I added reverb to the vocals on the first one (the acoustic one) because I hate my voice, sounds nasally as fuck. So first track is mellow, second is not. Watch your volume on the second. 

 

[VerbalPuke]

I got a synthesizer for Christmas. 

It is ridiculously fun, there are so many different ways to bend and alter sound. I'd post a recording but my recorder took a shit and wont boot up.

So I'm probably going to get an audio interface here soon and use my computer as my new recording station.

[VerbalPuke]

Guess what (what Puke since you're the only one here)? I got a recording apparatus again, and it's much easier (though lower quality) then the old recorder I had. So...

Here's some new ones...

First one is just me trying to figure out how to play lead guitar. Went with a simple three chord rhythm (weird right?) in the Key of A and attempted to do a bit of lead over it. What ended up happening is I settled on a pattern in the Key of A lead notes to make the song have a bit more of a cohesive sound (before hand I was free styling, some good and bad results). And what was supposed to be a regular ass song sort of turned into a neat little surfy sounding deal. I do bass on this as well, hope to add drums eventually but I am for more awful at drums than I am mediocre at stringed instruments. 

The title is a funny one, seems like every time I attempt to record the kids come down. I love them but ya know some songs weren't meant to begin with a high pitched "HEYY DAD! WHERE ARE YOU?". Anyway, this song sort of represents a breakthrough in my playing. So I've been playing over six years, for whatever reason it just now dawned on me to playing single notes while holding a chord shape on the neck to make my sound more interest/create a lead playing shortcut. Its actually a trick I picked up from banjo since I will do banjo rolls over chord shapes on the banjo. I kind of want to re-record the bass on this because I feel like I'm off a few times and want to sort of experiment on how I hit or play the notes. 

 

[Gabriel]

I decided to write my wife an album as a Valentine's/Birthday present this year, after VerbalPuke helped me out last year and got her a song, which she enjoyed.

I'm mostly done with the lyrics, so I'll need to move on to trying to write the music myself soon. It's going to be tough though. I have no concept of music theory. I'm a self taught bassist, and I'm okay when I play other people's stuff, but I've never tried to write anything on my own. I also really suck at guitar, so that will be interesting. I'm going to try writing some basic shit on the guitar, but if all else fails, I'll revert to my bass and distort it for a fuller sound.

[VerbalPuke]

I don't really know much either, I'm picking things up more recently regarding "theory" I guess.

Truth is you don't need to be a virtuoso, prodigy, or even talented to write a song.

I mean everything I write is pretty basic. 

String together a few notes in a pattern and uh go from there?

[VerbalPuke]

So I've been busy a bit today, added some bass to some stuff...

FIrst up is what I believe to be the second song I ever wrote. Always meant to put bass with the guitar finally managed (albeit sloppily) to do so today.

I wont even lie, I completely stole the notes and progression on this from Subterranean Homesick Blues. I just changed the rhythm a bit and added a bit of my own spin toward the end. I'd like to make it longer, so this is kind of a rough draft. 

Kind of a surf thing I've been messing with for years, not much too it but a cool sound. 

This one is a bit rough around the edges as I'm trying to do three instruments here (banjo, bass, guitar). It's not so bad, but I still have a long way to go with banjo. 

 

Edit - So uh, probably should have double checked the recordings before sharing them. I heard them in the car today as mp3s and they sounded like fucking ass, too much bass...

I"m an amateur, what can I say? I'm still fine tuning my audio production methods I guess. I'm still fine tuning literally everything really. 

And uh now something weird is going on with the two links in the middle. I'll post them separately another day, I promise they're very mediocre!

[VerbalPuke]

I know it's a broken record, but I got some new stuff to share. I mean, why not? Let's lift each other up and share entertainment. Even mine is shit. 

So this is my first ever recording doing drums, bass, and guitar. It's short and sloppy (like my dick) but I"m pretty happy with how it came out. I'm not much of a drummer at all, so I sort of just played a drum beat then went ahead and put some bass and guitar to it. So the other thing is that I just recorded this ten minutes ago. 

 

I did this one awhile ago, but it's a fuzzed out bass with a synthesizer loop. I like it, it's loud though so be careful.. 

 

 

[VerbalPuke]

Not to blow ya'll up but I did this last night and was happy with the idea, even if the execution was a bit sloppy.

Listen to The Day After Your Birthday by VerbalRick on #SoundCloud

 

[VerbalPuke]

Quarantine makes for creativity. 

Funny story behind "You have to do work". If you listen caredfully at the end after the music you'll hear my daughter walk downstairs and say "You have to do work, you have to do work dad". She was basically saying I should have been working instead of playing music because I did this during my lunch break on Friday (since I'm working remotely). I like leaving weird little oopsies, anomalies, etc. etc. in some songs. Hence the song I had with a fart, or one of the songs I posted earlier you can hear me sneeze at the end, and plenty of songs you can probably faintly hear my daughters voice yelling at me for something. It gives it a charm I think. 

No real backstory here, didn't really care for this at first, but after a few listens it's been growing on me. It's a pretty noisy/dirty sounding tune that has some grit behind it.

[VerbalPuke]

I had fun writing this one. I think it's kind of got a power pop vibe but kinda peppy. 

I whipped this one up last night, just kind of came up with something ya know? 

[Kaney]

What are you using to record VP? I've been toying with the idea of getting a looper pedal to try playing stuff over a basic riff but not sure really where to start. You just hooked straight into a laptop or something?

[VerbalPuke]

I use a Preesonus audiobox plugged into my mic (shure 57) and use Audacity (free recording program, easy to start with basics). 

The interface i got for about 50 bucks on Ebay used, in great shape, they run about 100 new. Mind you,  mine is very basic but really no hastle if you like a minimalist approach. There's plenty of other options that are good and can be had reasonably (search for audio interfaces)

They call the Shure 57 the industry standard,  everybody has them. Every band Skummy played bass in had one of these for recording. They run at 100 bucks new, and honestly don't really lose value, could probably get one for 80 if you go used. Built like tanks, but also there are other great mics. I actually want to upgrade my mic soon.

2 hours ago, Kaney said:

What are you using to record VP? I've been toying with the idea of getting a looper pedal to try playing stuff over a basic riff but not sure really where to start. You just hooked straight into a laptop or something?

It's a very very basic set up, but its not bad for a basement hobbyist. There's certainly better audio interfaces, recording programs, or rather more professional ways (an actual recorder with a mixer and studio monitors). 

I do want to upgrade eventually, a better mic and a second mic to record my bass and kick drum. I think as I get better I can justify better recording equipment. 

Edit - Yeah, i am actually plugged just into my laptop or any computer I want. That's a nice thing also about those audio interfaces, they're portable. 

Also I'd like to get a looper myself so i can jam along to myself, or drum to something. 

Honestly....wouldn't mind two looper pedals.

[VerbalPuke]

New stuff on tap...

Listen to Old Reliable by VerbalRick on #SoundCloud

I really like this one. I feel like my drumming is getting a little more interesting (still very rudimentary though). 

Listen to Local Boy Summons Satan by VerbalRick on #SoundCloud

I did acoustic and drums here, then added tambourine and a shaker for fun. The rhythm is a bit disjointed but I like this as an idea.

[VerbalPuke]

 

 

Been staying busy...

Sloppy start, but I really liked the drum work on this. It's a pretty simple punk formula, but musician friends of mine seem relatively impressed with my drum work. I'm still shit at guitar and bass but seemed to be improving on drums. 

So another newer one, finding my niche with twangy sounds it seems. 

I tried to copy a rhythm from Frank Zappa, obviously there was no way I could do anything remotely as good as Zappa, but I tried to just borrower the rhythm of Hungry Freaks Daddy. 

@Kaney

I ended up getting a looper pedal, definitely a learning curve with them. You have to sorta time your playing correctly so the loop is seamless, but there's good tutorials out there. Once I get the hang of it I can see it being incredibly helpful.

[Kaney]

Hah, seamless is not how you'd describe my playing in any capacity

Your drumming is really good. One thing I found awkward at first listening back was it always sounds a bit empty without having bass or drums to fill out the space. Being able to essentially do everything on your own is massively impressive.

[VerbalPuke]

18 hours ago, Kaney said:

Hah, seamless is not how you'd describe my playing in any capacity

Your drumming is really good. One thing I found awkward at first listening back was it always sounds a bit empty without having bass or drums to fill out the space. Being able to essentially do everything on your own is massively impressive.

Thanks, I'm getting better, been playing somewhat consistently a few months now. I wish I had started drums when I was a kid but never really had anywhere to put them until now (that I have my own house. Really nowhere in my previous residences either). 

I'm hoping to continue improving as a musician obviously, but also start to get better at the recording/production side of things. Not that it's ever going to be a job but I wouldn't mind maybe in a few years trying to just get something out there for lack of a better term.  

[VerbalPuke]

This has been a shit year, but the one positive I can take out of it is that I really think this is the year I'm growing as a musician. I feel like I'm really doing what I always wanted to do and that was just learn to basically record music as a full band by myself. I've been jamming a bit with friends lately (social distance jamming, and I'm just getting better. I'm not great at anything by any means but god damn am I having a blast playing music. I've probably wrote around 25-30 songs this year, and improved upon old jams. 

I really think this is the most complete song I've wrote to date. I know it's only a minute and the lead guitar is a little overbearing but I think it's probably my best demonstration of versatility (lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, and drums) as it sounds more coherent than previous efforts with everything involved. I wouldn't mind getting maybe a smoother tone out of the lead but otherwise this is cool.

 

 

This I actually just finished recording about a half hour ago. I had the drums from a weekend ago, and then I got weird. I had my fuzz pedal on bass here though you can't tell as well because the guitar seems to eliminate the fuzz (though the bass sounds good here). The guitar by the way, is being run through the SubDecay Octasynth. So I'm playing a synthesized guitar sound because I really like weird shit. 

 

This one, I just wanted to try to be a bit different and add different layers to a song, rather than just always straight forward fast rhythm ya know? Some of this song happens because I got lost when playing drums but just kept going and made something of it, the end in particular (I mean yes it's the same as the rest of the song but I fucking blanked on the part I slow down on, stopped, and then just blasted back into the original beat and slammed a finish before my leg fell off). 

 

By the way, much as I love sharing my music with everybody, I expect payment. 

lol I kid. Actually, as much as I love sharing my music, I'd like to hear from everybody else. Kaney, Cloudy, Meacon, Midget (where ever the fuck you are), Gabriel, Hammy.

[Kaney]

 

On 27/06/2020 at 05:25, VerbalPuke said:

I'd like to hear from everybody else.

Since you did ask. I can't write my own stuff and i don't have a lot of stuff recorded but I always liked this one. There's a few things I need to work on with the verse, but i like this chorus. Morello has a ton of really fun riffs to play.

[VerbalPuke]

Hey that was really cool, loved your guitar tone on that. Very cool riff.  Hell yeah.

[Kaney]

Cheers dude. I forgot to say it was Cochise by Audioslave. It could stand to be a little faster but eh. The chorus works fine at that tempo but the verses don't really so I'm not recording that yet

Do you have an idea what you want at the end of the whole guitar/bass/drums thing or do you just noodle around and see what happens? I find it really weird to sit down and try to actually play something that isn't already a song I've learned.