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Yup, a MUSIC related topic - imagine that! I suppose this will fall off the first page by tomorrow morning, but at least I tried. So here's the deal - you post your favorite music related tip here in this thread. It can be about a playing or singing technique. Or a recording technique. Or a production technique, musical arrangement technique, "people skills" technique / approach, songwriting tip, program specific tips or a way to get max bang for the buck from household items modified for musical applications. Or a way you've found to get three times the plug ins on any given computer with only a $100 investment in new hardware... or whatever. You can ask questions, comment on the validity or utility of a posted technique, or offer alternative suggestions. What I ask you to refrain from is political discussions. Please - This is a music thread. And I ask for civility and respect to your fellow posters. So, what are your favorite three tips or techniques?
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Don't rudely post plugs for your own music, like: "Hey, everyone tell me what you think of [url=http://home.mia.net/~phaeton/avatar/yardbyrds.wav]this[/url] "! ;)

Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper

.

WWND?

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Record EVERYTHING. You may get the best take in the "warm up". So often the heat and passion of material fades over multiple takes... Plus you get the happy "accidents" that feel great but can rarely be remembered by the time you've fidgeted with all the recording setup. Grab it all. Edit it later. guitplayer

I'm still "guitplayer"!

Check out my music if you like...

 

http://www.michaelsaulnier.com

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[b] Record EVERYTHING. You may get the best take in the "warm up". So often the heat and passion of material fades over multiple takes... Plus you get the happy "accidents" that feel great but can rarely be remembered by the time you've fidgeted with all the recording setup. Grab it all. Edit it later. [/b] I'll second that. I've done some killer stuff before on a warmup, and it seems each succesive pass got worse and worse. I can't count how many times i've wished i'd have hit record when i didn't. I also can't tell you how many times i've `accidentally' recorded something cool, or other times where i listen to something later and heard it in a totally different context than what i did at first. If it wasn't recorded, it would have been lost.

Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper

.

WWND?

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Well, I'll support this thread. My only tip is that one can save money by buying used (or to use proper marketing speak; Pre-owned) gear. Ebay has been a helpful resource to me. If nothing else, it provides a helpful way to determine the approximate worth of something. Sonicstate.com, also has some very helpful pages. Harmony Central, also has a pretty comprehensive User-review database. And, of course there are a bunch of cool cats over at MusicPlayer that are pretty willing and able to answer questions -when they're not arguing politics that is... ;) Those are my 'tips'...

Super 8

 

Hear my stuff here

 

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I think Phil deserves an award for being so cool! Who here would disagree with that? He's like a mentor here, isn't he? He always has a positive upbeat attitude. He never talks down to people. He's always willing to share. He totally understands the meaning of 'community'. I'm 36, but I feel like a young impressionable youth next to this guy, just because I know I could learn so much just by sitting and watching him work! Everything you'd need to know about talent and professionalism is packaged right there! Phil rocks this place! :thu: :thu: :thu:

Super 8

 

Hear my stuff here

 

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([i]Please note:[/i] Most of you know me as [b]soapbox[/b], but this post is under my real name.) Keep your inner critic at bay during the earliest steps of creation. Then, let the inner critic pan for gold in the stream that was created. Best, Geoff P.S. Good topic, [b]Phil[/b]! :thu:

My Blue Someday appears on Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon

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Drink a shot of Tequila previous to a show, specially when you're a singer... Some of you already know I am a non-drinker. I simply hate alcohol... BUT... when I sing I love a tequila shot. And it's a good excuse to make a toast with the audience...

Músico, Productor, Ingeniero, Tecnólogo

Senior Product Manager, América Latina y Caribe - PreSonus

at Fender Musical Instruments Company

 

Instagram: guslozada

Facebook: Lozada - Música y Tecnología

 

www.guslozada.com

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Oh yes... almost forgot... WARM UP prior to playing. Always. Do some exercise backstage. Jump, Run a little, Yell... get relaxed and ready... ... you'll get into the stage in a different mood and your body willing to rock... and roll.

Músico, Productor, Ingeniero, Tecnólogo

Senior Product Manager, América Latina y Caribe - PreSonus

at Fender Musical Instruments Company

 

Instagram: guslozada

Facebook: Lozada - Música y Tecnología

 

www.guslozada.com

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Need songwriting inspiration? Take a hot shower. Need motivation to practice? Listen to some kickin' CD's. Need even MORE motivation to practice? Record YOURSELF playing what was on those CD's. I'm finding that it helps to listen to reference mixes from EARLY ON in the project (tracking, arranging), NOT just at mixdown. The earlier you fix a problem, the less it costs you. Be organized. Well, that was three in the King Arthur sense of the world ( Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "One! Two! Five!" )

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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[quote]Originally posted by Gus Lozada: [b]Drink a shot of Tequila previous to a show.[/b][/quote]If I did that I'd keep going and by the second set I'd be wasted.I learned not to drink any alchohol before late in the second set.
"A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows"
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Follow your own feelings. It's okay to take critical remarks. Evaluate them do with them what you want but don't loose yourself. Your musical talents can only grow if you put you're heart and soul in them so any kind of restrain and dictation of others will hold your evoluition back Never give up and never be satisfied. You are the one that makes the world spin when it comes to your own music. You are the King(not Elvis) You are the Lizzard King(not Jim Morrisson) You are Pearl(not Janis Joplin)

Fan, nu pissar jag taggtråd igen. Jag skulle inte satt på räpan.

http://www.bushcollectors.com

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Go to the K-v-R site and get the [url=http://www.kvr-vst.com/inst.php?inst=214]Synth1[/url] softsynth. Notice the sick green color of the interface. At the bottom of the GUI click on Opt and enter #c40018 in the Panel Box, this turns it a beautiful Nord Lead Red, for Black enter #28283c.
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Well Done Phil! :thu: Some good tips so far. My tip is to enjoy everything that you do. Dont complain. If you are not enjoying it, you are doing it for the wrong reasons. If you are lucky enough to be making money from music, you are privelaged, be grateful for where you are. John Scotsman
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Invest in ONE really good compressor; try to go for a two channel, switchable between linked/non-linked. Everything else seems like a toy after that. Spend more time making recordings of your environment; listen for things that have a natural rythym to them...someone's laughter, a combination of two, three, or four, unrelated sounds, that sort of thing. Some of my coolest grooves came from walking through places like a grocery store. Record every little idea you have, no matter how soon after you come up with it that you think it's stupid. Otherwise, it stays inside you, and you never clear it out. It leads to blockage, and the 'good stuff' never gets out. Try to duplicate a piece of music you hear, be it a commercial or a song on the radio. In the process, you'll train your ear, learn how to get sounds out of instruments, and possibly come up with a variation on it because you can't play it the way/as good/ as fast/as cool as so-and-so, but you'll do it YOUR way and go down another path. Run every instrument you have through every effect box you have at least once. See what it sounds like. A corollary: Run effects boxes 'out-of-order', see what happens. When getting ready to mix a song, draw it out on paper. Make an artistic rendition of it--as a bar graph, as a map, as whatever--and work from that. (Hell, you might even want to get some colored pencils and describe your sounds like that as well.) It's amazing what this'll do for your focus and ability to place things in the mix. Caig's DeOxIt...pricey @ about 12 a can...is worth it's weight in gold for cleaning up noisy pots and keeping contacts clean. Don't buy cheap cords. Just don't. If you have to smoke a few less cigs or drink a few less beers for a couple of weeks or so in order to afford it, do it, because the amount of hassle and noise a cheap cord (especially one with a plastic molded end) introduces into your life will quickly rob you of credibility, patience, and enthusiasm. Just prior to a gig, grab a pillow and scream into it for a minute or two. This does things for you on a number of levels, one of which is warms you up for a great rock and roll voice. Focus on the wheat in your life, not the chaff.
I've upped my standards; now, up yours.
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Get as good of a sound as you can possibly get during tracking. Mixing is ten times more fun when you get to enhance a sound that is already fun to listen to, rather than having to repair each and every track. -Danny

Grace, Peace, V, and Hz,

 

Danny

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Stuff to remember: The sounds come from you, not the gear. Never underestimate the value of a five-minute break. A strong foundation is the key everything. Layering will not fix problems in your foundation tracks. If anything, it will make the problems more obvious. A good song is a good song. Period. Don't be afraid of "bad" sounds -- sometimes the "wrong" sound is what makes a track come alive where a "good" standard sound might ruin it. Rehearse until you play with confidence, but not until you're playing by rote. Clean socks + good shoelaces = happiness.

\m/

Erik

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

--Sun Tzu

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Phil's a class act. i feel priviledged to have had the opportunity to meet him at his home and at NAMM this past January. I would have tried a lot harder to make the dinner if I had known both he and his wife were going to be there... I can't guarantee I could have gotten there in time, but my disappointment in not having been there is certainly greater... :( I don't have any tips because you all probably know a lot more than I do. Boggs
Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com
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[quote]Originally posted by Geoff Grace: [b]([i]Please note:[/i] Most of you know me as [b]soapbox[/b], but this post is under my real name.) Keep your inner critic at bay during the earliest steps of creation. Then, let the inner critic pan for gold in the stream that was created. Best, Geoff P.S. Good topic, [b]Phil[/b]! :thu: [/b][/quote]I agree with this... It's basically the same thing that the teacher tells you when you need to write an essay. Just write! Write everything, don't correct anything, even spelling. Leave your left brain out of it as much as you can. Everything can be deleted later. Just finish it.

"Bass isn't just for breakfast anymore..."

 

http://www.mp3.com/Addix_Metzatricity

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