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This last week I've been doing a deep dive into learning how to bend drum plugins to my will. 

Part of that is learning where and when to drop fills. I have a few different drum plugins and all of them have fills that may be useful.

 

I've created a new music recording file in my DAW titled "Fills" 

I've got one track named "Studio Drummer Fills" that I need to complete but it contains all the potential fills I had put into a track for a song I'm working on. It's a good start, I'll go back and fill it in completely. 

Now I'm working on a track titled "MODO Drums, they have 4 fills for each "song" so I'll start with those. They also have Intros and other bits and dabs.

I have NI West Africa, Izotope BreakTweaker, and something else I'm forgetting.

These are all MIDI files and any drum plugin can play them (each in it's own way). 

Once I have this all loaded up with fills I can open it in a separate window when I'm working on a song, pick and choose and drop fills into my work. 

 

It should be much faster than going through all the hoops of finding fills in each plugin!!!!!

 

That's my current tip, I'll post others as I think of them. 

What time savers are you using? We can share them and all of us could be more efficient. 

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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  • 3 weeks later...


Take care with time savers as often they simply become ways to avoid feeling the work, finding the story that wants to be told.

 

I see it that a Song (piece of music etc) is an entity in itself. It knows what is it is for, who it is for and where it needs to go to do its job (helping those who hear it). I simplify this to the concept of the Song Gods. The more we listen to the song, the better it all works out. The less we listen to the song, by listening to our ego (formulas, process, ways to do less work, to feel less, be less in the moment, fears) the less the song gets to be all it is meant to be. This means that we are less happy with the results as the song does not shine like it should and the people who needed it, are deprived therefore don't engage as much (or at all). If you wonder on that look at the stories behind some songs where they have quite a ot of turns or come through just as a blob and eventually just Hit and last.

 

Songs choose who they come to - and will even come to many at once - I was working on the idea of synths and Gregorian Chant before or at the same time as Enigma. They did it better, I could not get off the ground with it.

 

So, while there is great value in having a mental spreadsheet full of experiences that the Song Gods can use to help their songs get through, try to allow plenty of space for things to happen as the song needs - and that rarely lives in ways to cut corners or spend less time in that song.

 🙂

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21 hours ago, Benedict RM said:

Take care with time savers as often they simply become ways to avoid feeling the work, finding the story that wants to be told.

 

I see it that a Song (piece of music etc) is an entity in itself. It knows what is it is for, who it is for and where it needs to go to do its job (helping those who hear it). I simplify this to the concept of the Song Gods. The more we listen to the song, the better it all works out. The less we listen to the song, by listening to our ego (formulas, process, ways to do less work, to feel less, be less in the moment, fears) the less the song gets to be all it is meant to be. This means that we are less happy with the results as the song does not shine like it should and the people who needed it, are deprived therefore don't engage as much (or at all). If you wonder on that look at the stories behind some songs where they have quite a ot of turns or come through just as a blob and eventually just Hit and last.

 

Songs choose who they come to - and will even come to many at once - I was working on the idea of synths and Gregorian Chant before or at the same time as Enigma. They did it better, I could not get off the ground with it.

 

So, while there is great value in having a mental spreadsheet full of experiences that the Song Gods can use to help their songs get through, try to allow plenty of space for things to happen as the song needs - and that rarely lives in ways to cut corners or spend less time in that song.

 🙂

I can do this once or I can go searching through a gigantic pile of "Not fills" each time to get to them. It's not about avoiding the work, it's about serving the music more efficiently. 

I know what you are saying. I understand the conundrum we find ourselves in when we are an Army of One and must streamline our Engineer duties to serve the Artist. I'm an Artist by nature, it is a deep part of who I am. I can be an Engineer and I need one so I do that too. 

 

Some of my songs that I am currently recording are over 40 years old now and finally getting my personal touch in all respects. Do you think I am in too much of a hurry?!? 😃

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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If you feel that being an Engineer damages your ability to commit time to your music then why not bring in a Mix Engineer? People like me are all around.

That is efficient. It is the whole Henry Ford model. One that served music super well, incidentally through Rock's most creatives periods - which faded the more people became "army of one" and siloed themselves away from others with less and less work being delivered.

 

I am not saying that working fast is not a good thing. I am huge advocate of getting it done and delivered. I merely suggested that I see people losing touch with what the song could/should be with technicalities and ways to "make it easier" at an "illusion of time" level. (look at my discography)

🙂

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I've learned to separate my Engineer tasks and my Music playing. If I had a budget, I still want demos to show the hired guns what I would like them to play. 

I don't have a budget.

And, I do have time. Sorry if I gave the impression that I "work fast". Last night I didn't feel like tracking so I worked on a mix. I have more to do there, I don't rush it - I delegate it to those times when it makes sense to move in that direction. I've certainly become a better engineer over the years, and a better studio musician.

 

FWIW, I've probably played 3k+ bar band gigs in my 45 years of gigging. It's a different kind of playing, you'll get requests for songs you don't know but somebody in the band does know and you have to play a reasonable effort on the spot. You'll make mistakes and move on instantly to what's happening now. There is no "go back and fix it." 

 

I don't bring that to the studio but I do let the music flow out of me. I've often improved my songs by allowing myself to just play what I feel, in fact this week I came up with a signature lick that way. I really wanted one for a song I'm working on and I just ran a few tracks and suddenly I had what I wanted. 
Now I've practiced it and will track a clean cut soon. 

 

I see this as a process and I see it from a musician's perspective. I'd love to have an engineer. I work for "free" so that would be myself. 

Make sense now? Cheers, Kuru

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Performing live and esp playing Pick Up is great and formative work that most avoid - even want to avoid - these days which makes them unskilled as they have nothing in their spreadsheet to pull from so can only try to clone wot eva is on Spotifry this month. If arranging your drum riffs is like making that spreadsheet of experiences that can be drawn on as your song feels the need then I am all for it.

 

I was always responding to the (empty it seems) room and not you personally.

 

Do you have music I can hear?
🙂

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On 3/11/2022 at 5:21 PM, Benedict RM said:

Performing live and esp playing Pick Up is great and formative work that most avoid - even want to avoid - these days which makes them unskilled as they have nothing in their spreadsheet to pull from so can only try to clone wot eva is on Spotifry this month. If arranging your drum riffs is like making that spreadsheet of experiences that can be drawn on as your song feels the need then I am all for it.

 

I was always responding to the (empty it seems) room and not you personally.

 

Do you have music I can hear?
🙂

Yes but nothing current. I am nearly done with the first of many original songs that I've played in various bands over the decades but was never happy with the results.

Here is a piece I made when I was free-forming composition and learning my DAW:

https://metapop.com/opossum-apocalypse/tracks/opossum-apocalypse-long-mix/180793

And here is a song from a band I was in during the late 80's early 90's. The recording isn't very high quality, I am on lead guitar on this track. 

https://metapop.com/opossum-apocalypse/tracks/01-ain39t-no-more-cane/175395

Last but not least, I was in a songwriting/recording group with a couple of friends and we did this on 4 track cassette a long time ago. 

https://metapop.com/opossum-apocalypse/tracks/hula-boy/171612

 

Hope you enjoy, or are at least amused. 😁

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Thanks


"Ain't No Cane" has some fire in the belly. Rather than calling it not great quality, why not simply call it? It is definitely clear and listenable. Has that nice full, rough, Blues feel thing happening. Fiddling with this might well sap that away.

 

🙂

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I've never fiddled with it and don't intend to try. It is what it is, we were a great local band and I had fun playing.

 

You are correct that the performance matters more than the fidelity. A great sounding record that doesn't do anything isn't worth much to anybody. 

I'm proud of that song, that's why I posted it. We took it to another place, there is no other version of Ain't No Cane like that one. 

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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