What's up, Newgrounds!

This is a screenshot of my Logic Pro X project for the song 'Not Like This Again'. This is its final stage before its submission to the NGADM contest.

NLTA4 (short for Not Like This Again, project 4)

Every song I produce has multiple projects that are numbered to help me keep track.

Logic users might say, why don't you just use the 'Alternatives' feature? Yes, I do use it, but clutter stops me from making progress, so, I make stems whenever it gets overwhelming to keep it manageable and give me a new perspective. My effects are all rendered as wav, that way I can see the actual waveform and my CPU gets relief from its load.

I learned a lot about myself over the years when it comes to music production. One is, to actually make music, I need to stay away from the technical stuff. That means good old acoustic guitar, a pen, and a notebook. When a good idea sticks out, I press record. No setting up of microphones and audio interfaces. Just the built-in mic of the device I have on hand because I surely will forget.

Lyrics

When composing, I almost always sing whatever comes to mind while I'm playing my guitar. Sometimes it doesn't make sense and I'd hang out with the initial words and look for what sounds better, feels better, if it means anything at all to me, what it's about, and how can I make it interesting. What I do know about my music-making process is, the lyrics will dictate the musical arrangement.

I struggle with lyrics a lot. I found that out when I made a solo album. I want to be a better lyricist so that I can make better songs. The only way to be better is to keep at it. Having a community like Newgrounds is the place where I can improve and I am so happy I got in the NGADM. The feedback I got from the judges is at the back of my mind and I always take it into consideration. At the end of the day, though, I am my own judge.

Simple-brilliant.

"Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face" is the first line of the song 'Do You Realize??' by The Flaming Lips. It's a simple song, with a simple melody and interesting soundscapes, and most of all, it gives a feeling. Simple-brilliant -- to make something simple yet interesting or powerful. That's when making something simple becomes a challenge. Many times, though, for me at least, the things that work are the ones that come out naturally. What's great about keeping things simple is, it's easier to make it complex when you have a simple 'base'. Speaking of base..

Bass

In the bands I'm in, I am usually the bass player and backup vocalist. Being a bassist means knowing how to play in the pocket, live, or during recording. This is an important skill to learn, for those starting out. You can align your performance to the grid, but it will sound better if the performance was great to begin with. If I have to record my performance 10, 20, 50, or even 100 times (yes, I've done it with the drums 'cause I suck! lol), I will. So, yeah, being a bass player taught me that. Being in a band taught me that every member needs to feel that pocket and be in that pocket if you want to sound good, that also means hearing what the other players are doing and complimenting it, reacting to it. Again, that's for live, or recording/songwriting. That's why I struggle to find an answer to questions like "Who is the best guitar player". I listen to the whole band and their music, not just 1 player.

Spoonman420

Spoonman is a song from a band called "Soundgarden". I cried when Chris Cornell, the singer, died. He was one of my music heroes. 420, you kids know what that is. I know there's a slim chance that I'd get past the first round of the NGADM. If I get lucky and actually win, I'd change my Newgrounds name to Spoonman or Spoonmix and ditch the 420. Spoonman420 is an old username I have for an audio forum. I did not know I'd be this active on Newgrounds. But, wow, what an incredible community. I especially like that people are doing collaborations. My first NG experience was somewhat of a collab with Ketyri who is also in the NGADM contest. I love this place now, can you tell?

Anyway, that's all folks. Thanks for reading!

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Sharing this screenshot of my drums because it might be useful to somebody. Notice I have 2 sets of dum takes called DRMS1 and DRMS2.

When I need to punch-in, I alternate between the two sets to allow the ringing of the cymbals to overlap on the next drum take. I have watched many videos and tutorials about recording drums and I've never seen anyone do this. Comping drums is close to impossible (at least for me) because the cymbals never ring out the same, so is the performance. For drummers who already know precisely how to perform their part, sure, they can just stick to one lane. I remember suggesting this to an audio engineer while we were tracking our drummer, he didn't take my suggestion (huhu), thinking it's a lot of work. It really isn't. Just make 2 sets, set the inputs the same for each mic, example input 1 for both kicks, input 2 for both snares, etc. and you're basically done! Just group the tracks in the same group, just like what I did here in Logic and phase-lock the audio. You don't even have to do these two things right away, it's just for when you're editing drums. I love Logic Pro X for this but I sure wish Ableton can have phase-locked audio so that I can leave the Mac and be a PC user! Don't get me wrong, I super love the mac especially Logic Pro X and even Final Cut Pro (Da Vinci beats it in certain aspects), but it's just too expensive! And I hate the forced obsolescence and the soldered components.

I don't know for certain if Ableton can't phase-lock audio. If it can, please let me know how it's done!!

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