Music

[TS9]

New Buffalo Tom. These guys hung my moon in HS.

 

[torontoduke]

Cool.

Janovitz wrote a nice Rolling Stones book

 

[rhfarmer]

Started a new band. I'm calling the music "punkabilly". I've written a ton of new material.

 

[torontoduke]

Post some songs here if you are able to.

 

[rhfarmer]

Post some songs here if you are able to.

I will, if only so rome can savage on them.

 

[best4heisman]

New Superchunk and American Pleasure Club albums came out last week and they are very good.

 

[torontoduke]

New Superchunk and American Pleasure Club albums came out last week and they are very good.

Was texting a longtime friend/superchunk fan lastnight - he also gave it rave reviews. I've read comparisons to 'On the Mouth' era superchunk.

I will be buying the CD this week.

 

[rome8180]

"Driveway to Driveway" came on Spotify when I was at work the other day. Superchunk doesn't really do it for me because I think all the songs are too similar (probably due to the high register he always sings in). But the good ones are really great.

 

[rome8180]

@skins Sometimes you need an entry point for a band. This one got me more interested in Japanese Breakfast. I think their album and Big Thief's Masterpiece will be my next vinyl purchases.

 

[rome8180]

"Road Head" is also great. Terrific lyrics. I like this band. Really the only song I don't like on the new album is "Machinist." I don't know why synth pop has utterly commandeered the indie scene in recent years. This song sounds like it belongs on mainstream radio.

Not sure why she has like 7000 upcoming tour dates and none are in Chicago. She plays in Durham on April 3rd, btw. Also plays in Charlotte at some point. She plays THREE times in Ohio between now and August.

 

[best4heisman]

This song kicks ass.

 

[best4heisman]

This Sidney Gish album is easily the best thing I've heard so far this year. She's an incredibly clever lyricist and she does an amazing job capturing the angst and uncertainty of life in one's early 20s.

 

[TS9]

You people and your refined tastes likely will not be nearly as fascinated as I am by this video of Belinda Carlisle singing "Heaven is a Place on Earth" in 1990, but this song is amazing, and I have some thoughts about this performance specifically.

1. She's singing live and the music is coming from the instruments being played on stage. This is refreshing, because that's much rarer these days than many people realize, especially in the mega-star realm.

2. She's singing her ass off despite at times appearing somewhat exhausted, which might be because this was the last song of the show before the encore, but who knows.

3. She has two unusual interactions with the bass player – one is early in the song, when she seems to laugh at him (perhaps for fucking something up), and later when she seems slightly annoyed that he is standing in her spot.

4. The crowd is hilariously dominated by dorky-ass white guys.

 

[TS9]

The family was out of town last weekend so I passed the time by making my own version of Don Henley's "The Heart of the Matter." I'm apathetic about Henley and the Eagles in general, but I've always liked this song and I didn't really have much else to do.

Anyway, if you're so inclined, here you go:



I don't have any sort of the ostensibly necessary permissions to record and "release" this, so if anyone asks, this is for educational purposes only.

 

[rhfarmer]

As a fellow musician, let me tell you that you suck and should quit.


JK.



You're really good.

 

[rome8180]

Could someone break down the basics to me of what I need to record instruments and vocals on garage band? I want to be able to record electric instruments through some sort of direct-in option. I gather I need some sort of audio interface? Is there one that is good for both microphones and direct input?

I know so little about this stuff I don't even know the terms to google.

 

[TS9]

@rome8180 Yes, for mics and guitars you need something like this (link is to a basic but good unit; the chances of you needing more than two inputs at a time are pretty minimal):

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/focusrite-scarlett-2i2-2nd-generation-usb-audio-interface

There are tons of other options of all kinds of prices. The one I linked is relatively inexpensive and gets good reviews, though I haven't personally used one.

Most keyboards/synthesizers at this point have USB connectivity so you can record direct with that. But if not, the 1/4-inch jack works fine.

If you're doing electric guitars or bass, there are some decent amp models in GarageBand that'll at least get you started. If you get serious, though, you'll eventually find yourself wanting to upgrade to better modeling software or an external modeler, but that stuff isn't cheap. There are no real amps on anything I record these days (which is the case with a lot of commercially produced music at this point.) I use a Line 6 Helix recorded direct.

 

[rome8180]

I want to record demos, mostly to get some musician friends interested in playing my music. My bar is basically "doesn't sound like total shit." I hope the songwriting will do the heavy lifting, not the production.

 

[TS9]

Are you planning/hoping to record more than one musician at a time? Like a live-in-the-room sort of thing? If so, you'll need an interface with more than two inputs. But if you're just recording demos yourself to share with other people as specs, two will be fine.

I'm not a pro but if you get to the point that you need something mixed or otherwise manipulated, I'd be happy to help, though I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find someone in your actual area to do that.

 

[rhfarmer]

@rome8180 if you aren't playing super loud, you'd be amazed at what an iPhone can record. Just make sure you try a few different spots to record from.