Technology and Summers does not the best of partnerships make.
However, an awful lot of considerations are being looked at currently. How to get a system that will simply provide a decent platform to record the self written songs. You can’t run before you walk with the current technological choices being made. Well….I can’t. Hours spent reading up on what works or doesn’t is essential. Expensive mistakes can happen when considering technology incompatibility and compatibility. So, I’m going from crawling along stage to doddering on my feet stage presently. Yet seeing light at the end of a long tunnel.
Having now received the Apple set up of Studio screen monitor, Mac M2 Pro mini desktop computer, Qwerty keypad and WiFi mouse, the next step was to find a decent set of headphones to listen to what is being recorded, produced and mixed in a clear and clean effective audio way. Getting clarity to the bass, middle and top note/tone/frequency sounds. Also, a linked in keyboard to add little musical extras played on ‘piano’ keys.
The intentions are to record virtually everything on external microphones. Acoustic and six stringed electric guitar, my bass guitar, main and backing vocals and voice harmonies, drums, other instruments (djembe drum, tambourine, percussion, brass, etc.), and work alongside other musicians with their specific instruments of different nature. Ukulele, harmonica, banjo, cello, violin, squeezebox? Maybe they will be considerations. Who knows. I don’t know where my songs will go. I may write a song about a circus and need to emulate the sound of the Calliope. Where will that be found!
Guitars recorded externally on mic would probably produce a whole different sound to that of being plugged straight into a computer. My guitarist brother, Steve, has a Variax guitar with a Helix system alongside. The systems’ holistic possibilities for sound choices seem endless.
LINKS BELOW TO WEBSITE REGARDING VARIAX AND HELIX.
https://uk.line6.com/variax-modeling-guitars/jtv-us/
It is the equivalent of having a guitarist with a foot pedal system to change guitar dynamics on stage. But also much more too. Your one guitar can become another make of guitar sound. Flick a switch and you go from a gutsy raw Les Paul to a Rickenbackers’ unique sound in the blink of an eye. Switch…Six to twelve string guitar. Switch….Electric to acoustic. Switch….Banjo to ukulele. Switch. Switch. Switch…..I was mesmerised! One guitar does all. And sounds pretty amazing too. When we spent a day rehearsing, the Helix ‘floor’ system was used to change dynamics through a small speaker on a tall stand that had an output of sound equivalent to a huge stack of speakers in the past. The volume achieved whilst he was playing through the small speaker was phenomenal.
Below. The MV88 has three capture choices of left, right and cardioid centre captures in both mono and stereo. Ideal for podcasting interviews too.
And here begs the question. Do you record the speakers with a microphone or choose the option of ‘direct to the computer’ for recording sound? I have no idea which would sound best. But certainly cannot play in ‘The Den’ at home with the six string electric guitar volume ramped up to ten to capture energy and bite. The neighbours down the road would come knocking. Musicians definitely live in our village. I know because I can hear them from time to time from distance!
To be honest, when we used the Shure MV88 microphone (such a tiny little mic plugged into the iPhone) and recorded a couple of songs when rehearsing recently, with a ‘one mic to capture all’ scenario, it was a phenomenal result sound quality wise. We simply placed the mic to catch guitar, bass and drums all at once. That Shure MV88 and its equivalent MV88+ are phenomenal microphones. My old school Shure SM58 (made in the USA) vocal mic from the mid 1970s is pure class. Essential for live gigs. But it couldn’t achieve the sound that the MV88 did.
Example below of a band recorded playing in rehearsal with the simplicity of the Shure MV88 and an iPhone.
Which of course comes to recording the drum kit to get a decent result. Steve, my guitarist brother, has the Shure MV88+ and I have the MV88. I also have a MV5 Shure microphone too which plugs in to a USB port. So capturing the drum’s qualities with three decent mic sources should be fine. Then, once recorded, send the results to the GarageBand app to add to the songs already worked on. I have put off getting the Logic Pro system. Too complicated as yet. Too expensive too. GarageBand is free and very efficient when viewed on and used within the Apple Mac system.
So much to think about to create the sound as a ‘we are musicians playing and doing our thing’ ideology. With modern technology making life easier than when we were capturing on a four track tape system back in the 1970s/1980s. But the idea is to capture a human touch. No inbuilt add ons to be used. Or as sparingly as possible. You can get an electronic ‘clapping hands’ option in GarageBand. I’d rather clap my hands into a microphone and smile at the vibe of doing so.
Also, I still sit for hours on end practicing playing my self written bass lines whilst singing the vocals at the same time. Watching it come together and becoming more fluid produces a fantastic feeling of achievement. That is priceless. Of course, to play live at an open mic session in the future will need the human touch still.
Currently? There is an Akai keyboard ordered and arriving tomorrow. Photo above. Also, Beyerdynamic headphones are arriving today. I have suddenly left my comfort zone of an acoustic guitar and warbling vocals captured by a simple ‘turn on the iPad and capture my songs/ideas with its generic internal microphone’ scenario. I want to release songs to the World. Not for success. But for personal aims to actually do something decent with my songwriting/songs in my retirement years.
So, with my heart willing and my brain befuddled, the project is going ahead. Marvellously well for optimism and motivation……but with a large pinch of trepidation alongside too.
Gray Summers 
It’s definitely a journey you have embarked us on Gray. We at Shep’s Shanty wish you well and hope there’s no need for expletives. We look forward to hearing the first bytes. Ch S
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Cheers and thank you for your support Shep ……and sending the Shanty vibe. I just wanted a blog that describes process in a basic, human viewpoint way. How to overcome the obstacles will not be technical drenched blogs. I don’t understand it enough! 😊 And I’ll leave the expletives to the excellent human being, songwriter and musician that is Francis Dunnery. I’ll just hit another dark, rich coffee or a bourbon or three. All the best Shep. Hope you are well.
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Oh! Forgot to mention the Helix last link Shep. Your sound engineer may be interested in it. I know the guy in the studio we went to hadn’t seen it before. They have a video on the link showing how it works with the capabilities. May be of interest. But thought I’d let you know. To me? Not a clue. But Steve has been working with this for over a year now. Live or recording, he has choice. Cheers Shep.
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You and me both. Will send to Dave. Thanks
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Okay. 👍 Cheers Shep.
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I was just thinking about foot pedals and synthesizers when I read your sentence “Ukulele, harmonica, banjo, cello, violin, squeezebox?” Ha! Don’t forget cowbells too, Gray! Ha! I think your system is coming along nicely and you will be producing crisp recordings. I bet those headphones sound amazing!
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Had to smile Sheila. One of our old songs ‘She Said’ has Kev playing a cowbell throughout. I love the sound of a cowbell. Three of us (we worked together in social services) did a drum and dance workshop for the general public in the Aberystwyth Arts Centre back in the early 2000’s. We had loads of different African drums and percussion choices. Also little egg shaped shakers, rhythm rain sticks, etc. What a vibe that day was. No guitar taken on purpose. The two guys were excellent drummers. So the drum, percussion and expressive vocalised/chanting/singing energy alongside the dancing was mesmerising. Probably the greatest vibe I have been part of. I can play drum rhythms to a decent standard when it is hands on related. No good with normal drumsticks at all. But can play a decent solid repetitive beat with those ‘beater’ drumsticks. I swear that drumming links into the fabric of our whole being.
Just took delivery of the headphones. Listened to the various drum loops inherent in GarageBand. So crystal clear. You can hear everything individually. And full volume is in no way harsh either. I bought the 250 ohm ones which have a better high end. Cheers Sheila.
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Fantastic about the drumming (I enjoy hand drumming too and drum circles), as well as those little shakers, etc. I always wanted to sing and play the tambourine like Stevie Nicks and Linda Rondstadt when I was a kid. Bet that workshop was amazing!
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I have a fair few CDs of drumming circle complementary intertwining patterns. I used to sit and play along with them and make up my own rhythms, as well as play the ones offered on the CD. It is basically a focal, aural and physical stress buster. Amazing? I know it was amazing because you ‘tab’ certain experiences in life as precious moments. But unfortunately I can’t visually, or aurally, recall them.
A guy asked me, after I explained lack of my visual memory, ‘How do you remember how to play your bass and songs then?’ I suppose specific aural, rhythmic and melodic memory. But in reality, I struggle to ‘see’ the acoustic chord or bass finger pattern progressions I write for songs. I do struggle to replicate, so recording them is vital. Even then I have to rework out what I did after listening back a few days later. So there are many times I play my bass and acoustic rhythms as if I am in a ‘feel the surrounding holistic rhythms and vibes’ drum beat. So playing can have subtle differences and dynamics when played at different times. Very much like when being a part of a drum circle can produce. That’s why jamming is such fun for musicians I suppose. And why a decent melody can attach itself to memory longevity. Weird stuff to try to explain I’m afraid Sheila.
BTW. Tambourines are vastly underrated. As are cowbells. The school day recorder? 🤔 No! 😊
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hang in there. maybe it’s a drag at times but I really admire that you’re taking this on. great music will come from it, and I suppose that’s the thing to remember.
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Thanks cookie. Feels like a rabbit in the headlights a lot of times. So relaxation and one step at a time is key. Self motivating can be difficult but tenacity is the thing to cling to. It’s good that it is music as the theme. Nothing better to have as inspiration. Cheers for your positive support. Brilliant.
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Like Sheila, my first thought was foot peddles followed by WOW music isn’t music anymore it is technology. Then I had to go read a story about Dylan’s first live show with a Stratocaster.
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If use of the technology is wisely done and you still retain the human qualities of playing into microphones and be sensitive to how you use what is captured? Then the results will sound as if I was recording in the old days hopefully. AI music is getting to the point where you ask it to ‘Write a song in the style of Bob Dylan’ for example. And it does so. That is the extreme that has the opposite of myself warble singing with an acoustic into a little early 2000s (new century) Pentax Optio digital camera with a few hundred pixels and short video ability. It’s technology that has rocketed skywards over a mere period of 20 years!
Marc Bolan got criticised for the same reason Dylan did when his Tyrannosaurus Rex became T. Rex. I love both eras. Cheers Danny.
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It sure makes sense why the recording and headphones are necessary, Gray. Something I hadn’t thought about (your struggle). Jamming is an aWEsOMe but as previously mentioned, not possible for you right now.
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Thank you Sheila. I actually can’t put my finger on how I retain. But it causes no true problems. You tend to pick up a guitar and just play. Write a ditty or part of a song, listen a few days later and go over it gently again. Maybe I should write down the chords. Especially if I use a capo on an upper fret! I forget and then spend ages trying to find the chords again. 🙄 It seems if you let music express itself through you, then that’s all that matters. Just got my Akai keyboard delivered 10 minutes ago. So that is the final need now. Over the next few months it will be a case of learning and building the songs and shoving them on GarageBand. A bit overwhelming information wise currently. But as Steve, my brother said the other night, just bit by bit and see how it all goes. Retirement is a gem for this.
I added 2 YouTube instant watch video links into this post yesterday instead of the one line link. If you have time…. have a quick look. It is the Helix system which Steve has and uses. He has the Variax guitar too. Richard may be interested looking at the videos too. It reminded me of what your Nashville links use to record your songs. All the best.
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