#Frail Autumn,, #music, #Retirement Projects, #songwriting

Guitar sounds. Clean……. A little song ditty included too.

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OUT OF TOUCH.

Decided really to carry on as intended and show the journey of this Frail Autumn project.

So far, a couple of dozen songs are there in the background of reality and some still exist in my mind. I have been working on them for a quite a while now. It’s a strange conundrum of knowing how each song should sound. But until individual musicians contribute their own unique ways of interpreting the songs, they exist in my Frail head, guitar playing hands and vocal heart.

Also. Until I get a decent soundproofing system around the microphones, I can’t really record from the amplifiers. As an example. There’s a great female duo from New York called Pacifica. An upload of theirs on YouTube (called Misled) shows them on a balcony playing and singing with the street traffic adding to the musical sound and so picked up by the mics. That’s a great example of what happens. Worth a visit to check it out. And listen to their other songs too.

So. This morning I wanted to record a few examples of what is offered in the GarageBand system. I played a bunch of guitar riffs to a simple gentle bass lilt and softer drums. Making up little chords and single plucked string notations to add to the overall vibe. Listening to this below, you’ll guess I was super chilled out. .

Anyways. I did this little strumming session over a couple of hours earlier. Just a raw sound and no mixing individual guitar levels. But it was fun. And I do have a vocal melody too. Melodies develop out of the blue, because humming along to anything is what you do as a songwriter. Please remember gently. I am a bass player and not a guitarist. 😊

It’s now called OOT-Out of Touch.

Why do this? I can’t get musicians to visit and play just yet. They are currently too busy and comitted elsewhere. So. Yesterday’s blog spoke of the VeeDub Bus (camper van) project. Take the VeeDub experience to the musicians.

I have GarageBand on my Apple Mac M2 Pro here. But I can also use a version on an app on my iPad or iPhone. And do have a nice Shure MV88 microphone that records superbly. These Apple phone and pad systems can be recorded on and then sent over to my Mac system in ‘The Den’ at home. So be good to record in or outside the VeeDub on a beach or in the hills and capture other musicians playing the songs. Fun vibe too.

My future YouTube enterprise is full on with the idea of capturing conversation and music and presenting in a quirky nature. Build a holistic picture of music in action. Hence soaking up the technology of it all presently.

Here below are the guitar sound choices from this morning. I did hear it through the little iPad speakers and it does sound ‘tinny’. I am realising that using headphones or speakers to listen to music from all sources is completely the way to listen comfortably in reality. For true depth of what is offered from artists. Reminds me of being back in my youth in the 1960/70s with my little portable radio and listening to music that way! Technology has come an awful long way.

7 thoughts on “Guitar sounds. Clean……. A little song ditty included too.”

  1. You are sooo right on about others being too busy to visit, thus it is a great thing to marry your VeeDub project and go to them.
    I forwarded your post to hubby in hopes it might inspire him too (especially about the GarageBand stuff). I could probably help him if I put my tech hat on and learn alongside him.

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    1. I did like this morning on the Mac music experience. This little guitar piece here was fun. But still naive. I’ve always listened to music through earphones and this morning had an experience of playing through the iPad speakers. Awful! You only get the full sound through ear buds or headphones.

      If you have a penchant for that tech hat, you may love the rabbit holes existence that is known as GarageBand. All the best Sheila.

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      2. I am very interested in how people listen to music through different devices. In the future it will be important to check out how to mix music to get a decent level for all choices. Nothing is perfect. But I believe earbuds are not as popular as an iPhone inherent speaker system that can be pretty decent nowadays. I listen to your music on Bluetooth earbuds which are pretty decent. My Mac recordings have a pair of professional headphones are awesome. So what I hear on my recordings is different from the change I need to do for ‘quality’ so I can send it to WP or other media. Brightness to sound quality is a massive bug-bear for me. Because people listen to an inferior sound that is produced. It’s the same as a live gig being recorded by an audience member on an iPhone and uploaded to YouTube. Versus the Band’s recording from their sound engineer team.

        Long reply……..sorry. Cheers Sheila.

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    1. That’s nice cookie. Thank you. I suppose after 50 plus years (I began, after earlier owning a Beatles plastic guitar, earnestly playing in 1970). It began after picking up a guitar for the first time in secondary school and strumming chords to Tyrannosaurus Rex and The Beatles songs, I feel relaxed with just playing and hoping it works. Not truly worried what others think. I don’t do advice. Just reflect upon my own life’s experiences. Be happy in your own world of what matters to believe in yourself cookie. Me? What followed after playing others’ songs extended into writing my own songs. Songs just happened as needs arose for gigs and developing hoped for’s. Telling my story as a need to express was uplifting. Like you yourself. It’s a way of artistically giving credence to who you truly are. Really important for self well being.

      Reality? You know you have a gig or recording commitment and simply apply yourself to the ultimate need of giving out your story. It’s like journal writing. But with an added bonus that people say, when hearing your songs, ‘You told/sang my own story….Thank you’. You cookie have helped others, and yourself matter enormously. By both using your own musician development skills for a lovely musical presentation and building your songwriting lyrical stories to greater heights. Okay…..Yes! We are our own worst critics. But still bite the bullet and produce something for both our own self seeking harmony and others to adopt our work as their own.

      This little playing of the guitars here on this blog upload, with chords and plucked out notes in layers, was ad hoc. Made up as it happened off the cuff. After decades on decades? I just strum and believe in the outcomes. What does concern me presently, as a technophobe, is that I have luxury of decent headphones, but how do others hear these little experimental songs to full extent. I hear with clarity and punch. Can an iPhone or iPad across the world capture what I believe the sounds to be! It’s not for seeking sound perfection. I listen to my recordings and hope others capture the nuance I hear here at home. Just to be akin and present with my own vibe. Weird hey. Suppose we are all still learning in this ever expanding technology development.

      I had a little radio back in the 1960s that was tinny and fractious.The radio stations were what introduced me to the latest top 20 hits. When I loved a song, I rushed out and bought it and played it on a mono Dansette record player. I wouldn’t change those experiences for anything.

      I listen to T.Rex and Beatles anthologies of recordings. They give me goosebumps because all their songs sung come from their hearts. Always make music that is heartfelt cookie. You do that very nicely. So keep on doing what you are doing.
      It
      Hope that made sense. 😊

      Cheers cookie. And truly……a much appreciated ‘Thank You’.

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