bobbass4k

Been pretty great with everything I've thrown at it. I tried one of my own proper songs and it got it mostly right, the chords in that song aren't really conventional but it got the roots right and got the key change right. I tried it with an ambient noise thing too, and considering there's no chords it followed the notes pretty well. Very impressive, this kind of thing has been around for a while but it's nice to see a really accurate one in a free simple web interface.

A couple more: Not really sure I'd call any of this a riff, but this is heavy guitar music at it's absolute best (this is my favourite song but check out Sputnik or Machines Part II if you want something shorter): [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OB8oKLxS5c[/media] And it wouldn't be a heavy riff thread without Amplifier: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-udAlxevMqw[/media]

Overlooking the more obvious "heavy for the sake of heavy" bands, I'd go for: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVavzZyMApE[/media] The whole song is pretty brutal, but I was mainly thinking of the outro riff, listen from about 2:59 for the full effect: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmh6EVoKIWg[/media]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1362752321' post='2004262'] Its weird, some of my favourite Deftones songs are on their worst album; Hexagram, Minerva and Battleaxe are huge! Truckstop [/quote] That's because the self titled album is one of their best, Deathblow is spectacular. I love the new album, their melody and huge soaring choruses are always why I've loved them. I've never seen the appeal of Adrenaline and Around The Fur personally, I certainly can't understand why people say ATF is their best album when they are the band who made White Pony. White Pony, Deftones, Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan are all spectacular. Saturday Night Wrist has some of their best songs (Hole In The Earth, Riviere, Rats!) but it's just too disjointed to be a great album.

Interestingly Bilbo, to me your belated February intro sounded a lot more video gamey to, it may have just been the general MIDI sound, but that sounded like it was straight out of one of the PSX Final Fantasy's... I considered going "video gamey" for this one, but after an hour in Reaper with an 8-bit synth VST it just felt forced, video game music to me has always been more than 8-bit synths, most of my favourite games have brilliant orchestral scores or a really atmospheric score. Ironically though, I'm not going with that either, I've got a lot of fast jumpy riffs coming to me so I think I'll go for something heavy that captures the energy. I was pretty impressed with some of the sounds I could get out of Guitar Pro 6 so I think I'll stick with that, even if it is a pain in the arse to use. I imagine I'll throw in a couple of quick samples to acknowledge the video game theme though.

Nope, a lot of very self important musicians act as though they could rattle of as many hit pop songs as they liked if they were so inclined, but such empty frivolity is beneath them, they are "true" musicians and people who don't appreciate their music are uncultured philistines. The reality is that writing a song that literally millions of people will enjoy immediately is an incredibly difficult task. Just one personal touch could alienate half of your potential audience, one note or an unorthodox key choice could change the mood of a riff or hook and suddenly a lot of people won't like it. That's why a lot of the very successful modern pop albums are designed by committee, to smooth out everyone's influences to a marketable, accessible average. Take a look at the credits for Adele's "21", 7 writers and producers for 10 tracks (discounting the Cure cover). So no, I couldn't write a hit pop song, and even if I could, I definitely lack the industry contacts and experience to get it recorded, as do most people.

Don't think I've posted mine since the first page: http://soundcloud.com/bobbass4k It's mostly just a convenient way of hosting stuff, like for the composition competitions, as such there's an eclectic mix, mostly improved noise/ambient stuff, but there's some proper songs too.

My aborted but now finished idea for the Feb comp: http://soundcloud.com/bobbass4k/a-dream-of-the-fayth The mix is a little off and there's some errors (that flute is supposed to be a harp...) But hopefully it gives an idea of my, err, idea.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1362177222' post='1996955'] Here is mine This is just a sketch. I got distracted by technology and trying to set up some new Miroslav Philharmonik VST software. This is as far as I got. I am not bothering to work on it any more as it is not worth it but I wanted to show that I was trying [url="https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/aurora"]https://soundcloud.c...palmer-1/aurora[/url] [/quote] Wow that sounds like it's straight from a Final Fantasy soundtrack, very good work. In fact on a second listen, it reminds me very strongly of this: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti_iazvRLD4[/media]

Excellent, I can feel a fast post-hardcore type thing forming this month. I finally managed to get the rest of my aborted February entry written, so I'll slap together an unpolished mix of it, in case anyone fancies hearing where that intro leads (to scooped power chords and 9/4 riffs is the answer)

There is a place for growling and screaming (done well, which this isn't), but it has to be counterpointed with more melodic vocals. Case in point: Deftones

Sorry to put a dent in your figure, but mine was not an entry, that was a sample mix of the intro I put up for comment, unfortunately I didn't get chance to finish it and I don't think the intro in isolation is up to the standards of the other entries, so could you please remove it?

Ableton is geared towards live performance, any time you see someone on stage with a laptop, they're probably running Ableton. If you want to really dive into a DAW, Pro Tools would be as good as any.

Again through an odd combination of procrastination and being too busy I've not finished again this month. Probably for the best though as that riff I appropriated from an old song of mine ended up forming the spine of the song, so even if I had finishedI'd have probably elected not to enter it. Oh well.

[quote name='heminder' timestamp='1361588197' post='1988079'] Government would know. All car travel is under surveillance in this country. They call them "speed" cameras. [/quote] I don't even...what?

I was watching Sony's PS4 press conference live. That was a much, much better use of my time.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1361306031' post='1984364'] I just got interviewed about the book by a US radio station (Miami, Florida). It's going out on 15th March with an extended version on a blog but I will post more details when they are available. I also got a bad review on Amazon (3 stars) . I guess you've got to take the rough with the smooth [/quote] Don't worry about Amazon reviews, you get people who make it their mission to drag down average scores because they think 5 stars is too "unrealistic" or something. I'd also point out that opinions being "unnecessary" is also an opinion, and surely spelling errors are the fault of the publisher, don't they pay people to proof read? Very well done on getting the book published, I submitted a paper to a journal last year and that was a massive headache, I can only imagine how difficult getting a full length book to print is.

I've always thought the lyrics to this read more like a poem, with the rhyming and everything: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYAF_MgV0JA[/media] The section with singing starts at about 5:02, but you should listen to the whole thing because it's one of the best songs ever written.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1361194712' post='1982485'] If we are talking from a viewpoint of denial of royalties to the original artist then all second hand music sales should be made illegal. Only the purchase of the original copy fed any money back to the artist so irrespective of whether a 'safety' copy is made or not that particular unit earns no more for the artist no matter how often it subsequently changes hands. Hands up here who has never bought or sold a second hand record/CD/tape? [/quote] It's heading that way. The video games industry has been doing it with PC games for years, most physical games have single use activation codes that bind them to one particular machine or user account, and downloaded games depend on the service used, but they all bind them to one particular user account. The next generation of video game consoles is pretty much confirmed to have "anti-used" game technology, probably a single use activation code that binds them to one user account or console, and requires a constant internet connection for verification. I don't see a similar thing being at all practical with music but to be honest they've already started down that path with DRM on CD's. Fortunately that didn't last long because it cost a lot of money and didn't make a dent in piracy, but they didn't get the message, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see newer more subtle DRM technologies down the line. On the topic of music piracy, I'm off to a Deftones gig tonight. I downloaded their self titled album in 2003 after hearing Minerva on TV, that was dial up days too so it took FOREVER. I bought the CD a few weeks later, and over the next couple of years bought all their albums. This ticket cost £30ish and I'll probably buy a tshirt tonight. All money they wouldn't have had from me had I not downloaded that album.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1361135990' post='1981753'] Oh, stop being so pedantic, would you? Of course it's alright, especially when the shop has a sign saying "These guitars were made to be played, so give them a try". Trying them is what leads to a sale, as i agreed with Bob, there's nothing to be gained or lost from trying something out, but the way that it is done for some people, i don't agree with. What if i went in to the shop and said "Hey, i might like that guitar over there, how about it take that home, and play it, and if i decide i like it, i'll come back and buy another guitar." [/quote] But that isn't the same, in your example the shop is losing a physical item that they've bought on credit, and are hence losing money. With downloading an album, nobody is losing anything, the band aren't losing the ability to sell records because the potential for digital copies is infinite.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1361129162' post='1981552'] People wouldn't buy the album anyway- Then why do they want to download it? If they don't want it enough to pay for it, why would you download it for nothing? I don't really care for a lot of things, maybe if somebody bought them as a gift for me, i would be pleased enough, but i feel no desire to own these things on any level, so why would i want to get it for nothing? [/quote] There you're making the assumption that there's no middle ground between being interested in an album/movie/game etc. and being willing to pay for it. Most of the albums I buy are from bands whose previous albums I like or albums that I'm otherwise sure I'm going to like. Most of the albums I download now are albums that I'm kind of interested in but not entirely sure if I'm going to like, because I love discovering and listening to new music, I probably listen to 15 or 20 new (to me) albums a month. If the only way to listen to those albums was to buy them, then I simply wouldn't buy them, because I simply don't have the money to spend on album I may not enjoy, and I lose one of my great passions. Probably 95% of the bands I've spent money on, through buying albums, gig tickets and merch I have discovered through downloading, or more recently streaming, and to be honest the other 5% are probably from borrowing CD's. For the band it's a no-lose situation, If I download an album and don't like it, I usually delete it, and the band have lost absolutely nothing. If I download/stream an album and like it, then I'm likely to buy it or buy their new albums down the line, go to gigs, buy merch, and the band have gained a fan and the money that brings. The reality is that a large percentage of people who download music are like me. [quote]No, it's not really the same as stealing a car, or breaking into somebodies house and running off with their computer, but it's not like it isn't stealing. If i was a bit better versed on the ins and outs of intellectual rights, i'm sure i could probably make a fairly good argument here, but i'm not.[/quote] Who are you stealing it from? You're not stealing anyone else's copy because by downloading it you create your own copy, and as discussed, the idea of "stealing" it from the artist is predicated on the assumption of a potential sale. Intellectual property law and copyright law is an absolute minefield, each country has their own laws but America thinks their laws apply everywhere, and a lot of people are saying that new laws are being made with significant influence from the record/movie industry. [quote]I agree with quite a bit of what you are saying, Bob, except the analogy about Doritos. I would say it was more like your mum having Doritios, then make an exact duplicate and giving it to you, giving both you and her Doritos, one of which were purchased above board, and the other is a copy, which DID deprive Tesco of a sale.[/quote] I agree that my analogy was not excellent but to be honest yours has kind of compounded the error, should home cooking be illegal? I seem to recall you mentioning spotify, somebody calculated that in order to make US minimum wage from Spotify royalties, and artist would need 4 million streams per month, does that seem particularly supportive of artists?

Amplifier: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-udAlxevMqw[/media] They're not a 3 piece anymore and the original bassist has left, but I don't think any band has ever sounded this huge with only 3 people on stage. The Joy Formidable: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l9TwSagK48[/media] I love his style, technically quite simple but he fills out their sound really effectively.