RockfordStone

practice, practice, practice. just literally work out which key is the kick, and the snare, then come up with a rhythm using them... ignore the symbals and toms to start, just worry about the rhythm and build from there

i think the first thing you have to do is get a plan. if you are doing the ep yourself, you need to know what you can and can't do, and then learn how to do the stuff you can't. i can do guitars, vocals and bass... but im no drummer or keyboard player, and as a result i am teaching myself how to be them, and this process of learning is also opening up new ideas and approaches. you also have to get in the mindset that no idea is a bad idea, record everything, be it on tape, your phone or in a DAW, have everything there to pick and chose ideas from, the more you got through the better at putting it all together you get

get yourself a cheapish midi controller/keyboard. i acquired one last week and being able to play the beats that come to your head rather than have to think about programming them makes life a bit creative. also check out a programme called riffworks t4, its a free programme which gives you drum loops to record guitar parts over and you can move each section around to define the structure of your song... great song writing tool, i tend to use that first then build from there by copying the drum loops in my main DAW im currently writing an ep so i feel your pain

i wanna start writing januarys now!!!! im going to release my november entry as a solo single... with some tweaks of course

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1356891220' post='1914808'] It's a buzz when it all comes together, innit? Took me a good while to get my head around using music software, but you'll find it gets much easier very quickly once you're over the initial hurdle. Then the fun really begins! PS: you can continue using Reaper after the trial period - it's a very generous set up with no penalities - but I'd personally recommend supporting the developer and purchasing a license: it's great value for money at £50 or so. [/quote] with exchange rate reaper cost me 37 quids

for me it varies, normally i start with a melody in my head, then i work out a drum beat around it

as usual some excellent quality from entrants this much. it was a tough choice this month, but in the end there was one that stood out for me early on, and when listening through to them all today still stood out good luck everyone

looking forward to listening to all of these tunes and then getting back on the recording train next year

my pedals are in a briefcase style pedal board, and i have a tool box which has several cables, patch leads, extensions leads, picks, allen keys, screwdrivers etc

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1356182349' post='1907697'] Ive got some lyrics im building a song around, unfortunately its means ill have to sing for it to work [/quote] Ill do it, but isnt it cheating?

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1356076783' post='1906416'] I'm no Reaper expert so will not be able to help but out of interest what can't you get Reaper to do? [/quote] im having issues with pod farm, its not running a signal through no matter what i try, i think its due to it being the older one. been advised by the reaper forums to just get the new version... which i will when i can afford it going to try and master my actual pod see if i can get the right tones out of it, at the moment everything seems to fuzzy once it gets into reaper so its going to take some tweaking

i ended up going with superior drummer in the end, now trying to get my head round it and use it with reaper. may end up going back to cubase cos reaper is being a pain in my balls over one thing which i need!

superior

should get my new drum software today... i may just have time to squeeze something in

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1355833240' post='1903278'] Sounds like you've answered your own question! [/quote] maybe ill do the january composition competition as paper soldiers and see how it goes

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1355832315' post='1903259'] Hard to say Rob... it's ultimately your decision (of course!). If I were in your shoes I'd be thinking of it in terms of: [b]- Are there any potentially 'negative vibes' associated with the old project name?[/b] How does it make me feel when I think about? If there's any hint of disappointment or regret, do I want to address that by sticking with it and making things right, or would I be better off consigning it to history and starting afresh. [b]- Would I feel creatively constrained by sticking with the original name?[/b] In other words, would doing so make me feel pressured to produce the same kind of material and if so, is that the direction I want to head in musically? Or do I want to try something new and liberating? [b]- How much recognition and following does the old project have?[/b] Does it provide a ready-made audience for my new music - and would the audience really notice/care if the format had changed from how it was previously? [b]- How much much time and money have I invested in the original project?[/b] Does the investment support or outweigh some of the considerations above? [b]- Could I do things much better if I started again?[/b] And does thinking about starting again give me a buzz, or does it make me take a deep breath and start worrying about all the things I need to do...? Not sure if that helps, but heh, it's hoopefully food for thought! Personally, I like the name 'Paper Soldiers' - it doesn't scream any particular style of music to me, and it obviously allows room for collaboration or even evolving into a full blown band in future. But that's just one man's opinion. Whatever you decide, good luck with it mate! [/quote] luckily there are no negative points about it, it just never had a line up that could settle with each other and constant issues with unreliable band members. its generic sounding name was devised as the original ethos was to write what we wanted and what people enjoyed, which is ultimately what we did, and we never struggled to get people to our shows locally, and as the line up has always been so fluid (4 drummers, 5 guitarists), people have only ever really associated it as being my band as im the only one who has stuck with it. ive tried starting fresh before, but have always been drawn back to it, and i get more sense of enjoyment when i play as paper soldiers rather than as any other new project, and everything i write ends up leaning to the vibe i got from the band. ive had someone say to me that paper soldiers is me, and i am paper soldiers... maybe thats how it should be, i dunno

all owned by me, the other band members have no interest and all the original members have their own bands now, the guys i used for a couple of gigs this year have had no input in the songs, so people always think of paper soldiers as me. part of the reasoning i wan't to keep "paper soldiers" is that i think its a pretty good name and the best ive ever come up with, and ive given it so much of my energy and passion its a strong base to release new music from, and it seems a shame to just let it die. maybe im being too sentimental

so over the past 3/4 years i have been at the helm of a band where i have done the bulk of the writing, the recording, and pushing etc with this band. as of 2013, inspired by the recording competitions on here, i am giving up on trying to push a band, so i intend to write and record alone and release music alone with the occasional collaboration (potentially with some of you guys if you'd be interested). trouble is i wan't to release music as a project, not as me, something that possibly in the future could become a band if it leads that way. part of me wants to start fresh, but part of me is still tied to the old project which i have put so much time and effort into over the past few years, i have the emails, facebooks, contacts, put up the money to have the music released previous and registered the band name in my name. my question to you is, given that people in the local scene associate me with this project, do i carry on with it alone.... or do i start totally fresh and build again?

with so many of these posts appearing, it seems to me that us bassists are a sensible lot who put up with loads of sh*t from others

im a bit late to this party, but ive seen this guy banded about everywhere and have never listened to him.... am i missing something about him?

i record rehearsals with this http://tascam.com/product/dr-2d/ it has a setting in it where you can set it to record 2 levels, ie the normal room level, and one which is a few db less, and as a result if clipping occurs on the normal level, you have the other track which shouldn't clip. its a handy bit of kit, i find it pretty easy to use

im hoping to get ez drummer this month and some midi gear so i can enter january as a new beast

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1355388968' post='1897582'] Not even started. [/quote] nor i, struggling to find time, i have 2 days off next week so may have a go. hate this time of year, always too busy

light scribing is an option if your cd drive on your computer has it... takes a bit of time to do but looks a bit nicer

strangely for me it was martin kemp of spandau ballet, i read his autobiography and it inspired me to take up bass