Garwood Mansion

**stnfrnt** · November-15-12, 02:43 PM

RickBeal.....hangin' on to the dream, bro.....

**RickBeall** · November-19-12, 01:15 AM

Ha ha!
Well, speaking of hanging onto a dream, I'm getting pretty close to getting a new song recorded.

Due to time constraints, I am finding it devilishly difficult to actually finish anything these days.

This is a song about a guy in Detroit who is sitting on his porch strumming his guitar on a beautiful summer day in 1967.

**stnfrnt** · November-19-12, 01:57 AM

I know what you mean about not finishing songs.....I've got a bunch that are waiting for me to get off my ass. How are you recording? Cubase music production software, or something like it? What are you using for an audio interface?

**RickBeall** · November-19-12, 07:19 PM

I use Cakewalk Sonar on a PC. My audio interface is an M Audio sound card. I only record one instrument at a time and layer them on.

It's nothing special, but it is fabulously more powerful than what Elvis had when he first stepped into a studio.

Yes, it is so easy to start a project, and hard to finish one. I have a bunch of songs [[okay, well three), that just need to be recorded. But recording a final version always gets me into a lot of production and editing ... instead of playing the old guitar. But I do try and finish one, once in a while.

**stnfrnt** · November-20-12, 12:23 AM

It's one track at a time for me too. What do you do for drum tracks? I use a very labor intensive Acoustica-Beatcraft software program where I have to click on every beat of every drum/cymbol/hi-hat etc. I like it because it gives me a lot of creative room....not like drum loops or other rigid/dedicated pre-recorded drum tracks.

**RickBeall** · November-20-12, 12:43 AM

Okay, the current song is pretty much done, but the only problem is that I need to end it ... it goes on and on past where the end should be.

**stnfrnt** · November-20-12, 12:50 PM

Fade it out at the end...or just let it fall apart....sometimes that's a really cool thing....hard endings are sometimes tricky, and everybody does them, so don't be too concerned about stopping clean on the "4" count....

**RickBeall** · November-20-12, 03:52 PM

I have faded a lot of songs in the past, but this one needs something else. And, ha ha, it does have a fall apart part, ... about a minute after I want it. But, I think I'll just have to record some crazy stuff until something fits. Typically at this point, you just want to re-use and not pick up the guitar and hope to make adjustments to get the exact same tone.

I think I layed down some killer bass lines on the current song though. I gave myself a blister on my middle finger to prove it. Ouch. A blister under my callous [[or thick skin).

Ah, you mentioned drumming. Drumming is my absolutely weakest link. Like you, I never use loops or drum tracks because they would drive the guitar part too much. The whole point of writing your own music is to have that wonderfully clean slate. So, I have a Yamaha DD-65 digital Drums which I bought on ebay for $120 because it was used and had blown internal speaker [[which I never use). I liked it because it gave me the chance to actually beat on something with sticks. Quality wise, no one ever listens to a finished song and says "digital drums", but it would not win any awards, and does not have that acoustic clarity. On a lot of my songs, I don't really have drums, I'll just use a foot stomp sound. On my current song I used a shoe to hit a plastic garbage can with just the right amount of stuff in it to reverberate enough but not too much But, drumming is a nut I have not really cracked. I was hoping the cheap electronic drum set would inspire me to do some drumming and actually learn something about it, but I guess I don't really have time to learn much.

My bass guitar is pretty cool, it is a black Ibanez Mikro bass. Very short scale. It does have a great sound, but you have to palm mute it to get that nice old fashioned blues bass sound. I did have a full size bass, but I found the stretch too long for my old fingers. I think I bought it new on sale for around $120. You can buy them used for that.

**RickBeall** · November-28-12, 11:02 PM

Well I finished the song. In the end I added a sort of fall apart ending to it.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12024249

I was sitting on my porch, having a taste
I'd just about finished, painting the old place
I reached for the rail for my old guitar
I ran my hand right across the wire, ... like this!

**stnfrnt** · December-02-12, 10:02 PM

Hey Rick, nice tune. I really like the guitar sound and the track separation. Some real nice acoustic slide work at the end there. And, there is nothing wrong with the ending. Is this the tune where you beat on a garbage can with a shoe? Nice touch. You have a real nice knack for painting pictures and telling stories with the lyrics. Keep on rockin' in the free world, bro.

**stnfrnt** · December-03-12, 09:54 AM

OG....another one of my nephews does alright on a resevoir outside Westerville, Ohio.....bass in December.....

Attachment 17151

Attachment 17152

**RickBeall** · December-08-12, 11:28 AM

Hi Larry,
The ending there is all new. I tacked a new "instruments stop playing one by one on it". Yes, that is the shoe on the garbage can beat.

Glad you liked the song. You be de master.