I know my weakness: guitar.
Today’s challenge was to make a song that didn’t repeat. I knew I could do that with drumming no problem as that would basically be a drum solo but with some variations. I think you’ll agree the drums stand out here, and that would be my specialty.
The bass is in two parts: the first part is automated while the second part is me. Both are quantized to 1/4 notes. It kind of fits the track because it bridges the busy-ness of the drums with the simplicity of the guitar at the beginning.
The guitar, however, is there. I had to turn down the drums in the mix because they were so strong. Other than that, I overthink the guitar when I’m playing and that combines with the fact that I don’t really know the soundscape of the instrument. The result is that the playing is a bit awkward, as if someone is just strumming along… which is what’s happening.
I laid down the drums in two separate tracks, the first was the drums themselves then I added cymbals (ride, hi hats and crash). The iPad drum kit plays both the bass drum and crash cymbal at the same time so that’s why you’ll hear an extra “thump” when the crash is hit.
The bass, as I mentioned, was automated. I used the Liverpool bass setting in Garageband with no effects on it. I think I could’ve simplified the track even more than I did.
The guitar is the Roots Rock with Hi-drive and Blue Echo turned on to give it some crunch. I found with this track, since the drums are so insane and all over the place, the other instruments had to make room for it, especially because I didn’t know how to complement the drums while playing the guitar. The best option for me was to play less. Thinking of it now, I probably could have doubled up the guitar and played one rhythm track and then layered another “solo” track over top, which might have given the track a bit more dynamics. I’ll leave it as is for now.
It took me a few takes to go through, particularly the guitar. I kept the second or third take, but the guitar required a few more than that.
I’m not disappointed with the track but I know I could do better. I don’t like editing MIDI since I find it to be a pain in the ass to tweak. I’d rather do more live off the floor recording than in the edit suite tweaking, but I suppose everybody likes less work to do.
Here is the session set up:
It’s hard for me to think what else I could have done for this track as this is what first came to mind. I’m not sure adding lyrics would’ve made it any better, and, since the guitar is a bit rough, probably would’ve added to the confusion.
All said, I am happy with the drum work and am content enough with the bass work.