Musicians, report in!

[cucumberboy]

Alright, there has been talk of recording a new intro song for the show, but with the same vocals. The rad four are onboard to use the new song for the show if it turns out well.

So who here plays an instrument and is willing to record the new song? It can be anything from the harp to nose flute. Please feel free to add to the List:

CucumberBoy: Guitar and/or bass

[dolson]

I have a lot of guitars, a bass, Roland vDrums, some synths, guitar effects, and a 16-track digital multitrack recorder (and not some pirated software either - this is legit hardware).

But, sadly, I am not so good at using any of this stuff. lol

[damnedeyez]

IBut, sadly, I am not so good at using any of this stuff. lol

Same here...particularly since I'm way out of practice on things.

[Heyseuss]

I just sold my studio/world.

[jonnywb]

hey :)

I'm a Trombonist, but i also play drums. I can also play a little piano (basics).
I can also get hold of stuff for recordings, so it's not a problem.

This would be cool, even just to make a small song or something.

I go to the Royal Northern College of Music (UK).

I own a Pearl Export drum kit, with Zildjian Cymbals.
My trombone is Conn 88h (if tht means anything to anyone....), i also have a Yamaha trombone which i use for Jazz (not sure what model - it's not mine)
i have a Roland TD3 kit too.
and an upright piano... (which is tuned)

[comhcinc]

i have pro tools if you want to send me the music and i will put it together for you.

just realize it all needs to be the same quality or it will sound like crap.

[ZombiErin]

ZombiErin: Vibraslap


I also have ProTools.

[dolson]

Oh man, I wish I had a lute...

The TRS theme song would sound awesome in medieval style.

[comhcinc]

you want lute? i got a lute plug in somewhere.

but really folks if you are going to get togather and do this then you are going to need a good way to put it on the computer in high quality

[Heyseuss]

Should we hold auditions for people to fill the role of skin flute ?

[damn-randall]

I play keyboards (I have a Roland Juno-D, Korg MicroKorg and Alesis ION), drums, kinda play violin, kinda play melodica (mash-up between a keyboard and harmonica that sounds like an accordion), recently picked up bass guitar, and I dabble in chiptunes on my Nintendo Game Boy.

[nshady]

Piano, and I played violin for years but haven't recently.

[tokenuser]

Oh man, I wish I had a lute...

The TRS theme song would sound awesome in medieval style.I always thought it would sound good in a bluegrass style.

I play the banjo --- poorly (but have fun at it :) ). If there is a chord progression involved, I could probably pull it into a foggy mountain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icMTVV5Lwaw) style finger roll pattern.

[satori]

cooter

[terryscss]

I play trumpet and mandolin

[spinney]

Guitar and piano

anyone have any sheet music or tabs or anything that would help this out a bit?

[Rokov]

I play guitar, fretless bass, mandolin and ukulele and I have Audacity and Adobe Audition (albeit an older version).

[cucumberboy]

Great! We've got everything we could possibly need and more. So what type of song should we do? I'm so psyched about the brass...

[Rokov]

How about an arrangement of the existing theme song, but using real instruments?

[nshady]

After weeks our heroes find keys to free the shackles that bind their feet. Released, they flee through a sea of ETs with glee - the escapees were home for tea! Their captors see they are happy; their queen comes to them on bended knee and pleads for more technology critiques. The Rad Three agree with sympathy, and her majesty is greatly relieved. At least, that's what I believe - it's one of many hypotheses about The Totally Rad Show.

?

[cucumberboy]

How about an arrangement of the existing theme song, but using real instruments?

Yeah. It would be kind of cool to start from scratch but it'll be virtually impossible without getting together and jamming.

I agree that we should base it on the already existing one. I was thinking we could make it funky or at least with a bit of soul in it. That would give room for at least two guitars, a bass, drums, keyboard and some brass. Maybe someone has a pair of congas as well :P

After weeks our heroes find keys to free the shackles that bind their feet. Released, they flee through a sea of ETs with glee - the escapees were home for tea! Their captors see they are happy; their queen comes to them on bended knee and pleads for more technology critiques. The Rad Three agree with sympathy, and her majesty is greatly relieved. At least, that's what I believe - it's one of many hypotheses about The Totally Rad Show.

That's awesome! Although I think we're keeping the old lyrics, right? Maybe we should do a poll.

[nshady]

Yeah, I dunno, just had the idea of maybe continuing the story.

[Rokov]

Yeah. It would be kind of cool to start from scratch but it'll be virtually impossible without getting together and jamming.

I agree that we should base it on the already existing one. I was thinking we could make it funky or at least with a bit of soul in it. That would give room for at least two guitars, a bass, drums, keyboard and some brass. Maybe someone has a pair of congas as well :P

We can definitely change the feel of it and it will be a lot easier than all of us trying to write something new over the tubes. We also have to decide if we're using the original vocals or rerecording them. I'd prefer to use the originals, but then we'll have to get the tracks from Alex (who's rarely here) and find out the exact BPM so they match up. This also means that the percussionists will definitely have to play to a click, as will the rest of us unless we can start with the drums.

[cucumberboy]

We can definitely change the feel of it and it will be a lot easier than all of us trying to write something new over the tubes. We also have to decide if we're using the original vocals or rerecording them. I'd prefer to use the originals, but then we'll have to get the tracks from Alex (who's rarely here) and find out the exact BPM so they match up. This also means that the percussionists will definitely have to play to a click, as will the rest of us unless we can start with the drums.

We can just ask Jeff to talk to Alex about the recordings. We should get a temporary drum beat before we record the other instruments, so we can get the right swing to it. But the percussionist should play to a metronome or something.

[satori]

Yeah, I dunno, just had the idea of maybe continuing the story.

oooh, that's brilliant! ...it could be a yearly update and futher the adventures of the TRS crew.

[TRSJeff]

We can just ask Jeff to talk to Alex about the recordings.

I have the vocal if anyone needs it. Very interested to see what you guys come up with.

-Jeff

[damnedeyez]

Heh...I hear percussionist and I'm thinking symphony.

[comhcinc]

i wouldn't use a live drummer. drum samples are always the way to.

if you are rerecording the original cool, you can just play along to it and we can put it all togather in post.

now i am going to ask again, does the people wanting to do this have the ability to record their music in a high bit rate form ( a .wav for example no scatch that it needs to be a .wav)

do you, for example, have a mbox (http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Digidesign-Mbox-2-USB-Audio-Interface?sku=240479)?

[cucumberboy]

i wouldn't use a live drummer. drum samples are always the way to.

if you are rerecording the original cool, you can just play along to it and we can put it all togather in post.

now i am going to ask again, does the people wanting to do this have the ability to record their music in a high bit rate form ( a .wav for example no scatch that it needs to be a .wav)

do you, for example, have a mbox (http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Digidesign-Mbox-2-USB-Audio-Interface?sku=240479)?

I disagree. Anything that's not a real drummer sounds really bland and boring. And I'm not sure about the bitrate. I'm used to recording with microphones, but I'm not the one in the band who transfers it to the computer so I have no idea. I believe 128 should be fine.

[comhcinc]

I disagree. Anything that's not a real drummer sounds really bland and boring. And I'm not sure about the bit rate. I'm used to recording with microphones, but I'm not the one in the band who transfers it to the computer so I have no idea. I believe 128 should be fine.
you would want a higher bite rate than that. and most of the albums you buy use samples for drums it really is the only way to go.

as for sounding bland and boring............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxEb2FrQUbE

the music kicks in at about 3:20

[cucumberboy]

Most of my albums were probably recorded before 1980, but I see what you mean. I just dont think that's the kind of music we'll be doing so pre-recorded drums will sound really... pre-recorded.

[comhcinc]

trust me it is the best way. (this is want i do for a living btw)

you need at least 7 mics to do a good job recording drums. then the drummer needs to be next to prefect.

even bands that have drummers use samples on when they record.

[cucumberboy]

even bands that have drummers use samples on when they record.

I don't get it... Bands have drummers...

[Rokov]

I disagree. Anything that's not a real drummer sounds really bland and boring. And I'm not sure about the bitrate. I'm used to recording with microphones, but I'm not the one in the band who transfers it to the computer so I have no idea. I believe 128 should be fine.

I use fake drums, but just because I have to. I do everything myself and not only can I not physically play real drums, but I don't have the space, money or recording ability for them. I use a program called Percussion Studio that sounds fairly real (better than any drum machine I've heard). The only dead give away is that the crashes are shortened. Not to pimp my own stuff, but here's one of my tunes as an example of how it sounds (Please ignore the horrible vocal lol).
http://johnhmaloney.com/Casual_Observer.mp3

While I agree that it would sound better with the real thing, it would be a lot easier to use fake drums. Real drums are very hard to record without using a real studio and engineer and since we'll all be recording our parts on our own, this could be a problem. Of course, all of this is moot if we're fortunate enough to have a drummer who has the facilities to record themselves. lol

[comhcinc]

I don't get it... Bands have drummers...
and it is not worth the effort it takes to set up and get a perfect recording of drums when you can do it in software.

doing it in software is cheaper and easier.

[comhcinc]

I use a program called Percussion Studio that sounds fairly real (better than any drum machine I've heard). The only dead give away is that the crashes are shortened.


that is alright program. i use drumagog (http://www.drumagog.com/)

[cucumberboy]

To me, neither sounds remotely like the real deal. But if you both think we should use one of them instead of real drums; alright, I'll give in.

[comhcinc]

To me, neither sounds remotely like the real deal. But if you both think we should use one of them instead of real drums; alright, I'll give in.
dude, really your hearing must be off because it is the "real deal" it uses samples. the real thing. check out the reviews (http://www.drumagog.com/reviews.htm) on drumagog. see who use it? do you think those people would use it if didn't sound good? they can afford the best drummers in the world.

[cucumberboy]

I know the sounds are real, but making a beat from scratch with that will sound really fabricated. It's definitely pretty good, but to say it sounds exactly like someone playing on a set of drums would be to lie, I won't get behind that. But perhaps it's good enough.

[terryscss]

I have the facilities to record myself, btw, and considering the way this seems to be going, I'll probably be doing trumpet, so I'm totally cool with playing over whatever you guys come up with.

[jonnywb]

I'll see what i can do to get those files off of Jeff if no one else has....

I am a drummer (not the best in the world, but i aint too bad either) :P
and i have a pretty decent way of recording myself if needs be.
However, i do have BFD2 (Freakin awesome drum samples... imo) with BFD expansion packs too, if u want to use those (which could be better) i can hook my electric kit up to my laptop on Logic or Cubase and play some stuff in and mess around with any fills/mistakes with the matrix editor. Wouldn't take too long (depending on how busy I am) and if anyone needs me to send them the files, i would have to bounce the MIDI as audio.
-- It would be easier for me personally if at least some sort of chord structure and melody was recorded first (ghost track, then you can re- record it on top of the finished drums)... but that's just me, if anyone else would like to do it, i don't mind.

Trombone for me is easy to do, so that can be done quickly and recorded at a decent quality.

Not sure how many sound engineers there are on here etc. but if anyone needs a helping hand i will do my best.

[scoobydiesel]

someone should really teach me how to play my guitar...my fingers dont ever seem to bend right --_--

[sleepingcitizens]

OK guys I know this is my first post but I love TRS and would love to help.

I have an iMac with a 20 inch cinema monitor attached, which I run logic pro 8 on through my firewire 410. I also have an epiphone sheraton guitar, a fender jag 64 reissue, a PRS custom 24, basses, drums, almost every native instruments program including absynth, massive, fm8, battery, etc. I also have Bfd2 and superior drummer 2.0...also addictive drums. I also have a monome 64 which I can do some cool loop mashing, and have a novation remote zero sl for my mixing board. I also just purchased an m-audio keystation pro 88 so i can do any major piano/electric piano parts.

I've been playing piano since I was 8 and guitar/bass since I was 12 (I'm 22 now) so I think I have some skillzzz ;-).

About two months ago I actually got all the loops from the original theme song because I wanted to send them a remix...so I already have jeff's monologue in .wav format if we need it, and also every single loop from the theme song since I have the Apple Loop Library. I can master/produce the song or certain parts if need. If anyone wants the loops from the original I can zip em up and email/mediafire them.

We should all decide on a tempo, a feel, and a key so it's all in good shape, and then we pikc the best of the best, or we all do our own songs and see which way it should go in, and then just add on to that.

Here's some pics of my setup...

http://a879.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/72/l_0196fc4a8f9a8602cc961d3f18d22d46.jpg
Main studio setup

http://a53.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/93/l_7d7d682ad7c9986ba2e2a069c42b0c44.jpg
studio setup with my epiphone

http://b1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/00045/19/49/45659491_l.jpg
me telepathically connecting to the rock gods with my jag, oh and that blue amp behind me is my Fender Cyber-twin half stack with a custom pain job.

Currently don't have a pic of the keystation...

So, I hope I can help out on this, I've been watching this show since ep 1 and would love to know i helped them out with my favorite form of art on this planet - music.

My AIM SN is sleepingcitizens if anyone wants to talk, and if youw ant to check out any of my music before deciding:

http://www.myspace.com/sleepingcitizens

Hope you guys think I'm worthy enough! Peace

EDIT: We should def. choose a tempo and such, and I think a good way would to have a basic template for the song, have each person record their seperate parts, and then we can send the .wavs back and forth sowe can all add on and then come to a final mix once we have enough. I use Logic, and it seems a few others do, so if we could just use that as the main DAW that'd be great. Though we can bounce .wavs and just put them into anyone's DAW until the final mixing process.

-Andrew Gallagher

[Rokov]

O
We should all decide on a tempo, a feel, and a key so it's all in good shape

If we're using the original vocals, we'll have to keep the same tempo which, as far as I can tell is 55 bpm. It doesn't really have a key, since most of it is based on that one guitar loop, but the chords (if there were chords) are D, C & A with the occasional 7th thrown in on the C. We'll also have to keep that if we're using Heather's vocal.

[cucumberboy]

That's great sleepingcitizens, no matter how good one can play an instrument, it's of little use if the haven't composed before. As of the style, I was thinking we could make it a bit funky, with all the brass and all.

[sleepingcitizens]

Did you mean me? I've def. composed a few songs in my life haha. Check out some of my music if you want:

http://www.myspace.com/sleepingcitizens
That's my more experimental/electronic stuff

http://www.myspace.com/takethemoneyrun
I only got one song up now, and it's just up there so I can see how it sounds, I gotta replace the scratch vocal track with the lyrics I added to the melodies...probably will do them tomorrow. from a new CD I'm putting out in January, this stuff is more of my Alternative/Indie/Folk/Rock side. I write, arrange, and produce all the music myself for those two bands.

[jonnywb]

I like the Idea of making it funky, ...i'm not sure if it's best to use Heather's vocals again, although it'd be nice. I'll have a go at composing something if i have time, although I may end up just using some loops etc.
For now i'll try using her vocals, but if I can't manage it, it may change a bit.

But yeh if everyone would like to have a go at their composition then we'll just pitch ideas/vote on the best that would be cool. I don't really want it to be a competition kinda thing really, more of a collective sort of thing.

I asked Jeff to send me the vocals and he said yes, but i'm not sure of the best way he could get them to me... so if you could send me the .wav files or host them on rapidshare or something that would be great.



Oh and yeh, Logic's probably the best program to use, I have 7.2 and 8 (upgrade) so seeing as some of us have it, it would make sense.

The only problem i seeing us having is transferring the files, depending on how big the project will be/how many takes/editing etc.
Has anyone got some sort of server that we could use?
I have a rapidshare account, so i could use that to upload files, but other than that, I'm not sure what would be best.

[sleepingcitizens]

I have the monologue in .wav, jeff said something about the vocals being to hard to send over, whether that means they're on another computer or just too big .wavs...we could ask them to splice the chorus in half if it's over 100 megs and then just upload it to mediafire.com or something.

[jonnywb]

hmmm... i dunno, i asked for the vocal files and he just said to tell him where to send it, it's a 10 meg .wav file - i think. So it didn't sound like there was a problem. I just need a suggestion of where he could send it to so i can get it.:confused:

[cucumberboy]

Yeah I'm not sure about Heather's vocals either. They're good for the existing theme song but we can't play so it fits to the singing. The singing has to be done accordingly with the instrumentals - not the other way around.

[sleepingcitizens]

Not necessarily true...with the new autotune we could change some notes in her melody to fit the chords...listen to nine inch nails' the great destroyer and then check out modwheelmood's remix of the song, he changed some of the notes in trent's melody to fit the new chords...but i agree that if the pace of the song is different and the melody structure doesn't fit then we'd have a problem.

and with not being able to get the vocals a while ago, i guess he maybe didn't have them on his computer or something, btw, jeff if you read this, sorry i never got around to that remix, family emergencies hit and i lost track...i'm actually working on it now though to make up for it!

[cucumberboy]

Yeah I was also thinking more of the way it's sung, not the notes.

[comhcinc]

quick question, does anyone know the nashville numbers system?

[jonnywb]

quick question, does anyone know the nashville numbers system?

Sorry, not a guitarist, never even heard of it! I'd look around on the internet for a good explanation, I'm sure there's something...(?)

But anyway, back to the other convo....

I have Melodyne which i can use to transpose and move around some of the vocals, but it's best if we didn't bother with it... The more you mess around with the vocals, the messier it gets. It would be easier to just find someone who can sing (relatively well) so that any adjustments are only slight to improve intonation or a mistake.

I could probably find someone to do it, but i'd rather it be someone who watches the show so that we continue to use members of the forums etc. instead of 'outsiders'... :P

[comhcinc]

the nashville numbers system isn't about being a guitarist.

it is THE way professional musicians notate music.

it is the easiest way to share music with everyone

[jonnywb]

well tbh, i just googled it and it mentioned guitar so i just assumed... my bad.

Still never heard of it though, would have thought it would have been mentioned to me by now if it was so important... :confused:

Edit: well i just read about it and watched a video... apparently it seems it's just basic music theory using numbers instead of Roman numerals etc. but with a name...

[comhcinc]

it is just used by almost every profession studio musician in the world.

if you are interested in a career in music i suggest you learn it. it will help (plus it makes it real easy to learn a new song)

[filmgasm]

I don't know if it would be of any use, or even if it's at all possible for me to help out (I don't really have any recording equipment, other than like a Rock Band mic), but I do play the French Horn.

Ha, not sure how funky that is, but you all do keep bringing up the brass, so I thought I might throw it out there just in case there was something to it.

[jonnywb]

I don't know if it would be of any use, or even if it's at all possible for me to help out (I don't really have any recording equipment, other than like a Rock Band mic), but I do play the French Horn.
it.

haha, nice! well i'm not sure where we're at with this recording at the moment, but even if it's not the sort of instrument you would normally use, i think it would be totally rad to try n use it :P
Just a shame about u only having the rock band mic. I don't really know what type of mic it is and how good it would be. If it's similar to an SM58 (probably not though) i can see it being ok seeing as it's only going to be part of the brass section anyway. (i think)

Edit: actually, i just looked it up and apparently it's similar to the SM57, so i think if you have a decent way of recording even if it's just onto "Audacity", then it would be fine.

[filmgasm]

Actually, I have a good friend who might have some decent recording equipment, so I might be able to get some help from him if need be.

[comhcinc]

that's good because that mic you have doesn't have the ability to record decently.

[purplelotus]

My brother is a professional musician but erm i'm not quite sure his style of music would work lol :-S

I do play some stuff too though!

Purps :-)