"Fight To Lose" (Rock)

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Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/15 19:55:16 (permalink)
darylcrowley:
 
Hi, Daryl,
 
How are you?  Hope you're doing great!
 
Thanks so much for checking in on this one and for your kind words and observations!  I'll try backing down the vocals a db or two on the remix to see what happens.
 
By the way, I really like your recent instrumental post, and your new website looks fantastic!
 
Thanks, buddy, and have a dynamite weekend!
Bob
=================================
 
 
mgh:
 
Hey, Mark,
 
It's great to hear from you, and thanks for listening to this for me, and for your good input and observations, as always, they are greatly appreciated!
 
As I mentioned in my first reply to Shad above, yes, I'm purposely trying to develop a consistently recognizable sound because everything I record is planned to eventually end up on a CD of similar songs.
 
As for the drums, as I've mentioned here on the forum several times before, I'm not a drummer, I'm just a guitar player who tries to do my best by sloppily playing what I hear in my head, (just kick, snare and hats first), on my Yamaha pads or M-Audio midi controller, and then tries to find a semi-steady section that I can quantize and add fills and cymbals to after the fact.  I'm just doing my best to get something half decent down in order to get the songs across, and I know I'll never be a "real" drummer that could ever play this stuff out in a live situation.  So, unfortunately, it is what it is.
 
Thanks again, Mark, for checking in on this one for me, and I truly appreciate your input, friendship and support here on the forum.  As I've mentioned before, your old Des Irae (spelling?) stuff was one of the actual reasons that I joined the forum.
 
Best wishes for a rockin' weekend!
Bob
==================================
 
 
blipp:
 
Hi, John,
 
It's really great to hear from you, my friend, and I'm glad to see you back around on the forum!
 
Thank you very much for taking time to give this a listen, and for your encouraging comments, I really appreciate your input and friendship.
 
Best wishes for a great weekend!
Bob
=================================
 
 
chasmcg:
 
Hey, Charlie,
 
Thanks very much, buddy, I really appreciate you checking this one out for me and also your kind words!  I'm really glad you liked this, and your new country rock post is really dynamite.  Good stuff, my friend!
 
Have a good one, Charlie!
Bob
=================================
 
#31
THE NIGHT FOX
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/15 20:37:58 (permalink)
Hi Bob , hey I can't remember what type of drum software are you using nowdays ? I'm using Addictive Drums but I'm considering buying Superior Drummer for $300.00 .
You know anything about that software , just wondering ?

James
#32
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/16 18:01:40 (permalink)
geeare1:
 
Hey, Gary,
 
How are you, buddy?  Hope you're having a great weekend!
 
Thanks for weighing in on this one and also your encouraging comments!  I really appreciate you giving this a listen and commenting, because your productions are always pro quality.
 
Best wishes, Gary!
Bob
===================================
 
 
 
Freddy J:
 
Hey, Freddy,
 
Thank you, Sir!  I really appreciate you giving this a listen, and also your input, observations, support and friendship here on the forum!
 
Your last two song posts were fantastic, Freddy, really cool stuff!
 
Have a great weekend!
Bob
===================================
 
 
  
THE NIGHT FOX:
 
Hi, James,
 
How's it going, buddy?  I'm sure you're having a blast testing out your new e-drums!
 
Thank you for checking this song out for me, and for your very kind comments!  I really appreciate your input and I'm very grateful that you like it.
 
Oh, and to answer you're second post, I use Steven Slate Drums for all my stuff, although I also have EZ Drummer and Ocean Way Drums.  I do know that many of the forum members really love Superior Drummer and use it all the time, and the songs that I've heard using it sounded really great.
 
Thanks again, James, and have fun checking out those new Yamahas!
Bob
====================================
 
#33
mgh
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/16 19:58:50 (permalink)
Hey Bob
i truly see you as one of the best performers on this forum, the vocals and guitar you produce are consistently immaculate!
James has offered to help on the drums, and i think you should take him up, but if not, try using the Step Sequencer for drums; it's what i do and i find it a lot easier. And i'm often doing complicated metal patterns!

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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/16 22:36:38 (permalink)
Well, I like your drums!  :)  But I guess I wouldn't take that as a compliment cause no one likes mine.    But yeah, great performances and great song.  I actually think Shad might be referring to the fact that several of your songs seem to have similar melodies.  Of course your style and voice and playing are going to be consistent.  


But if you're going for a consistent sounds throughout a CD, I'm sure you're right on the money.  


Good to hear another great song of yours!
#35
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/17 17:56:43 (permalink)
vechung:
 
 
Hi, Vicente,
 
Thank you very much for checking this song out, and for your good input and kind words!
 
Yes, that pause before the first chorus seems like a distraction and bothers me, too.  I think I'm going to try to stretch the drums out another beat or two to make it feel a little less awkward.
 
Your new post for 'Dance, Dance" is really a great, fun song, and the story behind it makes it even better!
 
Thanks again for your input, and best wishes!
Bob
===================================
 
 
bapu:
 
Hey, Edster,
 
Thanks so much, buddy, I always look forward to and greatlt appreciate your input and observations on my posts!
 
You've certainly been busy cranking out some fantastic covers and collabs over the past few weeks, and each one gets better than the last, production-wise.  Excellent skills and talent going on there, Eduardo!
 
Thanks again for all your input and support, Ed!
Bob
===================================
 
 
 
jamesyoyo:
 
Hey, James,
 
How's it going, buddy?  I'm truly glad to see that things are starting to get back to normal for you after Superstorm Sandy!
 
Thanks again for your valuable input and observations, as well as your very kind offer to work with me on a drum track.  I truly appreciate your offer, but I'm a DIY guy who feels like I'll never learn to get better if I have someone do my work for me.
 
Do you possibly have a any specific suggestions that would be useful for me to try to humanize the drums a bit better?
 
Remember, I am not a drummer, I'm a guitar player just trying to learn to create something that works for my songs!  My process as I explained above to Mark, is to try to bang out what I hear in my head (kick, snare and hats first), on my Yamaha pads or lately more often, my M-Audio Keyrig midi controller, and then try to find a section where I'm keeping a fairly steady beat, then quantize it and turn it into a groove clip that I can stretch out for sections of the song.  Then I add in the fills and cymbals, etc., and then after a few good suggestions from several very accomplished "real" drummers here on the forum (about a year and a half ago), I use groove quantize to mess up the velocity and timing a bit to try to humanize the sections.  At the time that I first tried the groove quantize suggestion, I received several PMs and forum posts saying that it was a major improvement, so I really thought I was on the right track.  As for the actual drum "sound", I've actually had several "real" drummers and producers who purchased my CD ask me how I eq-ed and processed my drum tracks to get such a full, punchy drum sound to fit within the thick wall of distorted guitars that I use, so once again, LOL, I thought I was doing something right.  If you might have any other ideas or suggestions for me to try to improve these results, I'm always willing to try anything to learn to improve my recording, mixing and production skills, and would greatly appreciate any specific advice you might be able to offer.  I've resolved myself to the fact that that digital recording and production is a never ending, constantly flowing and changing learning process and I'm always hungry to learn and try new techniques and ideas.
 
Thanks again for checking in on this, and also for all of your great help, input and support on my stuff in the past, I've truly learned a ton about mixing from your very specific ideas and advice here in the past few years, and I consider your input invaluable!
 
Best wishes, James!
Bob
===================================
 
#36
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/17 21:40:39 (permalink)

Thanks Bob hey what are you using to trigger your Steven Slate drums , EZdrummer ?
I have the $99.00 version of Steven Slate Drum software and my kit does work with it but for some reason I can't get the Bass drum to sound right in Steven Slates software .
The bass drum sounds too washed out so I starting working with my Addictive drum software .

Anyway yea I'm having fun working out with my new drum kit after so many years of not playing drums .
I have another suprise in my box of surprises but thats not going to happen untill the 1st of March , I will unveil it after I have ordered it and maybe get some help from you with that surprise .

Thanks Buddy for the infomation - James
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guitartrek
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/17 21:56:19 (permalink)
Bob - another great production full of great sounding guitar tones.  And great vocals.
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ChuckC
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/17 22:19:57 (permalink)
Arena Rock missed out.  Nice harmonies & guitar tones

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Scottytunes
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/18 07:06:04 (permalink)
Your Broken Angel song is what prompted me to request another power ballad. You need at least four of those on your list because you do such a nice job on them.

String Jammer
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Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/18 18:07:58 (permalink)
notnat:
 
 
Hey, Frank,
 
Thank you very much, Sir,  I greatly appreciate you taking time to give this a listen, and also your very kind comments!
 
I'm truly grateful for all of your input, advice and support.  Much appreciated, as always, Frank.   Have a great night, buddy!
Bob
====================================
 
 
 
SteveStrummerUK:
 
 
Hey, Steve,
 
How's it going, brother?  Hope you're still having a rockin' good time with good old "Ruby", every time I see the picture in your signature, it makes me want to crank out some guitar solos!
 
Thank you very much for stopping by on this one, and also for your kind words of encouragement!  LOL, Yep, sometimes, I just can't help myself from smacking the daylights out of that tremolo bar!  I'm still sort of surprised how well the stock PRS trem system mostly stays in tune pretty well, without having a locking system.  While I wouldn't do two octave dive bombs with it live on stage, it still holds up pretty well for normal accent type use.
 
Thanks again for giving this a listen and your kind words of support, Steve, I always look forward to your input and observations, and really appreciate your friendship!
 
Best wishes,
Bob
==================================
 
 
 
The Band 19:
 
 
Robbaaaaay, Roberto, the Robinator!!!
 
Hey, Buddy, how's it going?
 
Thanks so much for stopping by on this one and for your comments, greatly appreciated, my friend!
 
Also, excellent work on the ton of amazing collabs you've been working on lately, you guys have been cranking out some great stuff, keep 'em comin', brother!
 
Have a good one!
Bob
===================================
 
#41
paulo
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/19 17:53:07 (permalink)
Nice production as always - seems like you have this style pretty much licked.
 
I'm not even in the same league as you with all this stuff, but as for the drums / velocities thing, I use the freehand tool in PRV mode to draw them in manually if they're a bit samey. I also knock a few beats just slightly out of time to try and make them not sound quite so "perfect".
#42
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/20 04:56:39 (permalink)
mgh:
 
 
Hey, Mark,
 
Thanks so much for your kind words, I greatly appreciate it!  Also, thanks for the tip on the Step Sequencer, although, after looking at it for the absolute first time in my life (Until your post, I'd never even opened the interface before), it really looks way more complicated than either the PRV or banging the stuff out on the pads or midi controller like I do now.  I may experiment with it a little bit to see what I might be missing, and just to see how it builds the midi tracks compared to PRV.  Although, I imagine that I would still have to try to humanize the timing and velocity after the fact, like I usually do.
 
Thanks again for your suggestions and ideas, Mark, I'm always grateful for your input. :)
 
Best Wishes!
Bob
====================================
 
 
 
Janet:
 
 
Hi, Janet,
 
Thank you very much, at least somebody out there likes them!  And just for the record, I really think that your drums have also come a long way from your first attempts and that your last few songs with drums have really sounded great. :)
 
Thanks for checking in on this one and for having my back!  Have a great week, Janet!
Bob
====================================
 
 
 
THE NIGHT FOX:
 
 
Hi, James,
 
That's great that your having a good time working with your new e-drums!  :)  Yes, I think that no matter what drum software anyone uses, there's always a lot of leveling, EQ, effects tweaks, and processing needed to get them to sound like you want them to.
 
Have a good one, James!
Bob
====================================
 
 
guitartrek:
 
 
Hey, Geno,
 
How are you, brother?  Hope you're having a rocking week!
 
Thank you for stopping by on this one and for your kind words of encouragement!  I really appreciate it coming from a player and producer like you, your songs always sound phenomenal!
 
Many thanks, Geno, I'm very grateful for your input and comments.  :)
 
Have a good one, buddy!
Bob
====================================
 
#43
pistolpete
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/20 07:16:38 (permalink)
I thought the rhythm guitar tones and vibe were excellent. The lead guitars sounded a bit shrill. Great song until the vocals started though, strained and off key.
#44
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/20 18:13:08 (permalink)
ChuckC:
 
 
Hey, Chuck,
 
Thanks a lot, buddy, I really appreciate you checking it out for me, and also your kind words!
 
I hope your band is still crankin' out some good old power rock down in sunny Florida, you guys put out some great stuff!
 
Thanks again, and have a good one!
Bob
===================================
 
 
 
Scottytunes:
 
 
Hey, Scotty,
 
Thanks for that, buddy, I appreciate it very much!  I'm actually in the middle of working on an acoustic ballad with strings, which is a bit of a change for me, hopefully, I'll be posting it sometime in the future.
 
Thanks again, and have a great night!
Bob
===================================
 
 
 
paulo:
 
 
Hey, Paulo,
 
Thank you very much for giving this a listen, and also for your encouraging words and great idea!
 
I think I'm going to try messing the velocity and timing up a bit manually, as per your good suggestion.  I did try that originally way back when, but after your suggestion, I'm going to try it in combination with the groove quantize trick to introduce more anomalies into the midi notes.  Hopefully, that will get me closer to when I'm trying to humanize the drum tracks.
 
By the way, I think your songwriting and production skills are excellent, and your mixes always sound top notch, and I really appreciate your input on my stuff.
 
Have a good one, Paulo, best wishes!
Bob
====================================
 
 
pistolpete:
 
 
 
Hey, Pete,
 
Either way, thanks for checking it out and commenting, have a good one!
 
Bob
====================================
 
#45
chuckebaby
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/21 02:05:01 (permalink)
bob,wicked impressive,your guitar sound is basically what i strive to achieve in my sound,is it the combo of your bc rich and a stack?..this sounds so thick may i ask,are you using a guitar sim?
or a real stack,it sounds real as all anything ive ever heard

your voice resembles one of my favorites,Joe walsh.
you dont sound like him,but you have alot of the same tembre in your voices.

great song bob,but i have to be honest,"broken Angel" that song is going places bro.
what an song.wow.
i listened to a few of your tunes,even on "lucky day" your guitar tones makes me sick(in a good way),i need to go study sound now...lol

in an act of total honesty,fight to lose was my third fav of those three songs i listened to.
but i was so blown away by those other two.maybe i will go back and have another listen.
your guitar playing is top shelf.

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#46
Rimshot
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/21 09:41:08 (permalink)
Hi Bob, 

Late getting here.  Nice guitar playing (as always) and very good production.  I would love to hear some more live sounding drums as mentioned above (the parts being played - not the sound).  I agree with some others that the song was not quite as nice as some of your others but still very worthy to be on your CD.  

Rimshot


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#47
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/21 18:08:41 (permalink)
chuckebaby:
 
 
Hey, Charlie,
 
Thanks so much for giving this a listen, and also for your very encouraging comments, I really appreciate it!
 
No, because I can usually only record between 2:30 and 5:00 am, and I live in a super quiet neighborhood, I can never use my stage amps, or even my small practice amps.  So, I use Line 6 POD Farm 2.5 for literally everything I record.  The three songs you listened to were my PRS Paul Allender Model with EMG 89/81-TW pickups into POD Farm 2.5 using custom tweaked Diezel and Marshall amp setups.
 
You know, it's funny that you picked up on the Joe Walsh influence, actually the third and fifth songs that I ever sang in my life were "Funk #49" and "Walk Away", and I've always been a big fan of The James Gang and Joe's solo stuff.  He was always one of my favorite guitarists, too.
 
Also, thanks a lot for checking out the other songs on my test mix page and my Youtube video for "Hearts On Fire", I really appreciate your input, observations and comments.  In my opinion, that's what makes this forum such a great place to keep learning all of this digital recording stuff!


Charlie, your new song post, "Jack It Up" is really killer good!  Great songwriting, nice crunchy, thick wall of guitars and dynamite vocals, excellent work, brother!
 
Anyway, thanks again, and have a rockin' week, buddy!
Bob
====================================
 
 
 
 
Rimshot:
 
 
Hey, Jimmy,
 
How's it going, buddy?  It's really great to see you back around on the forum!
 
Thank you very much for stopping by on this one for me, and for your good input, observations and very kind words.  I really appreciate you giving this a listen and value your opinion highly!
 
Thanks again, and have a great night!
Bob
====================================
 
#48
guitardood
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/22 05:39:40 (permalink)
Really nice track Bob.  Killer guitar work.  Only two things, vocals maybe a little too up front and the high hat, especially at the beginning, was a little too open and hissy.

Otherwise, really enjoyed the track.  Keep 'em coming.

Best,




Best,
Guitardood 

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Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/23 18:38:27 (permalink)
guitardood:
 
 
Hi, Chuck,
 
Thank you very much for taking time to give this a listen and also for your input and kind comments!
 
Yes, Sir, volume level-wise, I always seem to struggle most with trying to get the vocals and bass guitar levels just right in my mixes.  The pro rock and metal genres usually have the vocals back a little more in the mix, and pop and country usually have them right up front, but because I consider the vocals the focal point of most songs, I usually tend to put them a bit louder than most rock and metal, but it always seems that a dB lower or higher ends up making a big difference.  I'm going to try your advice and lower the vocals by one or two dBs to see if that helps.
 
Thanks again for checking it out and for your good observations, greatly appreciated.  Have a good weekend!
Bob
===================================
 
#50
jamesyoyo
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/23 19:49:44 (permalink)
Bob Oister


v
jamesyoyo:
 
Hey, James,
 
How's it going, buddy?  I'm truly glad to see that things are starting to get back to normal for you after Superstorm Sandy!
 
Thanks again for your valuable input and observations, as well as your very kind offer to work with me on a drum track.  I truly appreciate your offer, but I'm a DIY guy who feels like I'll never learn to get better if I have someone do my work for me.
 
Do you possibly have a any specific suggestions that would be useful for me to try to humanize the drums a bit better?
 
Remember, I am not a drummer, I'm a guitar player just trying to learn to create something that works for my songs!  My process as I explained above to Mark, is to try to bang out what I hear in my head (kick, snare and hats first), on my Yamaha pads or lately more often, my M-Audio Keyrig midi controller, and then try to find a section where I'm keeping a fairly steady beat, then quantize it and turn it into a groove clip that I can stretch out for sections of the song.  Then I add in the fills and cymbals, etc., and then after a few good suggestions from several very accomplished "real" drummers here on the forum (about a year and a half ago), I use groove quantize to mess up the velocity and timing a bit to try to humanize the sections.  At the time that I first tried the groove quantize suggestion, I received several PMs and forum posts saying that it was a major improvement, so I really thought I was on the right track.  As for the actual drum "sound", I've actually had several "real" drummers and producers who purchased my CD ask me how I eq-ed and processed my drum tracks to get such a full, punchy drum sound to fit within the thick wall of distorted guitars that I use, so once again, LOL, I thought I was doing something right.  If you might have any other ideas or suggestions for me to try to improve these results, I'm always willing to try anything to learn to improve my recording, mixing and production skills, and would greatly appreciate any specific advice you might be able to offer.  I've resolved myself to the fact that that digital recording and production is a never ending, constantly flowing and changing learning process and I'm always hungry to learn and try new techniques and ideas.
 
Thanks again for checking in on this, and also for all of your great help, input and support on my stuff in the past, I've truly learned a ton about mixing from your very specific ideas and advice here in the past few years, and I consider your input invaluable!
 
Best wishes, James!
Bob
===================================
 
There is nothing wrong with the way you are doing it, Bob. But a little different approach could service your songs better. Your stuff is not at all oddball in terms of meter or feel, so I am kinda wondering why you just don't buy some real good rock midi loops and tweak them, instead of starting from scratch. Then you have the real feel of a drummer and it also allows you to put your touches to it. Since you are an awesome guitarist and singer, but self-described as not a drummer, why not concentrate on what you're good at?



Food for thought. Keep rocking, bro.
#51
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/25 18:15:56 (permalink)
jamesyoyo:
 
 
Hey, James,
 
Thanks for coming back to this one, and for your extremely kind words and ideas, I really appreciate all of the great input you always provide!
 
Basically, there are two reasons I'd rather do the drums the way I am, even if it's a little awkward for me.  Number one, coming from a background of decades of "live" playing on real instruments, I can't wrap my head around how a loop would sound more "real" than actually trying to play the part on pads or the midi controller.  I understand that you mean loops by professional drummers and that they can be manipulated to a certain degree, but somehow, I feel that's almost like not participating in the creation of your own song, if you're not actually playing the parts yourself.
 
The second reason is that I can't imagine trying to auditions thousands of loops trying to find something that comes close to what your imagining in your head for a specific part of a song.  To me, it just seems much easier to try to bang it out what I'm hearing in my head on the midi controller or pads, even though my drumming skill level is nowhere near that of an actual drummer.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to people using loops and I know that much of today's very successful modern music is constructed that way, it's just that when it comes to producing my own music, I'm a bit old school, and would rather be "physically" involved in the entire process.
 
Thanks again for all the great advice, ideas and help that you always provide here on the forum.  It's been a great help to me during this never ending, ongoing learning process, and I really appreciate your friendship and support.
 
Have a great night, buddy!
Bob
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#52
jamesyoyo
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/25 19:02:01 (permalink)
No problem, Bob. I guess it just comes down to the difference between process and result.
#53
timidi
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/25 19:40:45 (permalink)
Nice one Bob.
The unique hook idea is way cool.
I do agree with James on the drums though. In particular the kik. 


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#54
Janet
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/25 23:06:08 (permalink)
Bob, I can see what you mean about the drums.  I use EZDrummer, because I'm no drummer either (well, I actually DO play the drums now, but I've got a long way to go. Imagine that!  lol)   Anyway, it's not like auditioning thousands of loops.  You have to narrow it down to the style you want, the beat, and even the tempo.  Then there's the chorus, verse, bridge, intro, and outtro loops to choose from.  So...find one that's close to what you want, then tweak away to your heart's content.  But the basic beats are played by a real drummer.  Seriously...you audition a few (or even a few dozen), drag and drop and then tweak to your heart's content.  Heck, I've even learned a few cool beats just analyzing some of the loops.  Obviously there's a learning curve to any drum program, but I know you could handle that, and there are good people right here to help.  :)  

Just some thoughts.  :) 
#55
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/26 00:55:41 (permalink)
timidi:
 
 
Hi, Tim,
 
Thanks, buddy, I really appreciate you stopping by on this one and also your kind words and good input!
 
Yep, this is still the original mix, but I've already beefed up the kick drum, as per James suggestion, and also fixed up the little awkward transition that Vicente mentioned.  I'm hoping to get a little time finish it up, export the final mix, convert the MP3 and upload the new mix sometime in the next few days.
 
Thanks again for your input and observations, I'm grateful to you for lending your good ears to this one, have a great night, Tim!
 
Bob
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Janet:
 
 
Hi, Janet,
 
How are you?  Hope you're doing great!
 
Thanks for stopping by again on this one, I really appreciate it!
 
Yep, I know what you mean, I started out with this stuff using the very first Cakewalk Session Drummer that came with Sonar 3, and it came with loops that you would string together in an interface that sort of looked like a checklist and then pointed to a GM softsynth, but if I remember correctly, you couldn't edit the parts in piano roll view.  Then I bought EZ Drummer which came with a bunch, and then Steven Slate which also included a ton from pro drummers.  But, even if I found something relatively close to what I was hearing in my head, it always still took a lot of manual editing in PRV to try to flesh out the original idea, so it just ended up being quicker and easier for me to play the parts on the e-drum pads or midi controller layer by layer to get the basic idea down, and then build on the layers adding the fills and cymbals after getting the main rhythm down.  Then I still have the option of touching things up in the PRV.
 
My main goal is still just to try to get something down close to what I'm hearing playing in my head.  Either way I feel like my drums are light years better than when I first started learning this stuff, thanks to a bunch of great ideas and suggestions from forum members, and hopefully, I'll continue to improve as I keep going!
 
Thanks again for checking it out, and for your friendship and encouragement.  Have a great week, Janet!
 
Bob
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#56
Janet
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/26 07:28:49 (permalink)
Oh, I'm sorry, Bob.  I wrongly assumed you hadn't tried a drum program yet.  I should have assumed you had.  Carry on.... :)  Like I said, I like your drums.  :) 
#57
Starise
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/26 09:15:51 (permalink)
 Hi Bob, been away for awhile. I see you are still burning it up man. Great song. Not quite as rocked up as some of your others, still a winner. The voxcals are coming through here well and whatever you do for those harmonys.*( I'm guessing you use Melodyne)...sounds right on.

 Take care and keep on making those...I'll keep listening!

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#58
Bob Oister
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/28 04:26:22 (permalink)
Janet:
 
 
Hi, Janet,
 
Oh, no problem, and thank you again for your kind input!  All this crazy DAW related stuff changes so frequently with new software, plugins, virtual instruments, updates, and etc., it's hard for anybody to keep up with what's on their own computer, let alone somebody else's!
 
Thanks again for always taking time to listen and comment on my stuff, your not only a super piano player and musician, but you're also a wonderful person and one of the nicest people here on the forum!
 
Have a great night!
Bob
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Starise:
 
 
Hey, Tim, How are you, buddy?  It's always great to hear from another PA Musician!
 
Thanks for checking this one out for me and for your very kind words of encouragement!
 
No, I don't have Melodyne (at least not yet), although a few years ago when V-Vocal first came out and the bakers posted a video tutorial about backing harmony, I fiddled with it for awhile, but it seemed to always end up robotic sounding and there were many noticeable artifacts after the process.  Although V-Vocal does seem to work okay for touching up an off note here and there.
 
I usually just end up doing three or four straight takes in a row of the different harmony parts, picking out what sounds best to my ears, and then run them to a BGV bus with Voxengo's Analog Flux Tape-Op saturator, and then the VX-64 Vocal Strip, the TL-64 and then sometimes the Channel Tools plugin.  Sometimes if they really need to be fattened up, I play around with the VX-64's doubler section, but not that often.  Then just a send out to a separate reverb bus and a delay bus, and then the Master Bus.
 
Thanks again for giving this a listen and commenting, Tim, greatly appreciated.  Have a good one, buddy!
 
Bob
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#59
Janet
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Re:"Fight To Lose" (Rock) 2013/02/28 08:10:15 (permalink)
You're right about the changes, Bob....I'm always amazed that you guys can master this stuff!  

And thank you, but I must say you're one of the kindest people here and so good to comment so helpfully on everyone's music.  I hope your job takes advantage of your writing skills.  :) 
#60
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