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Song (tune) writing. Recording what you have so far. How do you do it?

Posted by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on June 15, 2011 at 11:53am in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts

I'm sure this must have been asked before but I can't find it if it has.

OK. You are messing about on the guitar and you come up with the germ of an idea and start elaborating on it. How do you record (not necessarily sound recording but any form of storing it for later development) what you have so that you can expand it later?

I would like to know what others do, as at the moment little ideas just come and go, never to appear again.

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Replies

  • kevin shanks July 6, 2011 at 5:51pm

     

    thats easy , just write it down on your cbg music score.

    ''only joking.'' 

  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw June 23, 2011 at 6:57pm

    Hi Crow.

    Thanks. I hope to get something posted soon, but it will probably be an arrangement rather than something I have written, at least to start with.

    All the best.

  • Crow June 23, 2011 at 8:47am

    i record all my videos on my ipod, and i can also record sound files that way, using the sound recorder. my android phone does videos and sound recording as well. then i just plug in my headphones and listen any time, no extra steps needed.

     

    show us what you've got roadkill! :D

  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw June 23, 2011 at 8:30am

    Hi Willie.

    Thanks for the advice. It seems that you have a great method of working. I really like the idea of listening to them over and over in the car. Thanks for that.

    All the best.

    John

  • One String Willie June 22, 2011 at 8:49pm

    When I am noodling on the diddley bow, I work on a riff until it starts to come into focus and then record it on a Zoom H2, usually giving the bottle or pipe positions verbally as I play slowly.  then I record the playing up to speed.  I then put the normallized sound file into a folder and when I get about 30 minutes worth of riffs, I put it onto CD and listen to it in the car as I go to and from work.  Lots and lots of things that I do would be forgotten then next day if I did not do this.

     

    Best regards, Willie 

  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw June 21, 2011 at 7:55pm

    Thanks Vaughan and Crow.

    Yes. Makes sense. I certainly see the need to get the music down in a fairly easy way, otherwise you loose the flow of it, or I certainly would.

    Thanks again for the help.

  • Crow June 21, 2011 at 5:18pm

    normal notation would work fine, if you could write and read in normal notation, but vaghan s. nelson-lee hit it on the head, i think, that the cigar box guitar is a "casual" instrument. the point is to work within your own limits, with what you have, and over time you get better. i have been reading tabulature for a long time, because it was relative to the guitar that i was playing, reading sheet music is WAAAY beyond me. tabbing for three string would be a super easy way to record ideas, but it's also very slow.

    the most NATURAL method of capturing an idea is to record a video of yourself playing. that way you don't have to stop and write, then try to figure out where you were, and play two more notes, then write them down.... get a cheap camera or use your smartphone (if you have one) to make a quick video of you playing the piece that you're working on. when you watch the video, the tune will quickly come back to you , and over time, you'll become more accustomed to hearing pieces of your own little tunes and quickly remembering how to play them.

     

    actually recording and mixing music takes a whole other set of skills and talent, and is loaded with frustration. the easiest, and again most natural, way to record, is in one shot, in front of a recorder, in a room that has the kind of echo or background effect that you like, in a place that you practice all the time, so you're the most comfortable.

     

    hope all this helps, roadkill. and show us what youve got sometime! :D

  • Vaughan S. Nelson-Lee June 20, 2011 at 4:35pm
    I think it is probably because CBGs are  a more casual instrument for most people.
  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw June 20, 2011 at 3:03pm
    Thanks to Keni Lee, Steve, C# and Colombia for sharing your respective methods. One thing that I find interesting and a little surprising (remember that I am still relatively new to all this, with no previous guitar knowledge) is that nobody has said that they write it as musical notation. Is there a reason why normal notation doesn't work for this style of music? I would have thought that it was better suited than tabs, but then I am probably missing something (many things). Anyway, this has been very useful, so thanks again.
  • Colombia Lobon June 18, 2011 at 3:40pm

    when i am out and about i use my android recording device on HTC phone rough, simple but does the job.

    at home i use a Mac also - started simply by playing the song into garage band using mic built in the com. - very straightforward

    then after around 6 months i bought a Snow Ball USB mic - around £70 great quality

    then I  bought a mixer and upgraded mic etc but a gradual progression

     

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