Ever notice how there's a lot less 'what do I need to buy' questions?

[Stan_Halen]

or look at it this way. Even if I get in a groove and start laying down some great songs, I at LEAST want to be able to put together some nice demos.

Then maybe mixing is your priority right now, and once you have a comfort level with that you can work on the other stuff. Your new monitors may be helping? Have you checked out Graham Cochrane at RecordingRevolution.com? His email newsletter sends out free tips several times a week plus other free content, plus some paid programs that seem to be pretty good. It’s almost all focused on mixing.

[Jon-Jon]

or look at it this way. Even if I get in a groove and start laying down some great songs, I at LEAST want to be able to put together some nice demos.

Then maybe mixing is your priority right now, and once you have a comfort level with that you can work on the other stuff. Your new monitors may be helping? Have you checked out Graham Cochrane at RecordingRevolution.com? His email newsletter sends out free tips several times a week plus other free content, plus some paid programs that seem to be pretty good. It’s almost all focused on mixing.

yeah, these new monitors are helping a lot

yesterday I threw down some bass while listening thru the monitors…NO 'PHONES. its always nice to ditch an annoying cord hanging off your neck

and today…wow. I moved my main Peavey amp from the living room into my 2nd bedroom and ive got the mic cable running into this bedroom so now I can record my main amp anytime I want with no 'phones while relaxing in bed

This was a huge impediment to me because previously to actually record I had to go into the living room which entailed unplugging my laptop, interface, fan, etc etc and going into the living room and sitting in a chair for 2-3 hours. trust me, it was sort of a drag

So one of the roadblocks to my productivity has been removed.

So my hope is that I can record way more now and get my mixing to a decent level so then the priority will become singing and writing songs. Also of course I am trying to get my templates at a reasonable quality so I can quickly lay down decent songs etc

Just laid down some guitar and am gonna lay down bass now. Its semi exciting lol

oh yeah. I did have some thoughts on earlier portions of the conversation…mainly about singing covers. I see a middle road aspect to it. For instance I like David Lee Roths chesty belting. So rather than do a whole cover I sometimes practice the line “I been sitting here 'bout a half the night” etc. So now I need to write my own stuff using that similar voice. Also I mentioned Bob Segar ‘Night Moves’ etc. One of the reasons I have been deemed “pitchy” is because I have generally been venturing into unknown territory while singing…working out originals as I laid them down lol

peace, JJ

[Stan_Halen]

This was a huge impediment to me because previously to actually record I had to go into the living room which entailed unplugging my laptop, interface, fan, etc etc and going into the living room and sitting in a chair for 2-3 hours. trust me, it was sort of a drag

So one of the roadblocks to my productivity has been removed.

So my hope is that I can record way more now and get my mixing to a decent level so then the priority will become singing and writing songs. Also of course I am trying to get my templates at a reasonable quality so I can quickly lay down decent songs etc

Just laid down some guitar and am gonna lay down bass now. Its semi exciting lol

Excellent! It’s amazing how a shift in perspective can do wonders.

I did have some thoughts on earlier portions of the conversation…mainly about singing covers. I see a middle road aspect to it. For instance I like David Lee Roths chesty belting. So rather than do a whole cover I sometimes practice the line “I been sitting here 'bout a half the night” etc. So now I need to write my own stuff using that similar voice. Also I mentioned Bob Segar ‘Night Moves’ etc. One of the reasons I have been deemed “pitchy” is because I have generally been venturing into unknown territory while singing…working out originals as I laid them down lol

Ha, “Bottoms Up!”, what a great song. Yeah, you can write your own lyrics to someone else’s song and sing that same melody. And work with the voicing that seems to fit you. Great point that you can do just part of the song, makes things go much faster and you can move from one to another in learning mode. “Night Moves” is a great song too, very soulful. Singing with covers or just doing scales with a keyboard should help with vocals. The thing about using tuning software can be good too, even if you don’t like the idea. You get to see how far off pitch you went and it’s like seeing the metrics of your performance and knowing what went sideways. It can help fix it because now you are conscious and aware. It can also help singing while watching the pitch meter in ReaTune or Auto-Tune, you get to see that same thing “live”.