Newbie intro

[vbakh]

Hi,

My name is Vlad, I live in Seattle, WA. I've been reading articles on Taxi.com and watching (well, mostly listening) to Taxi TV for a few weeks now, and think it's time to introduce myself and ask a few questions.

I've been playing steel and nylon string acoustic guitars for 30+ years, mostly folk songs with "jazzy" fingerstyle arrangements, and accompanying to singers from time to time. I also play a little bit of piano, bass, ukulele and few other stringed & fretted instruments. I've got Sonar (RIP), Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, an LDC and 2xSDC Oktava mikes, a Nektar impact 49 MIDI controller and full Yamaha e-piano.
New melodies come to me quite often, especially when I mumble on a guitar or piano, or while driving. I'd like to "materialize" several of those mumblings into instrumental tunes first, see how it goes, and then join taxi and begin my "five years plan" from there.

Here is a few questions.
1. If I don't put down what I hear in my head, I'd forget it in a few minutes. How do you capture your musical ideas so you won't lost them, especially when you are not near your studio?
2. Many of the forwarded instrumentals here have clearly sounding melodies on top of the accompaniment. How do you decide when there is too much of a solo for instrumental?
3. Could you recommend a good tutorial about DAW-based drums & percussion topics?

Thanks a lot,
Vlad

[mikehamm123]

Hi Vlad!

If I don't put down what I hear in my head, I'd forget it in a few minutes. How do you capture your musical ideas so you won't lost them, especially when you are not near your studio

You can always record them on your phone--iPhones have both a 'voice memo' recorder and a 'music memos' app specifically for this sort of thing.

Mike

[vbakh]

You can always record them on your phone--iPhones have both a 'voice memo' recorder and a 'music memos' app specifically for this sort of thing.

Thanks Mike, I use voice memo too. Just curious what else folks use for workflow optimization.

Regards,
Vlad

[jman1283]

Hi Vlad. I usually write at the DAW but when I feel like writing without my laptop studio or don’t have that option, I use an app called Songspace and it is just about perfect! I can keep lyrics and audio together and the free version is all I’ve used writing and recording for a couple years! The administration is great and you don’t have to deal with nag screens etc. You do need an internet connection though so I suppose the ability to use it offline would be the only thing that would make it more perfect!

[annayarbrough]

Welcome, Vlad—the forums are a great place! Looking forward to hearing your work.
I use voice memos and notepad on my iphone. Had fancier apps over the years, but always come back to those!
As far as melodies go... nothing too busy, distracting from dialogue, or with too much life of its own. Think of the melodies as servicing the mood, rather than being the star of the show!
I got nothing on the drums q, so I'm looking forward to what others have to say about that.
Good luck with your music!

[mikehamm123]

I'd like to "materialize" several of those mumblings into instrumental tunes first, see how it goes, and then join taxi and begin my "five years plan" from there.

Your creative process may be different from mine--but since joining Taxi my writing/arranging process got a kick in the pants, that is all the tantalizing listings and deadlines gave me targets and deadlines, and styles to explore.

Also I think most of the time music has to be written *for* the listing to really nail it, rather than reworking an existing piece. But I get that you want to see how it works first. One thing you can do is watch tv *just to listen to how the music is used*.

As far as 'too much melody', for an underscore, it is best not to be too busy, and also not to compete with the higher frequencies where dialogue takes place.

[vbakh]

Thanks folks, appreciate your advices!
Regards,
Vlad

[vbakh]

... I got nothing on the drums q, so I'm looking forward to what others have to say about that. ...

I found a bunch of inexpensive online courses about drums and bass on Udemy.com and Lynda.com. They also have many tutorials about DAW / recording / mixing / mastering etc.
As I am absolutely new to the drumming, I picked this one: Programming Amazing Drum Tracks: a Guide for Non-Drummers

Hope it helps,
Vlad