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 Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI) 
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Post Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)

https://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1/snow-day

I'm developing a whole new workflow and this tune was my proof-of-concept. We had 8 inches of snow here in Michigan this week and my office got sent home early Wednesday morning to get ahead of the storms, and then I teleworked on Thursday. So any unannounced day off from work automatically means studio time. It's a rule I live by, and get a new song every Federal Holiday!

So whatever thing got created on the Snow Day was going to be called "Snow Day," as its working title. I started to work on my Stickist collab song for Jayesskerr, so I had C melodic minor and 140 BPM already set up in the DAW.

I had started noodling a couple weeks ago on the living room piano in C minor and G major, and playing with that, so I had a couple of ideas already in mind.

I picked up the NS/Stick (Lord Vader, right in time to see the new Star Wars this Sunday!), and loaded up Jam Origins MIDI Guitar and the one for bass and set up a couple of tracks, to record audio from the NS and also an instrument track to record the MIDI coming from Jam Origins. Then I laid out two versions of some C Minor/G to G Major, with a nice easy bassline on the 8 notes and an easy melody line. The chorus took a while, and I had to bust out my theory chops when my ear couldn't find the right notes. I really like the chord progression, and it goes against a chromatic descending bassline, which apparently I can't get enough of lately.

Then, I added Orange Tree Samples Evolution Strawberry Guitar plugin for Kontakt on top of the melody NS lines, and added a distorted guitar doubling (that itself was doubled inside the plugin--Evolution Strawberry is simple yet powerful), and also added a wah guitar patch. I turned to the Strawberry plugin for its strum feature, and that allowed me to set up patterns to play with the wah without actually using a pedal in real time.

Then I turned to the bassline, and since I had the MIDI, I could double the NS bassline with an arpeggiating bassline from NI's Vacuum, that followed the NS line around a ways back in the mix. That added a nice layer to the NS sound, which I also had a few plugins sitting in top of to shape the sound. No matter what bass instrument I use--NS, Stick, 4-string, keyboard--I always like a nice growly sound, and I can dial that in to where I like now with a couple of settings (that took months to tinker with but I'm getting closer to where I want).

Nothing played on the NS was so wild that it would not track in Jam Origins. I didn't do any solos or pyrotechnics, except for one tiny tapping part, and everything tracked as well as using a keyboard for an interface, and better than using a mouse.

The tune itself is a standard [Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus, Verse 3, Chorus] structure, and the next logical part would be a bridge, and then we chorus and verse out.

So, new workflow seems to be: work out chords on piano, figure out on NS and use to lay down bass audio and track MIDI, lay down melody audio and track MIDI, add Strawberry and other keyboard layers on top, rinse and repeat. I could have used the Railboard or the Rosewood as well as the NS. I could have just used a keyboard controller for most of it, or even the Roli Lightpad for most of it. I have many options for getting notes and audio to DAW now.

I'll update when I have that bridge and the back side of the song. And it's most definitely supposed to be a song. There's a huge vocal component to this that I have in my head and need to get into a mic. But this is my Snow Day tune, done with NS/Stick and MIDI.

Rocking it out, Down in Fractal Rock!
--Steve
************
Added the Bridge!
Snow Day on Enceladus.

https://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1/snowday-enceladus

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Wenge-on-Wenge NS/Stick, #170130, Bass 4ths
http://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-RDlN ... Ez0hN49_Qg


Last edited by paigan0 on Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:41 am
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
Okay, now with bridge and repeat verse/chorus until end. Now it's pretty much done except for the vocals. NS/Stick and MIDI and drums. This is "Snow Day on Enceladus," where the snow showers of Saturn's 6th-largest moon fall.

https://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1/snowday-enceladus


Time for vocals!

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Rosewood 10-string, #5989, M4s
Sapphire Railboard, #6763, MR
Wenge-on-Wenge NS/Stick, #170130, Bass 4ths
http://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-RDlN ... Ez0hN49_Qg


Sat Dec 16, 2017 1:35 pm
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
Wow! The NS really sounds great! What are you using for fx? I remember you were using guitar Rig right? Really cool. Waiting for the vocals now! :)


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Sat Dec 16, 2017 7:04 pm
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
bachdois wrote:
Wow! The NS really sounds great! What are you using for fx? I remember you were using guitar Rig right? Really cool. Waiting for the vocals now! :)


Hi, Rodrigo! Thanks for stopping by and listening!

For effects:
In this example, I am using a lot of WAVES plugins, especially for the bass side. Chris Lord Alge (CLA) Bass, WAVES Bass Rider, and the SSLG Channel with one of the the Joe West for bass settings and some tweakings.

On the melody side, more WAVES CLA plugins, with the CLA Guitar plugin on the master guitar bus to add some EQ and effects across the guitar spectrum. But the individual tracks leading into the guitar buss have their own effects: Guitar Rig and WAVES plugins for the NS audio, a lot of the onboard effects from the Evolution Strawberry Guitar plugin (which is mainly what I'm using it for, and for some strumming that I feed into the wah patch to automate that.) The wah is all Strawberry, although Guitar Rig could have done something similar.

As for the vocals, I have the melody lines all done! And interestingly enough, the vocal melody forced me to make a change to the chorus sections. I kept going down from a suspense that needed to resolve instead of hanging out there, and I made the rhythm tracks follow along. I had to punch in for one measure and then cut and paste it 4 times across the song. I swear I can't even tell that the song was not always written that way. If you compare the first version with the new one, you can tell the change in the chord progression. It tracks much better with where the vocals wanted to naturally go.

Another discovery is that with the vocals melodies, the mood of the song went quite a bit darker. It's that minor third of the melodic minor that makes me sing this mournfully.

I have a strong feeling that when this is done it will be better titled "Snow Day in Hell," which is kind of clever, if I do say so myself. [Googles...] Sweet. Not really taken for a work of art that a quick Googling turned up. Definitely going to use that now.

Okay, that gives me a theme for lyrics and a direction to go. Next step is lyrics and getting them onto tape. Then cleanup and then cleanup and some more cleanup. That's actually the fun part. Lyrics and vocal recording is the #1 hardest chore for me.

Thanks, Rodrigo! New Chorus chord progression inserted and vocals in the making.
https://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1/snowday-enceladus

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Steve Sink, Laser Fractals
Rosewood 10-string, #5989, M4s
Sapphire Railboard, #6763, MR
Wenge-on-Wenge NS/Stick, #170130, Bass 4ths
http://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-RDlN ... Ez0hN49_Qg


Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:34 am
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
[emoji41] cool thanks. It's funny how we all have different ways of getting there but eventually we all do... it's like: every road will take you where you need to go no matter what :) anyway I have to say, if I weren't so in love with the whole stick concept I would definitely go for an NS. Different tools for different musicians right? :) gotta check that evolution strawberry [emoji526] plugin!


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Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:22 pm
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
bachdois wrote:
cool thanks. It's funny how we all have different ways of getting there but eventually we all do... it's like: every road will take you where you need to go no matter what anyway I have to say, if I weren't so in love with the whole stick concept I would definitely go for an NS. Different tools for different musicians right?


And I keep telling my wife that I NEED that new tool! :lol: (and sometimes it's actual power tools!)

I'm really happy with my gear now, both on the hardware and software side now. I feel like I have more to keep me busy than I have time. That's one reason to keep skipping the vocals on tunes that really should be songs, when there's so much to do that's easier (and Sticking is easier to me than singing, hilariously enough!).

I've deliberately written this little tune to be a song. Each line is working really hard to be rhythm. I've futzed a lot with this song now. While mixing, I took a break and I made the mistake of putting in Rush's YYZ and rocking it out. Listening to the Why Why Zed, I was very intimidated. Such an amazing mix that song is. Well, tune.

I probably did 10 different mixes of this trying to get it to sound as crisp and clear as YYZ does. I've failed miserably at that but I did get a mix I like now. And it's not an instrumental--just backing rhythm to a mostly pop/rock tune.

I've also written about a third of the lyrics, and the tentative vocal stylings I have for this are a wee bit sounding like Queensryche (Operation: Mindcrime-ish). But I suck. It's just that kind of a deep voice that seems a bit Goth to me but I can apparently do it with my voice. I'll have to stop describing it and get it recorded already. I miss the days of having vocal music majors around that will sing anything you put in front of them.

[Standing in front of his Stuart Smalley mirror]:
Vocals are not hard. Vocals are not hard. Vocals are not hard. I'm good enough, and smart enough, and have enough Autotune for all the karaoke in China. There, I almost believe it.

Somewhat seriously, background vocals first is an easy achievement. I'll start there as the lyrics to Snow Day in Hell come together.

Thanks Rodrigo, and lurking Stickists! More to come!
https://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1/snowday-enceladus

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Steve Sink, Laser Fractals
Rosewood 10-string, #5989, M4s
Sapphire Railboard, #6763, MR
Wenge-on-Wenge NS/Stick, #170130, Bass 4ths
http://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-RDlN ... Ez0hN49_Qg


Mon Dec 18, 2017 8:23 pm
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
It sounds great, Steve! Keep on going, I really look forward to hearing where this goes - it's been a fun listen so far!

Operation Mindcrime the album is a masterpiece, so you bet! I am excited to hear anything influenced by Queensryche! Too cool!

YYZ, yeah... emulating the recording quality of pretty much anything that Rush has done, well jeez that is a high standard! A worthy pursuit!

I'm looking forward to this, my man! Maybe a bunch of tunes in the form of a concept album would be cool...

Keep on rocking!

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Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:39 pm
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
Thanks, Scott!

Made a lot of good progress on vocals. I took a day off from work while the kids were at school and the wife Christmas shopping, and set up two mics on stands with pop filters and ran each one into audio inputs, making a stereo vocal track with the combined channels as left and right audio tracks. That way I can process the two tracks as one track and have it on stereo automatically. I don't have a stereo mike at the moment, but haven't really needed one, as all my instruments have a line out, even my acoustic guitar. It's only vocals that I ever have to mic anymore.

I had about 2 hours to myself and got some really good vocal lines done, especially for the bridge. I got some background vocals done that I really really like, by setting up Pro Tools in Loop Record mode, and just laying down tracks over and over, and letting PT turn it into a playlist. Then it's just a matter of auditioning the tracks and finding something that sounds good, or close to good, and then tweaking it until it's better. A couple of spots I liked the melodies but not the execution, so I flagged them for later re-recording.

The verses and chorus are a lot harder and that's something I'm still working on.

I know that in principle, I can record vocals in my car. I have a 110 outlet in my car, and I could set up my MacBookPro in the car with the Scarlett I2 interface plugged into it. I could even set up the mic stands in the car, or some mic clips, and record vocals that way. It's just below freezing here in Michigan, and I guess I could warm up the car, and turn off the climate control for recording.

Looks like Congress punted the shutdowns for another couple of weeks, so I won't be making my Furlough Rock: Part Two: Electric Boogalo, like I thought I might. I had a week off on the last shutdown (2013?) and managed to crank out an entire album of rock/pop music and with me singing.

I'm gonna get this done regardless. I made enough progress on background vocals to make me think that I can pull this one off. All I really need is some privacy, away from the noisy family. If I have to, I'll set up in the car and rock it out.

I kind of wish I had a portable DAT recorder, although my iPhone would probably do really well with some kind of plug-in mic. But the MacBookPro in the car will work if I really need some privacy.

Okay, more to come on Snow Day in Hell!

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Steve Sink, Laser Fractals
Rosewood 10-string, #5989, M4s
Sapphire Railboard, #6763, MR
Wenge-on-Wenge NS/Stick, #170130, Bass 4ths
http://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-RDlN ... Ez0hN49_Qg


Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:23 am
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)


paigan0 wrote:
I kind of wish I had a portable DAT recorder, although my iPhone would probably do really well with some kind of plug-in mic. But the MacBookPro in the car will work if I really need some privacy.

Hmmmm...
Shure MV88 Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone for iOS ($129)


or
Rode NT-USB USB Condenser Microphone ($169)

or....?

I'm liking the Shure so far...(there's also a $99 Zoom iQ6 - Stereo Mic for iOS with Lightning)...

Adds: I bought the Shure. I can use it in a number of ways, and I liked the app that comes with it and the customization you can do. Records in 24/48, and that's all I needed.

2nd addition: in the studio, the pair of mics that I'm using is: a Shure SM57, and a Sennheiser e835, both of which I like for different reasons and ranges--thus the combo, and used in stereo. I wonder how the MV-88 will compare!

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Steve Sink, Laser Fractals
Rosewood 10-string, #5989, M4s
Sapphire Railboard, #6763, MR
Wenge-on-Wenge NS/Stick, #170130, Bass 4ths
http://soundcloud.com/stephen-sink-1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-RDlN ... Ez0hN49_Qg


Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:47 am
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Post Re: Snow Day (NS/Stick & MIDI)
You know Steve, I was going to send you an email but I instead opted for a public reply haha your music is so good that it deserves all the traffic it can get and more!

For me, the "process" of writing a "song" is a bit different than creating an instrumental bit. I actually find creating purely instrumental stuff to be a bit, ummm disconnected at times.

I personally find that creating an instrumental "backdrop" for me to sing over is usually a lot less succesful than if I simply strum a chord and sing some stuff and then literally build a sort of "campfire song" from a very humble beginning. Even for instrumental stuff, if it's something that I can incorporate my voice to begin with, it will usually sound a lot better.

I guess that any chance I can get to internalize it, the better.

A song vs instrumental arrangement (Muzak), I will gladly take the "song" hands down. Hehe even if it's Muzak I like...

Looking forward to this one getting finished!

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Sat Dec 23, 2017 10:24 am
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