As you can see from the pictures, after I told my brother and some friends about my project, I've had no shortage of instruments and tools at my disposal. In fact, my brother's house has become its own poor man's studio. In all we have 3 acoustic guitars, 2 electrics, an acoustic bass, electric bass, microphone, drum set, my keyboard, and several supplemental noise makers. Of course, for this project, I'm limiting myself to just recording a simple version of the song. In no way am I trying to recreate the song itself, but it's nice to have the assurance of having everything you need to accomplish your goal.
Below is a picture of the "portable studio" I'll be using to record my tracks once I'm ready to do so. As you can see from all the knobs, it's a learning experience all its own in terms of figuring out how to use it. Thankfully I'll have some help from my own cousin who is fairly versed in using it.
Below is a picture of the "portable studio" I'll be using to record my tracks once I'm ready to do so. As you can see from all the knobs, it's a learning experience all its own in terms of figuring out how to use it. Thankfully I'll have some help from my own cousin who is fairly versed in using it.
The device is capable of letting me lay 8 individual tracks which is more than I'll ever need for this project. The nifty thing is I can control sound effects and equalization of each recorded piece alone to get the right sound I need. Furthermore, the studio will provide a metronome for me to keep time as well.
The two pieces you see next to it are the head phones I'll be using to listen to tracks while I record. The other i a MIDI audio interface. MIDI is an input/output standard for certain musical instruments suh as my keyboard and microphone. In other words, it provides an alternative way for these instruments to communicate with the studio and other devices.
Last but never least is my beloved keyboard. I've had it for well over a decade now and it's slowly beginning to have problems (including a power input that wont cooperate unless you tweak it just right). The important thing is that when it works, it sounds just as good as ever, even with its simple plastic keys and redundant utilities.
The two pieces you see next to it are the head phones I'll be using to listen to tracks while I record. The other i a MIDI audio interface. MIDI is an input/output standard for certain musical instruments suh as my keyboard and microphone. In other words, it provides an alternative way for these instruments to communicate with the studio and other devices.
Last but never least is my beloved keyboard. I've had it for well over a decade now and it's slowly beginning to have problems (including a power input that wont cooperate unless you tweak it just right). The important thing is that when it works, it sounds just as good as ever, even with its simple plastic keys and redundant utilities.
Song Learning Update
I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but I had already begun learning the song on guitar and recently tried my hand at learning it on my keyboard. It turns out it's not a good idea to try learning a new song when you haven't played in almost 8 months (the sacrifices you make to become a teacher). In any case, I have some chords down, but I am clearly rust and the versions I've been learning from on youtube have been throwing me curveballs so I don't have the right sound quite yet. It's an aspect that's even more challenging when you're trying to do the heavy lifting all by ear.
With that in mind, the shining light in all of this is I'm finished learning the song on guitar and know the lyrics by heart, at least to my satisfaction. I'm able to play rough versions and sing along so I'm confident that separating the two will sound much nicer. Below is my first recorded version of the song with me simply pressing play on the ipad and taking a solo shot at it on guitar. Keep in mind, I'm not much of a rhythmist on guitar nor am I a spectacular singer - A fact that has me rather shy and contributed to my decision to hide my face - but it serves as a significant marker in my progress. Only 2 weeks left to do this this! Enjoy....
I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but I had already begun learning the song on guitar and recently tried my hand at learning it on my keyboard. It turns out it's not a good idea to try learning a new song when you haven't played in almost 8 months (the sacrifices you make to become a teacher). In any case, I have some chords down, but I am clearly rust and the versions I've been learning from on youtube have been throwing me curveballs so I don't have the right sound quite yet. It's an aspect that's even more challenging when you're trying to do the heavy lifting all by ear.
With that in mind, the shining light in all of this is I'm finished learning the song on guitar and know the lyrics by heart, at least to my satisfaction. I'm able to play rough versions and sing along so I'm confident that separating the two will sound much nicer. Below is my first recorded version of the song with me simply pressing play on the ipad and taking a solo shot at it on guitar. Keep in mind, I'm not much of a rhythmist on guitar nor am I a spectacular singer - A fact that has me rather shy and contributed to my decision to hide my face - but it serves as a significant marker in my progress. Only 2 weeks left to do this this! Enjoy....