1forDRAGONSHADE

[RevHeadRaZ]

Hey peoples,
This is a surprise for DragonShade.... 

DragonS...U said u wouldn't mind if I had a play with ur song...I left the form as is..instead I played the whole song as a duet with u, to build up harmony, then did a Bass track...Mixed and mastered..

U said u had never written a song before...Well congratulations buddy, this sounds like a song to me, , infact in sounds like the intro song to ur new CD you're about to record, lol,



Ur questions your asked:
BASS- the only reason you would need a 5-string bass, is if u play in low tunings(lower than C#). I recorded the bass for your song on a yamaha 4-string.
And as for playing a bass, just imagine it as a guitar with 4 strings.
Its easy to play bass when u follow what the guitar does, in terms of root notes. But you need to be a good bass player to pick out all the "tasty" notes of a Chord progression and "walk around" the guitar. Just as it takes a good guitarist to play "tasty" voicings of chords.... I love the word "TASTY" hehe. P.S. Slides sound great on a bass!!!

Writing progressions, all comes down to theory, as does harmony.  For instance the song u just wrote is in the key of E Natural Minor..E,F#,G,A,B,C,D,E - You will notice if u start this scale on the G, it is the G Major Scale (This is the relative major)..This works in any key, the Third Degree of any Natural Minor scale is it's relative major.   So when I said write a progression off ur riff. ex. I-VI-V-I

All the low E's on ur main riff will change every 4 bars...
I - E  , VI - C  , V - B  , I - E
if this makes sense...

Tips 4 ur next recording..... Don't overdubb too many guitars playing the same riff, unless ur the tightest player on the earth it can get muddy, and its harder too mix. If you want a bigger/warmer sound add a bit of verb...
I tend to record two guitars for rhythm, to get the stereo effect, and if I harmonize my rhythm, I utilize One of those guitars.. This leaves 2 tracks for lead lines and BASS, I only use 1 track for lead, if want to harmonize my lead, I record 2 tracks, then bounce to 1, leaving me the last track to do bass... I then MixDown to 2 Tracks in stereo.. Leaving another 2 to play with vocals/synth
Never actually master until the finished product-And this is a art in itself.. (Im still learning).... Hope this helps..
Feel free to ask my any questions..or colab

Im writing up an instructional, on how I do my drum arrangements, with ur song as an example.. I'll put this up for every1 who wants to learn.. But im a busy boy, so givus a few days

[The Reverend 48]

VERY TASTY........It sounds great I love the changes in the middle.....I'd love to hear a vocal......put me down for your 1st CD

[dragonshade]

  What can I even say.... dude this is incredible!! An AWESOME surprise  . I so appreciate the time you have put into this. To see in 7 days this simple riff turn into a wild 2 1/2 minute collaborative SONG!!! LOL... a CD... only if you are part of it  . RaZ you are a master both musically, and with this BR.

You can't image the smile you put on my face today... I listen to this and think if I heard this as a stand alone little demo I would want to know who the group was that did it. Gives me chills.

The guitar and bass work, I love it all. How you turned the final part into a wicked sounding outtro.

Yes, please lay out the drums for this, I really want to understand exactly how you piece this together... again, amazing all this is from the BR. I think it'll help a LOT of people to produce even better music. This truely is what this forum/group is all about. Please though... do take your time, I'm just so happy you are willing.

Theory is my weak spot, I have but a very basic understanding. I really must improve this. I think I understand the progression... would the other chords I guess adjust accordingly?

Again man, thanks. I would love to do more with you at any time, though I know you are busy and have a lot going on.

I'm actually playing with a couple new "tasty" riffs. 

[Guitar-Maniac]

hehe dragon, you are not alone, my theory stinks beyond belief too!

rev... damn m8, i like where you're taking this song, would like to hear more soon, from both of you!

[Ferryman]

This is great, really good stuff. Good collaboration. My only niggle is that the drums are a bit prominent in the mix, especially at the start, but the feel and overall sound is great.

I'm looking forward to that drum tutorial - your drum programs are really good.

Cheers,

Nigel

[guitarron]

i like this too-what drums were used?