A drum loop, a turn in the road, the saga continues......

[dragonshade]

Hi everyone, as I had mentioned in my last thread the riff that I had been working on took an interesting turn last night. Some of you guys have been following my first stab at creating something orignal that began as a warm up riff, and took me into a whole new world of music.

So I'm finally starting to play with the drum function of the MBR while trying to find the metronome (that I thought it had). I'm going through the loops trying to find a matching tempo/drum loop, (mainly no tempos would match), for my riff with absolutely no success. However... while a loop and the riff are playing togther (off time of course) I hear something... certain notes/chords matching.... but differently. Anyway, before I lose what I'm hearing in my head, and ears I grab my guitar, start a new song, and record over the loop. It is EXACTLY the same chords and notes, just played differently (a different "gallop" to the E, etc.), though now it sounds entirely different.

I must say that I hate to lose the sound/feel of the riff as I had originally intended it, but I am REALLY liking where this is going now. Have you guys ever recorded 2 different "types" of song, and yet the same song? I'm thinking of developing both, but this one of course now will take the lead.

Many of you had been following the original post on this, and I thank you all for your input and comments. I would ask you to please give me your input on this. What are your feelings about this in relation to the other... and what kind of "feel" this has for you, especially the high harmony near the end.... has kind of a bizzare (spelling) feeling for me, hard to explain.

I started with one guitar, then two (left and right), then I threw a third in the center channel. The high harmony will have more.... it was getting late, and I ran out of time to keep going. (DAMN IT!) Still... with just a single guitar on the high part, and harmony parts still to go in it sounds pretty wicked. The second part of the original riff I'll have to work in somehow cuz it's so cool, but I don't have any idea yet what to do with it.

Man how cool was last night.... and how awesome is the MBR.


Hope you guys like.

[Greeny]

It's coming along! Love the riffs, but i'm not sure the drums totally fit. Do you know you can change the pattern? It's easy to do, because the tempo is fixed. Some will work, some won't, but it's worth experimenting. I tend to try lots of different patterns before I choose the final one. It needs some fills and variation on the rhythm too, but I know that you're learning as you go. Everything else - the playing, tone, balance and panning is spot on though.

Sound like you've been well and truly bitten by that BR bug... 

The riff had me singing some words along with it... "what shall we do with a drunken sailor...", lol

[dragonshade]

Lol... drunken sailor huh 
(that is a feeling  )


It was weird... I was using a different pattern at first. I swear it was #33 (a rock loop), and it was V2. Somehow I changed it and though I could get back to #33 V2 it was not the same. I checked this and rechecked, and could not find the loop. So I started going through others, and yes I noticed if my BPMs stayed the same nearly all would "fit", though as you say some were a better fit than others. I finally settled on this one (as I mentioned it was getting late), though listening I do like it, I surely will be experimenting.

Man Greeny, I need some serious help on how to build a song though. This (I had been thinking at the beginning of the song) I'm noticing fits well with V1&V2 loops.... so I'm assuming it would do better as a verse??

[Greeny]

Playing with rhythm patterns can keep you entertained for hours! It can be frustrating at times, but when it works, it's sooooo satisfying. The V1 and V2 patterns do give you some nice variety, and seem to work best with V1 as a verse and V2 as a chorus (V2 patterns tend to have a bit more cymbal and stuff going on). But nothing is an exact science, so I've used every combination under the sun on my songs.

One thing I've discovered recently is that the INTRO patterns can be quite interesting when used in verses and choruses, as they often have built in fills. Again, it's just a case of playing around.

I also often switch between totally different patterns within a song - i.e. Rock 3 V2 (my fave!) and one of the R&B ones, for example.

It's all open for interpretation!

[RevHeadRaZ]

did ya catch my last comment on your other post?
it explains how to do metronome... Pattern 314 is a 4/4 metronome.
I record all my stuff to a metronome then sit and do the drums after. While i am writing riffs, i use PT:40 HDRC1-V2(a straight 4/4 rock beat). I use this in a lot of my drum arrangements too, sometimes there's nothin' better than a straight out kick on the 1 & 3, snare on the 2 & 4.  Acca dacca style;D
Its great to jam a riff in 4/4 then throw in a bar of 5/4, so when u start the riff again your down beat will be on the snare.

By the way ur riff reminds me of 1 of my earlier songs, hehe.. It's called "Mechanical Pirates", have u heard that 1? look it up

What u have at the moment hear sounds like an intro to me..

[dragonshade]

Rev....

Yes, thanks so much. I wrote you a reply in that one also. Playing a little more (have my MBR with me, so on lunch break) I found the original one is like 96.5 BPM (it's right between 96 and 97), I'll record that one also with a drum loop to see how it comes out. This one is 120 BPM, which blows my mind because playing them both they are nearly the same speed when played 

I would LOVE your input on drums however, and will give you a copy when I'm a little further along with no rhythm, provided you're willing.

[RevHeadRaZ]

i just added to my last post, hehe
I try and stick to tempos that u can doubletime and halftime easily.
like if u play at 100BPM, then later while doing the drums it gives you 900 patterns to play with!!!!!! cause u can use the same beat at 50bpm or 200bpm.   or at 90bpm, u can use 45bpm and 180bpm, etc

upload a rhythm-less mix of what u have posted here and i'll show you the capabilities of the MicroBR, hehe. i can already hear the drums in my head 

[dragonshade]

Awesome man. I have a late night at work, but with any luck I'll be able to do a little more on this before I hit the sack. (this MBR addiction is REALLY cutting into my sleep lol). Either way I'll upload a rhythem-less copy of either the above, or a new, longer one.
I'm guessing as an MP3? ... and it should not be mastered, just exported to MP3?

[RevHeadRaZ]

Go into master mode..
Press Rythm, turn OFF
Press Effect. Turn Off
Make sure your at the start of the track, Press REC, then PLAY.......... (This way, when I import it onto my BR, your riff should start on the first beat of a bar).  Then after pressing stop, dump a 192k MP3... a WAV would be better, but too large for here.

[dragonshade]

Whoa I stayed up too late 

Rev.... here ya go. It's a bit faster (still 3 guitars). Done at 130 BPM. It's mastered with no effects or drums.

I don't have an audio editor on this computer, so you may want to work the file (clipping/fading/etc.), it's raw.

It's mastered from the beginning... so there is one complete 4 count (130bpm) before it begins, don't know how to change that. Hope it will work.