Mr. Fusion

Paulieworld

@jerps said:
@Paulieworld

Next one going to be called Flux Capacitor? 😂

The bass solo around 1:04 reminds me of some early Rancid (Ruby So Ho, etc). Also, the classical guitar makes for awesome texture! Sounded great!

How about '1.21 Gigawatts'?

Paulieworld

@jo92346 said:
Wow. That was good!
I disagree: it isn’t too loud, neither too fast or too complicated.
What it is for sure is too short.

Thanks Joseph! I'm digging your latest stuff. I was going to pick up NS2 yesterday, but I started a new track to help my wife get to sleep. I posted it, but took it down after I got an idea to make it better. Hope you can check it out in a few days. Have a great day!

rs2000

Oh, and thanks for suggesting that Stanley Clarke song. I knew it but I didn't know that it was done by him!
Typical 70s style progressive, experimental Jazz-Funk.
Like the old Brand X, Lenny White, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Tom Scott and The L.A. Express, James Mason, Steve Khan and so many others... ❤️

Paulieworld

@Pxlhg

Years ago, I knew an incredible guitar player. He was probably as good as McLaughlin, Malmsteen, or any of those super shredders. He had the same issue. He had trouble putting his ideas into a complete song. I found a few things that helped.

I don't actually write "songs". I come up with individual parts, and then I assemble them. I do everything in Cubasis. You can use any similar DAW, other than AUM. I have tried using AUM but it doesn't seem to work for me.

Pick a few riffs that you think would sound good together.
For this example, I'll assume 3 riffs.
Call them A, B, and C.
Record A on track 1 using the metronome for timing.
Mute A and record B on track 2 using the same tempo.
Do the same with C on track 3.
At this point you have 3 riffs that all start at measure 1.
Now mute B and C.
Insert a few blank tracks between A and B.
Start adding any other instruments that sound good with A.
It can be drums, bass, keyboards, anything you like.
When A sounds like something that stands on it's own, mute it all and do the same with B and C.
At this point you have 3 semi-complete parts that all start at measure 1.
Now decide how long you want your song to be.
I personally like between 3 and 4 minutes.
Next, decide on your structure.
Many bands got a lot of mileage from ABABCAB.
Now just start dragging blocks of tracks into position using the "Select" function.
If part A consists of tracks 1-5, measures 1-32, then drag the B parts to measure 33 starting at track 6.
Do the same with C.
Repeat until you have the desired overall song length, copying and repeating entire blocks of tracks where necessary.
It can get pretty tedious until you finally unmute everything and play them all back as a complete song.
That's when it starts to get fun.
Start setting levels so the parts transition as smoothly as possible.
The great thing about setting levels for each part is that there is no final mixing.
If everything sounds great, then you're done!
However, I'm never satisfied at this point.
Almost always, the transitions sound awkward.
There are a lot of ways to fix that.
One way is to repeat a track from a previous part.
It seems to help with continuity.
You can always fade it out into the next part.
Sometimes I will completely change one of my original ideas for something that fits the song better.
If I want to add a different "feel" to a part, I will sometimes change the mode.
In theory, you can play D minor over C major and it "should" sound good.
Then again, you can throw music theory out the window and just throw stuff at it until you hear something you like.
Note: that doesn't always work, but when it does it can be rewarding.
Another thing you can do is to drop out entire sections of instruments.
There is no law that says the drums have to play for the entire song.
Always remember, it's your band and you are the boss.

I think I used most of these tricks in Mr. Fusion.
You can easily hear them when you know what's going on.

It's true that playing in a band gives you a certain type of experience. However, it's not really necessary if you have decided that you want to make music. Playing in a band also has it's drawbacks. You have to get 4 to 5 individuals, each with existing lives and schedules, together at very specific times to rehearse on a regular basis. Rehearsal often include driving long distances at inconvenient times. You also have to have players that don't want to kill each other. Those things prevent a lot of bands from ever happening.

Now with an iPad, all of that goes away!

The only downside to iPad production is that being in a band can be great fun in spite of the occasional grief. Playing for an audience, regardless of size, is always a good time... unless they don't like you. That's happened a few times. One night a bunch of bikers showed up at a little dive bar we were playing at. We invited a few of them out to the van to smoke a few doobies. They liked us just fine after that. But I digress...

On the iPad upside, you can create at your own pace.
Also, if you want the drummer to shut up, you can do that without hurting his feelings.

I cannot guarantee that any of this will result in a great song. If I could do that I would be getting paid!
But, I CAN guarantee that you will end up with a COMPLETE song built around your own original musical ideas.

I think I'm now starting to ramble.

Have a good one!

Pxlhg

@Paulieworld said:
@Pxlhg

Years ago, I knew an incredible guitar player. He was probably as good as McLaughlin, Malmsteen, or any of those super shredders. He had the same issue. He had trouble putting his ideas into a complete song. I found a few things that helped.

I don't actually write "songs". I come up with individual parts, and then I assemble them. I do everything in Cubasis. You can use any similar DAW, other than AUM. I have tried using AUM but it doesn't seem to work for me.

Pick a few riffs that you think would sound good together.
For this example, I'll assume 3 riffs.
Call them A, B, and C.
Record A on track 1 using the metronome for timing.
Mute A and record B on track 2 using the same tempo.
Do the same with C on track 3.
At this point you have 3 riffs that all start at measure 1.
Now mute B and C.
Insert a few blank tracks between A and B.
Start adding any other instruments that sound good with A.
It can be drums, bass, keyboards, anything you like.
When A sounds like something that stands on it's own, mute it all and do the same with B and C.
At this point you have 3 semi-complete parts that all start at measure 1.
Now decide how long you want your song to be.
I personally like between 3 and 4 minutes.
Next, decide on your structure.
Many bands got a lot of mileage from ABABCAB.
Now just start dragging blocks of tracks into position using the "Select" function.
If part A consists of tracks 1-5, measures 1-32, then drag the B parts to measure 33 starting at track 6.
Do the same with C.
Repeat until you have the desired overall song length, copying and repeating entire blocks of tracks where necessary.
It can get pretty tedious until you finally unmute everything and play them all back as a complete song.
That's when it starts to get fun.
Start setting levels so the parts transition as smoothly as possible.
The great thing about setting levels for each part is that there is no final mixing.
If everything sounds great, then you're done!
However, I'm never satisfied at this point.
Almost always, the transitions sound awkward.
There are a lot of ways to fix that.
One way is to repeat a track from a previous part.
It seems to help with continuity.
You can always fade it out into the next part.
Sometimes I will completely change one of my original ideas for something that fits the song better.
If I want to add a different "feel" to a part, I will sometimes change the mode.
In theory, you can play D minor over C major and it "should" sound good.
Then again, you can throw music theory out the window and just throw stuff at it until you hear something you like.
Note: that doesn't always work, but when it does it can be rewarding.
Another thing you can do is to drop out entire sections of instruments.
There is no law that says the drums have to play for the entire song.
Always remember, it's your band and you are the boss.

I think I used most of these tricks in Mr. Fusion.
You can easily hear them when you know what's going on.

It's true that playing in a band gives you a certain type of experience. However, it's not really necessary if you have decided that you want to make music. Playing in a band also has it's drawbacks. You have to get 4 to 5 individuals, each with existing lives and schedules, together at very specific times to rehearse on a regular basis. Rehearsal often include driving long distances at inconvenient times. You also have to have players that don't want to kill each other. Those things prevent a lot of bands from ever happening.

Now with an iPad, all of that goes away!

The only downside to iPad production is that being in a band can be great fun in spite of the occasional grief. Playing for an audience, regardless of size, is always a good time... unless they don't like you. That's happened a few times. One night a bunch of bikers showed up at a little dive bar we were playing at. We invited a few of them out to the van to smoke a few doobies. They liked us just fine after that. But I digress...

On the iPad upside, you can create at your own pace.
Also, if you want the drummer to shut up, you can do that without hurting his feelings.

I cannot guarantee that any of this will result in a great song. If I could do that I would be getting paid!
But, I CAN guarantee that you will end up with a COMPLETE song built around your own original musical ideas.

I think I'm now starting to ramble.

Have a good one!

Wow Paulie! I'm touched by your effort and do appreciate this a lot and will save it so I can go back to it when needed. I will try it out. I'm not very good at the guitar despite having played (on and off) for 50 years. There's no discipline or seriousness to it, but, lately I have played more than usual landing a few ideas that I just keep repeating. I've almost never play whole songs (others or of my own creation) which I think might be another mistake of mine, maybe. Anyway, grateful thanks, again.

HotStrange

@Paulieworld i completely agree. Working on iOS inspires me more than any other setup I’ve used. Hardware or software.

Being able to open my iPad and have access to every kind of synthesis, drum, sampler, etc I want is so awesome. And it’s relatively cheap AND sounds good.

Now I just gotta wait on my midi controller to get here so I finally have a keyboard again. I’ve been without one since May I think.

dreamcartel

This was a great and zany track. I love it . It’s all over the place but you bring it back around as it moves . I can’t imagine the way the track layout looks lol!

pbelgium

Manic track @Paulieworld - won't be trying to play this anytime soon. Thanks for sharing your process, very interesting.

GeoTony

Great work Paul. It’s everything fusion should be 👌
Now where did I put my triple necked guitar 🤨

Paulieworld

@GeoTony said:
Great work Paul. It’s everything fusion should be 👌
Now where did I put my triple necked guitar 🤨

Thank you Tony. Have a great night.