New Music

[Jeremy Garber]

Maybe
I wrote this song when I was visiting Yosemite Park in California a few years ago. I didn't record it until a month or so ago. All parts were played by me. The drums were done on my Roland V-Club kit. The bass was recently aquired from my little brother.

She's Mine
I wrote this song during my last semester at college right after returning from Yosemite. I recorded it a couple years ago. I only sang and played guitar on this track. The rest I sequenced.

[Jeremy Garber]

Anyone?

[scott f.]

i likehoww the drums dont sound too roland-y. sounds good! reminds me of some of the ween songs that werent about poop or crack, if you know what im talking about.

[workshed]

Hey, I like both the songs, although the first one feels more cohesive to me. The first one reminds me a lot of mellower Creeper Lagoon stuff -- maybe it's your voice. I think the heavy reverb adds a nice feel to the mood of the song.

I like the second song too, but the reverb feels like it muddies up the mix a little. That song sort of reminds me of The Jesus and Mary Chain a little, although not sure why. Might be cool to hear the guitars a little more predominantly in this one, since it's more of a rocker.

Good work!

-Bret

[Jeremy Garber]

Mucho thanks to both of you for responding! I really appreciate it.

I love my Roland kit. I try to pick samples and adjust the settings so it sounds like a normal kit. But you know, it's still nothing like my acoustics. Unfortunately I don't have room to set them all up here, but one day I will.

I haven't listened to Ween in a long time! I do love their stuff.

Personally I like the first one better myself. Most people I know in person like this one better, but oddly enough so far most people that I know online like the second one better.

If you liked the mellow vibe and reverb vocals of Maybe, you might like my song Run Away. I wrote that one for my girlie and she even walked to it at our wedding last New Years Eve. I wanted to add possibly some more lead guitar over the bridge... but it never came to me.

There are a couple things I'd like to change about She's Mine. Unfortunately, since it's an older song, I have lost the original tracks. I suppose I could always rerecord everything. The only thing I think I have heard from The Jesus And Mary Chain was their song on the Crow soundtrack. I think I liked it though.

I think I tend to mix the guitars back a little because I like drums more, heheh.

[AlSmith]

Sounds fantastic. I'm interested to know what kind of gear did you use? It doesn't sound lo-fi to me at all (then again, I'm listening on my multimedia speakers).

[Jeremy Garber]

My gear is nothing fancy. I recorded both songs in Sonar, with similar plugins. I use the Waves set on everything I do. Every now and then I use a couple things from Cakewalk's package.

Maybe:

Vocals done on MXL 2001 condensor mic through a Presonus tube pre.
Franciscar acoustic guitar done through the same mic and pre
OLP bass through the same tube pre, using it as a direct box.
Drums were done on my Roland V-Club kit, directly hooked up to my Sound Blaster Audigy Plat card (I have the front drive expansion with the extra connectors)

She's Mine:

Vocals done on the mic that came with my old Sound Blaster Live Plat card.
Ibanez Les Paul (lawsuit model) guitar
Bass and drums were sequenced in Sonar.

I consider all my music lo-fi. I've turned my spare bedroom into a make shift studio. Eventually I want to build a 20ftx20ft room outside, or an extra room in my next house specifically for this. I have some gear I can't really use now because of space limitations, like my 16 channel Biamp analog mixer and my acoustic drum kit. I really want space to record a full band so I can cater to my friends.

[AlSmith]

Which is the lawsuit model? I used to have a PF-300 that I bought from my buddy who got it in New Zealand (then he bought it back). That was a pretty killer guitar. I really liked the sound of those sequenced drums, especially the way you got the cymbals to work. Most of the sequenced drums I hear sound like shit -- like a glorified click track done with Reason.

[Jeremy Garber]

My Ibanez is a Gibson Les Paul rip off. It is so similar to the original, Gibson sued Ibanez because of it. It's my favorite electric guitar.

I actually do a lot of work in Reason. I love the program. I do game soundtracks with that program. Most of it is heavily proccessed.

My trick to getting a more realistic drum sound out of sequenced drums was to simulate what I would actually play myself. I have to say though, it is definately harder to sequence drums than it is to play them. When I play my real kit, it comes naturally to me. When I sequence the drums, I actually have to think about what it is I will write. When sequencing, I kept each drum on its own channel, which allowed me to EQ and add reverb to specific things without effecting the kit as a whole. I still ran the whole kit through a compressor and possibly a slight reverb at the end though.

With my V-Club, I can create custom kits, and apply different amounts of reverb (among many other options) to each pad, so I don't need to keep it all seperated in the mix. However, I am limited now to recording my V-Club kit in mono, since I only have a mono 1/4" line input to my soundcard. I want to change that so I can pan everything out. The drums in Maybe are in mono.