In Volume 4 of the Indie Musician's Diary I write about how and why music creation had to take a one year breather as I started to write the book that explains my first album, (The Change My Mind book). My planned, second album, "Abide", was put on...
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING LINKTREE ANY LONGER: OUT OF THE BLUE THEY REMOVED ME FROM THEIR SERVICE ABRUPTLY IN JANUARY ALTHOUGH I HADN'T BROKEN THEIR GUIDELINES AND THEY WOULDN'T TELL ME WHY. BAD BUSINESS.(Please note: years later, Linktree suddenly reinstated my account after reviewing my links and welcomed me back. I deleted my account as soon as I could log in again and that was that. - added December 2024)
I had used their link all over the place and it took me days to clean up the mess. NEVER USE LINKTREE.
This past week zoomed by! Lots of practical things got done but were in the way of getting my mixing done as I concentrated on creating a video to explain how to can/use my Linktree link, (Something that people had asked for before my TV appearance Nov 3.) The Swedish one is here: (deleted)
I decided to get going on Volume 4 of the Indie Musician's Diary today because there's so much going on and that is worthy to share with you. I'm trying to wrap up some stuff (2 mixes) before Christmas and continue learning bass, guitar, song technique, etc..
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Today. I got up at about 4 a.m. and, after breakfast (coffee and a saffran bread with raisins), I started working. First, I checked my emails. That led me to a Youtube Creators email that led me to change my URL to a custom one and I even created a new playlist there for those who prefer to speak Swedish. (The old non-custom link still works, though!)
2. SLAP BASS
I am learning and improving constantly. Bass is no exception. I get invited occasionally to random events where they need a bass player and I am still unsure of myself. So I try to set aside 15 minutes a day minimum. I know that is not much but it is a good start. This slap bass workshop (top video) taught me to slap it at a better place. Not on the last fret but on the edge of the fretboard closest to the pickups. I tried it and it did make the sound both better and easier to play. I love bouncing octaves on the bass and bass lapping is a good ay to do it for certain songs.
At the 00:11:47 mark he explains how to hit the string not 90 degrees to the fretboard but almost striking it at a 40 degree angle and resting on the string below it. Well, that is how I explain it. Boy, did this ever make my slap playing clearer and louder! I had all sorts of muddled sounds before because i though I had to strike it straight on.
There's more in this video if you are a bass player. You've got the slap AND the "pop". Both tons of fun! Try it!
Also it might be a good tip to scoop out the mids on your bass amp when you slap it. (Or EQ it away later). They say that that gets rid of the harshness created by the slap and make it sit back in the mix a little bit. How you treat it depends on what you are looking for, I guess. But I will keep this in mind next time I record a slap bass part.
Why play the bass? I've found that I can record and get into a new song session faster and save a whole lot of money if I do the baseline myself. Also it is my favourite instrument to play! Check it out if you play bass and keep at it. You will get better if you are intentional in your learning and play regularly.
3. Mixing a Double Language Song
As I said in Vol 3, I've released one song in two languages and now I am doing it again. This time it is a worship song, Jesus I Love You.
Right now I am a bit frustrated because, even though everything sounds good and the automation is good, when I referenced it I found that the drums weren't loud enough and my job on Monday will be to test my song against some reference tracks again and against a MIx by Meters PDF I got from an Internet course by Bobby Owsinski.
Tip: do this kind of check and referencing before you automate! (I missed it this time around.) I am going to have to adjust my automations after the fact. Not easy, but doable.
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This Mix Balance Meter Method that Mr. Owsinski has created is a great help in getting a mix balance quickly using the level meters in your DAW. (Later, I bought his famous book for Mixing Engineers and you might want to too). It helps you get an approximate, rough balance at the loudest part of the song. After that you will need to tweak it a bit and then automate it. But this has been a great help to me in getting a rough mix.. Thanks Bobby!
