MonaWare's (poor quality) musical recordings

MonaWare

MonaWare

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*EDIT- My album so far-

Luminescent
Shallow
Daylight
Winter Sun
Starlight

Sooo, I play music and junk, like Ive told you guys a million times : p I actually am in a band and junk, and I also like to just make up stuff on my own too. My friend is both very talented musically, and an experienced musical engineer, as in hes actually worked as a professional studio engineer and even has his name on many albums from local artists here in my town. I, however, do not have that knowledge or ability, and put anything I record on vocaroo : p So the quality of the sound is not good at all : p But at the very least I have them recorded somewhere if I ever wanna hear them again : p

I actually rarely do it though, and generally I only really do it if I wanna share my playing with friends online. I am a bass guitarist, so most of what I do is on my bass. But I can play guitar as well. I had a guitar recording on vocaroo, but it apparently has expired and been deleted : / So I will have to get a guitar and record it again one day.

Im gonna break this into three pieces to make it smaller : p The recordings are not long, all of them are about 1-2 minutes on average, so I hope youll check them out.

Okay, here are some things I have recorded. Some are better than others. I said something about how I often accidently stumble across Mogwai songs when playing : p I recorded a few that I know how to play to show them.
(these are all under a minute long, just wanted to share them : p )
I seem to have a similar playing style with their bassist : p He is a melodic bassist, which is what I try to do with mine, too. So I guess it makes sense : p

This is from their "Young Team" album, its from a song called "Yes! I am a long way from home" Its just the basic melody part I stumbled on while playing around one day, and felt excited that I had found it : p

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0fzexuLnc1F

Heres the actual song if youd like to compare them, its not the exact same thing, it was just the basic melody : p (you have to skip one minute in to hear the song though)


This one is also from the Young Team album, its called "Summer", I actually saw someone play this one before hand and learned it from that : p But I really like the bassline so I dont mind : p This one is a little harder, usually when strumming chords Ill use my finger nails, with the fingers on a downstroke and with my thumbnail on an upstroke. But Im learning how to also use the little joint parts of the fingers right below the finger nails where your fingers curl for strumming too, in order to get a lower strumming sound.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0JaqnukTmYQ

Heres the actual song-



And last one for the Mogwai songs : p This one is from their "Rave Tapes" album. Its called "The Lord Is Out Of Control" Its a favorite of mine, its way calm and flowing and I love listening to it while walking-

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Q9GuOfnHiL

Actual song to compare-


Okay, now stuff that I did myself : p I actually came up with one today that I recorded : p I really liked what I came up with and decided to share it. Its a bit difficult to play, but Im happy with how it came out I think. Ive decided to call it "Starlight", dunno why just liked the word : p

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1mdnWOgARXy

Im actually really happy with this one : p

I recorded another right after that, I had a really hard time with it though : / I wrote it last week. I came up with it like right after hearing a really coo, early 90s Three Mile Pilot recording (written by Zach Smith) fr the first time, I literally picked up my bass and wrote this directly after hearing it : p I was really excited by it and proud too. But I had a really hard time recording it today :' ( It didnt come out real well, sadly. I had a few mistakes here and there, but overall Im really excited about the song. Its supposed to have that edgy 90s sound to it : p With some drums, I think it would be really cool : p

Im calling it "Shallow"


http://vocaroo.com/i/s0qCJX59vH8r

And last one for things I recorded today, I decided to try a free jam, haha : p So its really just two minutes of me doing whatever came to mind : p Came up with a few neat quick melodies though, so decided to share it : p


http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Y86v84746y

Heres some stuff I wrote sometime in the past : p This one is really calm and pretty, totally forgot I wrote it too : p Its way cool, wanna remember how I played it : p

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0YvYkYPoQbZ

This next one is my favorite that I have done : p Im really proud of it, feel like its both a full and complete song, and Im really happy with the melody and changes and progressions and everything : 3 Its really good, imo. Think I called it "Together with friends" or something cheesy like that : p

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0JMSe1xCXO5


But yeah! Thats my music : p I think Im pretty good : p Id like to either get a drum machine one day, or a drummer would be better : p But Id like to add some drums to my music, and maybe some keyboard and guitar stuff too. Would be way cool.

But yeah, hope you guys listen to it, and tell me what you think : 3
 
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Oh haha, thank you : 3 I was sorta worried that like someone would just check like the first simple little Mogwai cover I did and then just skip over the rest : p Maybe I shouldnt have started with the Mogwai stuff : p

I might add more to this later sometime, maybe. Have been feeling creative lately : p
 
So I did this today-

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1TppYSEPSIW

I liked the melody I came up with, but it was really hard for me to play : p It didnt come out perfectly but its not too horrible. I had hard time with the switch up at the end where I started playing higher notes, though. But overall I think Im happy wth what I came up with : 3

I completely improviesed the ending, btw : p Thats why its pretty clunky, and I even just slipped up on like the second chord : p
 
Really liked the bits such as 0:29, 1:25-1:45, 2:20-2:22 the slow paced melodies really were soothing.
That ending at 2:50 till the end of the song the improvisation is pretty nice it sort of reminded me of Foo Fighters the way you strummed your guitar.
Even with the slip up you couldn't really notice it, I guess it just makes it easier to give you a sense of how a guitar works by making you just think on your feet as so to speak.
 
Haha yeah? Im actually pretty self conscious about my strumming, I dont use a pick, I use my fingers exclusively. So when strumming, I use my finger nails like a pick. I use my first and middle fingers for the down strokes, and my thumb nail for the up strokes, in order to get that double picking sound. Sometimes I feel like I get a weak and iffy sound from it. Am glad you liked it : p

And yeah, I like that kinda sound. I mean I can write darker songs too (see "Shallow") but I like that bright cheerful pretty stuff, too. I dunno what to call it yet, but I want a name as bright and happy as the sound is.

And haha yeah, Im actually not a good improvisionists, like they say a bass guitarist should be. I do totally stick with riffs and patterns. But I do often just throw stuff in out of nowhere like that. Besides the second chord, where my hand just kinda tripped up on the strings : p It came out alright : p I like the melody, but I literally just wrote that like an hour ago : p Might make more later, if I have the time.
Thanks : 3
 
Writing this an hour before posting? That's not bad really and honestly in terms of self consciousness I feel like us as artists(sketching, painting, musician, etc) always are our own worst enemies. I understand your feelings of playing and wanting it to sound a certain way. It could be akin to how when I sketch something or used to sketch, I'd always get in the nasty habit of thinking " oh what if it ends up looking terrible, or it's too hard ". In a way it's good to have some thoughts of what you'd like to do but always just strum your guitar with a smile.

It was a really good attempt especially for an hour ago, for strumming with your guitar with your fingers it isn't a problem or anything aside from thinking it might be weak? Would you be ok with a guitar pick or you're good without one?

The cheery bits really add to having fun with the style you showed there in your vocaroo.
 
Haha less than that actually, I came up with the melody, and felt excited about it and decided to share it. The only thing I did before it was clip my finger nails (its hard to play strings with long naims) and texted CMV, and then I did about 3 recrdings before I came out with that : p It all probly happened in about an hours worth of time.

And you draw? You should totally make a thread with your artwork : p (Or at least show me them in a PM : p) Would like to see. Ive always wished I could draw, haha. cannot do : p

And yeah, definitely. You are your worst critic. But thats a good thing, it keeps you from letting your talent slip and continue to grow and become better. Never a good thing to be too content with your ability : p
And I agree, I do NOT take myself too seriously : p I do not feel a need to be better than everyone else, or any of that : p I like music because its fun, and makes you feel good. And I have alot of fun playing it and coming up with my own music.

And I dunno, its good to learn how to play with your fingers with bass guitar, for a few reasons. The strings are farther apart from each other compared to a standard guitar. So where its easy to reach one string to the other with a pick on a guitar, on a bass guitar theres more space to cover, meaning alot more hand movement. With your fingers, you can just have one finger for every string ready to go. Like I often use my thumb for the E string (lowest string), index for A, middle for D and ring finger for G. That way you dont spend as much energy reaching every string : p And you can also slap and pluck the strings to get a bigger sound.

I dont think Im missing out on much without using a pick, I mean really the only thing theyre good for is getting a pluckier sound and strumming. I cant use a pick, no : p Cuz Ive never used one : p Alot of bassist can strum with their fingers though (Zach Smith of Pinback plays that way) so I may just need to practice it more. I cant see myself using a pick cuz the only reason Id need it is for strumming, and it feels like it would be more work learning how to switch out while playing, haha : p

And yeah, i think Im a cheerful person, so I think that comes out in my writing yeah : p
 
Definitely! All of this artsy stuff should just be for fun and nothing serious. That's probably the best thing about the arts in general, since it's a way to express yourself. Just as a canvas is purely blank it's better to go about these things with that mentality. Just let your hands and fingers do the talking for you.

Yes I do draw and I'll pm you them since I don't feel like making a thread about them haha. Didn't know there was a lot of benefits from learning to play the guitar with just your fingers and nails. A lot of musicians I see also do that as well which is pretty rad ya know if kind of gives you the whole you don't need extra things to get where some of the more popular musicians have gone through.

At this point also using a pick might feel different since you're more accustomed to using your fingers much like Pinback's lineup which is all solid just whatever you feel comfortable with. How your music turns out really says the fun and cheery parts about you it is very cool!
 


Haha yeah, definitely. Its not good when artists take themselves too seriously. Like, Ive met musicians who were full of themselves, theyd play and all theyd do is fast complicated junk that no one can nor wants to play along with, and they do it just for the praise and awe. And they are the rudest and crappiest people out there. They can do things that LOOK impressive, but if you were to just actually sit and listen, youd notice that besides the looks, theres nothing to really appreciate.

Haha, great, will definitely look and tell you what I think, am excited : p And yeah, well at least with bass guitar : p Though Ive met guitarist who play with their fingers too, in fact theres a band called Gogol Bordello, there guitarist strums in that way too.

Haha yeah, it feels foriegn. I am used to feeling the strings when I play, so with a pick I just strings and am all over the place : p Feels like Im playing blinded or something : p
 
MonaWare said:

Haha yeah, definitely. Its not good when artists take themselves too seriously. Like, Ive met musicians who were full of themselves, theyd play and all theyd do is fast complicated junk that no one can nor wants to play along with, and they do it just for the praise and awe. And they are the rudest and crappiest people out there. They can do things that LOOK impressive, but if you were to just actually sit and listen, youd notice that besides the looks, theres nothing to really appreciate.
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Definitely! That's actually something to watch out for, since there are musicians like that examples being Prince or the lead singer of Oasis. Very crude and just overzealous people. We are in dire need of more guys like Pinback laid back and wouldn't really mind if they messed up or not as that's well all part of the learning process with strumming your guitar and I could they also have had an impact on your style of music too the more alternative rock, and prog rock style.

MonaWare said:
Dont ever let anyone tell you that I cant improvise-

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1WlHCgX2eSK

Besides for that very first part (I wrote that like a week ago), I came up with the rest of it on the spot just now : p
I <3 that second half btw, this might actually be my favorite : p
Click to expand...

As well as Shallow sort of remind me of Pixies a bit or backtrack lists to Courage the Cowardly Dog show which is awesome, you should definitely go for that more soothing strum line bit in Winter Sun, it works well with your own style.
 
Metal said:
Definitely! That's actually something to watch out for, since there are musicians like that examples being Prince or the lead singer of Oasis. Very crude and just overzealous people. We are in dire need of more guys like Pinback laid back and wouldn't really mind if they messed up or not as that's well all part of the learning process with strumming your guitar and I could they also have had an impact on your style of music too the more alternative rock, and prog rock style.



As well as Shallow sort of remind me of Pixies a bit or backtrack lists to Courage the Cowardly Dog show which is awesome, you should definitely go for that more soothing strum line bit in Winter Sun, it works well with your own style.
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Haha Prince was that way? Did not know : p I only know Purple Rain and When Doves Cry, though : p Doves Cry always makes me laugh, though, cuz like that keyboard part after he sings the track title, the "do do-do do" part, I always imagine like cartoon doves crying to that : p
I actually know a metal guitarist who likes to talk about how Prince was an awesome guitarist, guess it makes sense that hed feel that way then : p Hes very show off-y.
And blech Oasis : p

And haha, more guys like Pinback would be amazing. I really like them, like the guitarist can do awesome stuff, but he often pulls out and just plays one note or just a few sprinkled in here and there. I dunno why more bands cant be that way. Like, why does guitar always have to be making the most noise, and center of attention? Pinback is really cool with leading songs with different sounds (especially bass guitar : p)

And haha yeah, I definitely consider Zack Smith to be a big influence for me. Hes pretty great, though : p

I have a friend whos a big Jimi Hendrix fan, and he talks about him sometimes. He said like in his interviews he was always really shy and reserved and afraid hed mess up an junk, he was apparently really modest with his playing : p He seems like a cool guy. He also would mess up on his shows and just keep going like nothing happened, thats definitely the way to go yeah : p

And haha Pixies? Hadnt thought of that but I can see it with Shallow, yeah. It does kinda have that dark edginess they had, with like Caribou and other songs. I used to be a major Pixies fan so that makes sense : p
 
New song time : 3

I had alot of trouble with this one though, not that its like all that hard to play, its actually alot easier compared to songs like Winter Sun. But I had some problems recording it. The first time, I finished it, put on my headphones to listen to it, and when I went to hit listen I accidently hit retry, deleting everything I just did. I was irratated and tried again. This time I kept it : p But my stuff that I had packed up from my visit with CMV is still all over the floor, and I had to put my laptop next to all of it in order to get a recording. It was lightly pressed against my tv stand, which made everything distorted sounding due to vibration through the wood of the tv stand, and it was inaudible. So I had to do it a third time, and this time it was too loud, and I needed to adjust the volume.

I didnt, though, as this song is longer than my previous songs and I did not want to have to do it a forth time as my fingers are much too tired : p You can change the volume yourself : p

So I came up with this yesterday right after CMV left for home. It has three parts, including an intro and an outro

intro I wrote it right before the recording youll hear now : p I noticed that it was missing something with my previous recordings so I just added that before it right before this recording : p Its about 30 seconds long.

outro I came up with it within minutes of the main melody and really liked it too. I decided to add it on at the end. Youll notice that I tried to do a fade out effect : p Thats due to listening to "progressive" music lately, I decided to try that out for myself : p I added it on the end, its about two minutes long.
The entire song is about 6:30 long.

Here it is- Night of Black Stars
 
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MonaWare said:
New song time : 3

I had alot of trouble with this one though, not that its like all that hard to play, its actually alot easier compared to songs like Winter Sun. But I had some problems recording it. The first time, I finished it, put on my headphones to listen to it, and when I went to hit listen I accidently hit retry, deleting everything I just did. I was irratated and tried again. This time I kept it : p But my stuff that I had packed up from my visit with CMV is still all over the floor, and I had to put my laptop next to all of it in order to get a recording. It was lightly pressed against my tv stand, which made everything distorted sounding due to vibration through the wood of the tv stand, and it was inaudible. So I had to do it a third time, and this time it was too loud, and I needed to adjust the volume.

I didnt, though, as this song is longer than my previous songs and I did not want to have to do it a forth time as my fingers are much too tired : p You can change the volume yourself : p

So I came up with this yesterday right after CMV left for home. It has three parts, including an intro and an outro

intro I wrote it right before the recording youll hear now : p I noticed that it was missing something with my previous recordings so I just added that before it right before this recording : p Its about 30 seconds long.

outro I came up with it within minutes of the main melody and really liked it too. I decided to add it on at the end. Youll notice that I tried to do a fade out effect : p Thats due to listening to "progressive" music lately, I decided to try that out for myself : p I added it on the end, its about two minutes long.
The entire song is about 6:30 long.

Here it is- Night of Black Stars
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There was a lot of adjustments you had to make due to how distorted the original recordings sounded but this latest track is easy to listen too. The melody and intro remind me a lot of RHCP's Parallel Universe. After the 2 minute mark loving that you have turned the song from a higher beat one to a more gentle tone much like some progressive rock songs. Is it difficult to adjust the music and audio? Since once you hear it with headphones at times it can be a bit loud, how does the process work with recording?

The fade starting at 5:40 works well with the later half of the song which stops becoming more high strung. Aside from prog rock were you also inspired by some other 90s and early 2000's bands? In any case keep up the great work on your songs, the outro is nicely placed with the strumming as well and it isn't over bearing.
 
Haha Parallel Universe? How so? I guess I can kinda see the rhythm being similar : p

And uhhh, well I dont actually use any recording equipment other than my laptop mic, like I just put the laptop on the floor a bit away from my micro amp and hit record on vocaroo and see how it turns out : p So any adjustments are made by me hitting retry and adjusting my volume, tone or just moving the laptop around : p And haha yeah I just had all three knobs on my bass all the way up on this one, I should have had them turned down a bit : p Or at least the master knob on my amp.

Oh and the ending part, I wasnt strumming there : p Im playing power chords, just two note chord, so Im pinching the two notes together instead of strumming them. I like that sound and do that sometimes : p I can also change from playing them both at the same time to hitting them one at a time which sounds cool : p (I did that there too : p)
And haha well the prog stuff really came from the two Pinback cds I just got, like almost every song on Offcell ends like that, fades off into some other musical thingy and I really liked it and decideed to try it with the little thing I wrote, thought it sounded cool together : p And yeah, pretty much all my favorite music comes from the 90's- early 2000's : p And yeah? You thought the strumming was overbearing? I did have the volume up too high, but at least you could hear the notes and they werent all distorted and bleh : p
 
I wasnt sure about whether or not I wanted to post this one. I mean its a good song that Im proud of, and I did well with it, only like one mistake thats really noticeable at the begining. But the low notes I played in it are much too muddy sounding that you cant really hear much else around them. I dunno why they are so muddy sounding other than having to adjust my volume levels and junk. I didnt wanna have to redo it again and again so I kept it just to have it for myself, but Ill post it here too for anyone who wants to listen. Its really good but ugh those low notes.

This one is a bit of a change up from my usual stuff. Way mellow and low and junk. It kinda has a tragic sound that Im really into atm : p

-Sleep-
 
MonaWare said:
I wasnt sure about whether or not I wanted to post this one. I mean its a good song that Im proud of, and I did well with it, only like one mistake thats really noticeable at the begining. But the low notes I played in it are much too muddy sounding that you cant really hear much else around them. I dunno why they are so muddy sounding other than having to adjust my volume levels and junk. I didnt wanna have to redo it again and again so I kept it just to have it for myself, but Ill post it here too for anyone who wants to listen. Its really good but ugh those low notes.

This one is a bit of a change up from my usual stuff. Way mellow and low and junk. It kinda has a tragic sound that Im really into atm : p

-Sleep-
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Delightful! Just what the doctor ordered.
I'm about to hit the sack, and this really helped calm me down and ease the stress. Cheers for sharing your gift, Mona! (I must listen to your other works soon, as well)
 
Angler of Lake Asparagus said:
Delightful! Just what the doctor ordered.
I'm about to hit the sack, and this really helped calm me down and ease the stress. Cheers for sharing your gift, Mona! (I must listen to your other works soon, as well)
Click to expand...

Well, luckily for you I just recorded something Im way super proud of : 3 Feel totally free to listen to it : p

-Blind-

Its totally different than my normal stuff, all simple pretty arpeggio stuff, nothing hard or fast or anything. Its way awesome.
(and if you have the time you should totally check out Night of Black Stars and the one that I started off by saying "dont let anyone tell you I cant improvise", I never said the title of it but those two are my favorites : p)
 
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