PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

I decided to do a bunch of easy tracks to put up on productiontrax to see how they do.. not sure if they'd sell, but was a neat opportunity to make some rock band tunes. Seems lots of advertisement tunes are simple rock tunes, so did a bunch of them. Not sure if the world needs any more of these mundane band tune though.. seems most recent innovation's gone into micing the amp and creating a distinctive guitar sound. Figured if I could do a 2 min tune in 2 hours, and spend minimal time making a 60' spot and a 30 spot from it, it's not a bad deal if they sell minimally. No sales pat week, guess it's off to a slow start.

This one is one of the latest ones, with a strong, but mature feel to it. Less coldplay, more foo fighters I think. But my vocabulary with these band names are quite limited, so this may sound like someone else.

Question to all band people, does this sound appropriate? I mean, I'm sure the voicings are all messed up since I just played them on my keyboard, but overall, pass? no pass? lol

guitar is hypersonic clean les paul type sound, and the distorted is hypersonic's distorted guitar preset but going through Wave's amp sim instead. Drum and bass are from hypersonic as well. Lexicon plate reverb.

Nice big snare, crunchy guitar. Im sure it would sell if you could get Caleb Followill (KOL) to track a lead vocal on it..... ( this is what I could hear to suit this ).....

Drums are distorted. cymbals are very washy. I know you liked to run distortion on drums from past posts. If you have done that here then I would say back off a little!

Bit like a Travelling Wilburys/ Tom Petty sorta thing. Needs old school seasoned rock players to demo up a tougher take, but even so, hard to sell - I reckon it's the sort of simple rock tune that needs to have Springsteen singin' it or it won't cut the new rock market. I'd go outside the square a bit more perhaps for these purposes.

Ditto with the distortion comment from Stu.

What instruments were you using...?
I think you are wise to diversify your styles.
I think having virtual instruments for mock ups are vital to understanding the differences in style.
I have been listening to mastered tracks lately and sitting in on the sessions, which are all real performers. The drum tracks immediately catch my attention because of the ride cymbal bell shots.
So I try and take elements from real performances that catch my attention and add them to my multitracked experiments for added realism.
These sessions have really opened my eyes and ears as I have been in the virtual world and ITB mixing way too long. Such a change was good for a reference.
Especially when such quality hardware and performers are used.
Trying to do hard rock is a challenge but the rewards are satisfying.
Keep it up....

got it on the drums.. the drums are saturated to keep up the the guitars, though unfortunately they were a little too puny to begin with, hence the aggressive push.

I guess stylistically, what would be some recommended listening? The thing is, it can't be too hard, and it has to be a little mundane, like coldplay.. (i think for many directors, their only point of reference is coldplay) I don't think that is a good representation of what a rock band could really do in its full capacity, but it seems to be what people are looking for. Just a light hearted tune that "soars", whatever that means. After I get a good feel for the basics though, I'm going to start mixing in some electro influences.

In terms of my expectations though, I'm shooting for "passable", as there is no way I am going to pull off an inspiring guitar performance on keys, especially with the vstis that I have now. Anyway, recommended listening would be helpful.

Other bands in that coldplayish melodic minor alternative rock style that I've liked in the past few years :

. Kings Of Leon.
. Eskimo Joe
. New Order (post 2004 eg Waiting for the Sirens Call album).
. Starsailor ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqH-RoDXKLU ) - Tell Me Its Not Over. Great tune this, well constructed, check out the arrangement of the keys, guitars, drums and bass, simple but effective.

In terms of a decent guitar lead, why not do what I do and cheat - plug yer guitar into dynatube or vst equiv, record single notes one at a time then comp edit the wavs into a fast sounding solo ?

Never shoot for passable. Shoot for excellance. You might not make it first few times but with perseverance you can get a little closer each time.