Recording Challenge #1 (Two Chord Wonder)

[rayc]

Well here is a demo(will retrack vocals for sure and some other things probably) of my two chord song was having trouble with lyrics so I looked up poems about nature and found this by Henry David Thoreau that is in public domain.
Probably the weirdest song I have ever written, but I wanted to play around with time sigs and such in my DAW and writing so here is.

EXCELLENT - weirdness is always a good thing - there's a secret psych element coming through this challenge. Then again a lot of psych is very limited in terms of chords and relies on repetition to work. Your melody is a cracker too. Draft/demo - I'd be happy with t as is but don't let that dissuade you from achieving your aim.

[liv_rong]

Ok, felt like working on something this afternoon so I did this. Just like the last one I just kind of built it as I went along. The guitar you hear first was the base of it then the distorted guitars, then I added drums, then the 2nd guitar part then the bass last. I was pretty happy with the distorted guitars until I heard jdud's latest, then I felt like a piece of shit. The transition to the "heavy" part at the end is all sloppy but fuck it, this is it lol. Also I did not tune up my toms.

That's nicely Trippy Liv - I enjoyed it.

Thank you for listening and for comment on thing I made.

[Greg_L]

Okay here's my two chord song. It's short, it's dumb - it's autobiographical.

As the challenge specifies, it's only two chords - Amaj and Dmaj. I tried to break the monotony with raw power and arrangement.



I was a kid with nothing to do
I got a F in math, failed english too
I was told to apply myself
And then questioned my mental health
They called in my mom and dad
Told them that their kid is bad
I didn't let that get me down
I learned two chords and I went to town alright

Four years expiration date
I finished but didn't graduate
College lost to ADD
I learned my learning on the street
Spent my nights racing cars
Winning fights and closing bars
Bad karma and some good luck
Indy trucks giving zero fucks

One plus one - Go!

Please don't tell me what to do
I've heard just about enough from you
I got a gun I got a knife
I'm a simple man with a simple life
One more thing just so you know
I got a leather jacket and a GTO
Babydoll that takes care of me
And I still play that A and D

One plus one

[WhiskeyJack]

LOL! Awesome. i think you did a pretty great job of avoiding a monotonous jam Greg. Especially during that solo. Between the bass going apeshit and your solo you really would never know it's only two chords. You running your bass through the marshals again or is that the ampeg you were telling me about?

Those pick scrapes are mint! I don't know that i have ever really noticed the stereo spread on your crashes before now? and the verb on your vox and kit and stuff. Man this new set up is killer lol.

[WhiskeyJack]

Tweeted.

[Greg_L]

LOL! Awesome. i think you did a pretty great job of avoiding a monotonous jam Greg. Especially during that solo. Between the bass going apeshit and your solo you really would never know it's only two chords. You running your bass through the marshals again or is that the ampeg you were telling me about?

Those pick scrapes are mint! I don't know that i have ever really noticed the stereo spread on your crashes before now? and the verb on your vox and kit and stuff. Man this new set up is killer lol.

Lol thanks. The pickslides are the best part.

The bass is my new bass through the Marshall JVM using the emulated line out. I didn't know how the new bass would do and I didn't wanna go through the trouble of setting up mics, so I just went out the head direct. The bass is really easy to play. I still need to fine tune the setup though and put some better strings on it. This was right out the box. All I did was tune it.

[WhiskeyJack]

LOL! Awesome. i think you did a pretty great job of avoiding a monotonous jam Greg. Especially during that solo. Between the bass going apeshit and your solo you really would never know it's only two chords. You running your bass through the marshals again or is that the ampeg you were telling me about?

Those pick scrapes are mint! I don't know that i have ever really noticed the stereo spread on your crashes before now? and the verb on your vox and kit and stuff. Man this new set up is killer lol.

Lol thanks. The pickslides are the best part.

The bass is my new bass through the Marshall JVM using the emulated line out. I didn't know how the new bass would do and I didn't wanna go through the trouble of setting up mics, so I just went out the head direct. The bass is really easy to play. I still need to fine tune the setup though and put some better strings on it. This was right out the box. All I did was tune it.

New Bass? I think i missed that memo.

[rayc]

The bass is cool - pretty even levels up the fretboard.
FUN, fast & furious song.
Two chords was no restriction.

[JD01]

That's brilliant, Greg. Really good song.

I still need to fine tune the setup though and put some better strings on it.

You'll be playing with your fingers before you know it.

[Armistice]

Excellent Greg - or should we call you Jaco?

No seriously - top song and as someone else said, the two chord constraint is handled very well. Nice work.

[Greg_L]

The bass is cool - pretty even levels up the fretboard.
FUN, fast & furious song.
Two chords was no restriction.

That's brilliant, Greg. Really good song.

You'll be playing with your fingers before you know it.

Excellent Greg - or should we call you Jaco?

No seriously - top song and as someone else said, the two chord constraint is handled very well. Nice work.

Thanks dudes. This was a fun exercise for me and I'm actually pretty happy with the result. Everyone's done a nice job with it so far.

And no, I can't, I don't, and I won't play bass with my fingers. I'm awful at finger plucking and I don't like the sound of it anyway. But I'm good with a pick, so I stick with that.

[JD01]

Well here is a demo(will retrack vocals for sure and some other things probably) of my two chord song was having trouble with lyrics so I looked up poems about nature and found this by Henry David Thoreau that is in public domain.


The Thaw
I saw the civil sun drying earth’s tears —
Her tears of joy that only faster flowed,

Fain would I stretch me by the highway side,
To thaw and trickle with the melting snow,
That mingled soul and body with the tide,
I too may through the pores of nature flow.

But I alas nor tinkle can nor fume,
One jot to forward the great work of Time,
‘Tis mine to hearken while these ply the loom,
So shall my silence with their music chime.


Probably the weirdest song I have ever written, but I wanted to play around with time sigs and such in my DAW and writing so here is.

Tony, I reckon you've nailed this. The two chords are so well disguised with the weird timings, the bassline and the inversions. I reckon the mix is there too.

Your vocal sounds good to me, very dry and close sounding suits the song. You could go bigger on it, but I think you'd lose something.

[liv_rong]

Sounds awesome Greg, nice work.

[musicturtle]

Great work Greg, I really like the song. New bass sounds great.

[musicturtle]

Tony, I reckon you've nailed this. The two chords are so well disguised with the weird timings, the bassline and the inversions. I reckon the mix is there too.

Your vocal sounds good to me, very dry and close sounding suits the song. You could go bigger on it, but I think you'd lose something.

Thanks JD...I re-tracked and re-mixed mainly for some timing issues. Just so you know I used the Katana on this for one of the leads and the ending clean guitar. I also used it for the acoustic guitar...I plugged in my Martin and mic'd up the amp with it set for acoustic to add some beef to the condenser in front of the guitar.

[musicturtle]

Final version for my two chorder. This was fun.



The Thaw
I saw the civil sun drying earth’s tears —
Her tears of joy that only faster flowed,

Fain would I stretch me by the highway side,
To thaw and trickle with the melting snow,
That mingled soul and body with the tide,
I too may through the pores of nature flow.

But I alas nor tinkle can nor fume,
One jot to forward the great work of Time,
‘Tis mine to hearken while these ply the loom,
So shall my silence with their music chime.

[rayc]

That is tidier Tony but that isn't a bad thing.
REALLY cool - would you mind posting the lyrics?
Oh, someone on fb mentioned QOTSA in regard to or latest collab. I thought it odd nothing was a blunt or FX distorted as them but I pulled out their 2nd album, gave it a listen and your vocal is vaguely similar to Josh Hommes - so a fair comp. Not on this track though - it is a different style, performance etc and your vocals are distinctly you.

[musicturtle]

That is tidier Tony but that isn't a bad thing.
REALLY cool - would you mind posting the lyrics?
Oh, someone on fb mentioned QOTSA in regard to or latest collab. I thought it odd nothing was a blunt or FX distorted as them but I pulled out their 2nd album, gave it a listen and your vocal is vaguely similar to Josh Hommes - so a fair comp. Not on this track though - it is a different style, performance etc and your vocals are distinctly you.

Cool Ray I could hear that comparison.

Added lyrics in post above.

[Greg_L]

Final version for my two chorder. This was fun.



The Thaw
I saw the civil sun drying earth’s tears —
Her tears of joy that only faster flowed,

Fain would I stretch me by the highway side,
To thaw and trickle with the melting snow,
That mingled soul and body with the tide,
I too may through the pores of nature flow.

But I alas nor tinkle can nor fume,
One jot to forward the great work of Time,
‘Tis mine to hearken while these ply the loom,
So shall my silence with their music chime.

That came out really good. Very nice work.

Great work Greg, I really like the song. New bass sounds great.

Sounds awesome Greg, nice work.

Thanks dudes.

[musicturtle]

That came out really good. Very nice work.

Thanks man