The Mission Has Changed

Things have changed over the last few weeks, I am no longer the only member to this musical adventure.
So when I started this off my intent was to record a low budget album with a good sound.
And that in part still remains true but we now have the 'Band' aspect creeping in which is fantastic news!
And with that in mind the plansa have changed as well.

Now as a band we have talked how is best to get out there and do what we enjoy most, which of course is playing good music with feel and passion.
A lot of bands, including ones I have been in over the past four years, write songs and then go right out there and gig straight away.
I have started to find this a bit odd, for one you don't really have a following. for sure there's friends and family and yes first time out they'll come along and support you...but in most cases you may not be thier cup of tea music wise. Which in turn makes it harder to get folks to gigs next time round.
The other thing is you might be rushing songs out just to keep things interesting for your self as a musician, but the pace can be that quick that your followers cn become lost! Poeple will like certain songs and kinda expect you to play that song for em , tis the reason why they followed you.
And most of the time getting something recorded takes forever to come round. By then interest in you will have dropped off.

So here is our outlook......
Do it all backwards.

We're going to focus on writing the songs, using a good mix of media to keep a growing profile, and then recording 3 or 4 tracks to submit to promoters and a like before we consider a gig.
That way we hope to have a following that adds to the loyal friends and family brigade.
And maybe the crowd to band vibe will gel better as well.

 So what you think?


Cheers ,Stay safe folks.

Been a while.

Been  a couple of months since I last posted.
So what has been going on since last time....Well the good news is the project has evolved from sitting room pipe dream to actually having other musicians join the fold.
Rob has come on board to fill in on the drums, great to have him in the band!
We had been in a previous band before, HeatSeeker.  And we both have very similar ideas and thoughts on what direction we'd like the songs to go.
We were also joined by a new guy on the bass, not officially joined just yet but looking good.
So the last few weeks we've been meeting up and jammin away on a few Indy tracks I have already done and there's gonna be a few new ones and a kinda cover version, re imagination of an older track me and Rob had wrote.

Right then, hope to be posting some media and songs soon.

Stay Safe!
 

Screen shots, lost riffs, and the 80bpm Demo.

 Ello =D

Things have been moving on here music wise, got at least 5 tracks ready to be worked on.
3 Brand new spankers and 2 recent ones that I feel deserve to be on the project.
I would already be at the 8 tracks I wanted but 4 ideas I was working on have been dropped when after serious review while driving (That's I decide a song is good enough) I felt they were not upto the same standard as the other ideas. So the one with the super detuned top string is gone, the only good thing from tat track was the clean part, of which maybe used in another song. The guitar tone from that tack will be used though, real nice clean sound.
That missing song can be heard in this little vid.

So I thought I'd show you some screen grabs to show how I work on my demo process.

Ok right, so this one here.....
This shows me cutting up my notepad version. What I mean by notepad version is I build a drum track, jam some bass to it and then throw some guitar on top. Once I'm happy I have some good ideas down I'll cut it up to the sections that stand out.

 This next shows the end game of that process.
I know have a drum track and bass track that I'm happy with and the final stages can begin.

Overal this tends to cut over a minutes worth of audio and tightens up what would otherwise be a long and sometimes lost song. This ensures I listen to every part and work out if it's a good riff or just filler. Also it gives me more control over layouts. As you can see in the first picture and the second one I lost a verse and  intro.

The next picture shows my main guitar sound I'm using right now, and is the one used on the 80bpm demo. Which you can check out here; 80bpm Demo.
This song uses the writing method above and has given me a track, which I feel, is one of my better songs in a long time. 

I hope this helps give an insight to my ideas and how I work. It'd be great to hear how some of you write songs.

Anyways stay safe. Cheers.

Ha! My ads suck. =D

So posted an ad a few days back and had one bite, but I must have scared em off with my reply email. =D
Oh well gone with a new ad and it is bear min on info.  Kinda hope it will generate more interest .
Here's my 'awesome' ad.

In the mean time Track 1 is all mapped out, just a few tweaks needed to be done to the guide track. And track 3 is underway with the drums all mapped out for a jam.

Track 2 is almost finished just needs someone to sing over it and I think it will be a good one for sure. Solo is pretty good and uses a good chunk of the neck riffs go from grungy to blues funk to heavy doom styled stuff. Feel like it has good range for a short track.
That's another thing I'm trying to keep these songs short, will be rare to push over the 6min mark.
 So progress has been steady. Which is Good!

Should be getting some new gear soon so maybe there will be singing by someone...Not me though. =P

Tried to make a vid too, and my life it's lousy but it will give folks an idea on what has been done so far with out giving too much away.
So will be posting that up soon, just waiting for it to render. Going to be posting one of my jams as well. Nothing special just me playing guitar.  On what looks like a dodgy night vision cam, but it isn't. =D

Stay safe folks.

And don't buy Aliens:CM, it sucks.

Tunings.

So it's been a tough week, I have picked up the guitar a couple of times and just been stumped for ideas. This is a common flaw with musicians and sometimes it pays not to force it.
So I was all for giving up this weekend and just dealing with the Panacea Dream gig.
But things went south on that with illness , hope Daz is well soon and we can start work on the  Emma Scott gig in Wolvo.

Anyways I thought why not do some guitar work force it for once. And I have to say it was a genius idea. First off I built a couple of drum tracks up. One with a very standard layout the other a little shorter but still pretty standard.
Oh yeah...what I mean by standard is it's intro/verse/chorus/repeat go to bridge solo and so on.
The other song is only 2 verses and 2 chorus but with added pre chorus parts.
But since I mostly play in Eb or dropped Db, thought it was time to mess about a bit more. So I went with this......Starting with the low top string...Cb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb....Now I know all I've done is drop the top string down another whole step from Db but it really alters the way you play. 
So the end result tonight was a huge step forward on this album thingy. Two tracks set up and the guide guitar all done. Record bass soon and then really work on making them sound good. Key thing is not to over do it.....Have done in the last few weeks and killed the vibe of the track for myself.
YES!! PROGRESS!!!RESULT!!!!!

In other news my ad is a sloooooow burner. Had one reply, a singer. Hopefully I get some audio to hear of them soon and see what we can do. Be great if I can add vocals to these tracks and raise the bar a bit further.

So should be more of this, Crooked Smiles on SoundCloud =D

Right that's all I've got for tonight, so ......
Stay safe folks don't try to kill each other in the snow tomorrow hey. =D 

More research/ Posted an ad.

The other day I was asked what my home set up was for recording. 
And it has made me question the quality of it.
I use very little and sometimes it is limited in what I can produce .
So with that in mind I have been looking for some upgrades. 
My audio interface will be updated as will my guitar tone library. I will also have an option for a mic. Now I have always had the option of this but rigging a mixing desk in my front room is a bit tough. This one is smaller and just the one mic input. But seems as its only myself to record I dont need to mic up a drum kit or other band members.
Also been on the hunt for better plug ins for my DAW help craft a better sound.
Now I have messed with eq before and it ruined my sound. But I have learnt I need to get my sound where I want it and then only a minor eq adjustment is needed. 
Also have a reference song to work from. Take a song I love the production on and try to emulate that feel in my own work.
Now that sounds genius to me. Makes sense but I have never thought of doing it. Live and learn hey.

Another question I was asked was if I were bringing other folks in on the project, now I have tried this before and had no joy with it. 

Maybe I went around it the wrong way, I tried it with friends and old band members...that didn't work out. 

Tried joining these two guys who met up for a jam on saturdays but they couldn't see the end game mostly because no one took charge...all to polite.

So it has always been me writing songs and ideas at home. 

Well anyways it made me think that I don't want it to just be a living room project, I want to be more I always have. So with that in mind I'm going to ask the nation again if they wil join me in crafting good music.   Here's the ad 

I want it to be more than a band, more like a social meeting. few beers play a few songs and maybe play a gig or two...Heck even record something. I dunno I really hold out no hope at this time. but maybe just maybe it'll all pay off. 

Of course this would mean I'd be a part of two bands in the long run and I see no problem with that since Panacea Dream and Indy_Fire are totally different.

Stay safe folks.

Finding the right tools for the job.

Hey hey,

Since the last post on my blog I've been looking for the right tools and programmes to help me bring my ideas to life.
So I have DAW and the guitars and the music I hope....But I was lacking a decent video editor and camera.
So after a few tests ( all of which suck) I have what I'm looking for and now need to think how I'm going to put images to the music...I'm guessing folks don't really want to see me sat there just playing the guitar in my sitting room.
You're gonna want to see something worth watching.... So I maybe driving one or two quick cars so I could use some of that.

I'm open to suggestions....=D

In other news I have decided to go with the drum loops. I got them from DrumsOnDemand. All mixed and EQ'd well so saves me feckin em up.
Now all I have to do is piece them together and write what feels right at the time.
At the moment I'm stuck between big songs or little ones....Big production with loads of layers or keep it basic. The later seems to have served me best.
So there's a few different routes to take, I don't want to get lost.......

So here's a few examples.

First off, Survival. This has a few layers but still keeps it simple.  And shows how just by random placement of drum loops was enough to inspire 6mins of music. But I admit it could have been trimmed back by a min or so.

Second is C'est Une Berceuse.
This is as simple as it gets, Just drums bass and one guitar. The guitar was all in one take so the mistakes and fluffed bends all make it  through. So if the was the route I took I'd apply better quality control on the playing.  
And this also highlights the kinda vid I want to steer clear of.  some shots of me playing is cool but there has to be a more enteraining way to show it at least.
Play upside down? Anything! Something!
I don't think I'm ready to mime in a disused factory just yet though.

Last of all is Monkeynuts and Vodka.
This had a quite a few layers to it. A lot of effects, one the guitars is in an odd tuning making some of the riffs when layered sound like a 12 string feel.
Used a few filters on this too.....also this is the skinny mix the other mix has drums and more guitar layers.

Anyway back to media, I have a decent photographer right here in the same room. I should take advantage of that more.
The other thing that has took me by suprise was the increase in my Facebook followers. Awesome and kinda makes me feel though I should present something soon. So media really is top of my list.

All in all Stil loads to sort out before I'm anywhere near showing something off. Looking back I feel I may have taken the 'make an album' thing a bit to easy. It ain't it's bloody hard. Rod for me own back and all that.

Right that's me done a for more days enough random pieces from my mind. 

Cheers, Stay safe folks.

Writers Block/Playing Live

Today I have had a bit of a crisis, What kinda of sound do I want?!
It's a tough one, I really want the 8 tracks to mesh well together.
I don't want to end up with loads of random tracks and riffs bolted together.
So with that bugging the back of my mind it has seemed to cause a tiny writers block.
So I think the best thing to do is just plug in and see what happens, keep the good bits and expand on those.
So how do other folks write? What's your process?

Another thing I was asked recently was regarding me playing live......
I'd love to take Indy_Fire live I really would. But none of my ads turned anything up.
Twice I have tried to get others onboard. First time was with to friends of mine, but timing was wrong...and who knows maybe they will say yeah lets do it in the future.
Second time was when I met up with 2 folks who had been jamming for awhile but never seemed to get anything going.
We wrote a few tracks but nothing really solid. However I did take 'Where Are We' from those sessions.
You can hear that here; Where Are We.

Maybe it's how I sell the sound to others It's kinda like hard rock, blues, and desert rock with grunge and metal elements. Kinda sounds a mess when you put it like that.
So should I look for others again and have the joys of writing with others, or go out there alone?
Would anyone pay to watch one man play guitar to a number of backing tracks...I don't think they would.

Anyways stay safe folks. =D

EQ

I have started writing some tracks over the weekend.
I have he start of 2 so far, one is an old one that I have never really got finished which is odd because it's quite a strong one...I just felt I couldn't do it justice.
The second came from a writing session I set myself.

Anyways.....
After writing some riffs and layout for the secind track I thought I'd pop on to Youtube to see if there was any tips on recording at home. Turns out theres loads..too many infact and most if not all had some great info and tips.
Most important of all was EQ and how to use it well. I have never EQ'd a track myself before I just used presets that never really altered the sound by much.
But after watching a few vids I started to get a small understanding. I ain't saying it's right though.....
So wondered if folks want to hear and give me their opinions on the sound. Fancy it?
Ok here's the link;

 https://soundcloud.com/indy_fire/sets/which-is-better

The first part is the EQ'd version of the track, the second is of course the one with no EQ.
The guitar tone my not make it to the final version but either way it all needs re-recording to get it and heavy.
I plan to double track both left and right guitars and perhaps a thickener down the middle.
Unsure as it's been a while since I had that many guitar tracks fighting each other, Hoping a good EQ and balance panning and levels will sort that out. 

As for the style my ideas seem to be taking it sounds like it's going to be quite a heavy set of tracks but going to be broken up with some interesting stuff. I've been looking at using different time sigs...as I tend to be a 4/4 kinda of person.
There will stil be plenty of blues based single note riffs and solos though I'm sure.
I guess peeps are going to say it sounds like Metallica or something, I get that a lot. But they were the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place so it makes sense.

Hope  to be posting again soon, should be able to get some work done tonight.

Stay safe.

First day on the blog .

Hey folks,

This is going to be my sounding off point on all things Indy_Fire.
I'm a guitarist, who realy likes to make tracks and post them as quick as poss....this has lead to some shocking mixes. But that stops here and now, for I have a new goal. 
I hope to share with you my journey into making an album at home on the cheap with low grade gear and no real mixing mastering skills.
In fact at this point I don't even have anyone on board to sort drums, bass, or vocals.
So am I going to do all this myself?
I could, well I mean guitars and bass I can sort easy enough....Vocals, Well depands if I have the balls to do it myself or not, either way the lyrica content may read like a kid has done em. =D
Drums, wish I had a drummer on board and the gear to make decent recordings of the drum tracks.
Instead I have three options......

1; Pay a session drummer to do them for me. You can find folks that will do this for you online, send em your track ,time sig, and bpm and they wil do a track for you and send back over. Up side to this is it would sound far more organic and live. Have feel.
I have used DooleyDrums in the past and he has been excellent. but as far as I know he doesn't supply drums to your tracks.(I could be wrong and maybe I will check this out.)
Downside is cost, can be £50 to £70 per track. Plus you can't be sure if the drummer is to your liking or if your track is to his.

2; Midi....Now I have Ezdrummer and Drum Kit From Hell. Now these were pretty good five years back, but now compared to the better programmes to hit the market mine sound very very dated.
So again it's another fork out some monies but with the added stress of having to program every single beat of you tracks in GuitarPro or other score writing app.

3; Buy ready made loops, I have used a number of these before and have had some great results with them. They come premixed and EQ'd and would save me a hell of a lot of time. I'll probs go with REX2 files as these are more flexible with the bmp you can run them at.
I'll probs use DrumOnDemand for this.
Cost wise we're £35/$54 for around 1,700 loops and these also give you some isolated kit tracks with the basic elements and single hits to buid up your own loops or to add extra depth to your tracks.
Down side to this is it can be limiting.

Anyways......
Please check out http://soundcloud.com/indy_fire 
and on my FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/Indyfire80
Or even follow me on the Twitter https://twitter.com/Indy_Fire

I hope to be posting more blogs and videos and document my findings. I'll be interested to see if I can pull it off and will it sound any better then my current tracks. 
Can we really be artists and sell music to the masses from our sitting room?