Does My Music Rock Or Suck?

[Shawn2005]

I liked it you definately want to keep up with that.

[wgpeters]

from low to high, it's

C#, F#, C#, F#, G#, C#

on paper, looks like it would be kinda monotonous, but it gives it quite a unique sound...bar chords, obvious work well, but there are a virtually endless number of finger possitions and slight alterations that give me a VERY wide variety of sounds.  I'm able to play most standard tuned songs in my tuning, with a little work here and there...ironically, the tuning, while seemingly simplified, gives me a variety of more options

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks interesting. I'll have to play around with it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What would you call that tuning? C# sus 4 ?

[Youch]

It does not suck!!!

But it is a tad melencholy.

Have you done happy and upbeat tunes?

May I suggest you take your obvious talents into an upbeat, positive direction?? Just my two cents.. I am an audiophile, but personally I do not have any skills of my own, so my suggestion is not really worth much.

[Lachrymal]

It does not suck!!! 

But it is a tad melencholy.

Have you done happy and upbeat tunes?

May I suggest you take your obvious talents into an upbeat, positive direction??  Just my two cents.. I am an audiophile, but personally I do not have any skills of my own, so my suggestion is not really worth much.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hahah, thank you for listening...no, i really don't do any happy and upbeat music...lol, i couldn't imagine that working for me

my music always has a positive message...but i'm kind of a dark person naturally...i have humor (see the song, 'buddha is my homeboy', just the title is tongue-in-cheek humor) but it's always from a dark perspective. i'm honestly a VERY optimistic person, but i'm also always very dark as well it's a weird balance, i know.

um...yeah, actually this music is getting a lot lighter than it used to be...i dunno...just the way i write. i have this one song...i may put up a recording of it sometime...anyways, it's the most self-depricating song i've ever written...it's really quite horrible...but at the same time, it was something that i really NEEDED to write at that time...because it was a turning point...it pointed out how rediculous it all was. so...this horrible horrible song...this wholly depressing, self-depricating song...i entitled 'Euphoria'

it helped me a lot. i dunno, i'm weird

Adrian

[Lachrymal]

from low to high, it's

C#, F#, C#, F#, G#, C#

on paper, looks like it would be kinda monotonous, but it gives it quite a unique sound...bar chords, obvious work well, but there are a virtually endless number of finger possitions and slight alterations that give me a VERY wide variety of sounds.  I'm able to play most standard tuned songs in my tuning, with a little work here and there...ironically, the tuning, while seemingly simplified, gives me a variety of more options

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks interesting. I'll have to play around with it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What would you call that tuning? C# sus 4 ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hmm...i have no idea...been wondering exactly what it would be called, actually...anyone else who picks up my guitar just calls it, "Adrian's tuning". heh, i guess that works

[Lachrymal]

oooh, i'm actually glad that this topic was suddenly revitalized

i have a new song up that i REALLY REALLY want people to listen to!

it's called 'grattitude' i think it's the best song i've ever written...i'm absolutely in love with it.

you don't have to love it as much as i do...i don't think that's even possible, hah...but let me know what you think, please

www.myspace.com/adrianbartholomew

thank you, as always,

Adrian

[Verisoph]

oooh, i'm actually glad that this topic was suddenly revitalized

i have a new song up that i REALLY REALLY want people to listen to!

it's called 'grattitude'  i think it's the best song i've ever written...i'm absolutely in love with it.

you don't have to love it as much as i do...i don't think that's even possible, hah...but let me know what you think, please

www.myspace.com/adrianbartholomew

thank you, as always,

Adrian

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent! I don't know how many songs you've written, but that's without a doubt the best one I've heard. You've been practicing, I can tell. Your guitar playing is becoming formidable.

I also couldn't help but notice that you've added a little extra instrumentation in this one - that's good - it fattens up your sound without having to resort to effects (which I know you don't much like). Is that a keyboard violin? It provides a terrific accompaniment to the guitar and vocals.

I can hardly wait for the next one.

Regards,

Verisoph

[BrDevon]

All I can say to the latest entry is... "yes." You have a rare gift in this day of what passes for music: you are not a clone of the synth-pop generation where the sound can be generated by any bored techie with enough time and a good mother board.

Your sound comes from a different place: a protected source deep within from where all fine arts originate.

Your sound is a welcome change from that worn out Xerox copy that every radio station everywhere is playing.

I will admit, I was tempted to cheat and look at the lyrics while listening to the song, but then I decided not to. I will go back and look them over later, but for now, I want to concentrate on hearing you the way I still can hear.

I want to appreciate your music in the pure way that my remaining hearing allows me: I am not hung up on the words, or the tune itself, but how the tone of your voice and the instrumentals make me feel on the whole. There is a quality about your music that reaches me and holds me. After listening, I feel that I have been given something - and I have, for you are sharing an art that is almost faded away.

I wish more school systems would bring back the arts and the acoustic music in the curriculum. Today's students would be so enriched to be exposed to learning the foundations in music that make what you offer possible. Today's MTV generation seems to bear no resemblance to mine: I remember the very moment MTV launched. I still remember sitting in front of the TV in my parents' house the moment the introduced us to the term VJ and played "Video killed the radio star" by the Buggles. Little did I know at that point that all that we called popular music would fall to the commercial coma of today's cookie cutter face of the week bleating out the sheep anthem of the day.

What is really sad is how few original songs are being written these days. The stuff on the radio is fun for the hard of hearing crowd like me, because we never have to learn new lyrics. The clones keep beating on the classics and thinking they have added some new spin. Uhh... no.

Stay true to yourself. There are many of us who will drink from that oasis of musical purity.

[Lachrymal]

Excellent! I don't know how many songs you've written, but that's without a doubt the best one I've heard. You've been practicing, I can tell. Your guitar playing is becoming formidable.

I also couldn't help but notice that you've added a little extra instrumentation in this one - that's good - it fattens up your sound without having to resort to effects (which I know you don't much like). Is that a keyboard violin? It provides a terrific accompaniment to the guitar and vocals.

I can hardly wait for the next one.

Regards,

Verisoph

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

heheh, i figured you'd like the synth in that

yeah, it's a synth-cello. i'm actually quite proud of it...simply for the fact that 90% of the cello in that song was all improv. only the chorus was prewritten (wanted stability on that) the rest, i just randomly hit record and started playing whatever came out...and the most amazing thing happened...it actually worked! actually, i think the whole thing was only like 2 takes for the synth.

i'm really glad you enjoyed it. thank you so much for listening

Adrian

[Lachrymal]

All I can say to the latest entry is... "yes."  You have a rare gift in this day of what passes for music:  you are not a clone of the synth-pop generation where the sound can be generated by any bored techie with enough time and a good mother board.

Your sound comes from a different place:  a protected source deep within from where all fine arts originate.

Your sound is a welcome change from that worn out Xerox copy that every radio station everywhere is playing.

I will admit, I was tempted to cheat and look at the lyrics while listening to the song, but then I decided not to.  I will go back and look them over later, but for now, I want to concentrate on hearing you the way I still can hear.

I want to appreciate your music in the pure way that my remaining hearing allows me:  I am not hung up on the words, or the tune itself, but how the tone of your voice and the instrumentals make me feel on the whole.  There is a quality about your music that reaches me and holds me.  After listening, I feel that I have been given something - and I have, for you are sharing an art that is almost faded away.

I wish more school systems would bring back the arts and the acoustic music in the curriculum.  Today's students would be so enriched to be exposed to learning the foundations in music that make what you offer possible.  Today's MTV generation seems to bear no resemblance to mine:  I remember the very moment MTV launched.  I still remember sitting in front of the TV in my parents' house the moment the introduced us to the term VJ and played "Video killed the radio star" by the Buggles.  Little did I know at that point that all that we called popular music would fall to the commercial coma of today's cookie cutter face of the week bleating out the sheep anthem of the day.

What is really sad is how few original songs are being written these days.  The stuff on the radio is fun for the hard of hearing crowd like me, because we never have to learn new lyrics.  The clones keep beating on the classics and thinking they have added some new spin.  Uhh... no.

Stay true to yourself.  There are many of us who will drink from that oasis of musical purity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

sir...you have no idea what this post meant to me. some of the things you said brought me on the verge of tears. thank you...from the bottom of my soul, thank you so much

really...god, i can't express how much this meant to me. thank you so very much.

Adrian

[Verisoph]

heheh, i figured you'd like the synth in that

yeah, it's a synth-cello.  i'm actually quite proud of it...simply for the fact that 90% of the cello in that song was all improv.  only the chorus was prewritten (wanted stability on that) the rest, i just randomly hit record and started playing whatever came out...and the most amazing thing happened...it actually worked!   actually, i think the whole thing was only like 2 takes for the synth.

You did well, it sounds great! There's nothing quite as exhilarating as the spontaneous creation of music. For the past few months, I've been devoting several hours a day to developing my improvisational chops - it's beginning to pay off, too.

Again, I'm looking forward to the next one.

Regards,

Verisoph

BTW: I've been playing around with your tuning, and I think that the best name for it might be F#9. I know that the lowest tone in a chord is usually considered the root, but in this case, the F# seems to have more gravity than the C#. The intervals in the tuning are almost identical to "Open G" (D G D G B D) and you might notice that the lowest note in Open G is not G, but D.

The interval between D and G, and the interval between C# and F# is a fourth... a rather weak connection. However, the interval between G and D, and the interval between F# and C# is a perfect 5th... that's the strongest connection that there is between two notes.

So, if you accept that F# is the root in your tuning, then you've got the root on the 5th string, followed by a perfect 5th on the 4th string, then the root again on the 3rd string, and a perfect 5th to that on the 1st string. You also have low octave of the 5th on the 6th string.

This leaves only the 2nd string to consider. G# is the 9th tone in the key of F#, which is why I called your tuning F#9.

However, I've given it this name for simplicity. If you strum all six strings, with the idea that the root is F#, the chord that you produce would technically be "C#/F# 5 9 -7" or "C#/F# 9 -3 -7"

[Lachrymal]

You did well, it sounds great! There's nothing quite as exhilarating as the spontaneous creation of music. For the past few months, I've been devoting several hours a day to developing my improvisational chops - it's beginning to pay off, too.

Again, I'm looking forward to the next one.

Regards,

Verisoph

BTW: I've been playing around with your tuning, and I think that the best name for it might be F#9. I know that the lowest tone in a chord is usually considered the root, but in this case, the F# seems to have more gravity than the C#. The intervals in the tuning are almost identical to "Open G" (D G D G B D) and you might notice that the lowest note in Open G is not G, but D.

The interval between D and G, and the interval between C# and F# is a fourth... a rather weak connection. However, the interval between G and D, and the interval between F# and C# is a perfect 5th... that's the strongest connection that there is between two notes.

So, if you accept that F# is the root in your tuning, then you've got the root on the 5th string, followed by a perfect 5th on the 4th string, then the root again on the 3rd string, and a perfect 5th to that on the 1st string. You also have low octave of the 5th on the 6th string.

This leaves only the 2nd string to consider. G# is the 9th tone in the key of F#, which is why I called your tuning F#9.

However, I've given it this name for simplicity. If you strum all six strings, with the idea that the root is F#, the chord that you produce would technically be "C#/F# 5 9 -7" or "C#/F# 9 -3 -7" 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

lmao

sounds good man

hahah, i dunno, i just play it, i don't even know how to read music...so...yeah...i can hear it, i can learn pretty much any song i hear if i want to. but i can't read music...nope.

[Verisoph]

I confess, I'm a music theory geek.

Although, it's really a good thing that I'm fascinated by the technical aspects of music - it helps me compensate for having a naturally lousy ear.

Soph

[Ms.Nicey-Nice]

I confess, I'm a music theory geek.

Although, it's really a good thing that I'm fascinated by the technical aspects of music - it helps me compensate for having a naturally lousy ear.

Soph

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I confess, I'm totally turned on by music theory geeks.

[Verisoph]

I confess, I'm a music theory geek.

Although, it's really a good thing that I'm fascinated by the technical aspects of music - it helps me compensate for having a naturally lousy ear.

Soph

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I confess, I'm totally turned on by music theory geeks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow! Beauty, brains, personality, great tats, and a sucker for a guy who knows how to shift from Dorian mode to Mixolydian in a single musical phrase. You've got it ALL, girl!

Next time you're in Mississippi, feel free to stop by for some private lessons.

Yours,

Soph

BTW: How's the guitar playing coming along?

[Ms.Nicey-Nice]

Wow! Beauty, brains, personality, great tats, and a sucker for a guy who knows how to shift from Dorian mode to Mixolydian in a single musical phrase. You've got it ALL, girl! 

Next time you're in Mississippi, feel free to stop by for some private lessons.

Yours,

Soph

BTW: How's the guitar playing coming along?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well thanks for asking! Its coming along. Progress has been slow with self teaching, but I'm taking a couple of lessons now! That keeps me motivated to practice, so that there's noticeable improvement between lessons. (The fact that I have a HUGE crush on the guy teaching me doesn't hurt either. )

Oh, and Adrian, I really am going to listen to your music and add something useful to this thread. I promise!

[Lachrymal]

Wow! Beauty, brains, personality, great tats, and a sucker for a guy who knows how to shift from Dorian mode to Mixolydian in a single musical phrase. You've got it ALL, girl! 

Next time you're in Mississippi, feel free to stop by for some private lessons.

Yours,

Soph

BTW: How's the guitar playing coming along?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well thanks for asking! Its coming along. Progress has been slow with self teaching, but I'm taking a couple of lessons now! That keeps me motivated to practice, so that there's noticeable improvement between lessons. (The fact that I have a HUGE crush on the guy teaching me doesn't hurt either. )

Oh, and Adrian, I really am going to listen to your music and add something useful to this thread. I promise!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you're making people smile, how much more useful could your comments be?

love,

Adrian

[Dorian Gray]

would BUY it... very mellow...

[Ms.Nicey-Nice]

Wow! Beauty, brains, personality, great tats, and a sucker for a guy who knows how to shift from Dorian mode to Mixolydian in a single musical phrase. You've got it ALL, girl! 

Next time you're in Mississippi, feel free to stop by for some private lessons.

Yours,

Soph

BTW: How's the guitar playing coming along?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well thanks for asking! Its coming along. Progress has been slow with self teaching, but I'm taking a couple of lessons now! That keeps me motivated to practice, so that there's noticeable improvement between lessons. (The fact that I have a HUGE crush on the guy teaching me doesn't hurt either. )

Oh, and Adrian, I really am going to listen to your music and add something useful to this thread. I promise!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you're making people smile, how much more useful could your comments be?

love,

Adrian

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I did try to listen to some, but with my slow connection, it didn't work the best. One thing I will say is that I felt some vocal harmonies would REALLY help fill it out. I think that you're very talented, and I totally admire what you've done.

I highly recommend learning to read music. I know that many people do just fine without that knowledge (as you obviously do) but it just helps it all make more sense, and makes it easier to learn other instruments. (I was having the hardest time with the guitar, because I couldn't understand it the way I understand a piano. On the piano, I knew which key was which note, and what all the intervals were, because I knew the layout of a keyboard and how to read music. Once someone explained to me which strings were which note on the guitar, and that each fret is a half step, I now have a much better grasp of it!)

Sorry, that was rambly....

All I REALLY want to say is that I think you're on the right track, you sound good, and you should keep working on it.

[Lachrymal]

I did try to listen to some, but with my slow connection, it didn't work the best.  One thing I will say is that I felt some vocal harmonies would REALLY help fill it out.  I think that you're very talented, and I totally admire what you've done.

I highly recommend learning to read music.  I know that many people do just fine without that knowledge (as you obviously do) but it just helps it all make more sense, and makes it easier to learn other instruments.  (I was having the hardest time with the guitar, because I couldn't understand it the way I understand a piano. On the piano, I knew which key was which note, and what all the intervals were, because I knew the layout of a keyboard and how to read music. Once someone explained to me which strings were which note on the guitar, and that each fret is a half step, I now have a much better grasp of it!)

Sorry, that was rambly....

All I REALLY want to say is that I think you're on the right track, you sound good, and you should keep working on it. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thank you

i dont' really believe that reading music would affect anything at all. i should explain myself better. i can't read music, i don't know what this or that is named. but i know completely how to use it, i know how it functions. music makes perfect sense to me already. i can listen to pretty much ANYTHING and pick it apart completely. i don't know what someone else calls this key or that key, but i can hear that key and play that key just fine. the name isn't important at all. any instrument i've picked up, i've been able to play. i obviously haven't played everything, (or even close to it) but i do truly believe that i can play anything.

i started teaching myself to read music at one point...my brother-in-law has college text books on the subject, as that's what he studied. but i got bored because it only gave names for everything i already knew. it just felt like a waste of time. i can seriously pick apart every single key to just about anything i hear...i don't have to know the names of them...that only helps in explaining it to someone else. but i can just play it for them if i really need to show them

and thank you on your advice, and to the vocal harmonies thing...i wasn't trying to make something sound studio...i DON'T want that right now. if i ever make a studio record, then fine, but not now. i want it to sound natural. even though in some of my more recent music i use synth and such, it's still played live and recorded live. screw-ups and all

it's a demo so i didn't want polishing and buffing. i wanted LOTS to be left to the imagination.

thank you dear joelly.

sorry, mine was rambly as well...all i was REALLY trying to say is, thank you for your sincere advice and thank you for taking the time to listen. i completely appreciate honest criticism.

Adrian