Draw the Moral

Shameless Plug... Yes, the workshop would be an awesome gift! Highly recommended!

My apologies...I forgot that I changed the title to "Vitality." That's the second song. Thanks for listening btw.

That's strange... try the normal homepage http://web.mac.com/drawthemoral Then click on music and media. It's the "Ravish Remade" entry and the "Better mix, lyrics not finished" entry.

Thanks so much for the comments and for listening everyone! I really appreciate it.

I definitely like your chord progressions. It reminds of a completely electronic version of The Mercury Program. The layers that build on each other are very tasteful. I like the little odd time section about 3/4's of the way through. I would really like to hear this when it's done to see where it goes. Good work.

Well, Logic can certainly be a centerpiece of your songwriting. I would call it an instrument in and of itself. But still, YOU have to take the time to be disciplined and learn all of the ways that it can be played. I think it's very much like electric instruments. Getting a good guitar sound is mostly dependent on your playing proficiency...but that doesn't mean that the type of amp, the type of pickups, and the type of effects still don't play a MAJOR role in that sound. So an amplifier is still a very important part of the instrument. It's just not the catch all that some people think it is to achieve the elusive "great tone." Put too much emphasis on the amp, and you've missed the point. And I think Logic is no different in that regard. Learn the instrument, and learn how to incorporate it into your creativity...and then don't become dependent on it YOU seek to master the art.

That's awesome! I'd love to hear some of this stuff if you have any of it posted. If you love polyrhythms, another great guy to check out (besides the ones you listed) is Antonio Sanchez of the Pat Metheny Group. One of the best drummers that I've ever seen.

I would say write the time sig's in the drums and bass guitar parts. Since they are all in "something"/8 then it shouldn't be too hard for the organ part. Just follow the quarter notes no matter what. But for the drums and bass, they would need to have the odd time. Whenever you are doing a polyrhythm, and you are the instrument in the normal time, then you just ignore everything but beats. No accents, no time sig's...just beats. It's like a really complicated metronome for your 4/4.

Here's my two studio buddies: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/starlight7777/STA70123.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/starlight7777/DSCN0700.jpg

Don't worry, I'll give it a listen later today. I just like to have time to sit down and really listen to it.

I'm sure people are quite aware that pencil and paper exists. If I come up with something, I know full well that it's a vi ii iii IV progression in Eb played in 7/4 at 100bpm and the little lead lick was in C Dorian mode...and that's all with my eyes closed. But that doesn't mean that I need to bust out some paper and draw a staff when I can just record it and start working on it. And besides, maybe I want to capture the spontaneity of that particular performance...and really, for me personally, it's just easier and faster to record. If we have the tools available to us, then why not use them? Now, if you think writing is more efficient, then by all means write it out. Do what works for you. I'm all for people becoming better at their craft, and certainly understanding theory and training your ears are a never ending process of learning that every musician should always strive for... But just because someone chooses to record ideas instead of writing notation on paper doesn't mean they need a basic musicianship class. And I mean this in a very friendly way...so don't take offense. And besides, you're on this forum, so you can't be a total purist.

Yeah, I go back and forth on whether or not to get a control surface. The more that I explore keyboard shortcuts, the more I realize that I can continue to get by without one. I would like one eventually...but it will be down the road once I do more research. BTW, on the RAM issue. I upgraded the RAM in my mac using Apple's official RAM, and it was definitely ridiculous. I've got one of the stupid MBP's that can only take 3GB of RAM (and no firewire 800 port ), so I'm going to get more ram for it. But apple made this big deal about A) having a matched pair of ram and B) not using third party ram. So my question is, how much of that is the company line, and how much is actually true?

Yeah, she's wonderful. 8) As far as playing goes, when I was in the guy's shop, he told me to close my eyes and play it like I normally would...and there was no difference. The slant of the frets is subtle enough to make playing just like a normal guitar. But it's different enough to affect intonation, and give it a very good sound.

Thank you very much for listening! I LOVE playing in 7! I really love odd time signature grooves. When I get all 3 parts done to Ravish, you'll hear more odd time grooves throughout. I've got some sections in 9/4 and in 5/4. Good eye on the guitar! Actually, my wife bought this for me as an engagement present. 8) It's a custom hand made guitar from a Luthier in Las Vegas. The frets are actually slanted, like you said. It's also got the coil tapping pickups, much like a PRS. It's called the Novax fanned fret system. Here's some more info on it. http://www.novaxguitars.com/

And one more thing... For music recording, I know it's a pretty big deal to have at least 7200rpm, but it looks like the biggest drive they have is 200GB at that speed. I'd really like to be up at the 320GB range. Is it really worth it to take the hit on space to get the speed?