LinuxMusicians

This is the first mix done on the new Xubuntu 18.04 system. It's a simple guitar improv, maybe some kind of a slow blues. Just a few tracks. The guitar is in one take. No edits, no comping, no retake, warts and all included. One guitar track, two synth tracks for the backdrop, one bass track. One main drum track plus one room and one hihat track. Plus some effects sends like reverb and saturation.

Comments welcomed - cheers.

https://soundcloud.com/nominal6/fivefvesix

Technical details

Title: FiveFiveSix - this is the 556th jam.

(Linux) Recorded in Bitwig 2.4.3, mixed and mastered in Mixbus32C

Synths backdrop:

(linvst) Blue2 - "Ambient Horizon Slow" with send to Echomelt2 (linvst)

(linvst) Ray Blaster - a modified patch whose original name I forgot

Bass:

(Linux) Diva - "All you need" from the "Twilight" sound set

Drums:

(linvst) MDrummer - "Tribute to Muhamad" drumset and "3-4 DnB 02" rhythm from "Special, Experimental" with lots of probability induced. Audio processing: internal.

Guitar:

Shiraki acoustic, Audio Technica AT2021 mic, MPA2 tube preamp, VLA2 tube compressor. Sends (all linvst): Voxengo Boogex saturation plugin, MReverbMB, Echomelt2, MUnison (chorus part)

(Linux) Mixed in Mixbus32C

(linvst) Voxengo CRTIV Chrous on MUnison send track. No other plugin. Mixbus32C built-in EQs and compressors were used. Exported at around -18 dB

(Linux) Mastered in Mixbus32C

On master bus:

(Linux) Harrison XT-ME for framing the mix
(Linux) u-he Satin tape emulation - "RP A800 Modern 30 ips"
(linvst) TR5 Quad Image with some adjustments
(Linux) u-he Presswerk Limiter - balanced preset + minimal threshold gain.

Nice track! If it was live jamming, how did you do it? Created backing track, jammed guitar over it, or just other way?

Anyway, nice track, keep on going!

Thanks !

On this improv the thing was to have two kind of 'persons' talking. There's one in the middle range, and one in the higher notes, kind of responding to each other. And then the chorus comes in to maybe unify them. Ironically the notes for the chorus are going through 'MUnison' to double them.

When I find chords that inspires me I grab the guitar and start playing.

If it makes sense, I then create an audio track, switch from monitors to headphones, and press record...

... Then I remember that I forgot to switch the tube preamp and tube compressor, so I switch them on and wait a minute or two for the circuits to warm up, and then go.

After the track is recorded I usually add some processing. Sometimes I also set the processing up for recording the first take, it depends.

On more serious takes, I export the Bitwig tracks into Mixbus32C and record several guitar tracks and use Mixbus layered editing to compose a single track made out of several takes. I also adjust the timing by slicing and moving waves, adjust the volume on some notes, etc... but by then it's really more serious.
That's a picture I found on the web. I have the same, but w/o what seems to be an integrated pickup and preamp (button at the top), only acoustic.

Slow blues very good! Pleasant melody High-quality track, excellent recording!

I remembered it (YM -"Blue") - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN1V3-mbg2A

Thanks ! As far as guitarists goes ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z02J_kPincA

Hi jonetsu! It's been a while..

Interesting track, I would call it latin-flavoured slow blues, you are playing some very nice minor scale licks in there that kind of cycle between blues and hint toward melodic minor stuff reminiscent but not derivative of Santana. I wasn't a fan of the drums personally to me they sound kind of clunky and I feel they kind they 'tangle up' and hold the tune back. I can understand that you are not trying not to emulate any particular known style or genre with this tune but I think some ethnic percussion (congas, djembe, even a Cajon) would create more atmosphere and not tangle the feel up so much.

Just my $0.02... great interesting work as usual!

Thanks Glen for the comments - much appreciated.

Haven't considered the (much more flowing) latin-flavoured potential in there. Or the general flow potential anyways. Foe that improv I was kind of mesmerized by the improvisational capabilities of MDrummer which I used for the first time in this capability. Never played twice the same. Maybe there's a way to keep that software improvising while nevertheless adding a more flowing touch. I'll see. So much to learn about these things. - Cheers.

I like that one too. The synths in the background remind me on BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE. The guitar is maybe a bit too busy and I would prefer if less notes are played, but that's a matter of taste.