LinuxMusicians

Hi there, it's been a while.

I got a couple new songs I just finalised.

I'm still working with Ardour and using a bunch of cool plugins like setBFree, Guitarix and ZynAddSubFX. All of them are used on those songs.

Here's a brief description of each one with the respective links. Any comments will be much appreciated.

Esperança - An instrumental theme I wrote some years ago and decided to arrange with some keys and drums. I’ve used the wonderful setBfree plugin for the keys and ZynAddSubFX for bass and effects. The drums were made with General Midi Synth (a builtin preset library that comes with Ardour). I had some peak issues with the cymbals that I’m still trying to fix (they were causing distortion once I got them into Soundcloud).

Outra Canção - A minimalistic Samba tune with some Tonewheel organ (setBfree again) and General Midi Synth for percussion.

Assim Será - An old rock n’ roll tune I had that were re-arranged with MIDI drumming, this time with AVL Drums (“Black Pearl” kit). My guitar ran through Guitarix, so that’s where the tones are coming from.

And lastly, Conversa de E.T which is another instrumental theme I've been working on from the last couple of years. This time it’s just my acoustic guitar together with some presets from Amsynth and ZynAddSubFX. This ended up sounding like a sci-fi tune so that’s where the title (“E.T. Conversation”) comes from.

Thanks for listening and hope you like it.

Pierre Dechery

Nice ones! I like Conversa de ET the most. And had some fun ramming along with Assim Sera on my midi keyboard :)

Hi, I love samba, and enjoy practicing phrasing and short riffs between your nice vocals,
which also put me in vacation mode There's a nice mbira in the DecentSampler collection
which could make a nice solo instrument for this song.

https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/array-mbira/

The other songs are also nice, you've got some serious versatility going!
Cheers

Very nice work. I particularly enjoyed Esperança

Hi, glad you're back!

We've lost some regular contributors here so it's great to see a few 'old faces' have come back..

I enjoyed the songs, great work! Great vocals on the samba, setBFree also sounds great! Esperanca was lovely as well although in the lower registers the round tone of the lead guitar was a bit heavy and bassy but a great melody. I love the lofi garage punk sound you got with the Black Pearl on Assim Sera and great job on the drum programming as well!

Salut @pdechery , thanks for sharing those tunes. I rather enjoyed them. They carry a light and engaging atmosphere and some lovely guitar playing.
May I ask how you record your guitar? Do you use an acoustic pickup or a mic? the sound is a little plasticky. And yes, I know from little personal experience that it is hard to get a really nice acoustic sound. Especially if it is just you and you have to play and find the best mic position.
I am not a big fan of chorus on acoustic guitar. If that is truly the sound you were going for, then there is nothing much to say. If, however, you simply wanted to fatten your guitar sound, give it more presence, there may be. Have you every tried using the Hilbert filter plugin. There is one in the old SWH LADSPA plugins and there may be others. Or you could try to send guitar to a chorus, like sending to a reverb and then use heavy filtering and EQ'ing to achieve more stereo width and some beating, without being too obvious. Very subtel reverb or delays may also help. Again filtering and EQ'ing as well as very low volume can open up the width without being too obvious.
Esperanca is a beautiful theme. It could very well sit within a soundtrack or carry beautiful images. You introduce the organ very well. Even though I can't hear much of a swell it almost sneaks in. Also your electric guitar sound is very fitting. It makes for a beautiful melodic and jazzy sound. As the song progresses, it would have been even sweeter to hear the organ "melody" introduce a second voice or line to the guitar, opening up the sound further. But that's a matter of taste.
Outra Cancao is perhaps the apotheosis of lightness. Lovely singing. You sound so assured and relaxed, exactly what the music needs. Did you intend the rhythm to be as sparse as that? All the time I was listening out for the cowbell to go into a clave which would complement the guitar rhythm. That's the only element giving the song an almost cool stiffness. An interesting effect, certainly. It's a nice play on expectations.
Assim Sera has a cool guitar sound. You and Guitarix nailed it amongst you. With the drums being so reverbed and narrow in the stereo spectrum, the song gets a dirty rehearsal room flavour. LIke a band just recorded during the final practice session before the gig. Being the studio album person, no rock 'n roll bone in my body, that I am, I'd have loved a more polished production, with a far less roomy drumkit and a wider sound. Perhaps even a second guitar in unison with the first, or whatever else guitarists have come up with in productions to achieve that embracing guitar sound. But this song lives!
Conversa de E.T. has perhaps the best guitar playing of all. I loved that! Guitar sound aside, this is just beautiful!
Thanks again for sharing and I hope that my critical comments don't give you the impression that I did not enjoy the music. I think this music is worth the comments, be they in line with your intentions or not.
Best wishes, Jeanette

GMaq wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 12:50 pm

Hi, glad you're back!

We've lost some regular contributors here so it's great to see a few 'old faces' have come back..

I enjoyed the songs, great work! Great vocals on the samba, setBFree also sounds great! Esperanca was lovely as well although in the lower registers the round tone of the lead guitar was a bit heavy and bassy but a great melody. I love the lofi garage punk sound you got with the Black Pearl on Assim Sera and great job on the drum programming as well!

Thank you GMaq!

Indeed it's been some years I'm here, even if it's in a sparse way. It's been hard to focus on producing tracks the last couple of years.

The samba tune needs some rework but thanks for the encouragement. As for the rock track I'm also satisfied with the drums.

Esperanca will need some rework too, I'll keep your ideas in mind.

Thanks a lot again.

Like this music!

Hi @jeanette_c

Your response was quite rich so I'll have to address it by parts. First of all, many thanks for your time and patience!

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:49 pm

May I ask how you record your guitar? Do you use an acoustic pickup or a mic? the sound is a little plasticky.

Acoustic guitar was recorded with a condenser mic, and yes I've used Chorus as you noticed. I probably didn't use it well. It was a sort of a rushed choice. But I do like a little Chorus on nylon string guitar. It's just a matter of finding the right balance, maybe.

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:49 pm

Have you every tried using the Hilbert filter plugin. There is one in the old SWH LADSPA plugins and there may be others. Or you could try to send guitar to a chorus, like sending to a reverb and then use heavy filtering and EQ'ing to achieve more stereo width and some beating, without being too obvious. Very subtel reverb or delays may also help. Again filtering and EQ'ing as well as very low volume can open up the width without being too obvious.

I've never heard of that one but will surely try it, along with the other ideas.

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:49 pm

Esperanca is a beautiful theme. It could very well sit within a soundtrack or carry beautiful images. You introduce the organ very well. Even though I can't hear much of a swell it almost sneaks in. Also your electric guitar sound is very fitting. It makes for a beautiful melodic and jazzy sound. As the song progresses, it would have been even sweeter to hear the organ "melody" introduce a second voice or line to the guitar, opening up the sound further. But that's a matter of taste.

I've struggled with that song trying to find a good way to progress with it, adding new layers while the basic theme kept repeating. I'm not totally happy with the final result either, specially with the drums, and will soon go for a 2.0 version. Will try the second voice you suggested

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:49 pm

Outra Cancao is perhaps the apotheosis of lightness. Lovely singing. You sound so assured and relaxed, exactly what the music needs. Did you intend the rhythm to be as sparse as that? All the time I was listening out for the cowbell to go into a clave which would complement the guitar rhythm. That's the only element giving the song an almost cool stiffness. An interesting effect, certainly. It's a nice play on expectations.

Thanks for the compliment I just tried a slow samba here and, as for the percussion, I didn't knew I've used a cowbell I was trying to find something near to a Tamborim (not Tambourine) and started to play with my drum kit sample to find what matched best.

This is another song that will need some rework, but I'm glad you liked it, even if I'm a bit ashamed with those flaws.

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:49 pm

Assim Sera has a cool guitar sound. You and Guitarix nailed it amongst you. With the drums being so reverbed and narrow in the stereo spectrum, the song gets a dirty rehearsal room flavour. LIke a band just recorded during the final practice session before the gig. Being the studio album person, no rock 'n roll bone in my body, that I am, I'd have loved a more polished production, with a far less roomy drumkit and a wider sound. Perhaps even a second guitar in unison with the first, or whatever else guitarists have come up with in productions to achieve that embracing guitar sound. But this song lives!

Assim Sera did came out a bit too much noisy indeed, and in the end that favored that "garage" aesthetic you mentioned. Btw, there are two guitars in unison in the lead part (not rhythm).

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:49 pm

Conversa de E.T. has perhaps the best guitar playing of all. I loved that! Guitar sound aside, this is just beautiful!

Glad you liked that funny and weird song! I love those harmonies too.

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:49 pm

Thanks again for sharing and I hope that my critical comments don't give you the impression that I did not enjoy the music. I think this music is worth the comments, be they in line with your intentions or not.

Not at all. I'm grateful for your patience to put down such a detailed message as well as for you spending your time listening to that music.

I hope next time I can show here the improved versions (not in such a long break).

Best whishes,

Pierre

Hi Pierre, if you are thinking of new drums... Have you tried DrumGizmo? Or if you'd like a little less hassle: the Salamander drumkit in SFZ format? together with AVL they can provide rather good drum sounds.
And I'm glad you didn't take my criticism the wrong way. It was a joy to listen.
Best wishes, Jeanette

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 5:40 pm

Hi Pierre, if you are thinking of new drums... Have you tried DrumGizmo? Or if you'd like a little less hassle: the Salamander drumkit in SFZ format? together with AVL they can provide rather good drum sounds.

I have DrumGizmo installed but normally I find AVL drums better to use, for many reasons. Will check the Salamander, thanks for pointing out.

It'd be cool, however, to have a plugin entirely dedicated to percussive instruments. I've searched for that but didn't find anything yet.

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 5:40 pm

And I'm glad you didn't take my criticism the wrong way. It was a joy to listen.

No way, critics are important and I've found yours a great example of that!

Best wishes