Put together a whole bunch of backup MP3's and Jam loops for a tutorial on Seventh Chords if anyone's interested, using just a couple of chords for each song. If you're looking for something to play leads to or just generally practice chords or scales with, these might be of some help.
I've included the CMaj7 MP3 here, but there's about 10 others to experiment with. Also included is recording info and an equipment list.
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/CMaj7MP3Song.mp3
http://guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=12424
Equipment Used:
Mac Core 8 Computer, 3.2ghz, 4Tb, 12Gb
M-Audio Firewire 410
Cubase 4.0
Roland PG-200 Keyboard
Xphraze Synth
PSP Vintage Warmer
LiquidInstruments ScoreFX
Liquid Instruments 'The Voice'
HalionOne
PSP Vintage Warmer
Rayspace Reverb
Yamaha Eterna Acoustic Guitar
Rode NT-1 Microphone
T-Racks 24 for Mastering
1. Started with the guitar part
I wrote a song many years ago using an A Maj 7 and an F Maj 7, so I started there. Just took the basic premise of the verses from the song and made it into this lesson.
2. Used an old MIDI file
I had another song I'd written ages ago that had the midi drums already written out so I imported those into Cubase and called up a Halion patch to play them.
3. Called up X-Phraze to play the basic synth part.
I alternated the chords on the keyboard for 2 bars and then copied and pasted it for the length of the song using a basic string patch.
4. Called up Liquid Instruments Score FX to play the basic bass part.
Had to take the C note and transpose it to an F since there was only one sample. Assigned both notes to different keys. Played them for 2 bars and copied and pasted for the length of the song.
5. Called up multiple X-Phraze synths to play various rhythm synth parts and used the copied and pasted MIDI parts to play them.
Since the chords had already been recorded in MIDI, I just copied the part to several different tracks and assigned different X-Phraze patches to each one.
6. Called up Liquid Instruments 'The Voice'.
Wanted some female vocals in the background so I used a vocal plug-in for Liquid Instruments and played around with the vocals until they timed properly with the song. Unfortunately the vocals were too 'R&B' sounding for my tastes so I had to up the pitch and formant to make them sound younger. Then because I'd stretched several of the notes, they were sounding really mechanical and had to disguise this with a heavy dose of reverb.
7. Searched the hard drive for crash and ride swell sounds.
Used 'FileBuddy' to search my hard drive and found several different crash samples and some ride swells from the Mick Fleetwood Total Drumming CD. Imported these into Cubase and dragged them around to several parts that needed it. In cases where there are abrupt changes from one synth patch to another, a ride swell or crash can be used to cover up the splice.
8. Imported a police radio sound as well as the Beach Boys singing a radio call sign from the 1960's.
Just seemed like this part of the song needed some mystery to it so I went through the hard drive looking for radio sounds (kinda corny but hey).
During the search I found an old recording of the Beach Boys singing a radio call sign so I dropped that in there as well.
9. Recorded the guitar parts
Did 2 recordings and panned them extreme left and right. Added a little compression and reverb.
10. Did one final take for video
Recording the guitar part one final time while filming and then kept this version high in the mix for the video.
11. Mixed everything down using T-Racks
Mastering is a vital process in finalizing your recordings and is covered elsewhere on the site.
