Scratch

All4one wrote:

Wow, I can't believe how much has happened since the last time I checked this topic.   

I would've checked earlier, but I have been very busy lately.

Anyway, great to see we have a drummer now! (By the way, Necromaster, I'm a big fan of your piece "Diablo".)

Meanwhile, as stated before, I think we should have 7 tracks per album, and about 2-3 singles from each. I'm going to give you an on-the-spot, suggested track listing for our first album:

1. Nowhere Man
2. She Loves You
3. Little Child
4. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
5. And Your Bird Can Sing
6. Julia
7. Abbey Road Medley

It's hard to really represent tracks from the Beatles' many eras in just a 7-track album, but I think the track listing is pretty good nonetheless. Feel free to post your own version of the first album's track listing.

@jji7skyline - I don't know, it would seem rather odd if our rhythm guitarist was absent from a single that uses rhythm guitar heavily. Do you think you could perform it for us, then we can let you choose our next single?

(EDIT - 100th reply! Didn't think this collab would turn out being so productive.  )

(2ND EDIT - @DIY - I'm interested to hear your method on how to approach orchestral overdubs. I also have a suggestion (though this might've been yours in the first place) - maybe we can replicate orchestral sounds on a keyboard?

Also, since the "Abbey Road Medley" consists of several tunes sung by various vocalists, I was wondering which vocalists would sing which section.

Finally, I've already added you on the list, Necromaster, and I think you're going to make a great addition to the band, but I was wondering if you had a voice similar to The Beatles. If so, which Beatle do you think you sound like the most? If not, do you think your voice would match the Beatles' tunes well?)

Yes, we've had a lot happening and I've told Necromaster to get the drums ready by Friday. Then I'll record my own tracks so I can mix the medley save for the bass tracks and later orchestral backing (I may play it on keyboard or use synthetic effects).

Nowhere Man is definitely something I'd like to do with the stellar a capella intro and instrumentation all round. She Loves You captures the Fab Four's rock 'n' roll heyday, playing a major part in them becoming a worldwide phenomenon. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away is really quite simple and a good choice, giving the album good variety. I'm fine with And Your Bird Can Sing (fab intro and guitar riff; I've learnt that), and of course the Abbey Road Medley which we will be starting with (some of their finest work). Plus I can manage these songs; they are either relatively easy to learn or I've learnt them already.

However, to me Little Child and Julia seem rather unfitting. Let's face it, their tunes aren't amongst what we can rate top by The Beatles, yet they are good songs in their own write. If you really want something from the White Album era, I'd suggest Dear Prudence since it is of similar style to Julia (Travers Picking). The songs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 you've listed are all from the pre-Pepper era, so we really need to change at least one of them since clearly their songs just kept improving over time. I'd suggest Think For Yourself or Hey Bulldog (from the Yellow Submarine Songtrack) as a replacement for Little Child which is one of their early songs from With The Beatles.

Since jji7skyline is not performing, it doesn't really matter because most of the time there is lead with a rhythm accompaniment in places. It revolves around the two parts somethimes as well, so one person can handle that. jji could sing I suppose, since he doesn't want to be involved in the medley. I remember him mentioning he likes to sing John's songs (though I'm not sure whether he can replicate the voice), so I will in that case take Paul's songs. I find my voice good for his songs and well suited.

That would mean I'll be singing lead for You Never Give Me Your Money, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight (all four sing here though), The End and Her Majesty. That is a lot, but we can maybe consider splitting the vocals if someone else can also accurately imitate Paul McCartney's voice. jji would only have to sing lead for Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam and Carry That Weight and of course backing for the other songs I'll be singing, and vice versa for me). I'm sure jji will prefer this as he won't have to do much, seeing he doesn't like the medley.

If you'd ask me, the Abbey Road Medley is enough for an EP! It clocks at around 16-and-a-half minutes, longer than Frozen Coco's Crimson Love EP that is about 16 minutes. Unless of course you want to release a nearly full-length album (the Abbey Road album has eight songs plus the entire medley so if we have six, plus the medley, that'll be of decent length. Of course the meaning of an EP is lost, but it will then be of nearly full-length.

So there are my suggestions, and I will be able to undertake the vocals of Paul as I mentioned when this collab started. I'm confident these arrangements will work out and we'll be able to produce a good medley, and later on the album!

You're probably right about adding more post-1967 material - I'll make an updated version later. I just have really strong feelings for With the Beatles for some reason. 

Meanwhile, now that you mention it, I'm not sure if we'll be able to include the "Abbey Road Medley" on our EP/album, due to Scratch's size limitations. Maybe it'd be better off as a pure non-album single.

Last edited by All4one (2012-06-14 17:10:23)

All4one wrote:

You're probably right about adding more post-1967 material - I'll make an updated version later. I just have really strong feelings for With the Beatles for some reason. 

Meanwhile, now that you mention it, I'm not sure if we'll be able to include the "Abbey Road Medley" on our EP/album, due to Scratch's size limitations. Maybe it'd be better off as a pure non-album single.

Exactly. Pepper was when their music seriously bettered, so it was then 1967. We can edit the list likewise.

Scratch only allows upto 10MB of space per project, so a good quality compilation of the Abbey Road Medley certainly won't fit. It will have to be compressed, but I have already seen to it that our songs will be released through other forms of media sites.

@ jji7skyline: Learning the guitar parts starting now (through tabs) is going to take very long. I'm expecting the drum tracks by today, and I have already started recording most of the rhythm and some lead parts (You Never Give Me Your Money onwards). Most tabs I've used previously tend to give music for solo guitar and not its respective part. For example, the guitar may have to play the piano rhythm, etc. I should be done with all my tracks this weekend, and if I find time to mix (I am currently on a three month summer break after IGCSEs, but I may be going on vacation), we'll have the medley nearly mixed. Since I've already started and it will anyway take you a long time to familiarise yourself fully, I'd say we go for the more economical option. Could you do John's vocal parts? If you want, I'll send you the lyrics some time (that's if you can't find them). Then I can cover Paul's vocals and hopefully by the end of this weekend or the next, we can have everything done except for bass guitar and the orchestral arrangements. Thanks!

@ Necromaster: Please could you upload the final drum tracks today as promised? Can't wait to hear and start mixing once my tracks are fully done! Thanks. 

Necromaster wrote:

DIY wrote:

All4one wrote:

You're probably right about adding more post-1967 material - I'll make an updated version later. I just have really strong feelings for With the Beatles for some reason. 

Meanwhile, now that you mention it, I'm not sure if we'll be able to include the "Abbey Road Medley" on our EP/album, due to Scratch's size limitations. Maybe it'd be better off as a pure non-album single.

Exactly. Pepper was when their music seriously bettered, so it was then 1967. We can edit the list likewise.

Scratch only allows upto 10MB of space per project, so a good quality compilation of the Abbey Road Medley certainly won't fit. It will have to be compressed, but I have already seen to it that our songs will be released through other forms of media sites.

@ jji7skyline: Learning the guitar parts starting now (through tabs) is going to take very long. I'm expecting the drum tracks by today, and I have already started recording most of the rhythm and some lead parts (You Never Give Me Your Money onwards). Most tabs I've used previously tend to give music for solo guitar and not its respective part. For example, the guitar may have to play the piano rhythm, etc. I should be done with all my tracks this weekend, and if I find time to mix (I am currently on a three month summer break after IGCSEs, but I may be going on vacation), we'll have the medley nearly mixed. Since I've already started and it will anyway take you a long time to familiarise yourself fully, I'd say we go for the more economical option. Could you do John's vocal parts? If you want, I'll send you the lyrics some time (that's if you can't find them). Then I can cover Paul's vocals and hopefully by the end of this weekend or the next, we can have everything done except for bass guitar and the orchestral arrangements. Thanks!

@ Necromaster: Please could you upload the final drum tracks today as promised? Can't wait to hear and start mixing once my tracks are fully done! Thanks. 

I'm working on it! This evening at the latest.

Glad to hear that you'll be done by this evening! 

Please do upload it without fail and I'll be extremely grateful. Make sure the quality of the recording is good too! 

Necromaster wrote:

DIY wrote:

Necromaster wrote:

I'm working on it! This evening at the latest.

Glad to hear that you'll be done by this evening! 

Please do upload it without fail and I'll be extremely grateful. Make sure the quality of the recording is good too! 

Wait, I'm using an electric drum kit, is that ok?

Yeah, that's fine, so long as you play it.

You've been online for a while.    You have time to record, right?

Necromaster wrote:

DIY wrote:

Necromaster wrote:

Wait, I'm using an electric drum kit, is that ok?

Yeah, that's fine, so long as you play it.

You've been online for a while.    You have time to record, right?

Yes
I have scratch open permanently 

Great. I won't delay you any further then.

Could you get the recording done before the end of the hour? I'm sure you're hard at work on it right now. Once you're done, can you create an account on SoundCloud and upload the drum tracks there so that they aren't compressed? 

Necromaster wrote:

I finished Here Comes the Sun, I'll upload the next as soon as I record. I had to compress it, sorry. http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Necromaster/2613781

That's ok, but do you still have the recorded drum track for Here Comes the Sun on your computer. If so, could you please upload the tracks on SoundCloud to avoid compression? 

Also, when do you think you can finish all the drum tracks for the medley? Can I have them before the end of today, so I can mix them with my guitar and piano tracks during the weekend? Afterwards, I'll only need the bass tracks which'll be easy to get.

DIY wrote:

Necromaster wrote:

I finished Here Comes the Sun, I'll upload the next as soon as I record. I had to compress it, sorry. http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Necromaster/2613781

That's ok, but do you still have the recorded drum track for Here Comes the Sun on your computer. If so, could you please upload the tracks on SoundCloud to avoid compression? 

Also, when do you think you can finish all the drum tracks for the medley? Can I have them before the end of today, so I can mix them with my guitar and piano tracks during the weekend? Afterwards, I'll only need the bass tracks which'll be easy to get.

Oh, man. Darnit. I thought you wanted the first song's tracks by today. In that case, I will be done by sunday. I thought you only wanted Here Comes the Sun by today. 

Necromaster wrote:

DIY wrote:

Necromaster wrote:

I finished Here Comes the Sun, I'll upload the next as soon as I record. I had to compress it, sorry. http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Necromaster/2613781

That's ok, but do you still have the recorded drum track for Here Comes the Sun on your computer. If so, could you please upload the tracks on SoundCloud to avoid compression? 

Also, when do you think you can finish all the drum tracks for the medley? Can I have them before the end of today, so I can mix them with my guitar and piano tracks during the weekend? Afterwards, I'll only need the bass tracks which'll be easy to get.

Oh, man. Darnit. I thought you wanted the first song's tracks by today. In that case, I will be done by sunday. I thought you only wanted Here Comes the Sun by today. 

Oh sorry! I thought we agreed you'd send the whole thing by today - the entire medley. 

It's okay. That's a miscommunication. Well, I hope to receive the entire thing by Sunday! 

jji7skyline wrote:

DIY wrote:

jji7skyline wrote:

I'm not familiar with the music enough to actually do the lyrics. I'll pass this time 

You sure about that? I was hoping you'd do John's vocals well. 

I thought you'd enjoy it. Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam is easy and the rest of the backing vocals as well. Do you want me to send you the lyrical sequence so you know when to come in?

Well, none of the songs in the medley are familiar to me. I wish I could but I can't. Sorry :[

Aww man... 

Could you please send me your Here Comes the Sun guitar track without the added Garageband effects? I think now that we have the drum track to that as well, we can start work on that too, so it can be released after the medley. All you need to do is send me the same track without the effects if possible.

Here Comes the Sun starts side 2 of Abbey Road, and the next song is Because. There is much speculation about whether Because is part of the Abbey Road Medley or whether the medley starts from the next number, You Never Give Me Your Money. Now I believe Necromaster is going to send me the drum recordings of Because until The End by Sunday (Her Majesty has no drums), so I'd say we do Because as well (it does not have drums, but the tutorial I linked Necromaster to had a good added drum part). Since there is only lead guitar, moog synthesiser and harpsichord, I can tackle those on the keyboard and my electric guitar. That'll be rather painless.

Necromaster, I hope to hear your tracks by Sunday as promised. 

All4one wrote:

Yeah, I was thinking it'd be a great idea to do Here Comes the Sun because we already have Necro's drum parts and jji's guitar parts. I'll add that to the modified track listing, and maybe we can consider releasing it as a single in the end.

Meanwhile, seeing jji is unable to sing the Abbey Road Medley, maybe we can get Necro to sing some parts. At our very last resort, I would contribute vocals, though my microphone is plain dreadful. 

Will you still be sending us the rhythm guitar parts, jji? If so, this is a good place to find guitar tabs.

Also, I think we're going to have an official band logo by Monday or Tuesday. 

Yeah, perhaps Necromaster could take vocals for the songs since jji isn't singing (though I'm sure you won't do a bad job either - the mic could be an issue). 

After giving it some thought, I also decided that Here Comes the Sun will be a good inclusion, and as you said, we could release it as a single. However, in my opinion, jji should retake the guitar track for the song (without any additional effects from GarageBand) as the one he did sounds a bit sloppy at times.

From experience, I've learnt that Ultimate Guitar isn't the best place to find both rhythm, bass & lead guitar tabs. If jji does take rhythm for later songs (which he isn't for the medley; learning now will delay the whole thing), I'd suggest GuitareTabs which tends to have accurate tablatures since they are moderated.

As for the logo, I've already created one using The Beatles font, so you don't need to worry about it. Accounts have been opened on media sharing sites and it is a fantastic one too. I'll show it to you soon! 

If you have a different idea though, it'd be interesting to see what you have in mind. 

Necromaster, please remember to submit the drum tracks to the entire medley by the end of today. Thanks! 

Last edited by DIY (2012-06-16 23:36:52)

jji7skyline wrote:

I don't think I can get rid of the effects, and I won't be able to record again until the wee after next week because of schoolwork, and next weekend our family goes on holiday 

Could you just mix it with what we have and then we can see how it sounds.

Okay, I'll do a raw mix with the track we have but obviously it can't be the final one. Since we are releasing The Abbey Road Medley as an EP first, I guess we can wait until the week after next for your new recording. Just remember to record it then and do not add external effects from audio editing software. I'll do that when I finally mix it with moog synthesizer and strings.