-= Building a Guitar from Scratch with Absolutely No Woodworking Experience =-

7 hours ago, drand said:

Here's my cover, it was so fun to do (and also I hated it) 

I couldn't really figure out how to stay on key on this one lol had me like ??? and the string squeaks got me so salty

I picked up a used MIDI keyboard this week because I didn't want to keep missing out on the sick synth solos like with The House of the Rising Sun! Having a good time with these, what a rabbit hole

Drand did it again.... WOW what an athmosphere. How did you do those drums? Hammer!!!! Guitar - on point, vocals transporting a mood of sedated desperation listened throug a half-cosed window or thin wall .. YES!  Overall very professional cover, bravo!!

 

@ cacahuate51  - yes! bring it on.

8 hours ago, drand said:

Here's my cover, it was so fun to do (and also I hated it) 

I couldn't really figure out how to stay on key on this one lol had me like ??? and the string squeaks got me so salty

I picked up a used MIDI keyboard this week because I didn't want to keep missing out on the sick synth solos like with The House of the Rising Sun! Having a good time with these, what a rabbit hole

Congrats on your version! Always so polished and well arranged 🤩

I have also been thinking on geting a midi keyboard (even though I know nothing about keyboards 🤣) Started to look around this week

 

1 hour ago, AndreCardoso said:

Congrats on your version! Always so polished and well arranged 🤩

I have also been thinking on geting a midi keyboard (even though I know nothing about keyboards 🤣) Started to look around this week

Thank you 😊 watched a crazy amount of Reaper tutorials at every step, love all the free resources! this one was a real challenge but there are videos for anything you want to get done on the YT Reaper Mania and the plugins completely change the sound too (I use free Tukan guitar station for guitar and bass) I really recommend this DAW for learning because of the tutorials (Reapertips Alejandro YT is also a fire supplement)

I tried to get a used Akai MPK Mini Mk3 because every vid I saw recommends it but it fell through 🥲 ended up with a used Nektar LX25+, twice the size with full sized keys and native Reaper integration (no endless knobs 😔 can’t have everything) but I have a feeling @ cacahuate51  knows a thing or two about what’s worth picking up (btw 🥜 drop that cover I know it’s gonna be gas, I’ve seen those remixes)

3 hours ago, Rodman said:

Drand did it again.... WOW what an athmosphere. How did you do those drums? Hammer!!!! Guitar - on point, vocals transporting a mood of sedated desperation listened throug a half-cosed window or thin wall .. YES!  Overall very professional cover, bravo!!

@ cacahuate51  - yes! bring it on.

Thank you 🙏🏻 I used Songsterr this time like you recommended for the charts, the MIDI keyboard for first draft aaand the Reaper built-in MIDI editor to completely rework it and quantize the hot mess 😅

Also the Sitala plugin with free samples, routed the individual signals for each percussive sound with the Reaper Mania tutorials which made a big difference, compression all around

I saw the video by Rick Beato breaking down the song and he said really compressed vocals so I tried to lean heavy on that 

I feel like I sound like a pissed off chipmunk 🐿️ trying to emulate these vocals but that’s what I got to work with so I make do and lower the volume 😂

23 hours ago, Rodman said:

@ diceslinger  - reading your thoughts a tad....

SIDE CHALLENGE - Let´s COVER some [26]

Rules? No rules! We pick a song and everybody is invited to share his version. Songs shall be called every week, if you don´t manage to nail your version within the week - entrances are ALWAYS welcome. No winners, no losers, just fun and personal progress, a bit bringing in the harvest of the hard work we all do here every week by converting to own produced music, and (for me very important) learning (easy versions) of songs to be able to play them anytime when a guitar is in the room - and that shall be a part of thinking on the next song selection maybe.

So - as we had NIN - Hand That Feeds last week  JUST GREAT, yay!!!! Everyone who has not finished his cover - just post whenever ready in the running week (yes, this one) so we all will recognise it.

Covering Allstar @ diceslinger  is back and translating his posts:

This week we want you to cover ANY RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS SONG  

Feel free to choose your most fav one or just go for Can´t Stop if you trained that already last week. There are great CDLCs for almost all of their songs.

Cannot wait to have those coming in.

Great week everyone!!!!

Rod.

Damn fine mind reading there @ Rodman   That will give me time to do this project.  We just picked up Peavey Milestone III bass for my son so we will have to try that out!

3 hours ago, drand said:

Thank you 🙏🏻 I used Songsterr this time like you recommended for the charts, the MIDI keyboard for first draft aaand the Reaper built-in MIDI editor to completely rework it and quantize the hot mess 😅

Also the Sitala plugin with free samples, routed the individual signals for each percussive sound with the Reaper Mania tutorials which made a big difference, compression all around

I saw the video by Rick Beato breaking down the song and he said really compressed vocals so I tried to lean heavy on that 

I feel like I sound like a pissed off chipmunk 🐿️ trying to emulate these vocals but that’s what I got to work with so I make do and lower the volume 😂

I really enjoyed your cover, and +1 for going out and getting a MIDI keyboard just for the synth solo!  

I saw that video Rick Beato did too!  This is a really good example of compression because it is over top.  Acapella uses the same sort of compression, listen to anything by the Pentatonix and you can hear how the breaths they take are almost as loud as their singing voice.  That is compression.  Compression is hard to hear in mixes normally, but is it there and usually on everything.

So one thought, when you turn down and hide your vocals (I understand the urge) you are working counter to what Beato was talking about with the compression and putting the vocals front and center.  Reznor's vocals are raw and in your face because there is nothing else in the mix competing for them.  I would wager that there are low pass filters on most of the other instruments to keep them lower in the vocal range (usually 2-4 kilohertz)  That keeps them clear and unmuddy.  Guitar, Keys and Vocals can all compete for that range, and when I was taught mixing, low and high pass filters were the first this we started with to keep instruments from in their own frequency ranges.   It isn't the volume that makes vocals front and center, it is keeping the other instruments out of that 2K-4K range.  High and low pass filters are also usually on everything in a mix too.  (In Reaper the ReaEQ effects plugin works well)

Sorry if I am geeking out too hard, I love this side of making music!  

18 hours ago, AndreCardoso said:

Here is my very raw version of NIN - Hand that feeds. Without the crutch of Rocksmith 🫣

So, questions... Is it feasible to remove the sliding sound in the acoustic? Or my best bet is to purchase a cheap eletric guitar? 🎸

Do you use physical pedals to record? Or Audacity plugins? Is it possible to use the tones from Rocksmith?

A cover of RHCP? 🥳 

So many possibilities... Under the bridge, Otherside, Aeroplane, Breaking the Girl, By the way, Californication, Scar Tissue, Zephyr Song, Dark Necessities, Give it Away

But most of them I can't play above 95% 🤣

I was wonder what an acoustic cover would sound like!  If you have an audio interface you can use a DAW and VSTs for guitar pedal effects.  I have used Positive Grid's Bias FX and IK Multimedia's AmpliTube and they both work.  IK Multimedia has screaming sales every once in a while, so I wouldn't pay full price.  The free version of Amplitube works ok, but it is hard not to want more pedals.

Some improvements:

 

 

10 hours ago, drand said:

I tried to get a used Akai MPK Mini Mk3 because every vid I saw recommends it but it fell through 🥲 ended up with a used Nektar LX25+, twice the size with full sized keys and native Reaper integration (no endless knobs 😔 can’t have everything) but I have a feeling @ cacahuate51  knows a thing or two about what’s worth picking up (btw 🥜 drop that cover I know it’s gonna be gas, I’ve seen those remixes)

I do have some experience with keyboards and have owned more than I should XD. Ranging from very small 2 octave ones to larger ones 5 octvs and even an organ (have more keyboards than guitars and basses combined).  I actually have the one in your video mentioned at 2:45 (impulse 61)  and have had it for like 10 years its honestly my favorite one and use it daily!!

For the most part, what you are paying with the ones in the videos is the software that it includes. Midi keyboards generally dont have sounds, meaning you have to have software connected to play a sound on the keyboard. So thats where the software comes in handy.

That being said theres hundreds of free software that you can use so don't feel like you need to buy one of the branded keyboards. For example vital is a free to use vst synthesizer which gives youinfinite possibilities to create different sounds ( and theres quite alot of tutorials out there or free presets) . Or you can use something like Dexed that give you older sounds that emulate yamaha dx7 which is a famous synth that has been used in multiple top hits.

 the knobs and buttons on midi controls are pretty extra, im not saying they arent usefull (cause they are) but i personally dont use them (except for the pitch bend that ones fun) and sometimes they actually can get in the way/ messing up mixer volumes or sound settings , although sometimes it also can create happy accidents. 

With this in mind, you usually can use the light up pianos IF they come with a midi port on the back (the one that looks like a printer cable or usb c with newer models NOT the round ones, it is doable but the round to usb requires another cable which can be costly)  So you can always go thrift shopping or maybe a friend or family has one of those that they never used, theres usually ones everywhere lol. Although secondhand keyboards im a little bit more iffy cause sometimes the keys get stuck or buttons are faulty and yea just becomes a little bit more problamatic but its doable.

so something like this in theory should work and that one actually has sounds. albeit, probably sounds you wouldnt use but whatever xD(the video demo sounded pretty good tho like haywyre type music lol)  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R7G8SRZ/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B08R7G8SRZ&pd_rd_w=wFbhj&content-id=amzn1.sym.386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_p=386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_r=XPWVD5S8NFSXPHY72SA1&pd_rd_wg=JLrZD&pd_rd_r=74abff48-2d6b-4c5d-b454-1bc6c0975fba&s=musical-instruments&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM  just make sure that it has midi functionality and you are set. and then turn the room lights off and make the room glow red!

The impulse 61 came with ableton lite at the time and is the reason why i use that daw (upgraded later buuut there are cheaper daws out there like reaper or ones that dont require a paid upgrade every year which can be costly like fl studio so also have that in mind lol)

anyways a bit rambling.
If you aren't planing on traveling I would strongly reccomend atleast a 5 octv midi keyboard instead of the 2 octvs ones. It does depend on your play style but personally i feel like 5 octvs is the sweet spot as it allows you to play octaves on left hand while a melody with the right easily. 2 octv ones also come with software usually but i personally just felt very restricted using them and would have to do lots of takes doing layers.  That does come with benefits as sometime restrictions can make you come up with different things buut you can set those restictions yourself if you have the bigger octave ones aswell.

Also some keys are weighted and some arent so again, playing them in person is preferable than buying online. With the smaller 2 octave keyboards sometimes the keys are smaller than a normal piano in width. This means its easier to do octaves but its easier to goof up as you dont have that much space (I assume with practice its fine tho)

since 400 is pretty steep for a midi controller and the impulse is pretty old (although you most likely will not need another keyboard) maybe this video would help out more. Since they are newer and cheaper models under 300 and come with software if you wanted..

 I've never had arturia @ 4:12  but have friends that own their stuff and they say its really good. Also their software tends to emulate old real synthezisers and are a known brand. So buying one of their keyboards might kill 2 birds with one stone. All the ones in the video look slim which would be good imo since the impulse is pretty chunky and not very transportable friendly (still love it though). 

More keys is always fun ,  61 keys doesnt let me do everything but does let me play most music and i could press the transpose option if needed.  

Also if you ever played rock band 3 and bought the keyboard (expensive little things) you can use that aswell, even the pro guitar. just incase you ever bought one lol.

 

35 minutes ago, cacahuate51 said:

I do have some experience with keyboards and have owned more than I should XD. Ranging from very small 2 octave ones to larger ones 5 octvs and even an organ (have more keyboards than guitars and basses combined).  I actually have the one in your video mentioned at 2:45 (impulse 61)  and have had it for like 10 years its honestly my favorite one and use it daily!!

Since you mentioned light up, how do you feel about the ROLI? https://roli.com/campaign/just-play

I saw ari@home uses it and it looks so good

I'm starting with bass this time so as not to confuse @ cacahuate51  with the ratings at the end of the week 😆

And first of all, the first note. The beginner and intermediate songs have a similar level of difficulty. It's definitely not 2 and 4, I'd give them both about 3. Generally something between 2.5 and 3.5.

Here the ending part is a bit tricky. I would give this a 4.5.

Nice fun song for bass. Not sure if hard enough for a 7 or closer to a 6.5. Need more opinions.

Fun too. I would give this a 7.5, but 8 is ok too.

Have a nice musweek everyone!

Violent Soho - Jesus Stole My Girlfriend

Very easy and enjoyable song for beginners.

 

Flobots - Handlebars

I didn't get any of single plam muted notes.

 

Bullet For My Valentine - Hit The Floor

The Poison... Almost 20 years ago! 👴👴👴 One of my favorites albums.

 

Can't sure if I will able to practice this week but I'll try. Then I took an arrow in the knee I hurt my knee with simple squats. LOL

Nice covers once again! Incredible! 

51 minutes ago, drand said:

Since you mentioned light up, how do you feel about the ROLI? https://roli.com/campaign/just-play

I saw ari@home uses it and it looks so good

Aaah that looks so pretty!! probably would work great with r+. Never seen it or heard of it.  Kinda weird theres no gameplay footage of it on yt since it looks like it has a game mode similar to r+...so that kinda brings a red flag to me. It might be cause legal issues but sometimes it can also be cause the songs dont sound too good. 

I think its probably just expensive cause it has "MPE" which is a "new" technology to give sounds more life (but you can still do this in the daw by automation) If it were 5 octaves yeah ngl even i would consider it 😆.

I personally wouldnt buy it though just cause 4 octaves is a huge turn off for me. Cause that really means you can only do one octave of bass octaves and same for leads which can be very limiting. on paper might sound like enough but trust me you will be better off geting one with more keys.

Probably the ones in the video i shared would be more usefull since they are cheaper and come with software or even the light up ones cause they have more keys. Mpe is still pretty new and not that nesecarry kinda like blue ray to dvds its nice...but extra (as far as i am aware of but maybe im wrong).

EDIT: 

Also just the fact that they are discounting 200 when releasing just seems like a FOMO tactic and also means that theyre overchaging their costumers. which yea 400 for 4 octaves is a bit absurd (600 for 4 is even more insane) but then again just depends how much you value mpe and led lights.

i say, If you want to be cheap you can buy musical led lights on temu/alibaba or some chinese company and then play without headphones xD it wont light up per key but it will per sound lmao 

Anyways, I'll keep an eye out if they make larger ones or it goes on sale though thanks for sharing!

 

@drand

well thinking about it...you did mention you had a 2 octave keyboard though...so technically you could just get the loli 4 octave treat that as the lead (like a gtr since it usually has 4 octaves) and then use the one you have for bass. that way you would have 6 octaves (although ig only 2 for bass but atleast youd get to use your other keyboard lol) just a possibility/ route different patches each synth if wanted to. Just make sure to have enough usb ports. But yea might work. you can have them side by side or get a double rack stack.

i think i liked 5 for anyone who doesnt have one yet cause you have the range of a guitar and the lowend of a bass. But they arent that movable. so yea maybe 2 smaller ones is better have never tried even though i could xD.

 

The leaderboard incorrectly gave me a score 99.89 on DJ Cassidy - should be 99.36.   I initially misread that as an incorrect score of 99.89 on Hit The Floor, soI thought I would try to fix it by legitimately hitting that score, but didn't quite make it... 

2 hours ago, cacahuate51 said:

well thinking about it...you did mention you had a 2 octave keyboard though...so technically you could just get the loli 4 octave treat that as the lead (like a gtr since it usually has 4 octaves) and then use the one you have for bass. that way you would have 6 octaves (although ig only 2 for bass but atleast youd get to use your other keyboard lol) just a possibility/ route different patches each synth if wanted to. Just make sure to have enough usb ports. But yea might work. you can have them side by side or get a double rack stack.

Don’t encourage me, if I keep buying an instrument a week I’m a goner 😂 I dropped $35 for the keyboard and I felt that tbh so for now I will have to dream! 

What a great way to think about the octaves as it relates to the guitars, really admire y’alls ability 

Hope you get well soon @ Vodka !

@ jimmy655  Ah ok thanks for pointing that out! the automatic system converted your daughtry score to dj cassidy should be fixed now

On 3/16/2025 at 6:48 AM, Goan Peng said:

 

BTW good to have you back!! hadn't seen you in a long time but its cool to see you stopped by these last two weeks 🙂 


@ Telesko  Hey welcome to the championship!! Happy you made it eventually ! I didnt notice untill now cause you don't have the same profile picture lol. It seems like you nailed intermediate bass, have you tried advanced or masterclass? Just to know what class to put you in.

tried a couple times, lose streak on some powerchords 




think i missed a note


I meant the rhythm path for championship to be alt lead since rhythm path is pretty simple

maybe shouldve given it a bit higher than a 4 like 4.5 since lots of notes but  seemed easy to me as i got 100 first try.






Gave it a couple more tries since you got a good score , thanks @ Mikson  for pushing me harder!

Ah man.... i knew with the hit up of @ diceslinger  i knew things will get tense 🙂 uhh yeeeah...

will i have to use my Roland Baby again hmmmm

Hmmm..... wait a minute 😮

...

...

am i buying things by the color again

 

I have an Arturia keystep and the built quality is fantastic!  It really impressed me how substantial it feels, so I would buy Arturia again if I could afford it.  I got mine for a great price used, or I wouldn't have been able to justify it.

11 hours ago, cacahuate51 said:

@ jimmy655  Ah ok thanks for pointing that out! the automatic system converted your daughtry score to dj cassidy should be fixed now

@ cacahuate51  Thanks for the fixes.  I no longer have inaccurate scores posted, but I do have a missing score for DJ Cassidy now the incorrect one (99.89) has been removed.  I posted a 99.36 which does not appear.  

 

By the way, is it just me, or is intermediate guitar really hard this week? 

nice one (6.5)