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Posted by: Ulrik Oct 18 2011, 09:59 PM

Hi all.

I joined a GMC virtual band earlier this year, sadly it didn't go anywhere.
So now I'll start one myself.

As I'm a metalfan, I'd prefer this genre, but something softer might be ok too.

A cover could be a possibility for a first song.

I was thinking of doing some rythm parts and maybe some vocals, depending on what we decide to play.
And I'll get to do some mixing too I think.


So if you think you can contribute you're welcome.
So far users Gitarrero and MonkeyDAthos have shown interrest, and also our instructor Todd Simpson.


Please write what you would like to do in the band.
I think we need 2-3 guitarists
A drummer or drumprogrammer.
A bassist.
Maybe some keyboards.
And what about some female vocals too


I really don't want to dictate, so let's see, what we can decide together.



Ulrik

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Oct 18 2011, 10:12 PM

i would love originals, have alot of riff's ideas ! but i am up to covers, "i am not petrucci btw ahah so beware the amount of shred".

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 18 2011, 10:19 PM

I"m Stoked! Can't wait If anyone doesn't have it yet, Go download REAPER! So we can all share files.

http://www.reaper.fm/

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Oct 18 2011, 10:21 PM

me have reaper

Posted by: Michael AC Oct 19 2011, 01:56 AM

I do not think I am there yet, but how does the whole virtual band thing work? Sounds interesting.

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 19 2011, 03:59 AM

Well, generally, you get a bunch of folks together and then start coming up with some song ideas. We are working remotely so having the same software certainly helps. Anybody can participate, according to their desire, etc. You can be involved by listening and critiquing if nothing else, or giving a mix a shot, etc. I'd say the more the merrier People have different schedules so it's great to have a decent size batch of folks to pitch in as a song moves forward.

So don't think you aren't there yet, you are! Your ears alone would help the project. I'm hoping we keep an open vibe on this project and try to let folks participate in any way they can. What do you think Ulrik?

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 19 2011, 08:19 AM

Yes, I think a virtual band is vulnerable with few members. So we'll let many members participate on different levels.


I too think making our own material would be preferable. Project Quadrium made some cool things, so lets se if we can too.

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 19 2011, 03:53 PM

As I already told you, I'm in!
I also think that project quadrium is gonna get moving again now that Dogukan has recovered and is back on the forum, but the more band projects, the merrier!
I am up for rhythm, easy solo stuff and bass...oh, and drum programming, once my new drum program arrives (which was today, gotta pick it up at the post office tomorrow ).
I'd also try some vocals again once my voice recovered from the cold.
How about covering a "non-metal" song? I know this kind of stuff is all over the place on youtube, but it might be a fun thing and (now comes the marketing part) it might get us quite a bunch of viewers when we put that stuff up on youtbe, facebook or whatever virtual place. Maybe some recent hit, Rihanna and Lady Gaga stuff for sure would bring the most viewers (given that is one of our goals).
But I am happy with original stuff as well.

Christian

Posted by: quadrium Oct 19 2011, 03:59 PM

I can join too if you want guys, since i am back from hospital i am hoping to work in a virtual band project again. I like it

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 19 2011, 05:41 PM

Do you mean non-metal turned into metal?


I can't standz Rihaga and Gaga

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 19 2011, 06:11 PM

That's what I meant Ulrik! Who can stand Rihanna and Lady Gaga? xD
As I said, to create lots of youtube-views this might be a way to start out. But I am perfectly happy with original stuff. Let's hear what the others say

Posted by: quadrium Oct 19 2011, 07:54 PM

I also have some tunes and lyrics i wrote. If you want i can share them with you guys.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Oct 19 2011, 08:02 PM

This sounds so exciting guys!! If you find a place for a solo guest in any of your future songs I would be happy to participate!

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 19 2011, 08:24 PM

Unless they were meant for Project Quadrium.
We don't want to kill that project, if it is still breathing.


Anyone can present some material or propose a song to cover/metalize


Let's see if we can get 2 more band members maybe before we start for real.

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Oct 19 2011, 08:39 PM

This will be extra interesting! Keep us informed,guys

Posted by: SirJamsalot Oct 19 2011, 09:46 PM

this thread was hard to find!

I want to be in the loop! I can't commit to contributing, though if I do find time I'll submit a track or idea. I just have alot of practicing to do for some open mics and band practice so my time will be really limited by that.

Will you be using Kompoz again? Or are you just going to be mailing around files? Invite me if you're going to track your project on Kompoz!

SirJamsalot

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 19 2011, 10:00 PM

I haven't used Kompoz before, but I just checked it out.
If this will help our work, we might as well use it.

I saw your open mic video, looks fun, you'd better concentrate on that, and if you get more time we'll gladly have you here.

Posted by: quadrium Oct 20 2011, 02:49 PM

Since all of PQ members are in this project too we can go on from here if it is ok for Todd and Christian

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Oct 20 2011, 03:15 PM

This will be fun to follow!
One of the easiest ways to share files is to install http://www.dropbox.com/.
It will make a local shared folder on your harddrives and you can easily copy paste files there when working on the project.

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 20 2011, 03:22 PM

I allready use dropbox, it seems you get more storage space when adding more friends.


And Dogukan you can just share some of your stuff, you know I liked your Paradox lyrics

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 20 2011, 05:40 PM

Hey guys Looks like we are generating some buzz!

DOKUGAN: Sounds good to me We are all here anyway, let's all move ahead and jam!

GITARRERO: I hadn't considered that, making non metal in to metal for our project, but why not? Maybe we should pick a song/group that is a bit less detestable though. Just a song/band that doesn't make our group want to wince in pain. Youtube views or not, it should be a song that we at least want to play. Any body got any suggestions? It could be semi metal/rock, too though. For example, I heard a cover of Paranoid that I thought was good recently. Well, not great, but decent, done by "The Commander In Chief" a killer gal shredder.

Speaking of, IN FLAMES did a great cover of a Depeche Mode song. It turned out well.



DROP BOX:

Drop box is AWESOME! It's 2 GB of free online storage. Maybe we should give that a shot? I have not tried it for this type of thing but I already use and it's handy. We used Kompose a bit with quadrium and it was spiff as well but more involved in terms of the interface. Drop box is pretty simple, just a bucket. I'll go ahead and start a "share" on my account.

If you don't have one, go to www.dropbox.com and get one

SOFTWARE:

Per usual, I'd suggest REAPER. IT's great and free. You have to click STILL EVALUATING after 30 days but that's all.

Posted by: SirJamsalot Oct 20 2011, 06:13 PM

I created a DropBox account. Probably best to share actual email addresses offline though.

Cheers.

Posted by: quadrium Oct 20 2011, 06:37 PM

Yeah, i use dropbox too. It's really awesome and i think if we all use drobpox it would be great for this project




Sure Glad you liked the lyrics. I will make a drobpox folder and share wtih you guys, just tell me your e-mail addresses.

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 20 2011, 07:23 PM

Hey guys,
it's fine for me to move project quadrium here...so do we have to find another name for our this new baby? Something metal like "Todd and the toddlers" maybe? Okay, that sounds like a band from the sixties...
Anyway, when it came to covering I just thought about creating a youtube crowd at first, which seems easiest with recent superhits from the pop world. I think creating a non-metal song into metal or rock makes you reach out as a musician, but you have a certain line (e.g. melody) to follow. Why not pick a cool tune from Depeche Mode? Thinking of a thread not so long ago...why not cover an ABBA tune?!

Christian

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 20 2011, 09:09 PM

I don't know about ABBA:



If we could do something like this, I'd be proud:



And off course this one:



I actually think it's hard to decide on a song to metalize, but maybe Tonight tonight by The Smashing Pumpkins could be my suggestion.



I'm not sure what creature we will create, so I have a hard time finding a name just now.

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 20 2011, 09:15 PM

Oh yeah, that Seether version totally rocks. How about covering "last christmas"?
A rocker / metal version of Hotel California could be quite a challenge and pretty cool. Let's just brainstorm a little for a start!

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 21 2011, 12:06 AM

What do you guys have of your own material, that you want to share?


I have a little bit, sorry some of it is not recorded, just programmed midi.(I think I already uploaded them before)
It's ok to tear it apart and just use parts of it, if you think something is interesting.
It seems my songs always end up missing those cool little riffs, when made this way.

The one I call "Antimony" has an ok intro and outro I think, but the rest is not satisfying. And without vocals it's pretty boring.

"Within" is one I never did take the time to record fully. I think it has a couple of good parts, but maybe it's hard to imagine without real instruments. The intro sounds much better with a real guitar as you can hear.



Lets hear what you guys have, and it doesn't have to be the blackest of metal, and it doesn't have to be finished at all or super quality. A small riff will do


And what about signing up for this band if you haven't yet?

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 21 2011, 12:26 AM

Some great suggestions I think you have a good point with Hotel California, and there's the fact that it's great to solo over, is built for dual guitar leads, etc. We could do it as an instrumental and use guitar lead (sort of like Steve Vai does) instead of a vocal line and just keep the same melody. People know the words so we may be able to get away without using them.

Or we could to a metal vocals version and see if that works?


Abba might be fun too Death Metal Abba! Hmmm. "Knowing Me Knowing You" maybe? From them could work. Again, maybe instrumental version. But maybe deathy vocals if we could pull it off

Posted by: quadrium Oct 21 2011, 01:27 AM

Let's make a vote and decide what song we cover and start working I can't wait to start

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 21 2011, 07:58 AM

Hotel California is on youtube in every possible genre



But it seems anything remotely popular has ben metalized already.


Let's get all your suggestions today, and we will vote tommorrow ok?


Eagles - Hotel California
Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight tonight
Lenny Kravitz - Fly away
Carl Douglas - Kung fu fighting
ABBA - ?

Posted by: quadrium Oct 21 2011, 10:39 PM

Seems fine I am up for hotel california too

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 21 2011, 10:44 PM

Yeah, why not go for Hotel California for a start, we can do other covers in the future as well
I think it would be cool to record our own lyrics to it, though.

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 21 2011, 10:57 PM

Hotel California it is then

I was just trying to fit the lyrics of DragonForce - thru the fire and flames.
It works for me

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 22 2011, 12:32 AM

That version on the youtube vid is pretty darn impressive. Sounds like the vocals from the original song. It's a great song It is over 5 minutes long and complicated so creating the backing tracks will be a fun challenge.

Before we jump straight to it, maybe a bit more brainstorming? Or we can start on that and keep brainstorming for the next one.

Who is up for giving the drums for California a shot? If we can get the rythm section down, it will help quite a bit. So Drums and bass are the first tracks we need.

Is there a simpler tune, maybe a Black Sabbath or early Judas Priest tune that would be fun? (sabbath) War Pigs, Iron Man, (Priest)) Breaking the law, Electric eye. Just as ideas.

We can always just start and pick another as we go and see how it goes with California. I didn't actually think we would just zip straight to that tune, as I was just thinking out loud, but we can jump in and wing it

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 22 2011, 12:36 AM

Sounds like a fun idea Ulrik!
@Todd: Let's just do it man! BFD Eco arrived today, but I can't program the drums myself with the eco version. But I'll try with the other software I have.

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 22 2011, 01:14 AM

Yes lets go for it!
Great that we have someone to do the drums


Seriously I did put fire and flames lyrics on it. Is that too crazy?


On a cold winter morning, in the time before the light
In flames of death's eternal reign we ride towards the fight
When the darkness has fallen (down), and the times are tough all right
The sound of evil laughter falls around the world tonight

Fighting hard, fighting on for the steel, through the wastelands evermore
The scattered souls will feel the hell bodies wasted on the shores
On the blackest plains in hell's domain, we watch them as we go
In fire and pain, and once again we know

[Chorus:]
So far away we wait for the day
For the lives all so wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days
Through the fire and the flames we carry on

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 22 2011, 03:20 AM

BFD will respond to midi so you can program a drum track in your daw using a keyboard or what not. Just record it and BFD will play it back. Also, you can pick a grove from ECO drag it in to your timeline in reaper and edit it that way.

Some folks use a midi drum pad. Korg has one for about $50

http://shop.korgusa.com/products/productdetail/NANOPAD2+BLACK/part_number=NANOPAD2BK/2042.0.1.1.63957.65303.207.0.0?pp=6&

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 24 2011, 04:15 PM

It's def a new Mashup! Why not? Once we get a final mix we can try several versions, with vocals, guitars as vocals, another song for vocals. Whatever sounds fun

Great As a head start, you might be able to find a midi version of the drums for the song online that you could then just modify. But you can always start from scratch too. It's a great way to learn drum programming to try to replicate something and the play with it a bit. You can put the mp3 of the original tune in a track in your DAW (hopefully reaper) then use a midi track for the drums. That way you have a reference.

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 24 2011, 04:53 PM

First of all, I love Ulrik's idea with the different lyrics...this will catch most listeners by surprise

Okay, I'm volunteering to give the drums a shot, maybe you guys could mess around with different guitar tracks in the meantime? I don't want you to wait for my drum results, it's just too much pressure! I'm a shy guy with a lack of confidence!
Okay, that was kind of exaggerated...just get busy with your Axes!

Posted by: quadrium Oct 25 2011, 08:05 PM

Sounds great, i'll give it a shot about making guitar parts

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 28 2011, 10:48 AM

This weekend I too will see what ideas I can get.


Are we thinking standard tuning and Bm F# A E... for the verse?
I got a 5 string bass, so that can sound heavy, but my guitars are "only" 6 strings, so I've never done anything like a crazy drop B tuning.


How is the music making going for you?

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 28 2011, 02:18 PM

I've got a pretty standrad drum pattern down, close to the original, but it's kinda boring...Do we want to play the song faster?
I think it could be fun to use some more agressive drum patterns, maybe even with some double bass bursts, but stay close to the original tempo, if you knwo what I mean.
What are your thoughts on tempo and drum patterns?

Posted by: Ulrik Oct 28 2011, 07:51 PM

The metal remix I posted earlier is a bit faster than the original I think.
I dunno if we can pull off a heavy version if we are in the original tempo.

The pattern has to be different from the original so it is our version.
Let's hear, your suggestion.

Posted by: quadrium Oct 29 2011, 12:15 AM

I think we should play the song faster than original tempo since it's our version as Ulrik said. I'm making some riffs but since i don't have a exact tempo if i can have a reference drum track i can make it faster.

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 29 2011, 07:35 AM

Thanks for your opinions guys, will make a faster drum track
Since EZ drummer and Reaper let me adjust the tempo with basically just a click we can always increase or decrease the speed later on. I am busy having fun with my friends today, but will have time to program a drum track tomorrow in the morning, so be patient

Posted by: HungryForHeaven Oct 29 2011, 09:59 AM

Guys, record a metalized "The Day Before You Came"! Or I might have to do it myself.

H4H

Posted by: Ulrik Nov 10 2011, 06:07 PM

How are we getting on with the "Hotel"?

I recorded some stuff for rythm parts, but I'm not really satisfied

Posted by: Gitarrero Nov 10 2011, 06:18 PM

Sorry guys, been rather busy lately, but I feel like I am close to finishing the drum track. I will have free time the whole weekend, starting tomorrow in the afternoon, so expect the drum track then.
I also tried some rhythm guitar stuff, but I think I'll finish the drums first.

Posted by: Gitarrero Nov 13 2011, 11:25 AM

Hey guys,
the soundcard in my computer is bitching...or doing nothing anymore, which means I can't work on anything music related at the moemtn. I am trying to fix it, but might have to get a technician to get things running again.
I'm not sure how long it will take, maybe one of you could make a rogh drum sketch? Or we can just work with a metronome for now? I was programming the drum track at 120 bpm, the original song has 75 bpm I think.
I'll get back to you asap.

Posted by: Ulrik Nov 13 2011, 11:51 AM

Ok, bad news.
I really don't have any good software, so I'll just stick to metronome I guess.

Posted by: quadrium Nov 13 2011, 12:35 PM

same here i will record somethin with metronome in 120 bpm

Posted by: Gitarrero Nov 18 2011, 09:22 PM

Hey guys,

got the new soundcard. Sorry I kept you waiting for so long. Here is my first try at a drum track, as I said it's at 120 bpm.
The structure is Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse and then the chorus part till the end for soloing. The track is 4 minutes long, I can always add in additional parts or copy and paste parts, add or take away fill ins etc.
Just try to work with this track or suggest changes

Christian

Posted by: quadrium Nov 18 2011, 10:47 PM

Awesome. I will start working on it right now

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 18 2011, 10:59 PM

Progress! WELL DONE! I'm diggin the drums I've taken the liberty of creating a REAPER project with the drum track. This can serve as our "base" project file and we can grow it from there.

In terms of the arrangment, CHRISTIAN: Can you record a basic, quick and dirty, scratch track for the rythm parts (guitar or bass) just to show what your thinking in terms of the arrangement? I'm not yet clear on how the verse/chorus guitar/bass parts fit in. Are you thinking play them twice or four times as fast as the original song, or play them slower and let the drums be faster behind it?

Here is the file.
 Hotel_California.zip ( 3.99MB ) : 166

Posted by: Ulrik Jan 8 2012, 02:45 PM

HI, I've been busy with some non-guitar related stuff/problems:
My final exam, I'm moving to another place, starting a new job... a lot of changes in my life.
But I'm here again, and re-subscribed to GMC.

I hope we can go on with this soon.
But I agree with Todd, I think I need to hear Christians thoughts about the guitar tempo.



Ulrik

Posted by: Gitarrero Jan 8 2012, 02:49 PM

Great to hear, Ulrik!
Sure, I'll come with something within the next few days.

Christian