Don't faint...I bought an interface

[FrankenWashie]

You’re all speaking gibberish. Have we been sniffing the solvents or spraying without respirators? 😜

I keep meaning to do something in this line, but never get around to it. I’m flat out just finding time to finish builds, never mind playing and then practicing to be able to play well enough to actually record something without cringing.

its fascinating stuff, but I fear it amounts to another squirrel I don’t need to chase just now!

[king casey]

You’re all speaking gibberish. Have we been sniffing the solvents or spraying without respirators? 😜

I keep meaning to do something in this line, but never get around to it. I’m flat out just finding time to finish builds, never mind playing and then practicing to be able to play well enough to actually record something without cringing.

its fascinating stuff, but I fear it amounts to another squirrel I don’t need to chase just now!

To be serious for a moment, having a recording regime helps enormously in gaining improvement to playing.
With the advent of technology, (once it's set up of course) it's so easy to record take after take with minimal wasted time.
The task of playing along with a backing track cements the idea of good timing and hand/ear co-ordination.
Also critically listening back to your work (recorders are pitilessly objective) helps greatly in improvement.

cheers, Mark.

[Sonic Mountain]

Yeah, it really is great for making backing tracks. The big downfall for me is in songwriting. Previously, I would have to really learn the progressions, lead breaks etc and write the lyrics simultaneously, then practice it over and over to cement it in my head.

Now I can bang out a song structure and I only have to worry about getting the progression right once, and I can just loop it. Same with solos, I can just record 10 takes and stitch together the best bits and not actually have to learn it properly.

If I ever want to play it live I have to go back and learn it all again from my recording, so in that sense it's made me lazy.

Hell of a lot of fun though and pretty easy to make yourself sound way better than you are

[Dedman]

Frankie, luckily or unluckily I have about 6months of the year where it's too hot for me to work on builds, hopefully this will encourage me to play more. I'm just setting up the new puter today, as the weather cools off and I can back to whats on the bench LOL

[FrankenWashie]

All good points gents, i have garageband in my Mac but i've never really used it.

Perhaps it's time to start eh?

[dave.king1]

Now I can bang out a song structure and I only have to worry about getting the progression right once, and I can just loop it. Same with solos, I can just record 10 takes and stitch together the best bits and not actually have to learn it properly.

This I find a problem, we have recorded a truckload of stuff ( over 60 original tracks in the past 18 months ) and I have to go back and learn all of the guitar parts I've done.

[Sonic Mountain]

This I find a problem, we have recorded a truckload of stuff ( over 60 original tracks in the past 18 months ) and I have to go back and learn all of the guitar parts I've done.

Yeah it's annoying. I also find myself doing things that I find difficult to replicate after ward. I'm reasonable at playing and singing (I mean I can keep time and melody, but my voice is very ordinary) but writing this way will often let me record a melody that is very difficult to sing over the progression. But really, I'm not any performing at the moment and Garageband is a hell of a lot easier than trying to find a rehearsal space and 3 other musicians to play with.

All good points gents, i have garageband in my Mac but i've never really used it.

Perhaps it's time to start eh?

It's really easy to use and heaps of fun, but hard to explain. Do you have an interface? On the older macs you can just line in without one and it works fine.

Even just opening it and creating a guitar track, you'll see there are a stack of great presets, but you can also fool around with virtual amps and pedals for ages. Add a drum track, again heaps of presets and away you go. The virtual drummer is one of the best things ever for having a bedroom studio.

I've resisted sharing my soundcloud, but I might as well, these are all at least a year old and I'm learning all the time, but might give you a bit of an idea whats possible. The only thing I don't play in these tracks are the Drums, but I arrange them and tweak the virtual drummer. Excuse the mixes...something I've been focusing on improving lately.

If you just want to hear one generic rock instrumental:

https://soundcloud.com/magicbullets/drive

Couple of others here:

https://soundcloud.com/magicbullets