I hope this is within forum terms of use. I have played drums literally all my life, but only took up piano a few months ago after I retired. I also have limited experience recording in DAWs, and I am not a composer.
As is usual any time I get new software tools, I waste a lot of time watching videos and stumble in the dark— and I hate that feeling. I would gladly pay for someone to walk me through workflows and show me what I’m doing wrong.
I have a simple riff and a few chords that I want to try to develop. I know it will not be great, but hey, we all have a different idea of what we want to do in our retirement.
So if you are an instructor or consultant interested in working with a beginner via remote access into my MBP, my budget is $25/hr. This my first post on this forum so I can only assume there is a means of DM. If not, let me know and we’ll figure that out first. Don J, - Salida, CO.
Welcome @djjemela ! You will find a lot of people here with the same background and goals - and age (I retired 2006).
The videos done by the Scaler folk are excellent. But because of the vast array of music that Scaler can spawn, they are tend (IMHO) to be more “information” based than “music method” based - they provide the information, and you provide and develop the (or should I say, your) method. To some extent taking to much from ‘how to’ / method instruction tends to make you a product of the method, rather than developing something that you create. My take is that it doesn’t matter if it’s crap - it’s my crap.
There is a learning curve to all this DAW stuff, but if you are familiar with Microsoft Excel there is an analogy. I’ve been using Excel (and before it Visicalc) but I think I use about 5 -10% of its capabilities - because that small subset is all I need to do what I want to do. And so it is with DAWs, so the goal is to find the bits you need to use to get the results you are seeking.
At first, I was very focussed on end results, but I’ve more taken up the philosophy of @Bernd , who no doubt you will “meet” on this board; and paraphrasing and slightly modifying, and that is it is as much the musical journey of discovery as it is the final result that brings the satisfaction from getting into all this.
BTW, I feebly plonk the guitar and it’s interesting how many world class guitarists have noted that they took a lot of input and learned essential skills rom the drummers they worked with. Music (in the western non classical idiom) is about rhythm that conveys context and drives a piece along, so you are well placed to carry that forward into moving into another medium.
You will find everyone here helpful, so post away. It would be worth posting a reply to this to say what your gear is (PC or Mac / midi controller etc) and what DAW you are using. That way any response will be much more pertinent to your environment.
Your remarks are on the mark. I use a fraction of the rig I have put together, but I really like it. I have a Korg SV1 connected by usb midi to an Intel MBP with Big Sur OS. I started with Mainstage but have switched to Gig Performer as a VST host, and Native Instruments Plug Ins. I use the Gentleman piano vst most of the time. That’s the rig I use when playing along with recordings, just for enjoyment.
I haven’t really recorded in 15 years and really don’t see me getting deep into that gear again, beyond just a midi capture of my ideas when they show up. So the only DAW I have now is GarageBand.
I’m not going to wow anybody with my ideas, just hoping to experiment with options and suggestions from Scaler. Then pass along some ideas to my friends that do write and record. I don’t really have an end game beyond just morning and late night enjoyment when it’s too cold to go outside.
Thanks again for the warm welcome. Don, Salida, CO.
Is there an issue with Scaler and Gig Performer that we should know about (I’m one of the GP developers)? I tried to find contact information for Scaler but there doesn’t seem to be anything on their website other than a redirection to a reseller.
There is no issue with gig performer that I have encountered. I am not using gig performer and scaler together.
BTW, Gig Performer (w/ NI vst’s) has been an awesome improvement over Mainstage for me. It is really stable and easy. It’s really easy to tweak to satisfy my whims. I cannot say that about MS.
I use it with Gig Perfomer and it performs well although with 2.5 I’ve noticed that the Performances in the Melody section can stop performing after it is open a while. Not sure if it’s something I’m doing or not. Need to test it further. Fabulous software with a lot of uses,
