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Peer Review Videos

May 13th, 2010 | by Greg Barker

The Song That’s Not About You – Alex Hopkins (Original)

Bio: I’m Alex Hopkins. I’m a singer/song writer from Colorado. I have recently relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music and acting. I live for music! Without it, I don’t think I’d be able to make it through the day. I play the guitar, piano, and violin. I’ve also been in various advanced choirs and was accepted to the Colorado All-State Choir in 2008. I’d appreciate it if you checked out my music! Thanks!

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  • askinfaith

    you're very talented! i love the song!

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  • Monika (Sangostwin)

    I love you and your song! Your adorable :)

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  • http://www.soniceroticaband.com Brian K. Stevenson

    Hello Alex,

    Sad songs and acoustic guitars! I like the song and I'm a sap for overproducing…so forgive me if I get too heady :) However, you boast the ability to play multiple instruments. This particular song would lend itself well to adding all of those elements. Since you've uprooted to L.A. for music, I must ask…”What kind of recording setup do you have?” If you're a lone wolf, you've got a lot of work ahead of you :)

    If you already have a sweet rig then bypass this to the end :) With a few simple tools you could really embellish your own music to your liking. You can pull this off for under a grand fo' sho'!!!

    You probably already have a good laptop. Pick up an easier platform like Acid Pro. It's great for loop based recording, soft synths, piano sounds, lots of effects, and it's a multi track recorder to boot.

    You'll also need to get a nice sound card, but for what you're doing, two inputs and two outputs + USB/MIDI you're in pretty darn cheap!
    Why say all this? Here's what I'd do with those tools…

    A click track is paramount for getting things really tight, while recording, unless you're just that good! But almost none of us are…you can always swagger the feel later with quantizing techniques. Plus, you'll be surprised how much you can manipulate any groove from any source if you've got good timing. This is just like practicing to a metronome but way more fun!

    For starters, visit a website like bigfishaudio, where you can audition loop libraries and find something ya' really like. Once you buy them they're yours! For you, a drummer would come in really handy and with loops you can find the right beats and tempos that resonate well with your music rather quickly.

    Now, lets say you've created a nice drum groove for each part of the song. Since, you're working with loops and recording loops of yourself on top of it, reconstruction is a breeze later on with simple copy & paste edits. Moving sections around or pieces of section can really help you to discover new dynamics in the song that you might not have seen another way :)

    Ok, drums are done…you play piano, and let's just say ya' bought a cheap midi controller also. By using your piano skills you could call up a few kewl synths in Acid and play a nice tasty bass line on top of the drums, strings, and a plethora of other bits you might want to inject to give it a signature sound.

    Also, the arpeggio you're playing through most of the song might also sound killer with a piano role that mimics it or replaces it at certain points in the song.

    So, we've got drums, bass, piano + a few great string pads for the hooks! Let's record the acoustic instruments. With a half decent condenser mic you can record guitar, violin, and voice all day!!!

    This will really help ya' to grow + think about playing a counter melody, on guitar, against all of that or the violin for that matter. Now you've got a good mix and a more realized song.

    Sing those vocals!!! Ah, beeeautiful! This song would go great with harmonies and counter melodies as well. Right now it's kind of a sad little song from a really normal girl, who's in love with being a songwriter but can't quite convery that yet on video. This song, it's depressing…which sells a lot…just as do happy songs. Actually, any emotion sells as long as you sell it with emotion…hahaha. So you get what I'm saying…make me a believer versus a spectator. All in all good job and keep shedding :)

    Namaste,

    Brian

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