The British Steelies Society

Here's a couple of MP3's of tracks I've been working on since the start of the year. I've built up a nice wee bedroom studio over the years and like to experiment a bit with ideas. I play all the instruments on these tracks. Don't know how you would describe them. Don't think you could describe them as country, hope you like them anyway

I'm Desperate Dan - A fair amount of Pedal Steel on this.

Instruments used - Carter U12, Alesis DM5 electronic drum kit, Schecter Elite 5 Bass, Lemarq Classical Guitar, Boss GT3 effects unit, various software instruments.



On Ice - This has got 4 sections, 1st is synthy, 2nd uses a harmony ebow, 3rd I use a Gibson SG set up as a lap, 4th electric lead with pedal steel backing. It's about ice skating, not Scotch, although...

Instruments used - Carter U12, Alesis DM5 electronic drum kit, Schecter Elite 5 Bass, Washburn KC70 Electric Guitar, Takamine EAN 45C Acoustic Guitar, Boss GT3 effects unit, Ebow, various software instruments.

Hi Geof, Very nice music to roll things by Baz,

Hi Baz, cheers for that, appreciate it

(I'll roll with the comments, however combustion is a thing of the past for me )

Thanks John, I have to admit I was thinking Spaghetti Western when playing the 3 low notes on the U12 at the beginning, well spotted

Nice Stuff Geoff

The headphones are on. the lights are low and dreaming and getting lost. This is good stuff. Nicely put together. With the second track I would have preferred a bit more of a main melody - but that's only me. You must have had lots of fun and satisfaction putting this together and coming up with the ideas - I know what that's like. It's amazing how clear each instrument is.

You say that this isn't country, but because you are using a steel guitar does it have to be. Steel can be used in a wide variety of music so don't let that worry you.

Mick

Thanks Shaun

Hi Mick,

Cheers. Yeah, I've been building up the studio for years now and it's great fun to just let loose a bit and try things. I took up ice skating again over the winter, used to do it when I was young, in the second track I was trying to capture the feeling I get when I'm on the ice.

Been playing pedal steel for about 4 years, it's the most frustrating yet most rewarding instrument on the planet I reckon.

Good to know that I'm not wasting my time, though I can't really see what I'm doing getting anywhere commercially, I'm getting a lot of satisfaction and pleasure from my music and at this stage of my life, that's more valuable to me

Geoff

Lovely 'Mood' music, and if you have to tag it i would just call it 'Ambient' very well crafted, i certainly enjoyed listening to your work, and as was pointed out by Mick Hearn in relation to hearing every instrument, and bearing in mind im only listening in on my lap top, the seperation of each instrument is remarkable, so uncluttered, and refreshingly not overplayed, as is so often the case, Kudos to you Jif, i hope to hear more of your work ! as they say on BGT, 'its a YES from me'

Thanks very much Eddie, it's very enjoyable to do. I've had a bedroom studio since the 90's, originally using an Atari ST with an early version of Cubase, (midi only!). Built it up over the years, so plenty practice recording/mixing etc.

These days I record all tracks @ 88kHz 24bit. I did record 96kHz 32bit for a while but was getting glitches when using a lot of plugins, so took it down to 88kHz. Recording at a higher resolution definitely makes a big difference to the overall sound quality. I like to keep the recording process simple and uncluttered.

I spent a few months setting up a mastering preset which I use on all my recordings these days after I do the mixdown. It's a chain of - Eq (high pass, low pass and a couple of parametrics), Multi-band compression, (6 separate frequency bands) and a light touch of Reverb to glue it all together! I tuned in the multi-band compressor by ear over a 3 month period on various recordings. I'm still amazed what a difference this preset makes to the end result, it's like pressing a magic button

Anyway, I do it for enjoyment these days, it's good to know that others also enjoy it. I've been re-working a song which my youngest son wrote a few years ago with a lot of pedal steel, so I'll stick that up once it's done