Thanks guys @LeonStagg I listen to both the backing track and my harp playing through the headphones because I get to hear the sound mix better this way and I also avoid feedback from the speakers/Mic.
@Groyster Good observation. A lot of folk attribute the writing of the song to Carlos Santana because he recorded an incredibly popular cover, but it was in fact first written and performed by Peter Green.
Another great addition to your already impressive K-TEL catalog! ;-D. I like how you switch from guitar melody to the vocal melody. Very nice work, and Happy New Year to you and your family. What do you use to mix/record your stuff with?
Thanks very much Todd and a Happy New Year to you and those you love. I currently use either a Shure 520DX Green Bullet or an AKG 1000 condenser mic, through a Vox DA5 Practice Amp via a Fostex X-28 Multitracker straight into my PC onboard soundcard (should really get a separate dedicated sound card)....wasn't in my Christmas Stocking:(
Good job Grey, It was a bit distracting because you kept the guitar soloing , on the track . I assume you used a midi file, in case you don't know it can be edited to cut out a specific track , like the guitar in your case .If you need the track without the guitar let me know. ---------- Free video harp tabs and backing tracks
Thanks Sorin, I was conscious of the guitar soloing dilemna but didn't know what to do. I wasn't aware that you could edit midi (I'm pretty sure this track was Midi) and it would be great if you could mail me the the clean track. Bit of a sacrilege to remove Carlos Santana even in midi form, but hey-ho:)
liquid.oak@googlemail(dot)com
By the way how do you go about editing midi? Is it complicated? Thanks once again.
@Sorin Update. I have found a free software program called SynthFont which looks like it could have the ability to mute or delete individual midi tracks on an arrangement. So I am going to check it out. I'm really pleased you have put me on to this facility because some of these midi files are unuseable due to a really cheesy instrument bursting through on what was otherwise quite a decent track.
Grey , that is the one I use and the one that I would have recommended to you.You can do a lot of things with it . You load the midi and if you double click on any track it will mute/unmute that track , if you want to delete the guitar track you will first have to find out which one is it , usually the creator of the midi will use multiple tracks to make the guitar sound more realistic , so you will have to find them all , and than just delete them ( right click , delete). You will also might have to find the vocal track ( usually played by some instrument) and delete it. You gonna be able to make a lot of decent backing tracks form all the classic blues song out there.
Now Synthfont was created for a different reason and you can take advantage of that. Most people hate midi files , because they say they sound so bad , but a midi file is only something similar with a staff , it only contains what notes and what instruments to play what , and the way it sounds depends on what samples your computer uses to render the midi file.If you use the sounds that came with your on board sound card it will sound like crap. To hear a backing track created from a midi file by me , follow the link in my signature and the "Help me" and "Walkin by myself" are just that. And you can make them sound even better than that.
Go here: http://www.geocities.jp/shansoundfont/ download the file SGM and also the Sfark program ( which is used to decompress the SGM file) , once you manage to decompress it , you go to Synthfont , load the midi , and go to File.. , on top of the midi tracks , right before VSTi , and you click on the tab , and it will let you select the sgm file to be used to render the Midi file . It will instantly make your backing track sound better.
You can see in Synthfont that you can also , adjust the volume of any specific track.
Grey , if you cannot figured it out let me know, I will help you out.
Cheeers guys. I remember buying the first Santana Album, (sheesh I feel old) and was blown away by a style and energy and drive that was new to me. For some reason Jin-go-lo-ba was another memorable song.
I think BMW was a great song. Here is Peter Green's original followed by Santana's Cover. Can't separate them, love 'em both
I think you have just saved me a few hundred bucks. I'm using Band in Box 2005 that only produces midi. I have been thinking about upgrading and adding "realsounds", but now that I've tried SynthFont I'm a happy man again.
I can tell I'll have to play with it. My first track doesn't come out as good as your's, but now I have a new good tool.
Thanks ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Jim and Grey , if you only need a decent sounding midi the SGM(which is a soundfont bank , containing all the instruments) does the trick. If you want to take it a step further you will have to find better sound samples , the companys that make them sometimes they give away a light version of their commercial sounds , which are better than the one in SGM. and I am talkning about specific instruments, for example here : http://naturalstudio.co.uk/samples/bb/viewtopic.php?t=550 you can find a nice Steinway piano sample , free. You gonna need Sfark to extract it and than when you have a midi with a piano track ,you go in Synthfont and tell it to use this file for the piano , for everything else it's gonna use SGM .
Synthfont supports audio samples in different formats , so to find some good free samples just do a google search for : soundfonts free or GIG free Synthfont also supports vst plugins , which means that each individual track can be routed trough a chain of virtual effects( reverb, delay , amp sim, etc...) , like you would do it with a pedal board.
@ Sorin. Thanks for the extra info. I have downloaded synthfont and it works well. I have yet to follow up on the other elements but I intend to do so in due course. It seems there is a world of possibilities to make midi sound more respectable and that is an exciting prospect.
