Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Song Of The Month Club - January 2024
What is the Song of the Month Club?
It's a place where musicians come to give and receive feedback on their work. Anyone is welcome, whatever their level of ability.
The spirit of the club is to contribute: if you submit a song for others to comment on, you should also have the courtesy to listen to everyone else's contributions and give as much feedback as possible. Posting a track and not listening and commenting on others is not cool.
The purpose of feedback is to be honest. Essentially you should give your truthful impressions of the song, whether good or bad. Negative feedback, if done in the right spirit and with courtesy, can be the most useful and can help the artist to grow and__ improve and correct their mistakes.
All submissions are welcome, don't hesitate if you want to contribute. We like all kinds of music and we are particularly fond of vocals (but of course we still love a great instrumental). If you are thinking of experimenting with vocals this is a good place to get started.
We ask that you only post one song per month in this thread - if you're lucky enough to be able to produce more, then please just submit your strongest material
And finally, iOS is not a requirement for posting here. If you've recorded your song using nothing but a ukulele and a Fostex 4 track, that's fine.
Comments
My entry for the month, lyrics in the spoiler:
Open up, and face your fear
You need to find your way in here
You buckle up, your mind is clear
You can sense the goal is near
The fire never started
The air was much too thin
You told me to be fearless
But I couldn’t begin
So feel the cold
A wind that blows right through your soul
You feel so old
You know for whom the bell will toll
Cracking up you make a play
You want to keep the fear at bay
You lose the fight you turn away
This isn’t in your DNA
The fire never started
The air was much too thin
You told me to be fearless
But I couldn’t begin
So feel the cold
A wind that blows right through your soul
You feel so old
You know for whom the bell will toll
A sweet wrapping soundscape beautifully unfolding. Love the vocals on this one. I personally would enjoy to hear the drums and percussive elements thicken during the chorus and eclipsing the other instruments.
Thanks for listening! I will definitely consider your suggestion. Are you submitting some music this month?
This is a music track that I improvised on two MIDI keyboards connected to Bitwig Studio on a desktop PC. There the MIDI was routed to Solo for the cello, Speculative Memories and Epic Choir for the singing voices, and Omnisphere for the background instruments.
After bringing the audio recording into Vegas Pro, I applied the Lurssen Mastering Console plug-in to the audio mix.
It's titled Late Autumn.
I listened to your track again today and I have the same impression that I want the chorus to stand out in its own space. Thickening Drums and percussion with extra layers could be the key though I might be wrong.😉 The kind of effect I am thinking about can be heard at the end of the Talk Talk song "Desire" on their masterpiece "Spirit Of Eden".
For this year, my resolution is to be as consistent as you in terms of release, but easier said then done... Last year I managed to quit smoking so I got great hope for this year too!
I eventually completed my long experimental/arty rock track I let you hear before. Considering starting releasing on streaming platform with this one (with distrokid). But it could also be a good time to finalise the song I sent you for which you helped me complete the lyrics. This month is going to be either one of those. Any preference for this month?
Another gorgeous contemplative track! I especially like how you use the cello in its upper register and build tension with suspension that resolve beautifully.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have a think about it. The Talk Talk song has much more extreme dynamics compared to my track so the contrasts are much greater there.
Well done for quitting smoking. I've been there (albeit a long time ago). I don't miss those dirty cigarettes at all.
As for consistently writing songs, I guess I devote most of my spare time to doing that, so I can manage an hour or two every day. Even if it's just snatching 15 minutes to play the guitar, I find that's often enough to come up with an idea to be developed later.
Post the experimental track this month, since it's finished, then you can post the other next month
@richardyot I love the atmospheric sounds at the beginning and the mood of the song. I'm not sure I like the mix of the vocals with the instruments in some points of the track, like at 1:10 or around 3:00, maybe the vocals need more space.
@DavidEnglish lovely, I liked this one more than the one you posted in December. Or maybe I'm getting used to your kind of music lol. This track has some great textures!
I like it Richard. I don’t have the experience or knowledge to comment on the mix etc so I’m just happy that you posted it 👍
Thanks, that’s very kind ☺️
Cellos are always so evocative, and here the blend here between the strings and the choir is really subtle and beautiful. Just the right mix of tranquillity and melancholy here to do justice to the title of the track.
I really like your entry this month, @richardyot. Especially the chorus and the overall choice of sounds. Hypnotic. Very well done, indeed.
Thanks for listening and commenting, much appreciated as ever
Here is my piece for this month. Music composed entirely with EG Nodes and finalized on Ableton. Hope you enjoy it
@richardyot Great music, I like it a lot. I’m usually not a big fan of your voice but the monotonous way you sing this song is very nice and sounds much more under control.
@DavidEnglish Very well balanced track. You totally nailed the stereo effect on this track and it sounds very professional. I like it a lot too
Can you tell me more about the process, specifically the vocals, they are stylistically quite surprising because they are sung in such a dramatic way, with the exaggerated vibrato and operatic/music hall delivery. I don't think I can really give a thoughtful critique without understanding how those vocals are created.
For the music and as mentioned it has been entirely done in EG Nodes despite the lack of a proper song mode (that is supposed to arrive in the coming days by the way…). I transferred then the stems in Ableton where I just made some adjustments (compression/EQ)
I have played then with a synth what I wanted to sing, trying to find the right melody, moments or tempo to make it interesting. I wanted to tell a story more than finding a structure for my words. I have then exported the midi into Synthesizer V, my vocal generator (as I sadly can’t sing…) and made the necessary adjustments to make it fit with the music. I started with the man voice and doubled the track to add the female voice. I wanted it to sound “easy listening” in the way of Burt Bacharach or Sinatra but at the end it turned out to be more like a “piece of shit for a Cinderella Musicals” as a nice guy commented on Soundcloud (I think he is not completely wrong). So now I wonder if I can save this piece from going out of style…but anyway it was fun to make
Thanks for listening anyway 👍
[edit] I will re-record it with less vibrato
Thanks for explaining the process - it makes it much easier to offer some feedback.
The vocals sounded very uncanny valley to me, so I assumed there was some kind of artifice involved, and they also sound completely detached from the music.
I can try and give some pointers, especially since you are specifically aiming for a crooner-like style (Burt Bacharach and Frank Sinatra). Firstly those singers used close-mic techniques, which is the absolute signature of their singing style. This means they sing relatively quietly most of the time, with the occasional belting for dramatic moments - but for the most part their singing voice is laid-back, not belted.
Secondly they use very little vibrato, Frank Sinatra used practically none, even in the most dramatic moments of My Way there is barely any vibrato in his singing - and for most of the song he is also singing quietly, apart from the final chorus.
Also vocal melodies tend to avoid big interval jumps, most of the notes will be close together, apart from occasional more important moments in the song. Big intervals are harder to sing, and harder for the listener to sing along to. Singability is one of the biggest factors that will make a melody memorable, and melodies that jump all over the place are less effective.
The melody should also relate to the underlying harmony, a singer will naturally harmonise with the chords being played, so it's important to do that when writing vocal melodies.
Some examples to illustrate, firstly Burt singing Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head. Listen to how soft his voice sounds, and the almost complete absence of any vibrato:
And here is the sheet music of the melody, note how close together the intervals are in the melody:
And here's Frank singing Summer Wind, again the voice is soft and there is no vibrato:
And the sheet music so you can see the close intervals in the melody:
Hope this is helpful.
@richardyot Thanks for the very complete answer/lesson. Very instructive and I will definitely take it into consideration for my next song. It has to be implemented from the beginning. I think I started my song with a completely different idea in mind and changed my mind whilst using the synthetic voice.
One way to think about it is that singing is just like any other aspect of music in that it is driven by style. Each singer has a style, and each genre will only accommodate certain styles. Kurt Cobain had one style, Frank Sinatra another, and Billie Eilish another still.
The singing style imparts a certain vibe to the song, and is an integral part of the sound and emotion. So you need to adjust your virtual singer's parameters so that they conform to the style you are aiming for.
My entry for this month is an ambient track made with one of my long time friend from my hometown. We used to play in a band together. Lucky you, you won't have to hear my voice this month !
The worn-out tape texture is really effective and evocative, and I love the way the whole thing just disintegrates at the end.
Thank you for listening Richard. I changed my plans for this month 🫣🙇
@richardyot
Love the echoing. It seems to emanate from a cavernous hall that’s sheltered from the rain. The music and lyrics swirl around, both colliding and deflecting as they go. Creates a wonderfully evocative space for the song.
@cuscolima
Really like the voice effect that’s kind of muffled, but piercing at the same time. It’s a good match for the lyrics. The melody lines are strong throughout. And the bubbling, gurgling instruments behind the scenes work surprisingly well. Everything blends together nicely.
@JanKun
Cool gradual opening with lots of wonderment and expectation built-in. Has the feel of a distant beacon in the fog with vague murky, dark forces nearby. Calming and frightening at the same time. A great soundscape that could double as a dream simulator. Puts me in the mood to read some H. P. Lovecraft stories.
As long as you have a good enough grasp of what’s going on in terms of your own musical context, I don’t think you should be worried about it “going out of style” — just whether it’s working. Of course your original intentions should be part of that equation, but creativity is weird, and sometimes you end up in unexpected places. If you can leverage that weirdness by doubling down on certain aspects of where you might accidentally find yourself, you might come to something you’re comfortable with.
I personally thought you must’ve been going for something intentionally over-dramatic, like Anohni/Antony and the Johnsons or even Army of Lovers. Who are great, because they’re playful about the drama — it’s part of a camp aesthetic.
And when you say you were going for an easy listening feel, there is a kind of sweet cheesiness to lounge pop that it shares with more over-the-top power vocal belters — amongst other things, they’re just at the opposite end of the vocal spectrum. Maybe Burt Bacharach simply isn’t your most appropriate reference point, and there are others to choose from that still do something of what you intended.
From what I can hear from your lyrics, however, you’re going for something that’s also earnest, and not dripping with ridiculousness like Army of Lovers. Anohni might be of some assistance here, because while she definitely draws from camp’s irony, she’s deadly serious — first with the mournful folk angle of a lot of The Johnsons, and then the dissonance gets even more crazy with the solo stuff, where she’s often passionately singing the opposite of what she means, with more over-the-top operatic stylings, and with an urgency that I find hard to find elsewhere. Example:
Nice comment, thank you. I will have a listen to Anohni
I enjoyed yours @cuscolima . Some of the lower, very nasally male voice parts jarred a bit but I quite liked the rest of it.
Thank you very much 👍🏼