This is probably a niche subject, but here we go. The album version of Protect Ya Neck is censored and I hate how it was done. Luckily we have Protect Ya Neck (The Bloody Version) from the single. I don't like all of this version, so I took my European remaster and edited it all to replace the >drrrrtttt< with the swearing.

Today I got the Music on Vinyl release from 2009 and liked it enough, I figured I'd patch it. When I brought it into Audition I noticed that the audio was inverted.

Is there any reasoning behind this?

I’ve been getting back into guitar playing and trying to have more focused practice when I play each day. I wouldn't call myself a "beginner", but I don't think I'm near the "intermediate" stage yet. I know chords and power chords and can transition between them pretty easily. I've been working on figuring out CAGED shapes, but still really struggle with playing scales and "solo-ing"...partly because (1) I have tried exploring music theory and "learning the notes on the fretboard", but it hasn't clicked for me yet, and (2) my fret fingers feel sluggish and don’t seem to move across the fretboard with the ease that I seem to have when switching chords.

That said, I’m feeling pretty discouraged right now. Looking for some “pick me ups”, so to speak. And wanting to learn to play a few songs all the way through so I can feel more confident in my ability to actually play a song. But I don’t really want to get hung up on a difficult “solo” or a bunch of individual fretting stuff yet.

As I thought about making this post, I figured it might be useful to also ask about some "beginner tips" on how to best stay motivated to stick with learning, practicing, and playing the guitar. If I'm going to keep this up, I want to really invest in it and stick with the guitar. Here are some additional questions/thoughts to hopefully trigger a discussion.

Fellow guitarists:

• What has helped you in the past?
• What helped you get over the "discouraging" first steps of guitar playing and keep at it?
• What were some of the first songs you were able to learn to play all the way through?
• How did you learn the notes on the fretboard?
• How did you learn to play different chords all around the neck?
• What would you say to your younger self to help encourage them to continue pushing through the sticking points of guitar?
• What was the "key" to getting guitar playing to "click" in your brain?

Looking forward to seeing what advice fellow players can offer! Everyone's musical journey is different, and I am interested in learning how you learned to get to where you are now!

I've been spending a lot of time working on developing my singing voice, and I'm starting to push into a loud, yelling voice at the upper end of my register. It sounds awesome, but it kind of hurts and makes me wonder if this sort of thing is sustainable long-term.

Someone like Dave Grohl (great example of the type of vocals I'm trying to emulate) seems to have made a career singing like this, so I'm pretty sure there's a way. I guess I'm mostly wondering if there's any sort of "progression" or way to do it properly vs improperly.

Does it get easier? Will my vocal chords adapt? Mostly I'm just wondering if I can keep doing this without sacrificing vocal range in the future.

What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

This is Album of the Week #15 ~ This week's album is Mew - Frengers

Year of Release: 2003
Genre(s): Dream Pop
Country: Denmark
Length: 48 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from Drowned In Sound:

On the cherub face of it this album is a soaring, triangle tapping, kitten cuddling, debut; Mew have playground innocence down - lunchbox in hand, toothpaste on tie and scabby knees, all set for a day of holding hands with the pigtailed girl. Mew could market this to my 6-year old cousin to dance around to whilst munching her Sugar Puffs, and they'd sell a billion. Pop is Universal... aaaaaaah, that's the cookie, that's what everyone has forgotten!

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

Harmony does something to my brain than I can't explain but it's like a short cut to, well, I dunno, but something good.

I'd really like your suggestions for harmonies that create emotional response.

Sorry for dumping a huge number of links here. Here are two favourites:

Picforth, In Nomine a 5.

and

Cork Sacred Harp - "47b Idumea"

Here are some examples: (and now that I post them, I realise some of them aren't really harmony proper, so I'm not sure what I'm asking for)

Irish lilting in harmony

Beloe Zlato - "За тихой рекою" (beyond the calm river?), and a better but more noisy version Белое злато - "За тихой рекой" (Белое злато / Beloe Zlato / White Gold -- I don't know anything about this group and if I'm posting Russian propaganda please let me know because I don't want to be doing that)

Mamas and Papas - "California dreaming", "Here in my arms" (although Ella Fitzgerald's version is much much better), "Safe in my garden" (especially the bit around 1:50 building to 2:15)

Sacred Harp choirs. Sacred harp and "shaped singing" is how you teach people to sing if they can't read music. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_note](Wikipedia has a good explainer). They start with a verse of the soh, lah, ti, fah sounds so people know the tune and rhythm and then they launch into it. I'm not religious (in a quiet, polite, respecting other people's religions kind of way) but they turn out a great tune sometimes. Henderson, Texas - Sacred Harp 463: "Angel Band", Austin, Texas - Sacred Harp 463: "Angel Band", Unknown - scacred harp 463: "Angel band". Camp Doremi Europe 2015 - Sacred Harp 117 "Angel Band". I've dumped four of the same song so you get a feel for differences in pace, in size of congregation, and skill of singers. The acoustics of these rooms suck, and even skilled professional sound engineers are going to struggle to mic up these rooms and get good output, but I like the fact that every consumer grade mic and recording equipment is just OVERLOADED TO ALL HECK.

More sacred harp. Texas - Sacred Harp 505 "Cleansing Fountain". The lyrics are really something.

Irish sacred harp, and this is the one I really want to share because my word they mean it: Second Ireland Sacred Harp Convention - "47b Idumea" there's a woman really singing. I love love love this. There's also Cork Sacred Harp - "Come thou fount"

It's not just vocal harmony either. Lankum, NPR Tiny Desk Concert, "The Wild Rover" just builds and builds layer upon layer. (And "Bear Creek" does something similar, with more joy. The Mary Wallopers - "Frost is all over" have something going on underneath this romping joyful noise and I think it's the sneaky "Banish Misfortune", so here's a version of that Sorcha Ni Scolai - "Banish Misfortune" and it's all amazing but there's a tiny bit at 1:19-1:25 that gets right into my brain.

Sometimes it's just a big crowd. From a comment by @jgb I found this Welsh National Anthem just before Wales beat England. Here's a Welsh flash mob Cor Meibion Male Voice Choir - "Bread of Heaven"

And I think it's not just "harmony" proper that I'm thinking of. A bit of nice tune in the middle of near chaotic noise is nice. So, for an example, listen to all of this The Incredible String Band - "The Mad Hatter's Song" and stick with it, because at 3:40 they suddenly drop into this very short, but very sweet bit of nice tune. And that "I am the archer, the lover of laughter, and mine is the arrowed flight; I am the archer and my eyes yearn after the unsullied sight" is lovely.

I'm listening to a bunch of music from the 1500s, and especially In Nomine. The strings sliding all over the place is amazing to me. In Nomine À 5, "Seldome Sene" · Christopher Tye · Jordi Savall, In Nomine À 5, "Rachells Weepinge" · Christopher Tye · Jordi Savall, In Nomine IV A 6 (Strogers) · Hespèrion XX · Jordi Savall, Youtube have given this weird artwork Picforth, In Nomine a 5.

Inspiration came when I was listening to Busy Signal - One More Night, a half-cover of the Phil Collins original. Reggae and dancehall have a lot of examples like this but it's usually interpolating or covering the chorus rather than the entire song.

So, which do you know? If you could post links for both the cover and the original, that'd be ace. I'd say sampling in hip-hop usually doesn't qualify here, unless there's clear conceptual connection to the original song beyond just the beat.

Also, if anyone suggests the Chet Faker version of No Diggity, I will start a riot in here.

Savannah Locke’s “Oh Holy Night” has a vocal quality that I’ve heard many times before in other songs and I was always curious what it was called, as well as the general EQ settings to reproduce it.

I name this song because I feel like it’s a very over the top example that I first heard over the holidays on a random playlist. I can only describe the vocals as “paper-like”. The style is folksy but it’s that particular sound of the vocals I’m interested in identifying.

Also, if there’s a particular nomenclature to these different types of styles or a glossary of some kind I’d appreciate it.

Full disclosure: I’ve sat behind a mixing board as an enthusiast but am no means educated beyond lows, mediums, highs.

Many thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I've been interested for a while in learning to play banjo. My first exposure to it was listening to bluegrass, but recently I have gotten very into Celtic and Irish music, and I think I would most enjoy learning to play by playing that style. Hence I am interested in Irish banjo, which I have come to understand is a bit different. I have a few questions that I was hoping someone here could answer. I don't play any other instruments and I'm interested in this just for fun.

• My understanding is that the typical Irish banjo player plays a tenor banjo with 4 strings. However I see some variation between 17 and 19 frets. Does anyone have some insight into the difference here, and which might be preferred?

• How hard would it be to learn other styles if I start with a 4 string? Is it like going from playing bass to guitar? Is 4 string typically seen as easier to pick up? I like Celtic music but not totally sure I want to be "locked in" to that. But then again, maybe that would help to be a bit more focused.

• To get specific, I am thinking of buying this as a beginner banjo. I'd be surprised if so, but does anyone here have experience with this brand, or else have other recommendations?

Like I said, I am a total beginner in that I've never played any instrument. So on that note, if you think I'm asking the wrong types of questions, I'd want to know that too!

What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

My whole life I have lived with the regret of not becoming proficient in a musical instrument. I grew up with a piano and acoustic guitar in my childhood home, and I actually took lessons for both but never committed to practicing or improving. As a result I grew up tinkering with both hit never learned how to read music or actually develop any fundamental techniques to play either.

I am an autodidact and have always felt that with the right resources, and a little discipline, I could at least learn enough to play a few songs on either instrument, and possibly with time become a sight reader.

To that end, I am curious, musicians of ~Tildes, what resources are the best to self-learn piano and guitar? Books, videos, apps, anything that you’ve used or know people have used and actually went from complete novice to reasonably proficient?

Thanks and happy new year!

This post inspired by a story I read in another thread, where a guy gave support to a small-time musician who had actually quit for a while before it sounded like passion was reignited.

Actually, let me give some context for this thought: I have an old friend who does a variety of arts, including acting and playing in a band. I'm pretty sure they're both side-gigs for him, but the stuff he posts on social media is all about "Support the small-time artists!"

So between that and the post I read here... it got me thinking. There are some very nice things about going and seeing smaller artists in smaller venues- it may not be as crowded, and it will probably be cheaper than anything Ticketmaster has its greedy hands in. In addition, there might even be a chance to talk to the artist/musician at some point, and making those connections can lead to a variety of possibilities.

So supporting these small-time artists can lead to a lot of great benefits... then what's the problem with it?

As I thought about it, the first issue is: you have no idea what you're getting into. I'll be the first to admit it: I'm very, very picky with my music tastes. About a year or so ago, I was invited to see some friends of friends perform. Again, small-time artists. I went to support them... and ended up VERY disappointed. Mostly because, the style of music they played was not to my liking at all.

Another difficulty of going to see small-time artists? In my case, I've been lucky to have gone to a variety of concerts to see big-name bands (side note: my preferred style of music is rock and metal), and after being used to those... seeing a small-time artist just feels very, very lacking (for obvious reasons). Sure, it is possible for them to improve given time- my friend that i mentioned above has done exactly that over the years- but the first impressions are super-important, especially when it comes to deciding if you want to continue supporting them or not.

I enjoy music, and there are some cool things about supporting smaller artists... but at the same time, due to lack of advertising, you never know what you're going to get. It may be an awesome experience, or end up a complete flop. I want to know, for anyone who supports relatively unknown artists, what's your take on it?

I’m going insane from the bland ass Xmas music at my work and I’m looking to zhuzh up the playlist with some more interesting Xmas music. Think “Christmas at the Zoo” by the Flaming Lips or “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)” by The Ramones.

I would also like some non-Christmas holiday songs, so we can get some representation for holidays besides the Christian one, or even just “Winter Songs”

Thanks!

Reflect on the music you listened to this year.

Tell us about it.

Important:

• You do not have to limit your discussion only to music released this year. Anything you listened to this year is fine.
• This thread is much more interesting if you give details and explanations. Please don’t just list artists/albums/songs on their own. Let us know your thoughts and feelings too!

Conversation starters:

None of the below is required, but feel free to use any of it as a jumping off point for what you want to talk about (if needed).

Consider the following categories:

• Your personal Artist(s)/Album(s)/Song(s) of the Year
• Highlights
• Hidden gems
• Surprises
• Disappointments
• Outliers (stuff you loved from genres you usually don’t)

Consider the following questions as well:

• What music resonated most strongly with you, and why?
• What could you not stop coming back to, and why?
• What music was the most interesting or exciting to you, and why?
• What did your music listening habits say about your year?
• How did you change as a listener this year?

Meta note:

What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

This is Album of the Week #14 ~ This week's album is Love - Forever Changes

Year of Release: 1967
Genre(s): Psychedelic Pop
Country: United States
Length: 42 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from AV Club:

Forever Changes, for all of its gorgeous balladry, layered acoustic guitars, and silky string arrangements, is filled with passion and angst. 1967 may have been The Summer Of Love, but Forever Changes dismantles any notions of free love and social change. Opening track “Alone Again Or” boasts the overtly hippie line “You know that I could be in love with almost everyone.” Love pulls off a bait-and-switch though, undercutting that line just moments later with, “and I will be alone again tonight, my dear,” a line that closes every verse and positions the album as one of isolation and disconnect.

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.