Songwriting with RealGuitar
Eli Krantzberg shows you how to use the awesome sounding RealGuitar and RealStrat from MusicLab to flesh out a whole song from top to bottom. Anyone who writes songs can benefit from this series as well!
Videos
• Introduction (06:16) - Learn what this series is about, then hear the initial rough song idea as well as the finished production that will be built up throughout these videos.
• The Initial Idea (04:27) - Follow along as Pattern Mode in RealGuitar and RealStrat are used to lay down a basic verse and chorus chord progression.
• Dressing It Up (04:35) - See how the initial chord progression idea is enhanced with another instance of RealStrat, run through some distortion, as well as a simple electric bass, piano, and pad accompaniment.
• Second Verse Idea (04:00) - Hear how the second shorter verse is constructed, using RealGuitar for arpeggiated picking, and a shortened chord progression derived from the original longer verse.
• Bridge Idea (04:32) - A short intro is added as a placeholder. A double chorus is copy/pasted in after the shortened verse. A bridge is then created, introducing additional harmonic and thematic variety, and is followed by a final chorus.
• Guide Vocal & Lyrics (04:14) - Hear the song with the initial guide vocal & lyrics Rex has added.
• Vocal Harmony Ideas (04:21) - Follow along as selected areas of the guide vocal are copied to a new track and transposed, in order to harmonize specific lines in the lyric.
• Adding Wah Guitar & Other Tweaks (06:51) - See how to use the mod wheel to control the RealStart’s wah pedal, and follow along as the song form is tweaked and edited.
• Varying the Picking Patterns (07:39) - Learn how to combine and edit multiple patterns from RealGuitar’s pattern library into a single part, and then create variations on a duplicate track to achieve a similar but not identical doubled part.
• The Rhythm Guitar Track (05:46) - Watch as the rhythm guitar track is edited and set up in multi output mode, with separate processing on the left and right sides.
• Power Chords (05:25) - See how the heavily distorted chords used in the chorus are enhanced with doubled and tripled parts.
• Lead Guitar (05:40) - Follow along as a lead guitar is set up with unison bends, hammer ons, and distortion, to solo at the end of the bridge and throughout the remaining chorus’s.
• Arrangement Tweaks (05:07) - Watch as a few areas in the various sections are edited and cleaned up in preparation for a live drum part.
• Adding Live Drums (01:29) - A drum recording/mixing template is imported, and live drum tracks are recorded to replace the drum loops used until this point in the songwriting and arranging process.
• Mix Overview - The Guitars (07:53) - Explore the individual guitar tracks alone and in context with various EQs, compressors, distortion, delays, and other plug-ins applied.
• Mix Overview - Other Elements (06:51) - Take a brief look at the processing set up on the drums, vocals, and MIDI elements used in the arrangement.
• Final Play Through (05:59) - Follow along as a few last minute mix tweaks are shown, and listen to a final play through of the full track.