@Chordy65 - Well done Ursula and fabulous first posting. really smooth and in time stumming, that Dm chord is a real struggle and you had it down pretty consistently. A fabulous debut 
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, Iām glad you liked it@michielvv
Bravo, Michiel, congrats on that first recording, such a big step. I enjoyed your rendition. Keep doing what you are doing.
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This is my second post in the beginnerās safe space recording and probably my last post here of my recorded songs. I will post two new ones, and this makes my total recordings to three. I am currently on Grade 2 (Module 9), and just trying to learn the F chord.
Heart of Gold Nov 2022
This one was played and sung at the same time. I used a digital audio device to record the mic and my Yamaha Pacifica at the same time. The voice is too low and I am not really familiar with the software yet enough to do post processing on the track adjusting the volume. I tried, but it still isnāt great. I think the song came out ok for the guitar though. I was proud to do a couple of rifts and adjust the strumming throughout the song.
Country Roads Nov 2022
This one was a tough one. I am playing with some additional chords that I didnāt learn yet in JustinGuitar like D7 and . However, it also contains the dreaded F chord. Since I can play it, but cannot yet change to the F chord well, I had to improvise the song by changing the tempo around the F chord slowing it down then speeding it up for the finale.
This one I sung it and played it separately and tried mixing them using software. The voice sounds better than Heart of Gold, but there were some timing errors. So, it is out of sync in a couple of spots where I came in too soon on voice and had to wait for guitar to catch up. There is also a distinct missed chord at one point, which makes me cringe when I hear itā¦ but, oh well. I had fun making this one mostly because I messed around a lot with it and did not focus on a perfect cover of the original. Just did it my own way.
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@BobW72 As a grade 2, no technical comments, but I thought good regular strumming, varied through song (?)ā¦ Upstrokes in what sounded like the right places ( I do not know the song ).
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@Newbie2022 Very good for 6 months, what seemed to me ( as only grade 2 ) the thumb pick of single note before chord. the single strum of last two chords at the end.
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@drake_equation ā Heart of gold ā good - loved tone of guitar ā maybe say what software you have and @DavidP might have some comment. Depending on the hardware you can have a volume on each channel to adjust as a starting point.
Same good tone in Country Roads. I have not dared myself to include singing in anything I have recorded or posted hereā¦
The F is hard. I had a song ( Rhiannon ) that was all F 's Am, F, C then F the whole way through and had 1 min changes on my practice schedule, through Module 10. Now added F to Dm as trying Dancing in the Dark through module 11 where I currently am.
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Thank you for the reply. Appreciate the feedback, and the struggle with F. I was actually getting better with Fmaj7 and might substitute it in Country Roads for my next try. I am able to get the F chord to ring out properly, but it still takes like 10 seconds at least for me to get my fingers right. At this point, I cannot imagine doing more than like 5 changes in one minute to any other chord from F.
I was playing a lot with Garage Band and enjoyed messing around with all the distortions and reverb and stuff. that is all pretty intuitive. However, when I actually recorded something and then tried to adjust it to make it sound better, I really struggled to understand it. I also used Ableton Live 11 Lite, which is the software that was free with my audio interface. I got as far as learning how to record one or multiple tracks at the same time and do some minor editing in the track. I think the software has a lot of features, but I am a true beginner in terms of audio processing, so I really have no idea even what the right words are when searching solutions to my problems.
Two very good songs well delivered there Drake. Strumming sounded good. Chord changes sounded good. Singing, well, if possible are you able to up your vocals a bit? For me your voice was drowned out by your guitar.
Keep on doing what you are doing though, sounding good.
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Keep doing what you are doing and youāll keep improving and becoming more comfortable recording your songs.
I think you did pretty well on both, both the playing and singing as best as I could make out.
I thought your guitar level and tone was improved on Country Roads, plus better level on the vocals.
Based on your comments, I assume you are playing the electric plugged straight into the audio interface, not via an amp, and have a mic to record vocals also plugged into the audio interface.
Given that it is an electric you should be able to achieve a good balance in levels between the guitar and vocal tracks.
On your audio interface you should have a gain knob that controls the input level. I began using Ableton Live Lite and later switrched to Reaper. My suggestion would be to pick GarageBand as I think itmay serve you better in the longer term, though nothing wrong with Ableton.
When you are preparing to record, trhe first step is to set your recording levels. In your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation, either Ableton or GarageBand) you should see some kind of level meter associated with each input track. I assume you have 2 input tracks, but maybe share more details and mention what interface you are using.
When recording the level fader associated with each track (a control that raises and lowers the volume of the track) should be set at the neutral, zero adjustment point.
When you set up, adjust the gain on your audio interface so that when you record the levels of both guitar are in the range -18dB to -12dB (not the smaller the number the louder). Peaks around -6dB are fine.
Once you have recorded then you can use the track level faders to adjust the level of guitar and vocal to achieve a balance that sounds good to you.
Initially I suggest you focus on getting that to sound good, perhaps also explore the effect of panning the tracks. Panning moves the sound in the stereo field ie pan to the left and the sound would only be heard in the left ear if wearing headphones. Each track should have a panning control.
Last thing to watch for is the overall level of the final mix. YOu should find a master track which is where all your individual tracks are routed to. On this track (actually all tracks) you must ensure that the level never exceeds 0dB. Your peaks can get close to this eg -1dB and a good average level would be between -6dB to -3dB.
Make a few recordings and get comfortable with this and one can build on that.
Also feel free to post questions in #gear-tools-talk:hardware-software-recroding
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Thank you very much. This is really helpful. I have a Motu M2, so the mic and guitar are using different inputs. I donāt have an expensive mic, it is a Shure dynamic mic PGA48. I used to use a USB Blue Mic and it was very loud picking up my voice, but it seems like the Shure does not pick up well unless I get really close. So, I have to get used to that. When I started I adjusted the gains using the record levels on the M2 interface, thinking that I should just avoid any red. Based on your recommendation, though I should be going off the DAW levels. So, I will try that next time, if I understand you correctly.
I need to save your post and keep reviewing it. There are so many volume and gain knobs. On the guitar I have volume, I have volume in the monitor, and then gain for each the mic, the guitar on the MOTU, plus adjustments in the DAW. I will play around with it more and hope I can get a nice sound. Thanks a ton for the reply.
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@drake_equation
My pleasure, glad to be of some help.
Yes, that is correct. Monitor level in the DAW and adjust gain settings and guitar volume to hit the appropriate incoming level, while ensuring no red lights on the AI.
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I had a go at video capture of myelf playing a few songs through on Sunday. Played Justins app through my hifi and recorded it all on my macbook. Ill work out better way to capture sound and video at some point but this is stressful enough lol. I posted an introduction about myself yesterday. Iā completed grade1 after a couplel months in April and May but then had to stop playing all june, july, august, september and most of Oct. Been back at it from early October with a quick run through of Grade 1 again then a couple weeks just playing back songs from the app until i get confident again to move to grade2
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and one with some iffy singingā¦ Olivia Rodrigo, Drivers Licence.
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Well done Gordon on both videos. Not a thing wrong with your singing either. My 10 year old daughter is big into Olivia Rodrigo so I enjoyed that a lot. Great start and keep up the good work!
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Congratulations on your first AVOYP posting Gordon, they now get easier from here on out. Nicely played on both songs. Nice, clean changes on the chords, your strumming was consistent and good vocals on the second video. I thought you did a great job with them.
Is the projector for movie nights? 
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Thanks Everyone. Sgt Yes, i am the EU distributor for a hi end video processing device and i use it for testing. Itās basically our BIG tvā¦Useful for being able to read lyrics instead of looking at tiny iPhone screenā¦
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Welp, Iām doing this! Started 3.5 months ago. Finished up Module 2 but going back through it now as part of my consolidation. This is hard for me because Iām a perfectionist in every sense of the word however, itās hard to get feedback when you are learning online so I figured it didnāt need to be perfect yet. Still need a lot of work on changing to the F chord. Thanks for any feedback!
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Well what do i know as a beginner? Well, I know i canāt do finger picking like that. i know i recognised the song wihtout seeing the video title. Top workā¦You made me want to practice more!
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That was really impressive Meghann. Really good fingerpicking and good steady strumming . I was nowhere near your level at 3.5 months and donāt worry about the dreaded F chord as it takes a while to get it perfect. I was probably well into year 2 before it came together for me. Thanks for sharing!
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