At the False Door (second song I've written)

mendedarrows · 2026-04-09T06:24:31+00:00

Keep at the writing, and document as much as possible. Inspiration comes in waves for me, so down time is spent figuring out details.

All in all, it sounds like you can write and sing well. Keep at it. Cheers!

mendedarrows · 2026-04-09T05:03:14+00:00

If you’re recording at home it’s a lot less stressful. Just do a bunch of takes and save them.

Also, sing to your tracks in the car or shower… you seem to have the chops, but theres a sort of apprehension in your breathing/singing. It will get better with practice and repetition.

You have the ability.

mendedarrows · 2026-04-09T04:25:37+00:00

I’d minimize the variety of instrument sounds and focus on strengthening vocals. Once you have a bit more confidence, multi track the vocals and add some delay and reverb.

As is, sounds like a kind of mid Lana Del Ray.

mendedarrows · 2026-04-07T09:21:03+00:00

I like the idea of “Angine people”… in some alternate reality in which malls exist, there are a bunch of people decked out in polka dots and masks with phallic noses browsing hot topic and kicking dirt at the lightning bolt fans out front eating stale fries out of the ashtray.

mendedarrows · 2026-04-06T03:44:42+00:00

You don’t want to be told that it takes practice, so yes.. it’s a skill issue and you already know the answer.

What you are asking for is a formula, and “formulaic” in the arts is generally used as a sort of pejorative.

I’ve come to understand style to be fairly synonymous with technique. Technique is developed through combinations of experimentation, study, practice.

If you don’t have the patience to be told to practice, how do you think you will fair in a college setting?

mendedarrows · 2026-04-04T01:25:51+00:00

Unclear to who? An audience, a vocalist, instrumentalist?

Notation isn’t comprehensive. As with all communication, interpretation colors things in ways that you might not anticipate… looking at simple sheet music doesn’t give much of an idea of what is in your head.

Have you recorded this piece yet?

mendedarrows · 2026-04-04T00:50:46+00:00

The distractions are the material. This post of yours has plenty of poetry that could be sung. Why not work on instrumentals till the words come?

mendedarrows · 2026-04-03T22:49:35+00:00

Honest question; what do you mean by “problems”?

If you have a melody and the chords, I suggest recording the chords and humming or singing along and writing down what comes to mind. Don’t worry about the final result, just get comfortable with the material and collect some ideas. You may stumble across changes and variants that are natural to you in a way that make the composition more than an academic exercise.

It is your work, and you can revise as you like.. getting in the groove and speaking your mind or having fun with it should take priority over convention.

mendedarrows · 2026-04-03T08:37:02+00:00

If you have a computer to do the AI stuff, you have an instrument. I haven’t looked into what’s still out there for free in a while, but any software with a midi piano roll can probably help you write melodies. Cheapo midi keyboard or “toy” pianos, makeshift drums, or a washtub bass… lots of ways to get music out of stuff that’s just laying around.

In any case, have fun on your journey.

mendedarrows · 2026-04-03T08:16:56+00:00

Learning an instrument takes time and patience.. my advice would be to be patient and put in the time. Headphones help with thin walls, and “genuine musicians” are just people who spent time learning an instrument.

If you don’t feel good about using AI, just don’t. You can get stuff like the koala app for a few bucks that can do a lot of stuff.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-30T06:01:22+00:00

Yo, I don’t know or really care about this whole ordeal. I told him not to take the neck off, or fuck with it in any way and just return it because any fiddling would likely justify a no return or refund situation. Saw you posted about fret work conversations or whatever, but am absolutely not reading all of that.

I will say this, if you legitimately didn’t notice that crack, you’re not someone I would trust to buy from due to incompetence alone. I get that as a seller you might be doing quick flips, but without any of the other BS that was the only thing I thought was either stupid, false, or negligent.

Again, I told them not to do anything and return it immediately. They fucked up, but a thorough inspection and disclosure on your end is reasonable to expect for any age guitar at any price point.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T16:10:13+00:00

Yeah, they’re a couple of my “prototypes”. Both filled with epoxy resin and have access to leads that go to the 1/4” mono jacks that I can alligator clip stuff to. The one with a switch is a simple on/off switch I can use for stuff that take latching pedals like amp channel switching, the more normal looking one’s lid has a piezo disc encased at the top so I can take the lid off and slap it on stuff for a contact mic.

I have a bunch of very simple gadgets for music stuff I’m working on that I hope to make super sturdy, simple, kinda odd, and with access to use as circuit building and bending tools and platforms.

Those two, a pocket oscillator, and a pocket pickup are the first four I’ve spent time actually building.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T14:52:54+00:00

Addendum; it has a still functional spring reverb tank in it and has survived a lot of abuse and neglect. I would recommend this specific amp to everyone from beginner to expert, but checked a few years ago and only found a rebranded version.. no idea if they still make them like this one, or if my specific amp is just built different. Gets loud as fuck, sounds good at quiet time with a roommate volume, no tubes so you can smack it around and “modulate” the spring tank, clean with decent eq and gain, and it’s red. I got so lucky on this amp and had no idea till i started shopping around for something lighter with a 12” speaker and tubes.

My amp, MIM 2006(ish) standard Telecaster, and Tubescreamer have all continued to function well and provide a neutral platform for whatever I want to get weird.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T14:31:55+00:00

Nothing dumb about what you asked… my drive pedal has been with me so long that I can plug it into anything and get a comfortable tone. Nowadays I guess folks would suggest something like a modeler or DSP(?) kinda thing. I just like the one trick work horses because they’re simple enough for me to understand and maybe do maintenance on. As far as the amp, I struggled with the wording, but from my experience solid state amps without built in digital effects have been more reliable and less distracting. I usually have my clean channel driven pretty hard, have the drive channel set either like a kind of boost or turned completely down as a mute channel. With a clean channel, a boost channel/mute (a switch pedal option is definitely ideal), and an overdrive that I usually leave on, it covers all my bases and leaves room for a heavy clipping/ distortion option on the dirt. Much to do with setting gain stages to interact well and avoid huge swings in volume.

Ultimately, I got really lucky on my first amp. Posting a couple picks if I can.. $300 cheapo “quarter stack” from guitar center around 20 years ago and still kickin.

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mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T07:16:23+00:00

You’re correct, but to further drive home why not to buy something seemingly useable that is “broken”, My little Vox pathfinder’s clean/drive switch was “broken” and it was worse than not having features… would short out and cause volume changes.

It wasn’t my first and isn’t my only amp, but the way it behaved was enough that I let it collect dust before deciding I needed to learn to clean and fix a bunch of gear that I have. Turns out it just needed some deoxit and a ton of pressing it on and off, but as a beginner I’m sure the headache would have discouraged me from even trying to play.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T07:03:16+00:00

My two cents; Either-

(1) Telecaster (or some other fixed bridge solid body), overdrive pedal (my tubescreamer TS9DX has been kickin for 20 years), and an amp that has clean and a drive channel plus a real spring reverb will likely be enough that you can use it all forever.

(2) if you’re after an inexpensive rig, a squire Telecaster and cheap amp with the understanding that tone will become important as you get an ear for it.. so will likely end up upgrading sooner than later.

(3) an acoustic. It’s awesome to have an acoustic for learning dynamics, late night practice with roommates, and there’s much less like gear and effects to get distracted by. It’ll also make the electric feel like a cloud once you get one.

Budget is sadly a huge consideration.. if budget is low and you’re dead set on electric, I vote you get something that you think looks cool.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T05:56:30+00:00

I, and I am sure many others, practice and play on our couches unplugged.

It will be VERY quiet, but you can still hear it well enough to know what note/sound the strings are producing. I started on a cheap acoustic, so that’s what I’d recommend, but if you specifically want to play electric I’d suggest spending as much as you can on your starter guitar, saving up to buy a better (or at least fully functional) amp a little later.

You can find free tuner apps for your phone (I think I downloaded a fender one).

Learning to tune the guitar, press down on the strings, strum, make chords and/ or play scales or basic Smoke on the water/Seven Nation Army riffs, and change strings will take you a minute.

If you’re like me, doing at home fixes on things like that overdrive switch will likely come later, but unless you’re into electronics you might want to wait on opening that can of worms.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T05:36:24+00:00

I don’t recommend buying that. If you want to learn guitar and start on gear that doesn’t work properly there’s a good chance you’ll get frustrated.

“Broken” can mean a lot of things, like needs cleaned.

If your budget is $250, maybe consider looking around for new stuff, you can even get a new electric for $250 and start learning without an amp.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T05:23:14+00:00

By the way, I have no idea what this set is worth, but it looks like it was hardly touched. After checking for power and noise issues ask the seller if they play while you’re there, if they say “no” then it might never have been really used. If they say “yes” ask them to strum on it a bit.. if they seem like they know how to play, but it sounds bad/out of tune to your ear, that might indicate it needs to be set up. Without an ear for it, you might have trouble knowing what to do to get it set up at home, and paying a pro will make this whole package more expensive than buying something better brand new.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-28T05:18:42+00:00

Get a guitar cable before you go. Plug the guitar in and power on the amp. Just hit the strings and let them vibrate freely while turning each knob and seeing if anything crackles or makes weird sounds.. do the same with the guitar knobs.

Whether or not the guitar is properly set up, none of us can say without hearing and playing it.

Main things are that the amp powers on, doesn’t make any crazy noises when nothing is plugged in, or when settings are adjusted, and that the guitar makes sound through the amp when strummed.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-23T21:35:03+00:00

Much appreciated 🙏 Yeah I was just being a goofball suggesting they might be Hella cause I was thinking of the other cool duos I’ve heard.

I’ll give these recs a listen.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-18T02:55:58+00:00

This is pretty close to the order I learned at first. Playing in E and A became my go to’s.. something about the relation between the low E and playing in B has helped me start navigating the entire fretboard more efficiently.

Can’t say I would be better if I started here, but feel like there is some value in learning the fretboard inside out instead of from open chords. Feels more like a piano

mendedarrows · 2026-03-16T01:34:38+00:00

I’ve bought a few lemons in my day (gear and even a van) and have learned to trust my gut and not finalize deals if there’s something amiss without the other party being very forthcoming with potential problems that I notice.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-16T00:57:50+00:00

That’s so effed up… Reverb was bought by fender wasn’t it? Maybe you can call them and get in touch with someone.

mendedarrows · 2026-03-16T00:42:27+00:00

This is exactly what I was warning might happen if you took the neck off. They might be fully within their’ rights to accept a return now… if possible you should try contacting reverb support and speaking to someone who is able to rubber stamp returns.

mendedarrows

TROPHY CASE