Amateur Music Production Journey

Why?

The idea actually came from a colleague in my team during my internship at SP Group, who's a hobbyist singer-songwriter. She thought that it’d be fun to collaborate on a few songs and send them off to local music competitions. Coincidentally I like music and play a few instruments so why not.

Equipment Used

Hardware

• Electric Guitars: Squier Classic Vibe 50s Stratocaster, Sterling JP150 John Petrucci Signature
• Acoustic Guitar: Yamaha FG800 Acoustic Guitar
• Piano: Roland FP-30X
• MIDI Controller: Nektar SE25
• Audio Interface: Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Generation

Software

• Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): Reaper
• Plugins: Archetype Tim Henson by Neural DSP, LABS free products, Pianoteq 8, Keyzone Clasic, MT Power Drum kit

Pieces

Song 1: 悲剧信徒

My first time messing around with Reaper and guitar plugins. Lyrics and singing by Neo Ee Leng. I learned that even free drum plugins can sounds pretty good somehow.

With Guitar Lead Tone

悲剧信徒-lead

With Singing/Lyrics

悲剧信徒

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Song 2: 后天爱上你

Made with pretty much only an electric guitar, but at this point I’ve been experimenting with random audio plugins and effects. Singing/Lyrics credits: Ee Leng.

With Guitar Lead Tone

后天爱上你-lead

With Singing/Lyrics

后天爱上你

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Song 3: 3 Button Face

This song is about how my naughty my dog is 😡. Fun fact: It’s called 3 Button Face because my dog has 3 buttons on her face (eyes and snout). Singing credits: Ee Leng.

With Guitar Lead Tone

3buttonface-lead

With Singing

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Song 4: Jellyfish

The idea was that its supposed to have some sort of chill SpongeBob-like vibe 🤡. This one has no lyrics or singing sadly, so it’s just gonna be the guitar lead tone.

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Song 5: Set Your Heart Ablaze

This one is supposed to be some sort of instrumental rock-metal piece. Was excited when I finished with it until I realized the main riff sounds like a copy of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes 🗿, but oh whale. I also brought in my guitar-wizard Marty Friedman reincarnate friend Tim Ng who created the shreddy ending solo.