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Ok, so I know there is never a right or wrong tempo but I was playing around with Cubase last night and I thought I would get a basic drum beat, try and lay some chords to get inspiration for creating a basic song.

By default Cubase opens with a tempo of 120bpm. To me this sounds too fast but often slowing it down, it seemed to sound too slow and I couldn't find a happy medium.

So I started trying to figure the tempo of some of the songs I was listening to at the time, mainly Thunder. It seemed these were sitting at around the 80bpm - is this correct? Is 80 pretty standard for this kind of melodic rock music?

How do you go about selecting the right tempo for your songs?

For many years I have tried to record using many different ways using tape 4 tracks, digital multi tracks and recording direct through the computer.

Last year I decided to invest in some proper equipment in the hope that I could get something decent made.

I bought an audio interface as well as a condenser mic for both acoustic and vocals.

I had a few friends round and we had a few beers. It was weird sticking headphones on and hearing everything through the condenser mic - amazing what little sounds it can pick up.

While testing the recording software out I captured some of the voice of a friend of mine. The next day I stuck down some simple chords and a drum loop and this tune was born. At first I thought it was rubbish of course but it has grown on me.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7731187

If you are wondering what the on earth he is saying, well, he was talking about the pop shield that I also bought. Somewhere in transport it had got snagged and lit looked like a pair of tights or stockings that had got laddered.

Then he was putting the pop shield on and off the mic to see if there was any difference.

I have raised this one before but didn't get too much feedback.

I would love to understand a bit more about using borrowed chords within my playing. Often when I listen to music I think, "I like that bit" then when I work it out I realise the reason I find it interesting is in fact there is a chord or set of chords being used that is outside of the key.

One that I have noticed that occurs quite a bit is where the 4th chord of the key (IV) is subsequently followed by the (iv) same chord but minor. This is outside of the key but it works well.

So I wonder what other chords work like this and how I can go about finding them without just trying random combinations.

Secondary dominants is another thing that I see a lot in compositions by Queen and a lot of other artists. I kind of understand the theory but when i try to use them myself, they break the flow of music, rather than add to the excitement of it.

So if anyone does understand these points perhaps you can offer advice on how I can start using both borrowed chords and secondary dominants (and maybe other things) within my music.