Devil On a Roll

Robus

Well-known member
Song demo with my vocals and programmed drums. The plan is to bring in a singer eventually.

This is a brand new song, still making final adjustments. There will probably be changes to the lyrics. I'm interested in hearing comments about the general direction of the song. Would it make you want to listen a second time?

The mix is in a primitive state. High on the to-do list:
1. Automate vocal for intelligibility in all part of the song.
2. Adjust panning and levels of guitars.
3. Drum programs and bus settings.

BTW, I haven't put much time into drum programming for a long time. I'd like to aspire to Andrushkiwt's programming skills but I've a long way to go. Any suggestions?

All comments welcome. Thanks!

Latest mix:
Devil on a Roll_Ray Taylor_Mix 22.mp3 - Google Drive

Devil on a Roll
Words and music by Ray Taylor, 2018

Glide on into to Vegas
Just one more lonely juju man
The fire burning
And the promise in my hand
Wipers slapping out a song
That’s on my lips
And won’t be long remembered

Well hey, hello where’d you come from
With the dagger in your smile?
Supernatural style
Winning by a mile
Will you turn me on?
Will you roll me under
Like a crocodile?
Will you bend me over
And over?

Hey, hey ho
The Devil’s on a roll
And a cooler man than me she’d burn up
One more time
Hey, hey ho
The Devil’s on her role
And stronger man the me would lose control

Gonna head on back to you
When the cooler days come rolling round again
Best not leave you hanging on
Or twisting in the wind
Footsteps at your doorstep
Might as well be mine
Or not for want of trying
I’m trying again

Hey, hey ho
The Devil’s on a roll
And a cooler man than me she’d burn up
One more time
Hey, hey ho
The Devil’s on her roll
And a stronger man that me would lose control

I think about you now and then
And Wolves are in the prem
I think about you most every day
Passed Baggies on their way
1-5 you say?
Hahaha
 
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The vocals are really distracting. It's a pretty sloppy performance. They're also pretty loud.

Other than that, the bed of drums, bass, and guitar are working pretty well together. Maybe drums could come up a notch.
 
With the opening vocals, my first thought was 1987 MTV Techno Pop.. without all the synths.

I really like the last 15 seconds, I thought this had some good energy - which, IMO, should be sprinkled throughout the rest of
the song to help pick up the languid pace.
 
My first impression is that there's a lot of lyrics and a lot of chords so it's hard to get a handle on the melody (too many notes! :D) . Kind of like a Van Morrison tune. The song seemed to get a lot more focused from around 2.50 where it all comes together with that tasteful lead break over the rhythm guitars. Are you using single coils? The guitars sound good but the distorted rhythm parts have that raspy sound that you don't get with humbuckers. Having listened a few times I think it's a good tune with potential to be better if you can get to where you want to go a bit sooner
 
Mix - was good. Very clean, so not any comments on that. But that might be part of the problem.

Arrangement thoughts:

I think the song is too busy. If you were to consolidate some of the lyrics and ope it up a bit. Let the guitar and vocals have a little more room.

Overall, everything sounded good, just the song seemed to lack space (not mixing space) for everything to have a place.
 
One of the things I didn't mention in PM - Superior Drummer has multiple, actual songs that the drummer played along to, and these are arranged via tempo. So, if your song is 120bpm, you're best off selecting loops that are in that area, give or take 10-20bpm. I'm not sure if EZD has those full "songs", where they give verse, pre chorus, chorus, bridge, and fills for each.

But, the point is, you're best off matching the loops you take to something close in tempo. Even though the DAW will convert that 180bpm to 120bpm, it won't sound very natural. It'll be rushed, even at the same tempo, and just won't sound right. But the loops that were played close your timing, those usually fit nicely. They even make MIDI packs, hundreds of additional loops.

Finally, Superior has a feature where you drag the loop to a spot within the vst (a second/separate timeline) and right-clicking gives several options, like changing the power hand, or changing the complexity of the loop with a click. If you want your final chorus, for example, to be busier than the first, then instead of going back and adding in all those hits manually, or instead of finding a new loop, you can just nudge the button from 5/10 to 8/10 and that same loop will now be filled with more intricacies.
 
There will be a new mix soon, maybe today. I've made some improvement to the lyrics and will be retracking the vocal. I agree the song is a bit busy. I'll look at the keyboard part too. Nobody has mentioned that, but it's a significant part of the mix. It may need to be simplified in places. I'll do those and see where things stand.
 
I sort of agree that the vocal performance is a little "loose" but it's not that bad. In a strange way....I sort of like the sound of his voice......a little Tom Petty / Johnny Cash rolled together. (yes.... I know that's weird) The song seems to be about one verse too long to hold my attention. A little shorter version might work better. As well......the tracks all seem overly "dry"....other than the vocals. That doesn't help to create any sense of space for each part and makes the result seem more artificial sounding than it is. Just my 2 cents worth.....and thanks for the listen.
 
There will be a new mix soon, maybe today. I've made some improvement to the lyrics and will be retracking the vocal. I agree the song is a bit busy. I'll look at the keyboard part too. Nobody has mentioned that, but it's a significant part of the mix. It may need to be simplified in places. I'll do those and see where things stand.

Oh yes.......about the keyboard part.......I didn't care for it and I didn't think the song needed it. Just my opinion.......and if I'm wrong....I'm ok with that.
 
More energy there, for sure. I think you're moving in the right direction.

What are you using in your bass setup?
 
Thanks. P Bass with with a pick through my Gallien-Krueger MB500 head's direct out, then through the ART PRO VLAII compressor and into the interface. No ITB processing except a high pass at 50Hz.
 
Nice sound. Interesting. My last amp setup was a P-bass and a GK 800RB direct out. Great sound. Playing an outdoor festival,
something shorted and it went up in a dense cloud of white smoke.
 
My first impression is that there's a lot of lyrics and a lot of chords so it's hard to get a handle on the melody (too many notes! :D) . Kind of like a Van Morrison tune. The song seemed to get a lot more focused from around 2.50 where it all comes together with that tasteful lead break over the rhythm guitars. Are you using single coils? The guitars sound good but the distorted rhythm parts have that raspy sound that you don't get with humbuckers. Having listened a few times I think it's a good tune with potential to be better if you can get to where you want to go a bit sooner

Thanks. I recorded a lot of guitars for this song. It started as a jam that I worked up to demonstrate some guitar tones for a thread here on the forum. The guitars were a bitch to edit, and I wound up deleting most of those tracks for the sake of my sanity. What's left is a hodgepodge of different amps and guitars. The ones was using the most were a Gibson SG with P-90 style pups, a Les Paul with PAFs, and an Epiphone ES335. The amps were a Mesa V25, a Hughes and Kettner Tubemester 18, and a Vox AC15--all heads--through a Mesa 1x12 closed cab with V30s and a Mesa open back cab with a Black Shadow. I used mostly SM57s close miked. I rig the mics and and cabs up in a different room so I can crank them and keep my hearing!
 
Nice sound. Interesting. My last amp setup was a P-bass and a GK 800RB direct out. Great sound. Playing an outdoor festival,
something shorted and it went up in a dense cloud of white smoke.

The RB series are some sweet amps. They defined that GK sound. I'd love to have one of these, though it would be wasted in my studio:

 
One of the things I didn't mention in PM - Superior Drummer has multiple, actual songs that the drummer played along to, and these are arranged via tempo. So, if your song is 120bpm, you're best off selecting loops that are in that area, give or take 10-20bpm. I'm not sure if EZD has those full "songs", where they give verse, pre chorus, chorus, bridge, and fills for each.
Stock EZD doesn't have those, but some of the extension kits come with a few. (plus, of course the midi packs work there too)

Finally, Superior has a feature where you drag the loop to a spot within the vst (a second/separate timeline) and right-clicking gives several options, like changing the power hand, or changing the complexity of the loop with a click. If you want your final chorus, for example, to be busier than the first, then instead of going back and adding in all those hits manually, or instead of finding a new loop, you can just nudge the button from 5/10 to 8/10 and that same loop will now be filled with more intricacies.

That's a cool feature!

As to mix 2. (or 22, whatever)
Vocal deliver is better, but I think you probably still have a better take in you. Especially on the BGVox. Some looseness on the lead vox is part of the feel of the song, but if the BGvox aren't super tight, it's a distraction.
Drums seem better balanced too.
 
I thought it sounded good overall.

The bass sounds a bit "farty". It seems to change in tone throughout, too. Like during the intro it's thinner than when you're singing the first verse. What is up with that? Did you change hand position where you're picking? At times the bass pops out more (might need more compression). It's a really busy bass line. The vocals are busy, too. So the combination leaves little room to breath. All that said, it kind of works.

ps. I like the demented Dark Side of the Moon laugh.
 
The bass and guitar are both pretty busy. I usually try to simplify the guitar when the bass is doing something interesting and vice versa. I wouldn't mix it so bright either, the bottom end is a little lacking. But that's details of mixing, and you're asking about the song direction.

It has lots of fun parts. I might use the layers more dynamically, so pull out one or both of the guitars in parts of the song, then bring them back in. You do change it up a couple of times, but there are long stretches of sameness that could be broken up a bit.
 
Thanks for the comments! You're the folks who make this MP3Clinic worthwhile. Plenty drop in as often as they have a song to share and ask for comments. It's you who listen and comment that make it work.

I'm on a fence about this song. The lyrics aren't quite there for me yet. I'm getting a lot of comments that the arrangement is busy. I can hear what you mean. Might be time to set this one aside and work on other things for a few weeks. I'll post a remix when I get back to it.
 
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