programmed drums - opinions

[eoinfilter]

hi im new to this forum i was wondering if the way the drums are programmed on one of my bands tracks (Stop/start) is a bit too over the top. im not sure myself i kind of like them but also feel they could be over the top.....

http://artists.cpu.ie//bands/31/

[stanjanssen]

I think the drums are indeed cheapo and too crowded...but so is the whole mix really...why all the lo-fi effects, pops, hisses and hums? Were they intentional?
I think that it's already too busy at 1:47, but at around 2:00 it gets really bad...

I think you should ease on the 'special effects'...

just my €0.02
Stan.

[eoinfilter]

ye the hisses and cracks and stuff are something we like so they will be kept but the drums are something we have to think about all right, the thing with the end is that we want that crescendo effect so if it sounds crowded thats the kind of idea we wanted.
cheers anyway

[Myriad_Rocker]

There's a difference between having a dynamic cresendo to a forte volume and having a crowded mix.

You also have to think in terms of what you can do live. I haven't listened to it yet but if there are a lot of special effects on your track, you probably won't re-create it live until you have those on a CD and the drummer plays to a click track.

[eoinfilter]

ye we have always had that problem. i think if you put in the main parts of the recordings live then you can do ok, i mean its such a shame to leave some stuff out just cause you wont be able to pull it off live. within reason of course.

[I M Green]

You know I have to be honest. I thoroughly enjoyed that. Don't change a thing except the snare sound. Higher pitch and it's a done deal. And cool ending BTW!

Cheers
Iain

[amonte]

I like it to. Kind of reminds me of the Beta Band.

The hi-hat didn't sound too bad on its own, but the snare definately sounds a bit too synthetic, even with the sound and lo-fi spirit of the rest of the track.

The effects don't bother me so much. I think you're right, as long as you can get the main parts in a live performance, you don't need to recreate the performance exactly. Besides, that's what the record's for. Nothing wrong with having a different sound live.

btw - I liked "My Polish Cleft" a lot to.

[eoinfilter]

you have to be carefull about it, i have to say its something we used not pay attention to but now we do and you learn what you need and what you can go without, i havent seen a whole set by bloc party but what snippets i have heard and what people have told me about them live, they are a bit of a let down that way............ radiohead are not....

cheers by the way bout polish cleft, its everybodys fav, that and uganda

[amonte]

Interesting note about Bloc Party...haven't had the chance to see them live, but I have heard live tracks and seen live video. While they aren't bad, I agree they are lacking something, but I always felt it had more to do with the performance than the lack of special effects. Now if you want to talk about a band that does get it done live, I was blown away by the Futureheads the first time I saw them.

You could also have your drummer (or other member) trigger some of the effects from a sampler. My brother's band does this for some of their songs and it works very well. I know the Yeah Yeah Yeah's guitar player triggers a lot of samples for the songs that have keyboard parts.

Radiohead can pull it off because there's so many of them. I remember the first time I saw them on TV - three guitar players??? Guess they found other stuff for them to do.

[eoinfilter]

youd be suprised at the amount of bands that have extra guitar players etc... offstage, thats something that really pisses me off, i think most modern bands need at least 5 members to re-create recordings, look at arcade fire there was about 8 of them on jools holland, and they sounded brilliant...

[eoinfilter]

alright! have put up a second version of stop/start we arent fully sure which we prefer, id probably favour the one with live drums ala junior chester ie new version bleh... adsjlk!

new version
http://artists.cpu.ie/play.php?band_...mode=song_hifi
old version
http://artists.cpu.ie/play.php?band_...mode=song_lofi