For a Dying Bird

[Supercreep]

Please let us know what you think, especially of the acoustic guitars.

-Casey

For a Dying Bird http://www.nowhereradio.com/lpc/singles

[true-eurt]

I am listening now.

I am going to turn on my monitors and take the headphones off, and listen that way too.

Beautiful song guys....I think the guitars sound great!

And the vocals are heavenly!

I really like the drums in this too. Very good mix!!

Sounds like those you are using some of those clappers flamenco dancers use.

I have listened several times.

At about 4:30 right before it ends, I thought you were going to take it someplace wild! It really had me going for a sec. I wish you would have carried through!

TRUE

[DigitalSmigital]

the guitars are sweet sounding, I imagine some time and money was spent getting that sound; what mics and pres are we hearing? (more accurately, not hearing)

I like the panning idea on the electric guitar picking near the end. Two identical tracks eq'd differently and swapping sides or something?

Beautiful writing, great vox. A pro job on production. This one goes on the iPod along with your The Time I Took, Crazy From the Sunshine and Miles Gone By.

[Supercreep]

Originally Posted by DigitalSmigital

the guitars are sweet sounding, I imagine some time and money was spent getting that sound; what mics and pres are we hearing? (more accurately, not hearing)

I like the panning idea on the electric guitar picking near the end. Two identical tracks eq'd differently and swapping sides or something?

Beautiful writing, great vox. A pro job on production. This one goes on the iPod along with your The Time I Took, Crazy From the Sunshine and Miles Gone By.

Thanks, DS. If I'm not mistaken, we used both a pair of SP B1s and a single MXL 603s into an RNP. We may have used a Joemeek twinQ.

The bit at the end is two tracks - one of them has each phrase alternating sides.

[Nakatira]

This is probbably one of the strongest tunes I`ve heard comming from you guys.
It just so happens that I`m not a minimalist, and I really think this tune could have had a rocking comp, full bass and drums and sutch like the finnish.
I think the "band" should have kicked in at the first refrain.
It might also be becaus I love your drum and bass sound

Anyway Its a great song by all means, I really dig it.
Kudos on the vox creep, nice guitar licks and cool arrangement.

I really hope you electrify this tune, one time its gonna be the greatest

thanks for sharing your art

[Dogman]

Interesting sounds guys. The vocal harmonies are awesome. Very nice. The acoustic is very good sounding. The vocal build up, or swells, is very nice. It adds something interesting during those parts. Just a nice touch. Nice and tight all around. This is a nice, catchy tune. Cool ending...sounds like the start to another tune....

Cool tune guys...really nice.
Ed

[Nakatira]

Whats the bass chain on this one, it kills

[ido1957]

As always your vocals are fabulous - gave me chills on the chorus.....excellent mix.
Acoustics sound great, cymbals are a great effect.
Nice arpeggio later on, followed by the heavy vibe - very much a Supertramp (or other similar multi-instrumentalist group) sound. Great tune with a very pro sounding mix.......

[Incanus]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

True--We've had the idea for the 'extra' part at the end for a long time and knew it was going to rock-out a bit, but didn't know exactly how until the last few sessions. Now we're contemplating a whole new song based on some or all of that music. . . So it may not be the end of it; we'll see.

DigitalSmigital--Supercreep mostly covered your question. We used the B1's about 1-1/2 to 2 feet away and the 603 (through the JoeMeek) close on the 12th fret. Also we put some (what was it? fake hardwood floor pieces or something?) wood down on the floor for some reflective surfaces. And there's a second guitar with just a 603 that joins-in in a couple of spots.

Naka--we originally thought of this as having the rhythm section playing throughout, and then decided to go the minumalist way. I'm glad there are one or two songs on the record without drums. The bass chain was my Fender J into a BassPod into the RNP. There's a good deal of compression from the Pod. I played it in drop D and then doubled it up 1 octave higher.
(By the way, dude, do you have a CD yet? wasn't there going to be an EP or something?)

Dogman--glad you liked it. It does sound like the start of another tune. Just maybe. . .

ido1957--thanks for checking this out. I really like what Casey did with the malleted cymbals too. Sort of makes some of the transitions seem a little smoother, or something. That's the first time I recorded a finger-picking guitar, I've only just started trying to learn that in the last year, or so. I need to get more consistent with it.

The song just needs a few tiny things done to it. . .

[e unum pluribus]

this is really good dude...

a long jam... i love that the beginning had me going for a pink floyd sound but then it kicked into the groove and i felt like it had that familiarity that all good songs have... like i knew where you were going you know??? anyway awsome tune bro i really dig this sound...

if you had a cd of songs like this one i would buy it ...

do you?

[XLR]

Nice work guys. I think the acoustic sound is very good. Impressive vocal harmonies. At 1:05 the mix sounds just a little hot to me around the 400 Hz range.

Tim

[Supercreep]

Thanks Tim, we'll take a look at that Sunday. In a side note we plan to re-record Radio from scratch since in comparison to our more recent stuff the drums just aren't cutting it.

Thank you, Mr. Pluribus. We plan to release our first full length album early this summer. Send me a PM and I'll let you know about the details.

Thanks guys for the listen, we appreciate it and any suggestions you may have for its improvement.

-Casey

[VSpaceBoy]

I have nothing to add but nice tune.

[B.SABBATH]

very nice tune.. almost a little Yes like.. or one of Zebra's acoustic songs.. 70's vibe.. cool.. hey cool change up @4:30.. could have more impact imop.. great part.. progressive.. mmm snare gets a little loud performance wise maybe but then the part immediately fades.. earlier and longer would really be cool.. maybe a different song not sure.. it's too much of a tease unless maybe the next song picks up exactly where this one left off including a fade in.. a good listen..

[e unum pluribus]

good idea sabbath...

im with you i think the whole or at least part of the albumn should follow this songs lead...

[Supercreep]

Originally Posted by B.SABBATH

very nice tune.. almost a little Yes like.. or one of Zebra's acoustic songs.. 70's vibe.. cool.. hey cool change up @4:30.. could have more impact imop.. great part.. progressive.. mmm snare gets a little loud performance wise maybe but then the part immediately fades.. earlier and longer would really be cool.. maybe a different song not sure.. it's too much of a tease unless maybe the next song picks up exactly where this one left off including a fade in.. a good listen..

Thanks for the listen, guys. It is kind of a tease.

The end portion of this song is going to be the main riff for a different tune altogether. For a Dying Bird is to be the last song on our first record, which is on average pretty folky. The first song on our second record will be Regret, which features the 5/4 riff at the end of Dying Bird. We wanted to give some continuity between the two records since the second one will feature more distorted guitars and sound "heavier".

Thanks again for the spin.

-Casey

[famous beagle]

The harmonies in this are really, really nice. Great job with those.

In general all the instruments sound pretty nice. The cymbal swells sound a tad bit on the dark side, but that's nitpicking.


I like the song, but I think the rhythm of the vocal melody gets a little worn out in the verses. The pitches change sometimes, but the rhythm is pretty much the same every time, and it's reinforced with the guitar strumming pattern too. It got a little tiring to me.

Anyway, great job overall.

[DavidK]

Its a very strong song. Good vox and harmonies, kinda hard to describe the genre. Kinda has a CSN vibe but slightly more complex material.

It takes ( for me) just a tad too long to develop. Its obvious where it is going, maybe a more constant morph. I KNOW that bass is coming but it takes 4.5 minutes to get to it. I think that you might build it up more in between by gradually making the instrumentation more complex as you go.

Definitely a keeper, its very good and very well done. Nice work fellers.

[DavidK]

The end portion of this song is going to be the main riff for a different tune altogether. For a Dying Bird is to be the last song on our first record, which is on average pretty folky. The first song on our second record will be Regret, which features the 5/4 riff at the end of Dying Bird. We wanted to give some continuity between the two records since the second one will feature more distorted guitars and sound "heavier".

This is a clever and creative idea and I applaud this.

HOWEVER

What if one only hears the First CD? How do you explain this? A musical cliffhanger?

I sez: Nope, you might reconsider this. I didnt read this before I listened, I am listening again. End THIS CD! You can still do the "start off with the end of Disc one" trick, its like Halloween and Halloween 2! You just cant leave the audience hanging without a proper "goodbye" and a strong statement to end THIS CD.

[queepy]

Don't have much to offer that hasen't been stated already...just really enjoyed this..great vocals!

[Incanus]

Originally Posted by DavidK

This is a clever and creative idea and I applaud this.

HOWEVER

What if one only hears the First CD? How do you explain this? A musical cliffhanger?

I sez: Nope, you might reconsider this. I didnt read this before I listened, I am listening again. End THIS CD! You can still do the "start off with the end of Disc one" trick, its like Halloween and Halloween 2! You just cant leave the audience hanging without a proper "goodbye" and a strong statement to end THIS CD.

Hey, thanks for the comments.

I'm not sure I follow you entirely, however:

First you applauded the idea, then at the end said we shouldn't do it. And if we get rid of the ending portion, how can we still use the 'start off with the end of Disc one' trick?

In any event, I'm not that worried about it. It's not like we have an audience with expectations to please. If 100 people hear the first CD, I'll be surprised. Our families will be the main listeners, and we'll make sure they get every CD we make!! We indulge our own creativity, and not everyone will agree with all of our creative decisions. It was a kind of weird thing to do, and that's why I like it!!!!

[DavidK]

Originally Posted by Incanus

Hey, thanks for the comments.

I'm not sure I follow you entirely, however:

First you applauded the idea, then at the end said we shouldn't do it. And if we get rid of the ending portion, how can we still use the 'start off with the end of Disc one' trick?

Think of my movie analogy:

Halloween 1 and 2 are sorta the same film in that it keeps going. Any sequel that you know will be a franchise is the same thing: you know it will continue but it also puts a definite end to part 1.

In Better terms:

I knew you fellers were gonna do what you did with the bass. I want you guys to jam a bit The structure is " Starship Trooper", YES plays a song and then comes the " Trooper jam". Or " Ive seen all good people". You have a fairly long and substantial part one of a two-part song. about 4.5 minutes into it I said " Aha, here is part 2" but I was hoping it would be a lil longer.

[e unum pluribus]

supercreep...

i say yeah do it bro

end the cd on a cliffhanger...

i know where you re coming from on the small fan base so youll be able to do this... i explain the reasons for what i do on my cds to my friends and family all the time...

as a matter of fact ill probably have to do this for the idea i have right now on my last albumn and i was thinking of putting the story inside the albumn as a liner note...

bottom line...

do what you want with your albumn man, most people dont get even the most cleverest of ideas anyway...

if pinkfloyd wasnt listened to by millions and there wasnt a way for these people to communicate with each other. i wouldnt have noticed lots of the things that make their albumns my favorite and most enjoyable albumns to just listen to start to finish...

[Calwood]

I really liked this tune. I lo'fid it because its so large,...but,..i'm gonna download it,..it's a keeper. Good reference for acoustics. Great recording.

Take 'er easy,..
Calwood

[Incanus]

Thanks Calwood. Keep in mind this is not the final mix. The acoustics are dry as a bone so far. I think they could use a little eq, a little better panning, and maybe a hint of reverb.

e unum pluribus, DavidK--thanks, guys. I just knew that this aspect of the song was going to be the most talked about. It's quirky, it's strange, it's unconventional. It's Little Purple Circles.

It should be pointed out that the end portion wasn't entirely pre-written when we started recording it. So when I recorded the guitar part, the finger-picked arpeggio, I didn't know what the drums were going to do, or the bass (except for the punches). Casey put the drums down and then I worked on a completely different bass-line for a while, dumped it, then came up with this. At that point we started thinking, 'Hey, this could be it's own song as well.'

So it just sort of happened. Serendipitously. It is what it is, and I don't think I want to get rid of it despite it's conceptual flaws or inappropriateness.