New one: "Freedom of Youth"

[famous beagle]

Hey Y'all,

Here's a new one. It's missing vocals on the chorus, but I'm posting it anyway because it's been sitting around for a while and I haven't had the chance to get them on there. (The lyrics for the chorus, FYI, are "Free's not the word it used to be," repeated.)

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Thanks!

http://www.soundclick.com/chadjohnson

[jmasek]

Sounds like it could be a really good song (a little hard to tell without the chorus), but I like the overall feeling and instrumentation. The fuzzed out e-piano is cool. Somehow the rhythm gets to feel plodding as the song goes on... it needs to come alive at some point and "break out". Maybe the bass and drums could be a little more active at various points in the song. Also, I think I'd shorten the whole thing up - it would work better as a 3:00 minute song rather than a 4+ minute song, unless you add a bridge or instrumental section that really builds. Just some suggestions...Nice

[CIRO]

Beautifull song, nice and wide stereo image.Congrats.

Things that I think you could try for the final mix:

*kick and bass gtr are "fighting" in the same frequencie (~120hz).And kick lacks sub bass frequencies (around 50/60 hz).Eq can help a lot to define this bass region and a better separation for this two instruments.

*Despite frequencie, kick is VERY LOUD on B part (0:50),really "jumping out of the song" and letting the bass "alone".You can try a compressor or the volume envelope to tame the strong peaks.

Ciro
www.soundclick.com/openstation

[santiu]

really great sounding song!! Good job man. I'd buy this if it were for sale.

Bass drum is a bit strong at times and the toms are too soft as is the ride cymbal.

Personally, i don't like the intro.

I'd love to hear the song with the chorus.

[famous beagle]

Thanks for the comments y'all.

I'm in the process right now of re-recording the tune with real drums and a good bass player with a good bass. (I recorded the bass on this version with a cheap $99 fender knock-off.)

So I'll probably let this version go. But I'll post the new version (with chorus and everything!) once it's done.

[famous beagle]

Originally Posted by santiu

really great sounding song!! Good job man. I'd buy this if it were for sale.

Bass drum is a bit strong at times and the toms are too soft as is the ride cymbal.

Personally, i don't like the intro.

I'd love to hear the song with the chorus.

Thanks!

Regarding the intro, did you mean you didn't like the live, talking vibe, or do you not like the intro guitar lick? (or everything about the intro?)

[santiu]

the live talky part. I'm not opposed to live talky intro's in general. But for this song, it just didn't flow well or add anything to the song to me. It's a good song, get straight too it, no need to noodle around.

[XLR]

Beautiful song.

I like the subtle guitar lick that links the phrases at 1:09.

Maybe an edit needed for the vocalist's sniffle at 4:25.

Though the panning sounds balanced re levels, sonority-wise I'd move the keyboard to the middle and put the ac gtr hard left/right with a good stereo processor like the new Flux plug on it, or do a different take of the acoustic for each side.

Really, nice writing and feel to the performance. It's tunes like this that keep me coming back here.

[famous beagle]

Originally Posted by XLR

Beautiful song.

I like the subtle guitar lick that links the phrases at 1:09.

Maybe an edit needed for the vocalist's sniffle at 4:25.

Though the panning sounds balanced re levels, sonority-wise I'd move the keyboard to the middle and put the ac gtr hard left/right with a good stereo processor like the new Flux plug on it, or do a different take of the acoustic for each side.

Really, nice writing and feel to the performance. It's tunes like this that keep me coming back here.

Thanks for the comments! I hadn't thought of that idea regarding the acoustic; I'll check it out. The sniffle is actually on the acoustic track. I just never bothered to redo it.

Thanks for listening.

[Nightfire]

This sounds really cool. I can hear a little bit of a Wilco influence?
What kind of gear (mics, interface) are you using?

Mike

[famous beagle]

Originally Posted by Nightfire

This sounds really cool. I can hear a little bit of a Wilco influence?
What kind of gear (mics, interface) are you using?

Mike

Thanks

Yep I'm a big Wilco fan for sure.

This was recorded on a Yamaha AW16G. The acoustic (Seagull) and the vocal (I'm pretty sure) were recorded with an Octava MC-012 through an M-Audio DMP3.

All the effects came from the Yamaha.