the sound of butterfly wings

[maryslittlesecret]

Hey, guys. We're just a couple remixes away from completing our CD and I think I'm finally solidifying an overall sound (though the vocals seem to have backslid a little bit on this one -- curse me for experimenting )...

Please take a listen to our new track, "Butterfly Wings", and let us know what you think. Thoughts and suggestions on the mix, arrangement, song, etc. are all fair game. You can find it at http://www.mp3.com/30SoS

As always, we're looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks!

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS

[B.SABBATH]

cool tune.. I liked those screams! Good sound as well. I immediately thought of the Smashing Pumpkins when I saw the title....Then i heard the tune and it did remind me a little bit of the pumpkins.. I like the vocals much more when the singer pushes it... Very cool screams! I dont think your vocals 'backslid' like you said, I just think you should scream more! You have solidified your sound though, after hearing your other tunes..

cool tune..

later

B

[SLuiCe]

I like the guitars and the vocals. My persoanl preference would have been just a hair more high end on the gits, but they were cool, and the riffs did the job. The drums were OK but some of the fills were excessive, almost felt too random. Vox levels were good I thought. I liked what sounded like doubling during the chorus (or pre-chorus?). Good tune. I love heavy stuff but there's so much of it that's just plain GENERIC. This was pretty unique sound-wise. Good job!

[Guernica]

..Great Song, .......great!
Being a fan of all of your influences, I love where you are taking this. I too, hear the pumpkins, as well as NIN. I spent some time at your website too..... this should be an example to all of us on how a band (or guy?) can present a project well on the web. If you are a working band, let me know if you play live in south cali...... im there. mike

[maryslittlesecret]

Hey, guys -- thanks for the input!

B. SABBATH -- glad you dig the tune. can't complain about any comparisons to billy corgan the name of the tune kind of invites that, though it was written back before they came out with 'bullet with butterfly wings' and i'm too stubborn to change it now in terms of the 'pushed vocals', are you talking just about the scream in the middle or the heavier verses too? just curious since i'm still getting comfortable with my vocals...

SLuiCe -- thanks for listening and posting. i'm with you on the guitar. i beefed up the bass tone and didn't compensate by dialing down the bass on the guitars -- that'll be fixed in our next post. the drum fills are pretty intense, but that's what we were going for. the vox were doubled for the majority of the song, but we hard panned them in the chorus to really open it up. glad you noticed...

Guernica -- awesome! thanks so much for the positive comments! It's just two of us so far, but we're in the process of putting a live band together. being based in iowa, it'll be a while before we're playing anywhere in cali, but maybe someday... thanks again!

Any other thoughts, opinions, ideas, etc. on this one?

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS

[mixmkr]

great sound. ...it outta make all the "pros" on this board wet their pants with envy.... great vocals....and I love the gtr sound.

[mixmkr]

well....I had to listen to more of your stuff at your mp3.com site.. I like the electronica in with the gtrs to a LARGE degree. Some very creative ideas, endings, breaks, textures...all that groovy stuff...

A couple of negatives now after listening to most of your stuff for a good hour or so ...(a couple several times)

I like the break/solos sections for the most part...very creative, but for some reason, I really miss a kick ass guitar with some solo notes, and your music is minimal with that.

There is a very large sameness to all your music...which is VERY good, I would suppose in shopping yourself...no need to show some A &R guy you do everything under the sun, but the tunes are are all so very similar...to a major degree.

It seems every song is in the same key, and features drop tuned guitars.

vocals a little harsh sounding at times...

but still...your stuff just kicks a royal booty. Much better than most around these parts, pardner... happy trails...

[Lt. Bob]

Man, I get home from a gig and there's all this cool music posted. Good song, I guess I'm a geezer but the vocals remind me of Zeppelin. I'll have to check out your other stuff. I agree with mix about it having room for a screamin' guiter ride. The mix is pretty good except for the lack of highs on the guitars. Good work.

[maryslittlesecret]

Thanks for your input, mixmkr -- both flattering and constructive. In terms of the guitar solos and drop tuned guitars, it's all an issue of trying to be contemporary. a few of the songs actually had guitar solos originally and we removed them since solos are seen by a lot of people as a remnant of the 80s (plus, I'm not that good of a guitar player) I am trying to break out of writing in the same few keys, but it's hard to sound heavy in G when everyone else is in B flat... i'm with you on the similarities to a degree --we're always working on sounding 'new' while maintianing our own style. With the vocals, is the harshness in the performance or mix? Again, I'm new to singing so any input/advice is greatly appreciated...

And Lt. Bob -- that's the first Zepplin comparison we've ever drawn, especially on vocals. As I mentioned to mixmkr, we probably won't offer much for solos, though I'd love to be able to tear some Vai-esque leads off. And the guitar tones will fit better on the next track, which we should have up within a week or so. Please post on the next tune to let me know if there's an improvement.

Thanks again for the comments -- keep 'em coming!

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS

[mixmkr]

Originally posted by maryslittlesecret
With the vocals, is the harshness in the performance or mix? Again, I'm new to singing so any input/advice is greatly appreciated...

more so with the mix. However, even though your singing is good(read-- borderline acceptable for major release), it is however the weak point in my opinion, when compared to the incredibley creative use of synths meshed with heavy guitars..and just the overall writing. I think potentially your vocals are going to be one that will be hard to capture(recording wise)also, in a VERY pleasing way, and I'm glad you just didn't effect them to death to cover up, or do something really lame in trying to find the best solution for the vocals..... etc. Take these points as minor issues, however....

You guys need a manager(or someone) that has connections, would be my next guess as your next step. I'd think you'd be able to sell a truck full of CD's at gigs too.

[CyanJaguar]

thats a pretty good mix. THe guitars are huge

The voice sounds better than before but still doesnot sound real. Sounds like it was run through an special fx eq

Nice song by the way

Funk on!

[maryslittlesecret]

Thanks for your honesty, mixmkr. I agree that the vocals are the weak link. Thankfully, I just started 'singing' a year ago when this projected started, so I know they can only get better. Plus, with this being a two man project where I also handle guitars, keys, and share the producer/engineer role, I rarely have time to rehearse or spend much time recording vocals -- they're usually tracked in about 3 hours per song (including any doubling, harmonies, etc.). Not to make excuses -- I just think that with more time to practice and a greater focus on being the 'vocalist' instead of half the band, I can improve on the 'borderline' rating... Also, I'm not sure if I followed what was "VERY pleasing" about the vox -- was it the lack of effects? Let me know when you can so I can build on the positive.

Cyan -- thanks for posting. there's some significant delay and compression on the vox, but otherwise they're pretty straightforward (no eq). I made the mistake of changing some of the setting on my vocal preamp though, which makes these vox sound thin, IMO. I'll be going back to the previous setting for the next tune. If you get the chance, please let us know what you think of that one when it posts in the next week or two. Defintiely glad you like the tune though...

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS

[mixmkr]

Originally posted by maryslittlesecret
Also, I'm not sure if I followed what was "VERY pleasing" about the vox -- was it the lack of effects? Let me know when you can so I can build on the positive.

http://www.mp3.com/30SoS

My point I was making was that ......On certain records, the vocals just sound great....enjoyable to listen to...recorded well, pleasing voice...all that good stuff. I could give an example, but different tastes between you and me might just confuse the issue...but say...like Roger Waters in Pink floyd. ..not nec. a great singer, but his voice is recorded so well, fits the music, most importantly, nice to listen to..etc. etc. My point about YOUR stuff was that achieving that quality (since your instruments seem to be just about there anyway) with your voice will probably be your biggest hurdle and hardest to do....just mainly because of the timbre of your voice. Nothing to do with performance, but all in the tone, execution, and so on. You sing fine, especially given the time you said you've only spent, but to get it to the quality of your gtrs, synths....is going to be much harder to do, imo. BUT, obtainable...so keep a chuggin..

[VirtualSamana]

Fuck J!

Wanted to say that listening that I can really appreciate how you have developed your voice. Listening to this compared with Complete and Dying Again and the difference is amazing. Congrats you developed your own vocal style and it works really well.

-Drew

[erichenryus]

MORE SCREAMING! MORE SCREAMING! MORE SCREAMING!

Seriously....do more of that. It sounds great!

Firstly, I'll buy the album when you release it so keep us updated here. Main reason I'm going into depth on my critic is that I really like your style. So take it or leave it. I'm not an expert. Just a fan.

Your voice sounds as good as anything I hear on the radio nowdays and it's getting better with each post. I think you have a lot more in there it but the secret is in relaxing your delivery a bit like when you scream. Know what I mean? In order to really yell and get some volume out you gotta take in serious air, expand that ribcage and relax the throat. I'm not a vocal coach or anything, it just sounds like you're a little tense when you're singing. Not emotionally, just physically tense and that's cutting off some of the natural resonance that enhances the timbre of your voice. On the other hand maybe they're just getting eq'd out? What do I know?

Anyway, I think your singing is definitely improving. Keep it up. This is good stuff.

And it's really cool that you're reaching out for feedback before you release your stuff. I guess that's the point of this board but there is a lot of collective knowledge here that can really help...or hurt depending on the situation. My feedback is probably more in the latter category.

[maryslittlesecret]

Wow, this one's back from the grave... Very cool though -- thanks for checking in guys...

VS (Drew) -- Thanks for the postive comments I feel like I've been making progress as well. The down side of that is that now I want to go back and redo vox on those early trax. I've made myself stop working on those tunes though so we can start on some newer (and imo, better) stuff. I'll definitely keep everyone out here posted...

erichenryus -- Glad we've got a fan in you, man. We just finished remixing and remastering (I use that term as loose as possible) all those songs, so the disc is essentially done. Since we're poor (and cheap), we plan on just doing the CD program at mp3.com, as opposed to digging ourselves a $1,500 hole we have to climb out of. If you're not anti-mp3, we'll be making all the new versions available for download for the first week so anyone who's interested can essentially get the CD for free If you'd rather have the .wav files (or you don't have a burner), we'll find a way to get you a copy. Either way, drop me an email -- the address is on our site (www.30SoS.com) and we'll let you know when the new versions are up. In terms of the vox, 'Butterfly Wings' was strained, probably more than most or the other tunes. I would've liked to have redone it, but I had to draw the line somewhere if we ever wanted to finish this project. The best news is that we went back and even retracked a few things and now there are a few more screams for you... Thanks for the feedback -- we'll be curious to hear what you think of the full disc.

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS