First time posting a song in the clinic...Guitar jazz/rock...feedback/advice needed

[mcmd]

Like I said, this is a first for me...

The song is called The Future, link below,


http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/...d=1944&alid=-1

Tell me about the mix, instrument volumes, your opinion on any of the effects used and the overall tune.....like it /hate it/ its OK...

The drums are mixed low, because they are a midi wavetable..ouch and I know I have a little too much compression on the second guitar solo, but what else?

Thanks in advance,

Dara

[jake-owa]

I'm diggin' it. I'm not much of a smooth jazz fan but I like it. Nice clean sound. You already know about the drums soo..I think the first riff goes a little long. I think the lead is too loud really and I'd like to hear the song resolve itself rather than fade off.

Pretty nice overall.

[JR#97]

oh yeah!!!! I love it! I do a few tunes like this. That bass line was awesome. Is that a direct acoustic in the right? The leads was awesome. I think more reverb on the first lead lines would be nice. I didn't care for that doubled section. The high gain section was killer. Maybe add some 'verb to go with the delay.

Excellent tune all around.

[Toki987]

nice tune. very clean. good pickin. I like verb over everything to make more away from you and not in the face sorta. but its good stuff man

[Pinky]

Okay, plenty of good things going on (levels, playing, etc)... but a lot of typical engineering issues to home recording... you seem to know what these are as stated in the original post - drums are aweful, need more life like crashes and a few fills/rolls)...

The 2 rhythm guitars are clean, a little TOO clean... and it would seem to me acoustics would do a nicer job if clean is what you're after.

Whoever that is playing and shred a guitar, but the backup band is something to be desired

[mcmd]

Thanks to everyone for giving it some ears.

jake-owa:

I'm glad you dig it! I agree with you on all points, - the leads are too loud and the tune could be structured better.

JR#97

Thanks for your time. The Bass line drove this tune, - I normally track the bass after the guitars, (I'm not a bass player), but this one started with the bass groove.
No acoustic, - just an old SG direct thru' a Meek pre.
My reverb never sounds good (to me), so I use it sparingly, (Cakewalk GS2).
...so you liked the high gain part....good, as I am still trying to work on THAT sound.

Toki987

Thanks for the listen. Yea, I guess the word is out on the 'verb. Glad you enjoyed it.

Pinky

Thanks you time. Yes, like I said drums are...what they are...!
Now, I do have an acoustic, - so there's a thought....and the back-up band and lead guitars...I'm guilty as charged on all counts.
I could have done a better job with the rhythm guitars, in retro spect, I don't think that they are very interesting.....

Thanks again to all,

Dara

/dmm

[Pinky]

Originally posted by mcmd
Pinky

I could have done a better job with the rhythm guitars, in retro spect, I don't think that they are very interesting.....

Thanks again to all,

Dara

/dmm

That's a pretty accurate description, "uninteresting" sound. Acoustic seems to bring things to life, in 90% of my material there's some form of acoustic guitar playing, it just fills the gaps in the electric sound.

Again, you can play the pants of that guitar! Rock on.

[participant]

Reminds me of the old, groovy Pennsylvania Lottery song Whoaa.... some super-boomy stuff going on below 100... 80Hz-ish... just on certain notes where the bass & guitar's lows stack on top of each other. Suggest rolling off the stuff below 100 on lead guit, and see how it sits then.

Rhythm guitar sounds a bit... too... jangly? Needs just a tad bit of meat to the sound, not much... maybe move down one position on the guit selector switch, or roll off lows slightly lower.

Some mad chops on the guit fiddle there, Dara. Excellent ideas.


Chad

[chrisharris]

Very Very Nice. I wish I had actual chops. I like the guit tone change on the lead. Variety is the spice. Whoa...it changes yet again. Getting warmer and cooler still.

Nice freakin' sustain. Are you playing the Gibson on all the leads too?

Maybe you could change the tone of the rhythm part on the right to coincide with your changes in lead tones? Start acoustic, then clean electric, then maybe a slightly distorted grouping? Just thoughts. I like the way this evolves.

It's woofing low low though. I can feel it more than hear it. Gotta' be da' bass... I bet eq'ing that one instrument to cut low lows will clear up the mix a ton.

Please repost as it progresses. Oh yeah, and sing something!!


Nice work,
Chris

[Track Rat]

Very Benson-esque! Great guitar tone but the drums are weak. Great chops my friend.

[Lt. Bob]

Needs saxophone........

[mcmd]

Chrisharris:

Glad you liked the (lead) tone and the changes. Its an early 70's SG, LP Custom, with 3 PU's. Here, I used the neck PU for all the leads. The clean sound is DI ( thru a Meek) and the high gain is an Sm57 off axis on a Boogie DC3.

I'll see what I can do to warm up the rhythm guitars, - acoustic seems to be in favour......and yes there was no eq on the bass, - in fact no eq anywhere...

Oh yeah, and sing something!!

...want some folk stuff?... though not much to rag on!

.....I just have to get some drums man


Thanks fot the listen!

Track Rat:

I haven't listened to George Benson for years, - but thanks very much man, - best compliment I ever received!

Lt. Bob:

Needs saxophone........

........now would that be a collab sax?

thanks for listening.

Dara

[dachay2tnr]

Dara - here's my take FWIW. First of all the playing is great. Good chops. I have to agree with Jake, though, the lead is too loud relative to everything else IMHO. Drums, rhythym gits need to be more involved to create some interest. Like Pinky said, the backup band is leaving a little something to be desired.

The early part of the song definitely reminds me of Benson also, but it later morphs into something else. I like the transition.

I'm not crazy about the guitar tone in the first half of the song. Maybe too fat for the style. However, there seems to be a change in tone around 1:54, and I love that tone, but it doesn't stick around long enough.

Seems you got the playing skills down good, but your studio skills can still use some fine tuning. Keep at it, it'll come.

[Lt. Bob]

Originally posted by mcmd
........now would that be a collab sax?..........

Yes as a matter of fact........I'd love to do some sax on a song like this. If you get anything that you'd like to try that on, send me a PM and we'll talk about it.

BTW......I should have taken time to tell you I like your tune and your playing. I was too busy trying to be funny and, as everyone here can tell you, I pretty much try to slide myself into every interesting song I hear. A character flaw I guess but there's been some pretty cool collabs that have come out of it so I suppose I'm probably not gonna change anytime soon.

[boydrj]

Very nice tune! I really like the sound you get on the lead. I was listening in lo-fi and the mix sounded great over here, even with the drums kind of low in the background. It kind of fit the tune.

Makes me just feel like kicking back and smoking a stogie!
Nice job!

[B.SABBATH]

nice!


I really liked the guitar playing and sound.. I think the mix could sound better and you got some suggestions already..

I enjoyed the tune..

[A1A2]

I like this. Good playing, the panning on the rhythem guitars might be a little too hard, but that's just my taste.

i think the lead guitar could use a little delay at some points, maybe just at the intro of it. Oh, ok, I hear the delay now around 1:50. This guitar tone is really good, I love it!!! What's your setup??


AL

[pglewis]

Not gonna read any other replies before I post mine. And the level of nit-pickiness goes up with the level of the playing.

It sounds like the guitars are run direct, and it's not really doing the playing justice. A hot amp with speakers pushing some air to a mic would really punch that up a lot. One of the rhythm guits in the very beginning has either an intonation or tuning prob. It's made more noticable because it's right at the start of the tune. Also, the delay on the lead that starts around 1:30 is a bit off the tempo. That's really getting nitpicky, but it stood out a little, so I figured I'd mention it.

Sounds like you're well aware that better drums would help tons, so I won't go there. Ooops, already did.

Anyway, on a personal taste level I really like the tune and the playing.

[Matt303]

The lead playing on this is great, good sound as well but not very forgiving. It seems to sit high above the track a bit like you recorded the backing on a cassette player and then played the lead and guitar rhythm over it.
I reckon if you tighten up the bass and lock it in with the drums (bring them up a bit too) this will be a really good tune.

[Barometer]

Well, the comments cover more than I know, but I like the playing and the groove. Nice job

[mcmd]

dachay2tnr:

I just didn't do a good job with the rhythm section...and yea the levels are off.
[PHP]...there seems to be a change in tone around 1:54, and I love that tone, but it doesn't stick around long enough. [/PHP]
..thats interesting, the high gain is all the neck PU, so it must be how I played that part?
Thanks for listening and the comments!


Lt. Bob:

Thanks for listening and the collab offer....I'll pm you.

boydrj:

I was listening in lo-fi and the mix sounded great ....

... now did you smoke one before you hit PLAY....you are too kind...

Thanks for listening

B.SABBATH:

Thanks for listening man.

pglewis:

It sounds like the guitars are run direct,...

They all are except for the high gain solo. I know that I can get a better sound running through my Boogie, but the amp +kids = never works!

The delay was 300ms ( at 100bps) ...that should be working?
Glad you also liked the tune. Thanks for all the comments.

Matt303:
..no, it wasn't a cassette player ( wish I could say it was!). I'm just a beginner on the bass, - so with practice it should get better. Glad you liked the song.
Thanks for the time.

Barometer:

Well, the comments cover more than I know....

...looks like I'm in the same boat!
Thanks for listening.

Again, thank-you everyone for the help. I got a ton of feedback and on-point comments!

Dara

[pglewis]

I know that I can get a better sound running through my Boogie, but the amp +kids = never works!

Yeah, that guitar work would sound even more sweet through the mesa cranked up. Hope you find time to cut the amp loose on some recordings.

The delay was 300ms ( at 100bps) ...that should be working?

No clue on the bpm math for the tempo. Listening closely again I don't think it's the delay... the tempo sounds right when the lead takes off. I think what I initially heard is the melody at 1:28 might be rushed just the tiniest bit and my ears attibuted it to the delay. It such a little thing, but it stuck out to me on my initial listen so I thought I'd mention it at the time. Now that I'm listening to it so closely I'm not sure I wasn't imagining things.

Like Track Rat, I thought of George Benson when I heard this. It's a great melody and the whole piece moves along well.

[CrankyOne]

The drums could use some work. The snare sounds too tiny and lacks power. It's just kinda there. It really sounds midi. The guitar playing is excellent. I wish I could do some nice jamming like that. Very relaxing. I guess this is a guitarist song, and I like it, since I'm a "guitarist" myself. I'm not sure if this would go down well in the radio, though.