Some songs

[geekgurl]

Hi All:

I've been lurking in the MP3 clinic for a while and decided it's time to jump in the fray. I recorded a demo for my band and finally got the streaming versions of clips up on the site, and I'm wondering if maybe my fellow homereccers could give me some feedback on the songs. Or, any song. I'd like to know what I can improve in the future ... or, if it's easy fixes, maybe even redo these.

Anyway, here's the link. Any feedback most appreciated!

http://www.zspmusic.com/songs.htm

I look forward to participating in here.

Cheers

gg

[Khompewtur]

Welcome to tha board GG. Hope you and your band are experiencing fun times gigging out in the SF area.

Listening to Avenieda. That lead guitar needs to come down in level in my opinion it's too out in front of the rest of the pieces of the band. With it being too out in front it's taking away from the intimate feel of the instrumental loungy feel of the piece i think. the guitarist had good chops, just check the levels.

This stuff would probably really sizzle if you could land some sultry voiced jazz-style singer to go on top of this. Keep up the good work.

[HevyD47Ca]

of course it sounds amazing, the little clip I heard.
I don't do real player streams.
Is this a home recording?
If it is, what is the basic gear setup?

[dobro]

I listened to Avenida del Mar. It's brilliant. It's head and shoulders above most playing you get in this forum. The recording's ace as well.

First question: which instrument are you playing on this one?

Second question: being able to download snippets only - what's that about? You trying to prevent people from stealing your stuff?

[geekgurl]

Hi everyone, thanks for the responses so far.

Khompewtur, I will play around with levels on the guitar track at some point; thanks for the suggestion. Sometimes the guitar is a bit too strident for me, not the ideal tone generation (see below), so it was a challenge to EQ it.

Hevy, yes, this is a home recording. I recorded the drums at our practice room (about 15' x 20', I think, higher ceilings than in a normal house but no treatments and no real time to get ideal drum-mic placement -- I think the drums are the most problematic part of these recordings really). The guitar was played simultaneously thru a Boss effects pedal board, which is a shame because the guitarist has a very nice amp and nice Fulltone pedals etc, but we did this for separation and knowing it's only a club demo. I played scratch keyboard tracks while recording just to help the others record their parts, but because I was preoccupied with recording, I knew I'd have to do them over ... which I did.

I overdubbed the keys and bass at home.

I recorded the whole thing on a PC and Digi 001. I used a Dan Alexander racked Neve on the kick and bass, everything else either direct or using Digi's pres. Overhead mics were MXL 603s. Kick was Shure beta 52.

So that was the setup.

Dobro, I play bass and keyboards. I only put snippets for download because these songs are very long and I kept getting my connection cut off when trying to upload! So I thought full-length stream and snippets for download would be a nice compromise ... maybe not? Damn, I need DSL.

[studioviols]

If dobro gives you a good review, we will all be willing to go to extra trouble to download your music.

There is a cool little utility called hjsplit.exe that will take an MP3 or any file and cut it into pieces. Even better, you can zip the file with winzip and compress it even further.

So with three 'splits' ... NO ya don't smoke these !

with three 'splits' from hjsplit that are zipped, the download becomes more manageable as well as the upload.

And, you can always burn to CD and go to the library or a friends house with broadband, or a less sucky connection

Good luck, I'm going to listen now.

[SLuiCe]

I checked out Avenida del Mar. Terrific playing. I thought the mix was just a little too lead guitar dominant, but it's a close call I think. Very nice music...I'll listen to more as you post full pieces.

[studioviols]

I agree with Sluice, IMHO the mix was dominated by the lead to much, especially as the tone has a great deal of presence already ... BUT, it's a club mix as demo to get gigs ...

great drummer

[Richard Monroe]

Yo Geekgurl! I enjoyed "Mosaic Wind" a lot. I won't critique your mix because my own mixing is pretty weak. Your music creates so many opportunities for vocals, but they're not there! I found myself singing along and making it up as I went. You should meet my partner in crime, Maureen "Mo" Fleming. Formerly from San Francisco, she's now in San Diego. Check her web site www.mofleming.com. God, you guys would rock together!-Richie