Appreciate some honest feedback

P

playit

New member
I'd appreciate some honest feedback on my band's material that we recorded ourselves. I am looking for straightforward opinions on performance, recording quality, songwriting, or anything. My feelings won't get hurt.

Here's the link: http://www.purevolume.com/otisburg

These are 60kbps MP3s. I can put some higher quality files up on my own server if anyone is interested.

Thanks for taking the time to listen!
 
You need to put at least 128 bit rate up. There is no sound quality at 64. The song didn't sound too bad as a song but recording wise you can't tell a thing.
 
concerning vocals... whoever's singing the verses on "star map" should be singing the lead on all the songs. not the dude on "hey jennifer". :(

i believe you can post at least 128kbps on purevolume, no? why did you encode using 60?? re-encode and post again.
 
I'm going to put up some 128 or probably higher on my own web site tonight when I get home. We originally did put 128kbps MP3s on Purevolume but a lot of people we knew complained that they wouldn't load on their systems, so we backed it off to smaller files.
 
Yeah, those streaming files are shite. The singing on "Hey Jennifer" is way off pitch. It's vaguely reminiscent of MTX, though not nearly as tight or clever from performance or songwriting standpoints, respectively. Let us know when you have some higher quality mp3s and I'll listen again.
 
try soundclick then? i've got a couple songs on there that are 192kbps and haven't experienced any problems.
 
v6v6v6 said:
try soundclick then? i've got a couple songs on there that are 192kbps and haven't experienced any problems.
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Soundclick will only let you go above 128kbps if you register as a "VIP" and pay for it. Plus the streams will be 128 even if you do download the higher bandwidth mp3's. But 128 is still decent quality. Waaay better than 64....
 
cellardweller said:
How come no one puts their stuff up at Nowhere radio anymore?
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I can't speak for everyone, but when I try to listen to someone's stuff on Nowhere, I get errors in Window's media concerning codecs and compression....
 
Rokket said:
I can't speak for everyone, but when I try to listen to someone's stuff on Nowhere, I get errors in Window's media concerning codecs and compression....
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I've never had that problem, but I rarely stream from home. I do stream songs at work though, and have never had that problem.

So how much do they expect that their VIP thing is worth?
 
Rokket said:
Soundclick will only let you go above 128kbps if you register as a "VIP" and pay for it. Plus the streams will be 128 even if you do download the higher bandwidth mp3's. But 128 is still decent quality. Waaay better than 64....
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yup, i stand corrected--i encode at 192 but soundclick converts it to 128 as their hi-fi option.
 
cellardweller said:
I've never had that problem, but I rarely stream from home. I do stream songs at work though, and have never had that problem.

So how much do they expect that their VIP thing is worth?
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Hang on, I'll login and let you know....
 
cellardweller said:
I've never had that problem, but I rarely stream from home. I do stream songs at work though, and have never had that problem.

So how much do they expect that their VIP thing is worth?
Click to expand...
VIP is $9.95 per month. They have other services that they charge for. For me, it's not worth the cost, because it's more designed for bands who are trying to market themselves than the average home recorder trying to just post a song for someone to listen to.
 
playit said:
OK, I put up some 160kbps MP3s at http://www.otisburgmusic.com/tracks. Thanks for taking the time to listen to these and critique them.
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The guy singing Hey Jennifer IS all over the place vocally. He's not singing in key sometimes and is really pitchy in most other places. The other songs aren't too bad. It's not my thing, but it sounds like you guys have something. I can't give you too much advice on the mixes, however (see my signature). I couldn't turn it up loud enough to really focus on it because I am at work.
 
Thanks Rokket and others who replied. Would anyone care to listen to one of the other songs than Hey Jennifer and comment on it specifically? That would help me out a lot.
 
i listen to punk and the vocals could be alot worse. he sounds like ben weasel in a way. the way he sings doesn't bug me. oh and the songs are good.
 
just browsing through........I did'nt much like the vocals on Hey Jennifer too much but the others were cool. They're all cool tunes but I think I link the first one the most.
 
The singing on "Hey Jennifer" is just as good as the rest of it. I don't agree with the others.

As for the recording, It all sounds alright to me, but keep in mind I have crap to monitor with. If something sounds bad to me, it is REALLY bad. Yours sounds ok, which means it couldn't be too bad. I do think the drums need more work. The snare and kick are too thin. I realize that is probably a piccolo snare, but still, it sounds too poppy or something, needs a fuller sound. If it isn't a piccolo snare, then you definitely need to work on it.

I like your music, even if it isn't really my style. You guys can probably book a lot of gigs with that style of music. People like hearing that kind of poppy, upbeat music at parties and restraunts/bars and stuff (much to my chagrin, because I end up having to play it to make them happy). Good job, and good luck.
 
The first song...

The intro sounds like a rip off of various songs, foo fighters etc. The guitars are not very well recorded. The whole song lacks any real clarity or shine. Sounds like a tracking session that needs to be mixed.

The singer is not so good. I was raised on punk and this guy is not hitting the vibe at all. Keep in mind that some of the best singers are really bad in a classic sense but they know how to make the most of what they have. This singer is not doing that.
 
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