fritsthegirls's Opus

[fritsthegirl]

You need to rethink the tempo. Take it up to 120, drop all the tracks but bass, then layer guitars ala heavy metal and double her vocals on top. Thicken the drums with delay. Think Pink Floyd. Then when that's good add some synth pad. Then just stop. See if that doesn't help. Right now it sounds like heroin chic.

LOL, sure Rod. That's the weirdest comment ever. Heroin chic. Kiss my chubby pink cheek.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I like this song very much but most interesting to me was the way the recording's dynamics changed as you added prts and then dropped them out at certain points, particularly the drums and sometimes just the cymbols. The elctric and acoustic work together very nicely. I really like the drum part you put togehter, it has a great feel that adds a lot and the samples you chose sound great. On my system the kick starts to sound electronic and a little muffled as ther mix develops and loses some of it's acoustic upper range that the snare retains, I listened on headphones though andthat is probably why. Unfortunately I missed the earlier versions because I am a weekender here. I understand this is a work in progress but I was wondering if the song is also, are you still thinking of addig to the lyrics and arrangement?
I have to also add that I am in the anti-Celine style vocal camp and love your vocal performance, I much prefer an expressive and natural delivery over technical perfection that to me often erases the emotion, though there are exceptions (I think Freddide Mercury is a good example). At the same time, I completely understand your dissatisfaction with the vocal, I have always felt the same way when recording something new versus something that I have been playing for some time and have made all the decisions on already - it just comes out better when I know where I'm going at every turn.
Anyway, great job on this and anxious to see where it goes with all of the contributions you have on tap.

Hey cool, thanks for all the feedback and your thoughts. I must say the drums were a bit of a patchwork, more of an experiment really. Well, my songs are always an experiment, I never really have an expected outcome in my head when I start. Hopefully if jimmy has the time and inclination, he'll be able to sort the drums out for me too.

I don't think I'll add to the lyrics. I'm usually into providing a bit more of a story or message for lyrics, but I fancied repeating them on this occasion. I heard a few songs recently where people also did this so thought, what they hey, it'll save me a few days of having to think about it.

The vocals is always the hardest thing for me to get right, where it sits in the mix, and just being able to sing it well. It's always nice to hear the natural thing is what people like. I do as well, in female singers I mean. I'm actually working on a Kirsty Maccoll cover at the moment, Ray pointed me to her a couple of times. She's got the sort of voice I dream of having.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I don't hang out in the clinic very much, but I had to say that this was a great tune. It has the feel of an idea that couldn't help but be committed to "tape". It's a little spontaneous and definitely tuneful. I'm a Beatles layman, but it does make me think of Sgt. Pepper a bit. I'm impressed by the lyrics and chord progressions.

Nothing sounds cluttered and everything is distinct in the mix. I do really like the clean (fingerpicked?) electric guitar part. Dig the hihat play and the snare rolls on the drum machine too. Good use of breaks in the drums. Drums are a little far back, but I think that it fits the song. Do you use a MIDI keyboard to input your drum parts?

Also, apparently if you just change everything about the song, it could sound like Pink Floyd

Thank you.

The drum parts were just wav loops. I didn't programme them or do each hit by midi, I honestly wouldn't know where to start with that and i don't think I'd have the patience to do that for more than 2 or 3 bars of music.

Yeh, that's a finger picked electric. I just put the capo on the the 12th fret, sounded kind of cool. It was a bit of a incidental discovery.

Thanks for the listen, and the kind words.

 

[rayc]

"You need to rethink the tempo. Take it up to 120, drop all the tracks but bass, then layer guitars ala heavy metal and double her vocals on top. Thicken the drums with delay. Think Pink Floyd. Then when that's good add some synth pad. Then just stop. See if that doesn't help. Right now it sounds like heroin chic."
Rod Norman,
Well, maybe where you live it's heroin chic but not in my drug addled neighbourhood. The whole heroin chic concept is pretty old and was a misnomer to start with. Junkies usually don't have fashion concerns and recreational users are usually fooling themselves. Anyone seeking to emulate Johnny Thunders as a lifestyle/interior decoration theme should just listent o the records instead.
Your comment probably read as funny when you wrote it or seemed like a clear and present danger would be averted by your directions being followed but, in reality, it just cheek without being chic.
FTG,
Kirsty is past tense - died several years ago saving her child from being run over by a speed boat - somewhere is south america. I look forward to what you do with a cover. Oh, quite a few of Kirsty's songs were covered by Tracey Ullman - in fact Iinitially I was able to find more McCall on Ullman albums that on her own recordings.
Ullman does a fine job for the most part - being a comedien she usually chose the ones that let her run a double entendre in the mix.

 

[fritsthegirl]

Kirsty is past tense - died several years ago saving her child from being run over by a speed boat - somewhere is south america. I look forward to what you do with a cover. Oh, quite a few of Kirsty's songs were covered by Tracey Ullman - in fact Iinitially I was able to find more McCall on Ullman albums that on her own recordings.
Ullman does a fine job for the most part - being a comedien she usually chose the ones that let her run a double entendre in the mix.

Yeh, that's a truly tragic story, she was so young and had many years of great song writing left in her. I was reading about her yesterday, she worked with some amazing bands and individuals. I love that tune Celeste but it was too difficult to figure out the chords for me to cover it. So, I'm actually doing one of the tunes Ulman did, 'They don't know about us'. Finding that pretty difficult too, but I've figured out the basic song structure, chords and stuff, and will spend probably some time on getting the singing right. It's only been a couple of days, so... Thanks for the recommendation though, I'll enjoy her for many years to come I reckon.

 

[mjbphotos]

Just coming to this today (I don't frequent the Clinic either) because I saw the list for it in my HR email.

Nice tune, like the interplay of all the instruments. I like the vocal style, however there are a few notes that are flat/sharp that need re-doing - not a lot, but a few (I'm not one to talk about bad vocals, believe me, I hear my own off-key notes, too!) If I were you, I'd sit down one day and just record a whole bunch of vocal takes and comp together the best ones, assuming you don't want to pitch-correct anything.

 

[rpm61]

I like song/lyric structures that break the mold, we enjoy complete freedom as artists and I love to see it exercised. One of my favorite songs that I wrote had the verses repeat and I changed the chorus each time around instead, but I sometimes feel a little unimaginitive when I come up with a few lines or chords for a new song and start gridding out the structure to fill in the missing pieces. I often force myself to think harder for another way to go, just so I can feel like I'm bringing something to the table instead of mindlessly following a pattern. Still most of my songs follow an established form. I'm always curious about the approach other songwriters take and your threads are interesting because you are so open, thank you.

 

[fritsthegirl]

Just coming to this today (I don't frequent the Clinic either) because I saw the list for it in my HR email.

Nice tune, like the interplay of all the instruments. I like the vocal style, however there are a few notes that are flat/sharp that need re-doing - not a lot, but a few (I'm not one to talk about bad vocals, believe me, I hear my own off-key notes, too!) If I were you, I'd sit down one day and just record a whole bunch of vocal takes and comp together the best ones, assuming you don't want to pitch-correct anything.

Thanks for having a listen. Yeh the vocals, I think I can hear them too, the off notes. Do you know most of it is just down to me needing to practice the part more. I only started singing a few months ago, and so I am just warming up (I hope). It's not perfect, not that this is necessarily what I want to attain, but your advice is bang on, I need to run it through more frequently for sure. I've used pitch correction a bit but as an effect more than a correction. I prefer to leave the shit in for now as a learning exercise. It's just so I can hear it later and hear how I've improved and where I'm still getting it wrong. Truth is....I don't really know how to pitch individual notes, if I did, I would probably do it in a flash.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I like song/lyric structures that break the mold, we enjoy complete freedom as artists and I love to see it exercised. One of my favorite songs that I wrote had the verses repeat and I changed the chorus each time around instead, but I sometimes feel a little unimaginitive when I come up with a few lines or chords for a new song and start gridding out the structure to fill in the missing pieces. I often force myself to think harder for another way to go, just so I can feel like I'm bringing something to the table instead of mindlessly following a pattern. Still most of my songs follow an established form. I'm always curious about the approach other songwriters take and your threads are interesting because you are so open, thank you.

Almost everything I do is guided by how patient, methodical, creative, determined, lazy, random or stubborn I feel on any particular day. The music I make, or whatever, is just a reflection of my mood. Sometimes I feel bothered by it, and spend ages trying to refine something, but more often I get sick of it and can't be bothered to try and cover up the shortfalls. I learn more by remembering what I didn't like for future reference than trying to fix what already is. It's no hardship for me if someone notices something as a bit odd or off. I'm still learning, and I'm also a bit odd so I know that part will always be there. Thanks for the comment.

 

[mjbphotos]

I'm that way sometimes when recording - 'just get it done and move on'. More often than not it's because I'm not happy with something or other in the song itself. When I'm really 'feeling' teh song, I'll keep tracking vocals until my voice gives out or guitar leads until my fingers give out.
Sometimes, I've found, it's better to put the song on the shelf and come back to it in a day, week or month if I'm not truly feeling it at the time. Seem to get more objective about it after a break.