Melodic Punk Collaboration

studioviols

studioviols

New member
Hey everyone !

I finally got the opportunity to write and perform a melodic-alt-punk song ! It's got some headbanger in it too ! It's rough, but still entertaing.

I wrote the lyric and performed the lead vocal in this one. Still looking for outro lyrics, but I have a good idea what I'll do there.

A fella named Skern on the artistcollaboration.com website posted a mix at 160kbps of his guitar, bass and drum playing. He posted a piece of music basically ... that was arranged well for a guest vocalist-lyricist to come in and write to.

It's 'She Can't Say :
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/6/studioviolsmusic.htm

There's a stalker theme here, but not really, it's just a broken heart love song, guy kicking himself in the head ...

It's turning out to be very threaputic for me. Don't try this at home. :D
 
I really dig the drum sound, is it programed or? I think the vocal is sticking out in the mix in volume and distance. It doesn't sound like it's in the same room with the rest of the band, kinda like a kareokie track...so, pushing it back a little would probably help, i think. Also, I think this tune will benifit if you bring up the key of the song cuz right now the vocal seems to be singing in the low register it doesn't belong. So, bring up the key of the song will probably allow better performance. But, i dunno, maybe this is what you guys wanted...

Al
 
cool song, but the vocals sound way too close.. too in your face for this type of thing.. as far as the vocal performance, it's almost too correct sounding to me.. like too much attention was payed in trying to make the vocals clearly understandable.. I don't know.. It does have a karaoke sound.. the vocal doesn't need to be so upfront is my biggest complaint, but I know *you* like it that way.. the vocals should be the same volume as a guitar solo imop..
 
A1A2 :
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I honestly know very, very little about Scott Kern's production of the guitar, bass and drums. I think they are all real instruments, there are some timing issues on the drums which simply cannot be done easily with MIDI. The primary purpose of this vocal was to suggest to Scott how to mix for this 'dramatic approach'. And in the chorus I tool the liberties of doing something I always wanted, belting at the top of my chest voice and as loud and crazed as possible ! :D . I wanted to do the verses low and whispery, like a stalker, like someone who is pissed and building rage, someone who might ... just ... be right outside your window ! If I bring the key up, I'm almost out of my range, and would have to shift to my head voice, which is much sweeter, and I don't want to do that. I don't know if Scott wants to do any retracking. At this point, it was all left up to a 'guest' lyricist vocalist to do what ever they wanted, so I'm hoping he can 'mix around' my presentation later.

B.SABBATH :
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I was using a very close proximity mic technique, and again the vocals were done after Scott did his thing having never met or spoken with me. I'm going to sing it a bit more in the 'slacker' mode the next time around. I'll be close to door number 2 ... I like the comment that the vocals should be at the same level as the lead guitar, I'll think about that.

Thanks for the listen ! I'm chewing a bag of throat lozenges tonight ... 'cherry' ! :D ahem
 
Interesting collab here. The main problem I hear is that the music is so much "smaller" than your vocals. Part of it would be fixed by turning the volume down on the vox, but unfortunately it sounds like your vox were simply better recorded than the backing track, which sounds very small and compressed and, well... "less than".:)

Still, you're gonna have to turn those vox way down and nestle them in with the music somehow. Great vocal performance by the way - sounds like you got into this one!

Chris
 
I was just so DAMN excited about they lyric and YES ! This is a true story, I acutally lived through this shit !

This was primarily a mix to present the vocal to the other collab fella Scott Kern, and I'm taking all this, turn the vocal down very, very seriously. When I get the new mix from Scott at 192kbps I'm going to treat it a lot like Volthause is doing in his posting on the board right now.

Verse is going to be a bit less in your face, and chorus is going to nestle into the mix with the upper frequencies of the vocal riding the underside edge of sibilance to crest out of the chorus mix.

Thanks for the listen Groucho ... yours is just finishing downloading. Lesse ... oh ! 9 petabytes ... that's small for you ! :p
 
Heh... it's that uncomfortable vocal that *pops* out at you that makes this song a winner. Don't get me wrong, I like the tracks in the background, but I think I follow the goal you were trying to acieve with this song.

If it works in the vein of the style you're shooting for, I say run with it. Yes, it's loud, yes it's in your face, yes it makes you sit back from the speakers like someone is in your personal space...

It's great.
 
I'd really like to critique this. But I don't care for Soundclick (and I don't have an account). You've posted elsewhere before (can't remember where, but I've listened to your stuff so it had to be somewhere besides Soundclick). Any chance of an alternate site?
 
DId someone say melody? Yay.

It sounded like you were singing over a backing track. The collaboration later explained why to me.

I really felt like the music needed to come up in relation to the voice so that it does not sound so disjointed.

Its pretty melodic but I was waiting for the majic melody to roll of your tongue.

Still a very nice effort

Wilcard score of : C+
 
I'll echo what the others have said. Vox need to come down. I know you like them out front, but it sounds like the music is coming from the other room. :) Would love to hear this again with the vox mixed lower although I know it would hard withour access to EQ on guitars, etc.

Nice work studio. Enjoyed the vocal performance!
 
volthause :
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The singer you just mixed, that's sort of where I'm headed, and unrequited love, getting jilted, getting hurt, and then getting suckered into a 'stalker role' is all about in your personal space 'n face ... I HAVE A NEW MIX ! that is at 192kbps of the instrumental, and I will be able to do a LOT more with this !
I'm going to re-track the vocal and give it my best shot, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to borrow a nice microphone. I should be able to do a lot with EQ on this next 192kbps mixdown as Scott Kern seems to have a keen perception of how to provide a second foundation mix in the MP3 format to work well with the vocal he's hearing in this my first presentation.

TripleM :
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Awwwww Trippy ! And I think this is just the kinda stuff you might like to listen to and from a woman's perspective rip into shreds with your well sharpened and shellaced fingernails ! *purrrrr* LOL ! The ISP I have been using from this location has some bad boy musicians in it and Waldo has silenced them, so I can't get to nowhereradio.com at this time, so I'm developoing other resources, and I need to know about those anyway. Thanks for sticking your ears into this thread anywayzzzzz ... :(
I certainly understand these issues, as I have been exactly where you are now on this issue.

CyanJaguar :
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I have a new 192kbps mix, that I should be able to do a lot with as I re-track the vocal and remix according to my feedback.
The outro vocals are written now, so I think I should be able to push your rating to a B+ ! :D
Wildcards almost always need to be restated in the outro as hooks, IMHO, in this type of structure and genre. And I appreciate your consistent listening in the 'wildcard mode'.

skids :
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Glad you were entertained. <sniff> prolly laughing at my poor broken heart ya big meanie ... but ... I know what your bathroom looks like from outside THE WINDOW ! BWAAAhahahaha ! I'm gonna redo this vocal of course, and the new mix leaves the guitar solo out, so I'm gonna put in some crazy ass violin with alien revalver ... wah wah ... tube warmth ... maybe even screaming insanity !
Ahhh, and it just dawns on me, the solo might progress from clean and understated to insane ... just like the song, and through all it's phases.

============
Thanks for the clinician ears gang ! I'll be bustin' up a remix and retrack with solo to post next weekend !
 
Top 40 Alternative at SoundClick

Me and Skern are in the Top 40 Alternative Charts at SoundClick thanks to everyones help here.

We're number 6 in Alt. Punk !

You folks ROCK !
 
Hey studioviols, just hopping in here to take a listen to your mix.. I follow what everyone else is saying.. I think that the instrumental lacks in mixing and i think that's compacting the overdub-level issue. The instrumental sounds distant by itself and the lead solo should have alot less reverb IMO or at least be brought more forward in the instrumental mix.. that's the main indication that I recognized that hinted that there may be a problem with the original mix. I suggest sending the new vocal line to the original artist who tracked the other instruments so he can work it into HIS mix and see where you two can get from there... (dry vox of course) I think when he gets the vox into his mixing program it'll change alot of his prior mixing decisions...

In and of itself his instrumental sounds pretty good.. but It's almost "not designed" for a vocal at it's current stage of mixing IMHO.

oh, and I'm not really affectionate of that delay effect on "freaky!"

I'm no pro though so take that for what it's worth :p
 
Pat,

I am happy to see that you are having some success in the Sound-Click charts!:)

I experienced some that joy myself over the summer and it's a definite high and one of the perks of the hobby/vocation.

Charts are a fleeting thing though. I went from being number 6 on the rock-general charts to 1423 in a few months.:(

The lesson learned from all this? For me, it was to keep writing music that was pleasing me even when the world forgot I existed.

Keep it real. And keep going.;)

Cheers! :)
 
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