My CD is finished - How did it turn out???

B

BJW

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Hello!

Well, I've posted the work-in-progress versions of some of the songs on my newly-finished CD before, and I took all the advice I recieved and tried to make the best possible recordings with it.

Of course, all my friends/family say "Wow, that sounds great" or something similar, but I'd like to hear what a more discerning ear might hear - my friends/family would say it sounds great even if it sounded like crap...

Here are a few selections from the CD (click to stream the .m3u). By the way - the genre would be "adult/alternative" or "acoustic rock" or whatever you want to call it - sounds like Lifehouse, Vertical Horizon, John Mayer, etc.

"Thank You"

"Isn't She Wonderful"

"It Covers Me" - My favorite song on the album (for various reasons)

"Something Better" - probably the most "radio-friendly" song on the album.

Feel free to listen to any of these songs and comment on recording quality/arrangement/songwriting/performance, etc. You can listen to all the rest of the songs on the album here. I sang and played all the instruments except for bass and drums - a friend played bass, drums are loops.

Here's the typical setup used for pretty much all the songs:

Vox: Me -> Studio Projects C1 -> PreSonus FirePod
Acoustic Guitar: Takamine FD-360sc -> Pair of MXL 603s's (X/Y config) -> firepod
Electric Guitars: PRS SE Soapbar II -> Line6 GuitarPort (mostly Vox AC30 setting) -> firepod
Bass: Dean Bass -> SWR Combo -> Direct Out to firepod
Drums: Drums on Demand Vol.1 (loops)

Other considerations: I monitor with a pair of Event PS-5's, which aren't specacular by any means, but get the job done. I record/mix in Cubase SX2.

Fire away!! And thanks for all the help in making this project of mine happen!
 
Brian, it started to play, but then a message box popped up and said, it was redirected to an invalid link? I am not sure if it is me or you.
 
true-eurt said:
Thanks for going to all that trouble. :)
Click to expand...

Did you get it to work? I couldn't tell if you were being serious or sarcastic, since the page I gave you just linked to the exact same .m3u files. I had to take off for class right when you asked that, so I didn't have time to really fix the problem if the links in the original post didn't work.
 
BJW said:
Did you get it to work? I couldn't tell if you were being serious or sarcastic, since the page I gave you just linked to the exact same .m3u files. I had to take off for class right when you asked that, so I didn't have time to really fix the problem if the links in the original post didn't work.
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I wasn't being sarcastic. I will try again now. Thanks. :)
 
Something Better - you're right, this is really radio friendly.

Listening on headphones and really enjoyed the mix you have going on with this. The guitars are really nicely done and the vocals are powerful and strong....

You've probably heard a few references to John Mayer (and here's another lol).....

Real pro sound Brian and a really great song...your family weren't just being nice to you....

:D :D :D :D :D
 
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Brian I do believe the problem to be at my end. My computer is moving really slow on downloads. I was able to listen to 'Something Better' once. It was great! I will come back later tonight and see what happens. I have listened to 'Isn't She Wonderful' before, some of your other tunes. If I remember correctly, they were all good back then. I will still have a listen a bit later, if my puter allows. Good luck!!

You have some great songs there!! :)
 
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true-eurt said:
I wasn't being sarcastic. I will try again now. Thanks. :)
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No problem! I didn't think you were...

To both of you - thanks so much for the compliments! I really enjoyed doing this project, learning so much about recording and even performing along the way. Most of the songs were just chord progressions and lyrics, so I had to make up lead parts and arrangements as I recorded the songs - so I got a bit better at guitar along the way, too. We all have a great hobby with music/recording, and it's a joy to see it all come together on a project.

Thanks again for listening!
 
Listening to it Covers me....

Sound quality is fine. Its probably a song that you need to listen to several times to "get", it doesnt have a hook or the usual catchy riff. Thats not a good or bad thing, a LOT of music is like this, some classical stuff I didnt get for years.

I will check out some others..................
 
Something better is very nice. Good production, good song, reminds me of the bands you mention, is radio friendly with an edge, not pop. Well done, its ready to go. Best of luck with this one, good stuff! :cool:
 
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Hey, man! You finally finished the CD.

I like the sound throughout the CD. Hey, by the way, I was listening to Better This Way and it sounds like you turned up the guitars a little. Just sounds slightly different from before. Nothing major, just sounded like the gits were a little louder and maybe trying to overshadow the vox. I had forgotten about this song. Now I'll be playing this again for a while. I think I still have the tab I did last time. :)

The bass is sounding really cool.

On 13 Miles, the lead sounds just a tad too dist. in the intro. Just my opinion, tho.

All To You is a really really cool song. :)

The Way It Has To Be is sounding better than I remember. Cool.

All the songs are cool.
 
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My opinion

Man I am a real big fan of rap/hiphop but I occasionally listen to various things because I am very versatile. For some reason I clicked on itsnt she wonderful and it sounds good. It sounds like one of those music songs that come on and you just think of old memories or whatever. Good Job sounds mixed well and everything. Really feeling everything about the song. Good luck.
 
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Just listening "Cover me". Great song. Nice guitar sound and playing too.
Vocal is over processed I thing. I can hear some "S" repeating every time you say "coverS me" and this repeating is not sounding very nice.

BUT it is only that little thing. OVERALL = great!
 
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Wow, thanks a lot for the responses, guys! I really appreciate the comments.

Creamyapples - about buying the CD (I'm glad you asked). It's available two places:

Brian Wahl Band Store - When you order, I'll ship it to you myself. $10 + shipping

CD Baby. $12 + shipping

It will also be available via iTunes, MSN Music, Yahoo Music, etc as soon as the companies get it up and running (CD Baby released it a few months ago...) You can buy mp3's from the Brian Wahl Band Store as well.

Thanks again for listening!!
 
One thing I think that could really improve the recordings is some better vocal production.

When I first started posting my mixes of these songs - that was the one recommendation given - work on harmonies, etc. After listening to some popular music to get an idea of what I wanted to achieve, I tried a few things out, but I never felt the production I did would improve upon the existing vocals, so I left most of it out.

If there's one thing I'll work on in future projects, it will be better vocal production.
 
Hey Brian -- Great stuff.

I downloaded "Something better" way back when you first posted it here and have been playing it ever since. In fact, my woman and I have just driven 1300 miles looping a comp CD crammed with stuff from folks here and your song is one of those that sticks in your head most.

Congratulations on finishing your album.

One little point on "Something better" (it's too late for this, but it might help with future songwriting). My brain doesn't want to hear "...than this" until much later in the song, and possibly only at the very end. That's the key "turn around"/"explanation" bit of the song. The bit you are anticipating. But in this version you're telegraphing it every chorus! Just listen to that first chorus, for example. That would sound equally fantastic without the "...than this" which leaves all that tension to build up right until the end.

Having said that (and I should say that's just my VERY amateur opinion :) of course), I reckon that's the only thing that would keep this off the top 10 radio shows. Excellent work.

Production-wise, I wish I could churn out stuff like that.

All the best
aspiring
 
Aspiring - thanks so much for the comments! I've never thought of arranging "Something Better" the way you suggested, but I'll have to say - it does make a lot of sense. I'll definately pay more attention to detail like that in the future as far as arrangements.

Thanks again!
 
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