Fun With Funnel Clouds

pglewis

New member
I have another mix that is close to being finished at www.idrive.com (visit dreaming_polecat). The file is "Funnel.mp3" (or some variation).

I played bass, recorded, mixed, and mastered; Dave Morrison played drums; Austin Brown wrote it and did everything else. Any feedback is appreciated.
 
I like the sound of the acoustic guitar, but the vocal might need to come up or the acoustic lowered just a little as it gets overpowered by it some places. That's a very minor complaint. Nice sounds on everything, very clean and defined. What did you use to record the acoustic? Sounds great to me.

For some reason I'm feeling a tension in the song itself... like it almost needs a release at some point, but never gets it. I don't even know how to explain it really, just gives me that feeling. It works if that's what the songwriter was going for.
 
*Slaps forehead* Think I'll preceed all your reviews with that :)

I agree with Jon X the vocals need to come up. This is doubley annoying because those dissonant strings drive me up the wall. Couple that with straining to get the vocals and I get really annoyed. Its an interesting effect if thats what you're going for. Great sounding guitars.

Layth
 
I like it actually...extremely dissonant...
I would have produced it totally different...
but arranged & produced right, this would kick ass...

toodles
 
Jon: On the acoustic: C1000S -> 1604VLZ -> DMT-8 -> 1604 (again) -> crappy sound-card. I probably mic'ed about 2 to 3 feet back pointed at the sound hole. When I mic there, I usually cut some low-mids on the way in... it can get a bit boomy. All future stuff will have a shorter signal chain, thank goodness. Tension is definitely what he's going for here. He also really likes the vocals just loud enough to make out the lyrics. I think they should be higher on this one, too... maybe I can sneak it past 'im ;).

Layth: It's funny, that became my "trademark" after saying (typing) it once. I have an ego the size of Rhode Island, so I'll take all the attention I can get :D. I think I'll boost some highs in the vocs and elsewhere. After my ears have had a rest, the mix doesn't seem to have any high-end "sparkle". That should bring the vocs out more, too. I wonder if I can find a happy medium with the dissonant key sounds. I like 'em a lot, but I'm very used to the song by now. Thats the danger of being so close to the material.

Ric: When he gets on a roll, Austin can write more promising things in a day than I can sweat out in a month. His rough sketches usually require a bit of imagination, though. This stuff has taken a while to get it to this point. As a guitarist turned engineer wannabe, I've been learning hands on. It's been hard to know when to say when. Every week, I stumble on something else that seems to make the mix sit a little better. He was completely happy with where things were 2 months ago, to be honest. I have to accept that no matter what I come up with, I could probably improve it a week later... and do it in half the time.

That said, he's reportedly recorded nearly another CD's worth of material in the interim (already weeded out a bit) on analog 8-track. Any production and arrangement ideas will aid the future recordings. I do think with a real producer and some vocal coaching, he might just accidently write something poppy enough to make a ripple one day.
 
Yup...I agree. It's the same with me actually...but, there's a point where we
have to stop. I know I could endlessly go on
tweeking a tune, but you have to stop sometime...then you take all the things you've learned and carry them into the next
project and apply them there.

Like I said, the material I think is good...and your skills as a producer/engineer will get better. You display some great ability on this tune...
I look forward to hearing more.

see ya
 
Layth mentioned the vocals coming up and I think so too, but maybe some higher eq on 'em as well might help...I'd love to hear the dissonant strings panned back and forth left and right too, but that's just me...that might just give a little more drama...I liked the song a lot...good feel.....gibs
 
This is a cool tune. Reminds me a bit of that new one from STP.

The dissonant tones got me all sorta dizzy. Good mix... agree with the vox needing to be up in mix a bit.

Great job.
 
I listened to 'Funnel Clouds' and downloaded 'Missed Ride' which for some reason I hadn't downloaded before. It must have been while I was gone for a while. Anyway, I like the mixes with only a couple exceptions...

I think the drums should be higher in the mix. I felt they were buried behind everything else. Everyone else mentioned the vocals, and I agree with that, but I think the drums are what is missing the most.

The good part is that both songs are well written and performed. Interesting music.
 
I think the vocals are right where they need to be, but the acoustic guitars are a little too upfront. I think panning them subtly instead of wide when the vocals are going on would help without losing the perception of the vocal being just on the edge of being too low in the mix. (damn, long sentence, too wordy) The acoustic guitars just seem to be in the wrong place. They need to "mellow" out a little- maybe even just on one side. (or that could just be me, I don't like brite acoustics)

I think some sort of resolution at the end would be nice. It's something that the composition lacks. Good tune though, I'm gonna take another listen to see if I can make out the vocal.
 
Ric: Yeah, I'm slowly starting to learn that. There's always "one more little tweak" to be made if I let myself, damn perfectionism. But any specific ideas you have, be sure to pass 'em on. I do listen, and this place has had more impact on my improvement than any other single source.

Gibs: Bingo on the strings panning. That's been on the to-do list since we tracked it. I just haven't taken the time to draw the envelopes in Cakewalk yet.

Teddie: Dizziness is good, it goes well with the tornado theme. I have a few ideas about the vocs as soon as I get a solid block of time to play with it again.

CMiller: Thanks for the ears. I totally agree on the drums... definitely the weak link IMO. The sad part is I spent a lot of time just to get 'em where they are. We tracked drums for four or five songs in a whirlwind afternoon, and I think I may have failed a bit at the source on some of those. Drums still give me headaches, but I've done much better on other stuff. This tune has another anomaly involved. It was a 4 mic setup, one as an overhead. The overhead mic clip wasn't screwed in tight enough, and the weight of the mic spun the clip around so it was pointing at the ceiling/corner by the end of the take. We didn't notice it until after deciding to keep the take. It adds a weird delay to the drums on the end (really noticable from about 2:10 on).

JamesHE: I think I'll "carve out" the acoustics a little after the vocs come in. As for resolution, I don't think it's coming in this song, at least ;). A couple of lines kinda punctuate that: "Can't trust my own judgement; Don't know which would hurt worse; Pullin' the plug on the invalid; Or an empty stare of a dead yet beaten horse". The "resolution" in this case is just as dissonant as the problem itself.
 
I just listened to this. I'm not gonna make any production suggestions since you already got that. I just wanted to say that I liked the tune alot!! It's really really cool :)


ametth
 
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