Manslick gets Mellow



This is a headphone mix of a song I used to sing to my kids way back.

I wonder how it sounds to you, the shakers and claves? Anything else.

I have an alternate ending and more words, but I wanted to get some feedback on it thus far, so go for it.

Thanks
 
Love it man! I can totally see this in a slow scene in a sappy rom-com. Maybe while 'she's' travelling to meet someone or whatever.....IDK.

Claves stand out over time to me. I'd maybe want to hear more stuff bridging the gaps, like brushed snare or something.
The finger slides took my attention during the intro but I wasn't aware of them after that.

I wouldn't mind it being a bit longer; I'd be interested to hear the alternate version.
Great work!
 
Sounds good overall. Super mellow!
Personally, I'd bring up the guitar(s) and the shakers (they sound nice but are too quiet imo) and I'd turn down the wood block sound (is that a "clav"?). I also thought you could play it more sparingly than you do and it would meld a little better. I did like the reverb on that though. Your voice is a good deal drier and more up front than the instruments, but you may want that for effect...just wanted to point that out.
The octaves on the guitar sound nice and soothing. A good deal of string sliding noise, but hard to avoid when you're playing parts like that.
Overall it sounds good - it just needs to be longer ;).
 
Its sure a nice mellow, melodic tune-I enjoyed it quite a lot. Its been mentioned already but the clave is louder than it should be and I think the vocal could use a slight more reverb. The finger noise of the strings seem like the strings are brand new and really seem to effect a few certain chords during the song-I usually play a new set of strings a few days before recording to make the squeaks quieter, or find another voicing of the chord maybe.

Good work though!
 
Thanks guys. The claves is the one thing I find hard to gage. At the last minute I re-tracked them and busied up the rhythm but maybe it didn’t work. I bet when I hear this again I perceive them as too loud. I remember thinking of tunes where claves always seem too loud. And I need to listen on open speakers for once – lol

The octaves were played on a guitar with very dead strings. The string noise is inherent and I suppose an acquired taste. Not a lot I know to do about it, maybe a de-esser if I get too many complaints or a lot of editing.

As for brushes, there is a faint brush like track where I “sanded” the back of my Martin for that effect. To me it almost sounds like a vinyl plug in effect. But I pulled it way back so you might have missed it.
 
WOW! Super mellow.....and short.

I really like it. I would agree with whats been said about the shakers and guitar going up and claves volumes going down. But it really does sound nice as it is.

Personally I don't mind the sound of string noise/scrapes of other people recordings but they annoy the shit out of me on my own. Sometimes they can be really intrusive and others, really fitting with the song/music. I didn't notice them so much here. They fit well with the sound packaged as a whole.

Good job! :thumbs up:
 
I think the instruments all sounded pretty good. As everyone said, very mellow. A slow tempo, and no sounds with an "edge" to them. I thought the shakers and wood blocks sounded good. Maybe a bit of excess guitar sting squeak. but nothing horrible.

The vocal, to my ear, sounds a little out of place with the backing tracks. Dryer and louder than everything else. Sounds like the band is 30 feet behind the singer if you know what I mean.
 
Delightful Sir. My initial reaction overall is that there are some low freq in the mix that are mudding things up a bit. Get those out the way of your delicious guitar stuff. Love it.
 
I liked it a lot. If you kept your vocal track very dry on purpose.....that really worked for me. The clave sound or wood block was just a tiny bit overdone. In essence you performed that sound as if it was a bit of a Spanish beat and what happened was you ended up with just slightly too many "hits"....so to speak. The volume of the claves is fine if you just have a bit less. If you change nothing.......it's still a great job!!!
 
Thanks for the spins guys.
Yeah Elton I bet the low end is muddy as the Ohio river in spring. On cans it doesn't come thru.
Mr Clean, I listen to a lot of acoustic guitar music and Tommy Emmanuel is one where fret noise is everywhere. It used to bother me but his playing makes me forget about it.
Hey Trip the vocal got no attention other than some breath noise removal and is the pitch close enough. At first I hated it but then I liked it being bigger than life so to speak. I will probably hate it tomorrow.
Mickster, I am happy the vocal works so I may do it like that on the next incarnation. You are spot on about the Spanish beat. I felt like I was in between styles, ending up with - no style. I need to read up on the proper usage of the clave.
 
Sweeeet little song! I maybe don't like the woody clavs being too loud either. I like the sound of them, but they kind of jumped out of the otherwise slow and lazy song. It's great though. It's a proper lullaby, bet your kids loved it. :)
 
Thanks dobo - could you be more specific?
Thanks fritz - yeah see that's what you get when you track and post in the same day.
My kids never expressed they loved anything I ever did, the wife either. Oh the eye rolls when I'd pick up the guitar and the groans, not again dad. But the grand kids are smarter. They bs me.
 
the grand kids are smarter. They bs me.

Good on them :laughings:

Cool melody manslick - the vocals sound good despite you saying not much thought went into them and the guitar too. The fret noise didn't bother me.

I thought the percussion was too busy on both the shaker and the clav though and it distracts. They don't build up enough of a groove together to underpin the song, but are too much to just add some flavour. I think it's because the timing goes in and out on the shaker and the clav just sounds like it's hit at random intervals. You've got something good to work with though, so I hope you re-visit it :)
 
Hey Rob, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Dead on as usual.

Zup Sloop dog? You are right, the guitar is lacking but not because of the recording. It's captured perfectly, that's that way it sounds.
 
Thanks dobo - could you be more specific?

There's too much reverb on the claves. Reduce the reverb. Unless you recorded them that way. In which case, record them again in a way deader space. People are complaining that they're too loud. Maybe. But they're way too wet. They need to be drier to fit in with the rest of the mix.
 
They were recorded in a very dry space, literally dusty. I like the reverb, but since the consensus is too loud, I will consent to the crowd.
Thanks bro
 
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