The Mower

[BushmasterM4]

Always wanted to write a tune about mowing the yard. And how all sorts of thaughts go through your head while doing so. This is actually my first attempt at writing a tune. Im playing all instruments and singing. I know I sing bad, but at least Im getting better. Give me your thaughts on sound and mixing. Link to the tune http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6402999&q=hi


Lyrics Below

As I sit here on my mower
Im all alone with my thaughts
Never know which one to hold to
So many it drives me nuts

I shake my head to clear them all out
But I know I just cant win
I try to focus on my mowing
But those thaughts have crawled back in

Solitude of mowing the yard
Just me and the grass
Its like looking in to my soul
Thank God, just one more pass

I shake my head to clear them all out
But I know I just cant win
I try to focus on my mowing
But those thaughts have crawled back in

As I sit here on my mower
Im all alone with my thaughts
Never know which one to hold to
So many it drives me nuts

 

[Rohan]

Just you and the "grass" huh......? I think I get it.....
I agree your singing is kind of bad, but that doesn't mean the song is unworthy... I like the sampled bits you brought in towards the end - it gave it a trippy feel which felt good over the top of the heavy guitars.

I did think though that the vocal melody line was kind of boring - I know this does not relate to the mix or anything, but the vocal seemed like just a basic variation of the guitar chords chugging away. With your vocal style a more "out there" approach might work better...

Anyway I can totally relate to music going through my head when mowing the lawn, something about the background drone which triggers it

 

[MidiPunk]

I like the song, it'd go well on a playlist with Black Flag's In My Head.

Sounds like you need to drink more beer while mowing

 

[BushmasterM4]

Just you and the "grass" huh......? I think I get it.....
I agree your singing is kind of bad, but that doesn't mean the song is unworthy... I like the sampled bits you brought in towards the end - it gave it a trippy feel which felt good over the top of the heavy guitars.

I did think though that the vocal melody line was kind of boring - I know this does not relate to the mix or anything, but the vocal seemed like just a basic variation of the guitar chords chugging away. With your vocal style a more "out there" approach might work better...

Anyway I can totally relate to music going through my head when mowing the lawn, something about the background drone which triggers it

Agree with the vocals. I spent 6 hours on the whole thing and maybe 30 minutes was the vocals. I dont sing well. Maybe I should do a spoken low voice type thing? When you say out there approach, what do you mean? Also thanks for the listen.

 

[SteveE9C6]

Mower metal?


Ok, vocals... actually, seems to meld with this style of tune. I would experiment with different eq's and compression settings and stick a nice plate reverb on it.

The bass? Are you playing one? Bottom end seems missing. The song itself is interesting in a kind of John Deere metallic format!

Other than that.. sounds fine.

 

[BushmasterM4]

I like the song, it'd go well on a playlist with Black Flag's In My Head.

Sounds like you need to drink more beer while mowing

Thanks !!!. I do agree with the post Rohan did, the vocals need help. I hope to try and get some more free time to redo them. Maybe one day I will sing like a bird instead of a vulture I have some vocal tracks Dogman sent me on another tune, that I need to mix. But free time is rare for me this time of year. So Dogman, I have not forgot !!

 

[BushmasterM4]

Mower metal?


Ok, vocals... actually, seems to meld with this style of tune. I would experiment with different eq's and compression settings and stick a nice plate reverb on it.

The bass? Are you playing one? Bottom end seems missing. The song itself is interesting in a kind of John Deere metallic format!

Other than that.. sounds fine.

Thanks. The Bass is there. I used an a Peavey Bass D/I's with an Ampeg plugin. The bottom end was scaled back on that model (sort of funk style). So I need to beef it up ? Sounded descent on my monitors and home system. But yes, lacking low end. Maybe raise the gain a few ?

 

[ido1957]

You could have sold this to Black Sabbath back in the 70's. Your vocals are fine, they sound a lot like Ozzy. The mix is very good, well done...

 

[andyhix]

There's definitely a vintage sabbath feel to it. I wonder if you really tried to belt out your vocals - pushing a little more air, if it wouldn't sound a little better. I guess maybe I'm suggesting the opposite of the spoken word approach. Just let er rip with all the gusto you can muster. Actually maybe double that with a low spoken word to fill it out a bit.

I think it's a cool subject to write about. there's definitely something special about mowing - the sounds and the smells. The mower sound in the beginning practically put the smell of fresh cut grass in my nose. And there's something cool about how the mower noise kind of puts you in a bubble from the rest of the world. Your neighbor will not be able to talk to you when the mower's running, even if he's 15' away. And then, when you shut it off, the silence is deafening. I'm rambling - anyway - cool tune.

 

[SteveE9C6]

Thanks. The Bass is there. I used an a Peavey Bass D/I's with an Ampeg plugin. The bottom end was scaled back on that model (sort of funk style). So I need to beef it up ? Sounded descent on my monitors and home system. But yes, lacking low end. Maybe raise the gain a few ?

I am listening on cans at work. Let me listen this evening. But yes, I think the low end is a bit deficient. Still, fun tune.

 

[Greg_L]

It's not lacking low end. The mix sounds pretty decent overall on my setup. I'd personally like less wetness on the vox. They make it sound like a semi-cheesy Sabbath rip-off. The guitars sound great. The drums sound pretty good, but there seems to be a lot of out-of-phase issues with the overheads. I like the song, but the timing is kind of sloppy. I know you're not really a drummer, so it's no big deal. Overall, not bad bro.

 

[BushmasterM4]

You could have sold this to Black Sabbath back in the 70's. Your vocals are fine, they sound a lot like Ozzy. The mix is very good, well done...

I get that alot. I need to do a Sabbath cover

 

[BushmasterM4]

It's not lacking low end. The mix sounds pretty decent overall on my setup. I'd personally like less wetness on the vox. Thay make it sound like a semi-cheesy Sabbath rip-off. The guitars sound great. The drums sound pretty good, but there seems to be a lot of out-of-phase issues with the overheads. I like the song, but the timing is kind of sloppy. I know you're not really a drummer, so it's no big deal. Overall, not bad bro.

No doubt Im not a drummer. Sloppy is my second name I'll flip some phase switches and see how it does on the overheads. The vocals, I will redo. The vocals are actually two track. One is fairly clean and the other has a doubler on it to give a little reverb to it. Maybe I need to dump the second and just add reverb (plate style as mentioned) to the clean track. I need to do a Sabbath tune !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BushmasterM4]

There's definitely a vintage sabbath feel to it. I wonder if you really tried to belt out your vocals - pushing a little more air, if it wouldn't sound a little better. I guess maybe I'm suggesting the opposite of the spoken word approach. Just let er rip with all the gusto you can muster. Actually maybe double that with a low spoken word to fill it out a bit.

I think it's a cool subject to write about. there's definitely something special about mowing - the sounds and the smells. The mower sound in the beginning practically put the smell of fresh cut grass in my nose. And there's something cool about how the mower noise kind of puts you in a bubble from the rest of the world. Your neighbor will not be able to talk to you when the mower's running, even if he's 15' away. And then, when you shut it off, the silence is deafening. I'm rambling - anyway - cool tune.

I do need more balls when singing. When I do force it, Im all over the place. I like the idea of a spoken and regular vocal track. I will do that hopefully this weekend, and see how it goes. I plan on locking myself in my studio Saturday around 5 pm and staying until Sunday

 

[JuliánFernández]

Did you use samples on the drums?

The drum sound is really consistent, and that´s one difficul thing to achieve (espiacilly for unexperienced drummers)...

bTW, I liked the overall vibe of the song!

 

[BushmasterM4]

Did you use samples on the drums?

The drum sound is really consistent, and that´s one difficul thing to achieve (espiacilly for unexperienced drummers)...

bTW, I liked the overall vibe of the song!

Ive got a really good vst I use on the drums, and the snare and bass have alot of compression and eq. Ive looked a Drumagog and thaught about buying it for the ease. I might. But as far as the drums being consistant, Im far from it. Im better at the hits, but my timing sucks. And the vst makes it consistant as far as hits.

 

[Rohan]

Agree with the vocals. I spent 6 hours on the whole thing and maybe 30 minutes was the vocals. I dont sing well. Maybe I should do a spoken low voice type thing? When you say out there approach, what do you mean? Also thanks for the listen.

Hey Bushmaster - what I meant was, fair enough you have identified that your vocal was not good in the traditional/technical sense, but you can still make it an excellent and memorable vocal line in the context of the song.

By out there, I meant yes, try something less traditional sounding, low spoken voice would be cool definitely, so might a 'weirder' sound maybe Devo or John Lydon, or maybe something completey different again.

Good luck this song has some very cool elements to it

 

[BushmasterM4]

Hey Bushmaster - what I meant was, fair enough you have identified that your vocal was not good in the traditional/technical sense, but you can still make it an excellent and memorable vocal line in the context of the song.

By out there, I meant yes, try something less traditional sounding, low spoken voice would be cool definitely, so might a 'weirder' sound maybe Devo or John Lydon, or maybe something completey different again.

Good luck this song has some very cool elements to it

Thanks. I hope to experiment more with it this weekend

 

[SteveE9C6]

I spent some time with this again last night after seeing other folks take on the low end.

I think what I perceive as a lack of low end, is the bass patch you are using. When I listen to the tune, the chunk guitars sound as if they have more bottom end then the bass. To me, the bass is just kind of thin sounding. I personally like a round, deep bass.

 

[BushmasterM4]

I spent some time with this again last night after seeing other folks take on the low end.

I think what I perceive as a lack of low end, is the bass patch you are using. When I listen to the tune, the chunk guitars sound as if they have more bottom end then the bass. To me, the bass is just kind of thin sounding. I personally like a round, deep bass.

Now when I cover Dazed and Confused, I will definately have alot of low end on the Bass