can of beer - original (with lyrics this time)

[heatmiser]

Hey,

Please take a moment to check out this latest little tune. I guess I was going for something simple, fun and catchy...at least relative to my other stuff.

I fear what I've wound up with is too simple, not enough fun and not as catchy as I'd hoped . I do think there is some cool stuff going on though and the mix seems relatively ok (did I overdo the bass?).

There is an interesting detour in the middle and an oh-so-soothing outro , plus a few verse/chorus sections...any thoughts?..ideas?

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=660667&songID=8031679

Thanks,
Pete

 

[guitar zero]

Fantastic. I really enjoyed this song. Nice hook right off the bat. LOVE the bass line, maybe a tad bit too loud, but I love it so on second thought, don't turn it down. Nice dropout. Nice quirky electric or synth. I think the delay/verb on the vocals gives it a real "Beta Band" sound. Oh, and the outro is great, loved it. I would buy this. Nice job.

 

[JRSIV]

I dig it Pete. At first I thought the drum loop was too muffled, not present enough; as the song went on though they gel really well with the track and leave room for the acoustics to really shine. I personally like the bass pushed a bit upfront, especially if it's a clever line with groove and melody like this one. Solid.

 

[heatmiser]

Fantastic. I really enjoyed this song. Nice hook right off the bat. LOVE the bass line, maybe a tad bit too loud, but I love it so on second thought, don't turn it down. Nice dropout. Nice quirky electric or synth. I think the delay/verb on the vocals gives it a real "Beta Band" sound. Oh, and the outro is great, loved it. I would buy this. Nice job.

Hey, thank so much GZ! This is all really good to hear.

The bass is definitely louder than you'd normally want, but there is so little else going on here, that without it being upfront, there was very little to carry the tune forward and keep it flowing.

The quirky sound is an electric guiar with a slide. I played two notes in succession once through, then flipped the tape over and played the same two notes on the slide from the end of the section to the beginning. Flip it back over and you've got two guitars playing the same two notes forward and backward at the same time . I think "quirky" is just about right .

Thanks again.

I dig it Pete. At first I thought the drum loop was too muffled, not present enough; as the song went on though they gel really well with the track and leave room for the acoustics to really shine. I personally like the bass pushed a bit upfront, especially if it's a clever line with groove and melody like this one. Solid.

Thanks for listen JRSIV! I'm glad to hear this all works on some level.

Agreed on the drums. I have only drum machines to work with, and lately found them to be too thin, crisp and digital sounding, so I intentionally went a little more muffled and lo-fi on this one in an effort to sound more organic. Like you, I think it comes together as it goes along, but it doesn't help that the drums are on display all alone right at the start .

I'm glad you both liked the bass - that is the most recent instrument I've picked up and I'm enjoying it so far.

 

[queepy]

I really dig this....bass is perfect imho....the vocals kinda have a countryfied Pink Floyd/David Gilmour circa Meddle album vibe, which is really cool...Like the Pabst can pic! Bribgs back memories of my beer can collecting days when I was a kid

 

[K-dub]

Hey Pete-

I'm writing this from chilly, raining Harpswell this morning ...

I got nothing to offer except I really enjoyed this. I agree w/ Q's comment on who it sounds like and when ...

I wouldn't change a thing and the bass sits just right btw ...

K-

 

[heatmiser]

I really dig this....bass is perfect imho....the vocals kinda have a countryfied Pink Floyd/David Gilmour circa Meddle album vibe, which is really cool...Like the Pabst can pic! Bribgs back memories of my beer can collecting days when I was a kid

Great, thanks queep! Not a big floyd fan myself, but kind of was at one time. Meddle is certainly my favorite...isn't that the one with the super mellow tune where they sing "strangers passing in street, by chance two separate glances meet..."? I love that tune! "Echoes" maybe (?)...not sure.

PBR is absolutely my favorite cheap beer! Thanks again.

Hey Pete-

I'm writing this from chilly, raining Harpswell this morning ...

I got nothing to offer except I really enjoyed this. I agree w/ Q's comment on who it sounds like and when ...

I wouldn't change a thing and the bass sits just right btw ...

K-

Hey Kev, yeah, the weather pretty suddenly changed to Fall the last few days, didn't it?. Tomorrow should be more summer-like though.

Thanks for listening and I'm really glad you enjoyed it . The consensus so far seems to be ok on the bass....good.

 

[K-dub]

Sure did. We arrived Thurs and it was 75 ... but that fall feeling, the subtle chill was there, and we all identified it immediately. Friday sealed it the deal w/ even cooler temps, and we still went out for a boat ride on Casco bay, but I didn't wear shoes and my feet were frozen by the time we got back in.

... and then the storm hit, and we've been watching comedy channel movies all day.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer, but w/ the wind it won't be a good day for power boating ... but the sails could unfurl, as it may be a great day for that.

K-

 

[joeym]

Cool song, Heat!
Love that bass sound, how do you record the bass? It's got so much definition. Nice recording and mix too. Voice sounds totally cool. Well done!

Joey

 

[heatmiser]

Cool song, Heat!
Love that bass sound, how do you record the bass? It's got so much definition. Nice recording and mix too. Voice sounds totally cool. Well done!

Joey

Thank you Joey !

It's gonna sound pretty lame, but I use the oddly named Peavey Milestone bass (I mean, why would any company commemorate a milestone by producing this piece of crap ?). I plug it into the least expensive mic pre known to man, the behringer mic 100. I run that into my tascam 688 tape deck. No compression or anything like that. Sometimes I cut a little 250-300k on the tascam. Oh yeah, and I play with a pick...I know, taboo in certain circles, but I much prefer it .

Anyway, thanks for the good word. I expected to get beat up on the vocals as the doubling is rough, but it came out ok I guess .

 

[JRSIV]

Let me add this since the bass sound is getting such good reviews. First, I'll admit I'm biased because though I love analog period, I really love Tascam machines. I have a 488mkII that is getting on in years but still makes great recordings when a little time and TLC is used in the recording process.

Heat's Tascam 688 totally helped round out the sound of the bass! Yeah, it's an 1/8" tape and the bass track is on an eighth (!) of that, but goddamn it makes a difference!

Listen to the dudes "Ode to the Clinic" on his SoundClick. Warm, full, and any tape hiss is completely forgivable. And that's listening off the MP3! The master mix sound's better, no doubt.

Just saying, while I dig the convenience of DAW's/computers and use digital myself, analog and especially lower end analog can add a funky, warm sound to bass and other stuff just as well if not better than some "analog emulation" plug-ins.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Pretty good song. As a bassist, I'm always a fan of prominent bass lines!

I think the rhythm guitar could use a little more reverb. Right now it kind of sounds like I'm listening to the band across the room except there's a rhythm guitarist standing right next to each of my ears. (Listening on cheap headphones, btw.)

I wasn't blown away by the lyrical hook, but the instruments made the song catchy and "toe tapping" enough.

 

[heatmiser]

Pretty good song. As a bassist, I'm always a fan of prominent bass lines!

I think the rhythm guitar could use a little more reverb. Right now it kind of sounds like I'm listening to the band across the room except there's a rhythm guitarist standing right next to each of my ears. (Listening on cheap headphones, btw.)

I wasn't blown away by the lyrical hook, but the instruments made the song catchy and "toe tapping" enough.

Thanks for checking it out Steve~!

It is really rare than anyone suggests I add more reverb to anything , but you're right, the guitars are really in a different space than most everything else (and panned in an unnatural way). I guess I kinda did that on purpose here though, as I really wasn't going for a natural band sound necessarily. I may try your idea though and see if it works better.

Agreed on your other point...my tunes tend to be hook-free zones . I think I'm pretty solid rhythmically, but I really struggle with melodic elements sometimes.

Thanks again!

 

[Dak_Sunset]

Really cool and catchy.

 

[mattdee1]

I like the song a lot, especially the bass line and how it interacts with the guitars.

Only thing was the main vocals... I like the melody line but I thought I could hear distortion. Did you add some? If so, I'm not sure it brings anything to the table. I would have preferred the vocals to be a tad brighter and more up front. Especially in contrast to the guitars--which sound very clear--the vocals sounded a bit muddy to my ears.

Matt

 

[heatmiser]

JRSIV - Thanks for elaborating...so, it was maxell that made the bass sound like that? I thought it was the awesomeness of my technique ! If only cassette had the same effect on my vocals...

Really cool and catchy.

Thanks Dak. I listened to Peggy-O last night and will give it another go tonight...cool cover!

I like the song a lot, especially the bass line and how it interacts with the guitars.

Only thing was the main vocals... I like the melody line but I thought I could hear distortion. Did you add some? If so, I'm not sure it brings anything to the table. I would have preferred the vocals to be a tad brighter and more up front. Especially in contrast to the guitars--which sound very clear--the vocals sounded a bit muddy to my ears.

Matt

Thank you Matt .

I'm pretty sure I didn't add distortion per se to the vocals, but I agree that it kind of sounds that way. I think it is the roughness of my voice, combined with all of the delay and reverb plus the fact that I doubled them, that gives it that sound. I was going for a different sort of sound...kind of ghost-like I guess but it didn't turn out quite as intended. I thought more folks would be bothered by this and I may still try it with clearer, more normal vocals at some point.

I was trying for a lot of contrast here...lo-fi Run DMC beat plus bright, dry, almost folkie guitars, plus spacey vocals, plus...uh, whatever .

Thanks again for your thoughts!

 

[JRSIV]

JRSIV - Thanks for elaborating...so, it was maxell that made the bass sound like that? I thought it was the awesomeness of my technique ! If only cassette had the same effect on my vocals...

Well, like I said Maxell & the 688 helped; what really did it was that Peavey bass. Your technique and talent mean nothing in the grand scheme of things...

 

[rayc]

The bass is boss!
Cool song, it does meddle a little but that's cool too.
Some of my best bass tones came from my Vantage straight into the inbuilt pres of my Yamaha MT100 4 track.
the Behri 100 isn't too bad at all I reckon - it work better than some of my more expensive gear with some mics & not with others.
Well captured, well mixed & well written.

 

[heatmiser]

The bass is boss!
Cool song, it does meddle a little but that's cool too.
Some of my best bass tones came from my Vantage straight into the inbuilt pres of my Yamaha MT100 4 track.
the Behri 100 isn't too bad at all I reckon - it work better than some of my more expensive gear with some mics & not with others.
Well captured, well mixed & well written.

Thanks Ray!

Cheapness can sound pretty good or alternatively very, very bad . It is a fine line that I flirt with all the time.

 

[Greg_L]

My only nit is the snare drum. Too dark for me, but it works I guess. Everything else sounds good. Good mix. Bass sounds perfect. Good job!