Broken Hearts

  • Thread starter Thread starter K-dub
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K-dub

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I believe I've got this one circling the right neighborhood ... but I question whether or not it needs "more"?

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Kev-

(P.S. - I just learned the upload limits is not 10mb ... it's actually 9.54 -- and at 320kbps, this file was 9.91. Doh! -- Oh -- and there are a few seconds of silence at the opening ... because if any one cared to download this and fool around with it, it will pop into a DAW grid perfect at 135bpm ... just saying. :) )
 
Pretty nice catchy tune, Kev.
I quite liked the drum sound on this. Is that a flanger on the voice in the beginning and the end?
Harmonies sound great.
Nice song with a good groove.
 
Not my style of music but everything sounds well balanced on my end. I smell EZdrummer here.
 
It is a flanger, Joe, applied heavily.

@ MG: Close -- Superior 2.0 w/ the NY Avatar kit.
 
I have never said it before, but I can't thank my old boss (2001) enough for putting me in an old work truck with nothing but AM radio. It gave me a since of appreciation for this type of music and mister Kev sir, you do the best with it. I love it man. I used to be one of those that would never listen to anything but hard rock and I didn't know what I was missing, because this type of music has it all; great lyrics/vocals, rhythms, leads and bass playing (Not to mention horns). It is absolutely awesome.

In the OP you said something about downloading it and it being a contest or something. Where was it at because I would have definately played along. It must have slipped by pretty quickly.

Great song.
 
It's not a contest, T ... just if you wanted to fool with adding shit, you could download the file above (I believe a right click "Save Target As ..." would work). If you drop it into a DAW at first measure and set the tempo to 135, you'll lock to the tempo grid and everything will line up measure/beat perfect.

Thanks for the nice words!

Best,

Kev-
 
Yup, needs something. But I don't know what. What you have here sounds really good though. Your mixes are getting better for sure.
 
Exactly my thought, G ... and my frustration is I can't put my finger on it. I think I've got a good start here, but what will take it to "next level"? What I feel is that it's not quite there.

Thanks for the cred on the sound, bud. I know you know.

Kev-
 
K-dub said:
Exactly my thought, G ... and my frustration is I can't put my finger on it. I think I've got a good start here, but what will take it to "next level"? What I feel is that it's not quite there.

Thanks for the cred on the sound, bud. I know you know.

Kev-
Click to expand...

Well I can't listen again right now, but off memory, I recall thinking maybe the song structure was a little repetitive and there were sonic "holes" in the overall sound. Specifically a lack of guitars. Maybe a minor rewrite is in order, and more jangly guitars could fill the holes nicely.
 
Ha -- you put it in the exact way that escaped me: Sonic holes.

Structure is pretty standard ... and the arrangement varies enough to cover, so I'm not quite sure on that point ... but thank you for vocalizing what was my bother. Things get thin in spots.
 
FWIW,
The bass sounds synthetic with no top end at all, no decay.
At 1:03 is the bass playing the root? That section is the weird bass part. It almost sounds out of tune.
The guitar is very compressed, too much for my taste.
The whole mix sounds squashed especially with cans on.
At 3:26 the high harmony comes in too fast.
Snare sounds loose and rattly, for this kind of swing wouldn't a nice tight snare fit better?
Not crazy about all the busy drum work either.
Vocals sound good.
I do very much like the part at 3:29. A bit like Dire Straits or maybe Sting but the snap on the compressed guitar is distracting.
My $0.02
Just my observations.
 
Manslick said:
The bass sounds synthetic with no top end at all
Click to expand...

+1 to that^. I'd like to hear the bass occupy more of the mid/high spectrum cause it's really down in the low frequencies now, and it seems like it should be more than just bottom end in this style, but rather almost a featured, melodic instrument. IMHO that might fill up some of the sonic holes you mentioned. Other than that I think it's fantastic. Great song, great arrangement, great vocals. I really enjoyed the listen.

Best,

Dave
SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads
 
Thanks for the thoughts, MS. When I go to final mix, I'll keep them in mind. The mix itself is very lightly compressed ... but I do have a fair amount of compression on the drums and lead vocals (the two most dynamic elements).

The bass is critical, Dave ... for it accounts for the "feel" of this piece. As such, your comment about it being featured is spot on point. It is a real bass, played by myself. I've got it processed through a bass amp sim plug in. It is essential that it sound right ... so I appreciate the specific nature of both yours and MS's comment. I don't think that alone is going to fill the holes mentioned though ... for the issue is that the horns and vocals make a very thick sound, and then there are these parts where nothing much is going on ... but I'm not quite sure what element to insert to make things "fit" right and balance the sections a little better.
 
I hear you. The spaces aren't really bothering me, but if you aren't hearing it the way you are picturing it in your head, I can totally see how that would bug you. Right off the bat, the suggestion I would have would be a percussive piano part, similar to Chicago's 'Saturday In The Park'...bang out some quarter note chords and see if that fits and fills in the spaces maybe?

I liked the tune even more the second time through, I might go spin it for a third time now :)

Best Regards,

Dave
SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads
 
It's got to be tastefully done, but as I listened again this morning, a piano part is what I considered adding, Dave. In particular, I was thinking of layering it in in the last chorus where I drop the backround harmonies ... Great minds thinking alike, right? :)
 
I've no clue how to update the above attachment. Does anyone know how?

In the meanwhile:

This is a brand new mix with new parts all over the place: Broken Hearts

Kev-
 
Things mostly sound great. I liked the highly compressed snare sound.

That kick in the intro really hurt the eardrums if it's played on a bigger system. Tough for me to tell with what I'm listening on though.

Am I hearing some distortion with the trumpets in spots? Something gets fuzzy for a couple of seconds around 1:25. Other spots too. Happens when the trumpets are at their loudest.

Personal opinion, I didn't care for the vocal goings on in the intro. Didn't add anything to the song. Just my opinion.
 
Very Original!!! Are the horns a vsti or are they real horns? If they are a vsti...which one?
 
Drums sound really good to me now, Kev.
The voice in the intro might still have a bit too much effect on it, makes it hard to understand what you're singing. Have you got the effect on a send or is it directly on the track? Still a great song with a great hookline.
 
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