Drinking Alone - New VHS original.

[VomitHatSteve]

Hey everyone.

I just finished this one up this weeked:

Drinking Alone
MP3 | FLAC

It's about video games! (In fact, I borrowed the bridge's lyrics from a song by SID metal band Machinae Supremacy.)

For the drums, I actually stubbed them out in samples and then played along with that track. Then I mixed the two versions together. I kind of like the results.

As always, feedback is appreciated.

 

[kcearl]

lol...it kinda reminded me of thirteenth century rap at the beginning

definitely geek rock weirdness...nothing on the mix Steve nice and "normal-fi" and great lyrical humour as per

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Ha ha! Thanks, KC. I'll be honest, I have no idea what 13th century rap is supposed to be! What a strange place to jump to...

 

[kcearl]

lol...sorry for the odd critique...its just the first verse when you were big upping yourself I honestly thought its was going to be some knight going on about how great he was in a pseudo rap...I was thinking what a bizarre idea for a song

it was a far more interesting than that thankfully...though there might be a place for medieval rap in todays market

Im on flu meds

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Ah! I get it.

I listen to that! (Heck, I'd probably write that too.) No apology needed.

The whole theme is pretty heavily influenced by Machinae Supremacy. They have several songs which are mostly the narrator talking about how awesome he is as his video game avatar: rescuing princesses, slaying enemies, and what not. I just added in that secret extra verse where he admits that all he did today was play video games!

 

[PoeticIntensity]

I liked the ending, Steve. Made me smile. The snare you've got going is making me twitch, though. It's very flat and dull-sounding. Love the lyrics. There also seems to be a lot of room for some possible synths during the sparse parts...?

You've definitely got a nitch, dude.

 

[Greg_L]

Dude, this is by far your best mix yet. It's clean and clear and the vocals are intelligible. I actually like the drums very much for this song. Leaps and bounds better than your earlier mixes. You're finding your way and it's sounding good. Very well done.

If I had to nitpick anything, work on your timing. There's a few off spots, but nothing too bad.

 

[komposer]

Nice job on the harmonies. Should be shortened by at least 1/3. Rhythm is off-putting and needs to be redone IMO. Not bad though.

 

[heatmiser]

Your vocals came through clearer on this than I've ever heard them before...beat the nazis single handedly...whatever you're doing there I'd keep going in that direction.

Drums still sound kinda bizarro to me...especially that kick, but better in terms of being a little more focused and clearer than some past efforts. Really enjoyed the lyrics on this one.

 

[trumpino1]

Steve, I like the hell out of it man. You got a great musical writing style. I like the fade out. Good stuff dude.

 

[robgreen]

Enjoyable tune VHS - very unusual both lyrically and arrangement wise. I like the way you build up your vocal layers, seem to remember them being similarly interesting on the last song of yours I heard. Good stuff man

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Holy unexpected wave of replies, Batman! Thanks for the listens everybody.

Dude, this is by far your best mix yet. It's clean and clear and the vocals are intelligible. I actually like the drums very much for this song. Leaps and bounds better than your earlier mixes. You're finding your way and it's sounding good. Very well done.

If I had to nitpick anything, work on your timing. There's a few off spots, but nothing too bad.

Thanks! I think I'm gonna all the timing flubs "lo-fi" and pretend I meant to do that.

Nice job on the harmonies. Should be shortened by at least 1/3. Rhythm is off-putting and needs to be redone IMO. Not bad though.

Thanks. Rhythm as in rhythm guitar? Bass? Drums? some combination of the rhythm section?

Your vocals came through clearer on this than I've ever heard them before...beat the nazis single handedly...whatever you're doing there I'd keep going in that direction.

Drums still sound kinda bizarro to me...especially that kick, but better in terms of being a little more focused and clearer than some past efforts. Really enjoyed the lyrics on this one.

Thanks, heat. What I'm doing on "beat the Nazis single-handedly" is playing Wolfenstein 3D, actually. Oh wait! You meant on the production end!
The weirdness on the kick is probably timing differences between the analog and sampled versions.

Steve, I like the hell out of it man. You got a great musical writing style. I like the fade out. Good stuff dude.

Thank you!

I liked the ending, Steve. Made me smile. The snare you've got going is making me twitch, though. It's very flat and dull-sounding. Love the lyrics. There also seems to be a lot of room for some possible synths during the sparse parts...?

You've definitely got a nitch, dude.

I can see what you mean with the dull snare. I didn't add reverb to it seperately like I did on the last one.
I originally meant to have a harmonica part instead of synth, but my harmonica guy has been slow to get his parts recorded. (So I'll probably upload a new version in a few months.)

Enjoyable tune VHS - very unusual both lyrically and arrangement wise. I like the way you build up your vocal layers, seem to remember them being similarly interesting on the last song of yours I heard. Good stuff man

Thanks. Layering vocals is one of the few production tricks I feel like I get pretty well, so I tend to use that one a lot.