They're talking about me like I'm "James Dean"

[Steenamaroo]

Here's another one from the upcoming 12.

Put a good bit of work into this one yesterday and I'd love to know what you all think.

Answers on a postcard......

 

[SloppyJo]

I found the sound of the pick scraping in the intro to be a little overbearing, but when it gets going it sounds good.

As a sidenote, in one section it sounds like that Green Day song "Time of Your Life" or whatever it's called. But it is a common progression I suppose

Other than that sounds great!

 

[TripleM]

Reminds me a little of Counting Crows.

I like the vocals. I'd bring up the BGVs just a bit. They sounded nice. Maybe double track the lead vocal in the chorus. But be sure to run both tracks down the center. oh now I'm getting near the end and it sounds like you're doing that in the outro.

In the prechorus and chorus the kick and the bass are both hitting notes at the same time. They're pretty abrupt and a little bit distracting.

Acoustic guitars are nice and clear. But they're a little bit thin. Not horribly thin, but a little bit.

Performances are all real good. I liked the song.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hey guys.
Thanks for the feedback.

I guess I'll replace the intro guitar. There'll definitely be stuff added on top of it too. Maybe a nice lead part or something?

I was keen to hear what people thought of the footstomps so I'm glad that came up.
Maybe if I flesh those sections out with more percussion the stomps will stand out a little less?
I'll at least pa the stomp group wider and turn it down a little.


I'm just doing a few tweaks now and I'll update the link shortly.
Cheers guys.

 

[Steenamaroo]

As a sidenote, in one section it sounds like that Green Day song "Time of Your Life" or whatever it's called. But it is a common progression I suppose

I can think of at least two songs this guy has recorded with me where I had to come up with elaborate intro melodies just to hide the fact that he'd re-written time of your life.


Link updated.

 

[Manslick]

Wow this sounds great. I mean this could easily be on radio. It sounds like a track off of Matchbox 20, which BTW has an excellent acoustic guitar sound - almost as good as this. Really like that chant at the end. Love those tight low hits too.
I say you are done.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Holy crap. I did the minor tweaks mentioned above; I guess they made a difference!

Local radio is the goal. Maybe not specifically for this song, but certainly for a few of them. That's really encouraging to hear.
Thanks Manslick.

 

[SloppyJo]

Sounds great! I should've mentioned before that the first listen was on terrible speakers.

But it sounds nice with the headphones I'm listening it on now.

Actually; there is a slight timing hiccup in the bass in the beginning of the intro... it sounds rushed. But it's not that noticeable, so I say don't worry about it too much.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I used to read the news in the morning, now I come to HR to listen to everyone's tunes. It's much more uplifting listening to music than reading the news, especially when I hear excellent stuff like this. Good job man! I really like it, kind reminded me of 'Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life'. (Don't look to much into that, I always have to find some relationship with something I've heard before, it's kind of an obsession). I think it has plenty of its own style & merit obviously. And you got a REALLY nice sound on the guitar that I'm envious of. The vocals and chorus really melt my heart at 3:40, I love it there.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Sounds great! I should've mentioned before that the first listen was on terrible speakers.

But it sounds nice with the headphones I'm listening it on now.

Actually; there is a slight timing hiccup in the bass in the beginning of the intro... it sounds rushed. But it's not that noticeable, so I say don't worry about it too much.

Cool, Jo. Thanks for listening again.
You were bang right about the pick noises though.
I think I'd convinced myself that a sloppy bare intro would be fine as long as the song sounds good later on.
IDK, maybe I could fuzz it up and make it like an old radio intro so it's obvious?
Either that or I'll just re-record the intro. Cheers for the flag.

Yeah, there totally is!(bass note) lol. I keep forgetting to move it.

I used to read the news in the morning, now I come to HR to listen to everyone's tunes. It's much more uplifting listening to music than reading the news, especially when I hear excellent stuff like this. Good job man! I really like it, kind reminded me of 'Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life'. (Don't look to much into that, I always have to find some relationship with something I've heard before, it's kind of an obsession). I think it has plenty of its own style & merit obviously. And you got a REALLY nice sound on the guitar that I'm envious of. The vocals and chorus really melt my heart at 3:40, I love it there.

Thanks for the listen, Frits! I really appreciate the comments.
There'll be 10 of these songs before too long so stay tuned if you're interested.

I got carried away and did an impromptu piano slide/rundown at 3:40. I felt kinda dirty afterwards but now I think I like it!

 

[Greg_L]

I think the mix is real good. I get tired of the constant handclaps though. Do they have to run through the whole song? Ditto on the Green Day comments. I noticed that before reading the comments. But fuck it. At this stage in the game pretty much everything is gonna sound like something else in some way.

 

[Mr Clean]

I agree with Greg RE: the hand claps. I'd prefer less of that.

I really like the song, the words and the performance. I just feel the bassline is a little disappointing. I could hear a lot more from the bass in my head than what was coming out of my speakers.

Other than that it's all good to me

 

[Steenamaroo]

I think the mix is real good. I get tired of the constant handclaps though. Do they have to run through the whole song?

I really like the song, the words and the performance. I just feel the bassline is a little disappointing. I could hear a lot more from the bass in my head than what was coming out of my speakers.

Fair play lads. I'll take a look at both of those things.

I can't disagree with either of them. I'm not bassist but I'm sure I could come up with something a bit fancier.
Leave it with me.
Thanks.

 

[TripleM]

I thought the second mix sounded good. The acoustic guitars sounded better. i don't know if you changed them or my ears changed from yesterday. But they sounded better.

I'd still raise the BGVs a bit.

The abrupt kicks and bass in the prechorus and chorus sound different, but they still distract me. They're so bass heavy they really stick out. I still think you can turn them way down and/or notch out something in the 80hz-120hz range. Might just be me - I seem to be the only one complaining about it.

But still it's sounding real good.

 

[Steenamaroo]

I thought the second mix sounded good. The acoustic guitars sounded better. i don't know if you changed them or my ears changed from yesterday. But they sounded better.

I'd still raise the BGVs a bit.

The abrupt kicks and bass in the prechorus and chorus sound different, but they still distract me. They're so bass heavy they really stick out. I still think you can turn them way down and/or notch out something in the 80hz-120hz range. Might just be me - I seem to be the only one complaining about it.

But still it's sounding real good.

Hey trip,
Yeah, I pulled the guitar high end down a touch and extended the hpf. I'd been a bit drastic.
I did change the stomps/kick too. Maybe there's room for more, huh?

Not to make excuses but it seems like a real delicate operation. The slightest eq cut below 120/100 just completely kills those stomps.
Maybe that's my monitoring more than anything.


The BVS..What are you thinking?
I did those myself and I have them reasonably strong in the lead in sections, but when the actual chorus kicks in I pulled them back.
Is it the choruses where you want to hear more?
See, they're just straight held chords so they felt kinda boring when I could hear them all the time.
Cheers.

 

[midget]

Hey, haven't read the thread yet. Just some thoughts... Really ambitious track, you sure are giving a performance like you're on stage with thousands of fans. I heard the Counting Crows a bit. This could be on a teen dramedy or a romcom starring whoever tends to be in those movies (sorry thought I had a name but did not).

Mix and Master sound great, I notice nothing wrong.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hey, haven't read the thread yet. Just some thoughts... Really ambitious track, you sure are giving a performance.......
Mix and Master sound great, I notice nothing wrong.

Thanks midget.
The vocal is actually a pal of mine, but he'll be pleased to hear that.

Everyone else:
I'm gona maybe redo the bass down the line and then take a look at these stomps once that's done.
I'll check it out on bigger bassier speakers too.
I might even kill the stomps completely in the verses and have them build through the prechorus.

I've killed some of the claps and replaced them with light shakers.
They were done right at the start and I guess I got used to them. They were pretty annoying.
I think I'll bring them down in the prechorus too.

BVs came up just a touch. I'm not sure I want to push them any more.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[TripleM]

I think I'd just turn the stomps in the prechorus and chorus down 3 dbs or so. yesterday it was the combination of the bass and the stomps that were bugging me. Today it's just the stomps.

And, if it were me, I'd turn up the "ooooh's" in the verses a couple dbs. i'd turn up the "ahs" in the chorus 2-3 dbs or so. they're way behind the lead vocal, at least to my ear. I know you're reluctant. But to me they're too far back.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Ok super, trip. Thanks for taking the time to jot those down.
I'm wondering if I can decrease the pan on those oohs. It might bed them in better and allow me to bring them up a touch.
Things to play with. Cheers.

 

[Chili]

Hey Steeno. I gave this a few listens since yesterday, mostly just to enjoy the song. I've got no real suggestions to offer, but will say, I like the latest version. Good tweaks.