No DAWs Allowed

Ok, well I mean I can't get a distorted tone that's worth a shit myself, so you were already ahead of where I am now back in '91. I really like the richer, raunchier tones you got later on when you got some decent amps and stuff.

Listening to The Grind now...now that is a raunchy tone. I like the track. The vocals are crazy...I like that the two takes are basically singing the same part, but in completely different ways/voices. It has an unsettling effect on the listener. In some of the more strained moments, one of the vocal takes reminded me of the singer from the dead kennedys a bit. Cool.

As fuzzed out as this recording sounds, the instrumental performance is pretty well locked in. I would love to hear this done live in a bar or something. You've got this theme throughout of combining a prog sort of arrangement style with extended arrangements, rhythmic changes and odd intervals with an almost hardcore/punk vibe...it's kind of unique and cool.

This thread is really taking off (and by taking off, I mean a half a dozen of us (maybe) are into it)...I may dig up some more old crap!
 
chuckduffy said:
I really like that melodica part, if that is what it is :-)
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Thanks man, yeah it's a melodica. I love that sound so much, I have to reign in the urge to use it on everything!

heatmiser said:
That is pretty cool rob. I've heard this before on your page, but it pales in comparison production-wise to more recent stuff. Really offers shades of things to come with the faraway vocals and the melancholy and whatnot. It's not a bad recording, but it's also a song that might benefit someday from your increased production abilities.
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Thanks Pete - yeah, when the new songs dry up I'm going to plundering all my old shit for all it's worth and re-do a load of them...

fat_fleet said:
The bass doesn't seem that overbearing to me. Pretty cool stuff Rob. This one has a kinda stark Leonard Cohenish quality while also sounding very much like an early robgreen recording! Interesting, I don't think I've heard you use this noticeable a reverb on your vocal tracks before- makes it sound kind of vintagey. Excited to hear your other, earlier stuff too- bring it on!
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Thanks fleet, it's just that section right at the end where it plays a melodic part - it sounds like I was very proud of it and determined to make sure that nobody could possibly miss how clever I was with the bass :D

You're right about Leonard Cohen - I'd robbed my mum's old copy of Songs of Leonard Cohen and was pretty obsessed with it (man, that is still one hell of an album). I think I was also going through a bit of a Handsome Family phase at the time too iirc.

Re the reverb, I used to record my vocals through a guitar effects unit - add some gain modulation and reverb etc. I record everything dry now and add the processing later - I struggle to get as nice a reverb sound from vst as I do on the pedals, but I'm reluctant to stamp processing on vocals that I might want to change later. That's clearly one change from pre-daw days, when you were forced to make mix decisions early.
 
fat_fleet said:
A few more from 1991-

Waltz of the Flowers-->Pinwheel
'Pinwheel' was a tune my friend Tom wrote, and we mangled Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers as an intro.
The Grind
One of mine.. vocals are pretty horrific. Not that they're any better now.
Sunshowers
And another one of Tom's. Always thought this one was really nice.

The first two were from that same RISD recording, from the board into two tracks of the Porta 03, then we did copious overdubs at home.
'Sunshowers' was recorded separately at one of our places that year...I can't remember.
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Only had change to listen to Pinwheel earlier - there's a real progrock feel there. The blending of a slightly twee Tchaikovsky melody with a rocky arrangement and fuzz is interesting.

I can see how you struggled with tone on your patched together setup - how was the sound straight from the speakers?

I notice you mentioning that you played an Aria Pro II. I use an early 80s aria pro ii semi now and really like the sound - I don't know whether it's that or the solid xr that you're referring to (they look a bit more cock rock).
 
robgreen said:
You're right about Leonard Cohen - I'd robbed my mum's old copy of Songs of Leonard Cohen and was pretty obsessed with it (man, that is still one hell of an album).
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It is, and I wasn't gonna get into specifics but it reminded me strongly of "Seems So Long Ago Nancy" from Songs From A Room.
 
Considering I only started recording 2-3 years ago my first songs were made using a pod studio ux1 - however I was limited to 8 tracks on my trial version of ableton 7 I was using - AND they are very embarrassing. Especially the ones with singing in them, because I can't sing and my voice was all high at the time :) I will post one or two at some point.
 
Right had the chance to dig these out of cold storage (where they probably belong). Be careful what you wish for Fat Fleet - there are three if you have the stomach for them. They all pre-date the other song in this thread.

I'm pretty sure that the first on the list is the first song I ever wrote and recorded and I think I'd have been 16 or 17 years old. I'm not sure whether all the distortion is down to tracking with all the dials to the max or old recorder grot:

Upon The Moss

Night Falls On Bluebell Wood

Sparrows Are Wasted Thoughts

I hope they fulfil the original skeleton in closet remit...
 
rayc said:
OK, Truly embarrassing stuff.
This is Eric Drabwell and I with Mary-Anne Flood back in 1976 playing/singing into the built in autolimited mics of a National Panasonic portable cassette player - now, that was the Ant's pants back then as portable cassette players were usually flat simple mono things. this was a cool machine and recorded/played back instereo - Wow.
Eric's chords are pretty good but my lyrics and bass line were a bit 18 year old living away from home & drinking all his food moneyish.
We hadn't sussed out the 2 cassette players play back overlay trick at this stage.
Eric is playing an Ibanez Hummingbird 12 string, I'm playing a Coronet EB copy short scale bass back when round wounds were still king, through a Coronet 10watt guitar amp & MAF is just singing. Eric had to help as MAF lost the flow - she'd only had 1 run through before we pushed record.
Recorded live in Eric & my dormitory room in Newling House Armidale NSW.

Eric still has the guitar, the bass was stolen, the amp was returned to its owner rather the worse for having had a bass played through it and the Cassette player was thrown away just last year when it finally failed to play tapes or the radio - I was reluctant to toss it though.
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I missed this first time around, this is awesome. I love the school kid quality, it's a pretty catchy song even if the guitar riff is a bit ripped off from a tune I can't name right now, but I know it like the back of my hand. Actually I sound much the same as Mary-Anne until I've done about 20 practices of a vocal, so I reckon she did a good job there. Awesome stuff, that's a true first time recording man! Woah, I was 1 year old when you did this. :D
 
robgreen said:
Thanks man, yeah it's a melodica. I love that sound so much, I have to reign in the urge to use it on everything!

.
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Hmm, I really love the melodica too, but when I play mine it always sounds flat as a pancake next to the guitar. Any tips for recording? Do you change the pitch?
 
Since someone mentioned they liked the melodica, this tune features one. It was recorded with a modern day DAW, though (just sharing melodica stuff):



... but that's not what this thread is about. This thread is about cutting your teeth on an old Fostex 8 track reel and Alesis drum machine:

 
K-dub said:
Since someone mentioned they liked the melodica, this tune features one. It was recorded with a modern day DAW, though (just sharing melodica stuff):



... but that's not what this thread is about. This thread is about cutting your teeth on an old Fostex 8 track reel and Alesis drum machine:

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I'm sure people have told you this, but there is no logical reason that the lover that won't go home wasn't a huge hit on 80s pop radio. It has ALL the hallmarks, and it is original at the same time.
 
chuckduffy said:
I'm sure people have told you this, but there is no logical reason that the lover that won't go home wasn't a huge hit on 80s pop radio. It has ALL the hallmarks, and it is original at the same time.
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Thanks CD! LWWGH was written in the 80's and was recorded in the days before autotune! It was MUCH harder back then. You had to pay attention to what you were doing. lol ...
 
chuckduffy said:
Maybe without the player?

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YES!!!!

That's what I was hoping for...hiss city! You're voice is perfect for this stuff man....really. I can hear your voice singing to any number of tunes in this genre and fitting perfectly. With substantial production upgrades, this could've been a hit.

It sounds really authentically dated. It made me really happy just to hear this - thank you!

(Boooo! Fade out? What, did the tape get eaten?)
 
robgreen said:
Right had the chance to dig these out of cold storage (where they probably belong). Be careful what you wish for Fat Fleet - there are three if you have the stomach for them. They all pre-date the other song in this thread.

I'm pretty sure that the first on the list is the first song I ever wrote and recorded and I think I'd have been 16 or 17 years old. I'm not sure whether all the distortion is down to tracking with all the dials to the max or old recorder grot:

Upon The Moss

Night Falls On Bluebell Wood

Sparrows Are Wasted Thoughts

I hope they fulfil the original skeleton in closet remit...
Click to expand...

LOL@ grot. Is that actually a real word? I thought that was made up on the show, The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin? In my house growing up, we referred to all of the Christmas gifts we got from my Mom's side of the family as "grot".

Anyway, I'm listening to ...Moss again now. The distortion is over the top...yeah. It's too bad, 'cause I really like what I can hear of it. The vocals are really enthusiastic and I think it would sound awesome with great production. I request that you do a remake of that one some day.

Night Falls... is closer to some of my early stuff, although still better performed and recorded. This thread is fun. It inspired me to go back and look for hidden gems in my collection...forget the fact that I was horribly depressed to find none...it was a fun search!

Sparrows are Wasted Thoughts is an awesome title for one (you have strange titles!). I also think this could be a great tune if revisited and done right. Thanks for posting these.
 
heatmiser said:
YES!!!!

That's what I was hoping for...hiss city! You're voice is perfect for this stuff man....really. I can hear your voice singing to any number of tunes in this genre and fitting perfectly. With substantial production upgrades, this could've been a hit.

It sounds really authentically dated. It made me really happy just to hear this - thank you!

(Boooo! Fade out? What, did the tape get eaten?)
Click to expand...

Haha - I think I would have been 19 (!?!), so it is authentically dated :-) I miss those korg super drums lol. I actually found a plug-in of them.
 
Another couple tracks I found from my Fostex days ... the first is a rocker ...



This was written about "trickle down" economics ...

 
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fritsthegirl said:
Hmm, I really love the melodica too, but when I play mine it always sounds flat as a pancake next to the guitar. Any tips for recording? Do you change the pitch?
Click to expand...

I don't think I do much different when I record melodica. I close mic it, but then I close mic everything as I have cheap equipment and an untreated room. Off the top of my head, I probably just add an EQ boost around the upper mids (without making it too shrill) adding a touch of gain and a big dollop of reverb. Melodica and reverb is like lamb and rosemary :D

I don't know if that's much help, but I really don't think I do much special to track it.

heatmiser said:
LOL@ grot. Is that actually a real word? I thought that was made up on the show, The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin? In my house growing up, we referred to all of the Christmas gifts we got from my Mom's side of the family as "grot".

Anyway, I'm listening to ...Moss again now. The distortion is over the top...yeah. It's too bad, 'cause I really like what I can hear of it. The vocals are really enthusiastic and I think it would sound awesome with great production. I request that you do a remake of that one some day.

Night Falls... is closer to some of my early stuff, although still better performed and recorded. This thread is fun. It inspired me to go back and look for hidden gems in my collection...forget the fact that I was horribly depressed to find none...it was a fun search!

Sparrows are Wasted Thoughts is an awesome title for one (you have strange titles!). I also think this could be a great tune if revisited and done right. Thanks for posting these.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's a real word - grotty is certainly in common usage over here. I love that Reggie Perrin made the transition over to America, used to love that as a kid.

Maybe I will remake Moss and Sparrows one day. Moss is barely listenable, and the playing is pretty shoddy - certainly made up for it in vocal enthusiasm though! I think I had intentions on trying to hammer Night Falls... into a proper song too, but never did.

This thread is damn good fun, I look forward to listening to those I've not got round to yet over the weekend :D
 
grot·ty

adj. grot·ti·er, grot·ti·est Chiefly British Slang

Very unpleasant; miserable.

(From online dictionary. I must admit I picked up on this one very soon after moving to the UK in '76. It's such a good word.)
 
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