No Fun

[Greg_L]

Right. You might try looking, Greg. And when someone pays you a compliment, "Thank you" is the appropriate response.
Rod Norman
Engineer

Thank you is indeed appropriate when the compliment comes from a valid source. See how everyone else got a "thanks"? I threw lots of them around to those valid people that commented on my mix.

Greg_L
Real engineer, real songwriter, real performer, real producer, real bad motherfucker.

 

[wilko]

Recorded this yesterday while banned. In light of recent events and the way this place has generally devolved into cluelessness, it sums up my feelings pretty well. Time elapsed - 4 hours from "Hmmm, I'm bored, I think I'll record a Stooges cover" to this first and only mix so far.

No Fun

Any comments/critiques are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks,
Greggy Poop

You did that in a home studio??? Only one mix? Sheesh.. I am giving up...

Really, really good..!

When are you going to do some Toy Dolls covers or have you done so already?

 

[Greg_L]

You did that in a home studio??? Only one mix? Sheesh.. I am giving up...

Really, really good..!

When are you going to do some Toy Dolls covers or have you done so already?

Thanks a lot wilko.

Nice to see you up here out of the depths of that horrid shitpit called the cave.

I am a HUGE fan of The Toy Dolls. I discovered them back in the late 80s in a skateboard magazine. Lol. Been a big fan ever since. They don't come to the US often but I saw them live at CBGB in 98 and just saw them again in LA this past april. Fantastic, fun band. Anyway, no, I've never done a Toy Dolls cover. Olga is a fantastic guitar player and his voice is inimitable. I don't know that I could do them justice. I could try though. They have so many cool songs. Got one in mind?

 

[Steenamaroo]

Got one in mind?

Are you taking requests now?
I have to admit, I immediately wanted to hear you cover Ain't it fun.
Probably a lot less upbeat than what you usually do, but I think you'd kill it.

 

[rayc]

GREAT song and a cool cover.
I dig the thrashy/trashy wah noise - wah is soooo good at noise.
The mix is terrific for 1st up on a 4 hr run.
It terms of comparison with the original I don't think there's anything that needs doing.
In terms of your mix - leave it for a day or so & see if you're happy with it.
The Pistols would've loved a version this tight.

 

[wilko]

Thanks a lot wilko.

Nice to see you up here out of the depths of that horrid shitpit called the cave.

I am a HUGE fan of The Toy Dolls. I discovered them back in the late 80s in a skateboard magazine. Lol. Been a big fan ever since. They don't come to the US often but I saw them live at CBGB in 98 and just saw them again in LA this past april. Fantastic, fun band. Anyway, no, I've never done a Toy Dolls cover. Olga is a fantastic guitar player and his voice is inimitable. I don't know that I could do them justice. I could try though. They have so many cool songs. Got one in mind?

Yeah the Cave is getting dull. I first came across the Toy DOlls in about 1984 when they released Nelly the Elephant and I have a couple of albums.... Never seen them live though!! How about Queen Alexandra street or Dougie Giro? You might have problems imitating the accent!!!

 

[Greg_L]

Are you taking requests now?
I have to admit, I immediately wanted to hear you cover Ain't it fun.
Probably a lot less upbeat than what you usually do, but I think you'd kill it.

The Dead Boys song? Never really thought much about it. I'll give it a more attentive listen and see.

GREAT song and a cool cover.
I dig the thrashy/trashy wah noise - wah is soooo good at noise.
The mix is terrific for 1st up on a 4 hr run.
It terms of comparison with the original I don't think there's anything that needs doing.
In terms of your mix - leave it for a day or so & see if you're happy with it.
The Pistols would've loved a version this tight.

Thanks a lot Ray. The Pistols version was my first taste of this song. I like their version. Very edgy. They captured the fed up going nowhere feel of the song pretty well. Probably the only good cover they did.

Yeah the Cave is getting dull. I first came across the Toy DOlls in about 1984 when they released Nelly the Elephant and I have a couple of albums.... Never seen them live though!! How about Queen Alexandra street or Dougie Giro? You might have problems imitating the accent!!!

Ha, yeah, Dougy Giro is a classic oldie, not nearly as challenging as much of their other stuff, and I already know how to play it. Maybe I'll give it a try.

Have you heard any of their modern stuff? They're still The Toy Dolls, but they've gotten a lot more....um....complicated? It's still very silly oi punk, but their newer shit is relatively complex!

 

[dobro]

The handclaps are good, but maybe a bit more...dunno...slapback? Might give them a bit more body. The guitar that comes in at 2.18...what if there was another one that came in panned left at 3.00? Too much?

Glad you're back. Great tune. I know it, even.

 

[BroKen_H]

What always amazes me with your mixes is the clarity of everything and the gel. Not just tight performance, but everything just "fits". Your vocals almost sound too loud on this because there's so much sonic space for them to fit in. The guitars are a single gelled unit, and yet distinct from each other. Bass is clear and not overboard. Drums are distinct (and yes, bright) and yet they're only there for the beat. It's like there is no specific focus...EVERYTHING is the focus, and yet everything is subservient to everything else. Don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it just seems like if you concentrate on ANYTHING in the mix, it is almost too loud...

 

[Greg_L]

The handclaps are good, but maybe a bit more...dunno...slapback? Might give them a bit more body. The guitar that comes in at 2.18...what if there was another one that came in panned left at 3.00? Too much?

Glad you're back. Great tune. I know it, even.

Thanks dobro. You should know it. Didn't you go on a Stooges binge a while back? So you want another noise guitar at the end of the song? I guess that could work since it's way at the end.

I think the handclaps just need more claps. I only did 3 tracks of claps because they were last and by then I'd lost interest. I need to do a few more clap tracks.

 

[anoopbal]

I generally don't like listening to the heavy metal kind of mixes. I mainly listen bollywood. But this one I really enjoyed it. All the instruments were pretty clear and felt like had its own space I think.

One question I had: You think the vocals could have had a bit more compression? I just felt it stood out a bit from the track. I don't know though.

 

[Greg_L]

I generally don't like listening to the heavy metal kind of mixes. I mainly listen bollywood. But this one I really enjoyed it. All the instruments were pretty clear and felt like had its own space I think.

One question I had: You think the vocals could have had a bit more compression? I just felt it stood out a bit from the track. I don't know though.

Thanks for checking it out. I do greatly object though to having this classified as a "heavy metal" kind of mix.

I think I agree that the vocals might too out front just a little. I don't think they need more compression, I think I just need to drop em down a hair.

 

[jonny deep]

I quite liked this - don't know the original. I really liked the feedback in the second verse - another classic Greg pick slide to follow! I don't think this sounds as slick as some of your recent offerings - do you think that's because you bashed it out in such a short time or is that the mix you were going for. I agree the vocals could do with sitting down in the mix a bit. Nice job, though.

 

[Greg_L]

I quite liked this - don't know the original. I really liked the feedback in the second verse - another classic Greg pick slide to follow! I don't think this sounds as slick as some of your recent offerings - do you think that's because you bashed it out in such a short time or is that the mix you were going for. I agree the vocals could do with sitting down in the mix a bit. Nice job, though.

Thanks a lot dude. I think I'm gonna incorporate big pickslides into everything from now on.

You want some serendipity? That 2nd verse guitar dropout into feedback was an accident. I dropped my pick right on that A chord leading into the verse and I just let it ring while I bent over to pick it up. I noticed it blooming into a little feedback so I just left it and came back in with the pickslide. My initial thought when it happened was "well that sucks" but then when I listened to it, I liked it, so I left it.

As far as it's "slickness", I don't know. I guess it depends on what you feel has or lacks the slickness you're looking for. I didn't really have a sound or mix style in mind when I did this. I wasn't really going for any kind of mix. I just did it and let it be however it's going to be. There are things I like and don't like about this mix. But this is literally the first and only mix so far. I'm still deciding if I want to really get after this thing or just leave it as is. I like that, to me, it came out pretty good for a quick bang-it-out thing. I'm in love with my guitar sounds. I aint gonna lie or be humble about that. Fuck it, I think they sound kick ass. I feel like I'm clicking with my guitar setup these days. On the other hand, the mix does need some tweaks and I'm still experimenting with some drum stuff. A little more time tuning and mic placing could have yielded better drums I think. I could do better bass for sure. The vocals are what they are. Besides some leveling, it's not like I can sing any better. I can barely sing at all.

 

[dobro]

So you want another noise guitar at the end of the song? I guess that could work since it's way at the end.

The guitar that comes in is panned right. It sounds good, but not as big as the two main left and right guitars. If there was another, panned-left guitar to match the right-panned 2.18 guitar, what would it sound like? Just wondering.

I think the handclaps just need more claps. I only did 3 tracks of claps because they were last and by then I'd lost interest. I need to do a few more clap tracks.

Yup. Slapback would be the fast way to get more claps. More claps would probably be better.

 

[dainbramage]

Great stuff as always dude. It is really inspiring to hear that such good sounding mixes are possible in a home studio. Keep rocking!

I would like it even better without the clapping though. It gets kind of annoying.

 

[Lt. Bob]

asl always ..... great energy ..... great performance ..... shocker, I know

lol ..... LOVE that feedback at about a minute in .... hahahaha that's awesome.

 

[jonny deep]

You want some serendipity? That 2nd verse guitar dropout into feedback was an accident. I dropped my pick right on that A chord leading into the verse and I just let it ring while I bent over to pick it up. I noticed it blooming into a little feedback so I just left it and came back in with the pickslide. My initial thought when it happened was "well that sucks" but then when I listened to it, I liked it, so I left it.

As far as it's "slickness", I don't know. I guess it depends on what you feel has or lacks the slickness you're looking for. I didn't really have a sound or mix style in mind when I did this. I wasn't really going for any kind of mix. I just did it and let it be however it's going to be. There are things I like and don't like about this mix. But this is literally the first and only mix so far. I'm still deciding if I want to really get after this thing or just leave it as is. I like that, to me, it came out pretty good for a quick bang-it-out thing. I'm in love with my guitar sounds. I aint gonna lie or be humble about that. Fuck it, I think they sound kick ass. I feel like I'm clicking with my guitar setup these days. On the other hand, the mix does need some tweaks and I'm still experimenting with some drum stuff. A little more time tuning and mic placing could have yielded better drums I think. I could do better bass for sure. The vocals are what they are. Besides some leveling, it's not like I can sing any better. I can barely sing at all.

Awesome accident, then - that's the bit I liked the best!

I don't know if slick is the right word, really. It just didn't have the same wow factor the previous song you posted (Jihad Joe) had - I'm guessing a lot more work went into that one and it shows.

 

[Greg_L]

Great stuff as always dude. It is really inspiring to hear that such good sounding mixes are possible in a home studio. Keep rocking!

I would like it even better without the clapping though. It gets kind of annoying.

Thanks a lot man. Making a decent mix in a home studio with modest gear is pretty much all I wanna do.

You must not listen to The Stooges much if those handclaps are annoying. Their songs are loaded with repetitive annoying stuff. Some of their songs have a piano banging one note throughout the whole song.

asl always ..... great energy ..... great performance ..... shocker, I know

lol ..... LOVE that feedback at about a minute in .... hahahaha that's awesome.

Thanks a lot Boob!
Feedback and pickslides, the fundamental elements of rock and roll.

Awesome accident, then - that's the bit I liked the best!

I don't know if slick is the right word, really. It just didn't have the same wow factor the previous song you posted (Jihad Joe) had - I'm guessing a lot more work went into that one and it shows.

Oh yeah, for sure, Jihad Joe is an original song that came straight from my head. Naturally I treated it a little better than I did this thing....even though I could never do anything as good as The Stooges. I just hoped to not embarrass myself with this one.

 

[Greg_L]

Hey wilko....if you come back to this.....

Here's a quick and crappy "Dougy Giro"

Just did this one, just now, like literally just now. It's pretty bad.