the KNIFE saga continues... KNIFE PT II (original)

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NotThatBright

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I once came up with a tune I thought was pretty badass, but nothing was annoying me at the time, so I had no idea what to write lyrics about. Then it dawned on me... create a man as badass as the tune. KNIFE, humble truck driver, a bit of a chemically-dependent sort, going about his business, who was one day pushed too far. Many laughs later, it actually became popular among my friends, who were calling for a sequel. For the sequel my plan was to make the music similar, but different... I remembered how Metallica did that when they came out with one of the few good Metallica songs of the '90s, "Unforgiven 2".

Anyway, Knife is back, a little crazier than before, but still basically a victim fighting back against greater odds at this point. He would go on to become comically psychotic in later installments, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. At this point he's still the guy "minding his own business, who was pushed too far."

I'm looking for criticism of the song itself more than anything... My recordings are unintentionally lo-fi (hopefully not for much longer), my timekeeping on the drums suspect, guitar skills shitty. Good on bass, but nobody seems to care about that. Anyway, mature subject matter, all in good fun, etc.

Lyrics on the soundcloud page.

KNIFE PT II:

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/knife-pt-2/s-LPpPH

UPDATE- Here's a different KNIFE PT II mix, with a heavier bass guitar and louder vocal. I think I prefer the first mix, but here you go.

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/knife-2-2nd-mix/s-c3Zt8

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Here's the original KNIFE if you're interested in the humble beginnings of America's favorite folk hero:

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/knife/s-BNHQn

Thanks!
 
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NotThatBright said:
I once came up with a tune I thought was pretty badass, but nothing was annoying me at the time, so I had no idea what to write lyrics about. Then it dawned on me... create a man as badass as the tune. KNIFE, humble truck driver, a bit of a chemically-dependent sort, going about his business, who was one day pushed too far. Many laughs later, it actually became popular among my friends, who were calling for a sequel. For the sequel my plan was to make the music similar, but different... I remembered how Metallica did that when they came out with one of the few good Metallica songs of the '90s, "Unforgiven 2".

Anyway, Knife is back, a little crazier than before, but still basically a victim fighting back against greater odds at this point. He would go on to become comically psychotic in later installments, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. At this point he's still the guy "minding his own business, who was pushed too far."

I'm looking for criticism of the song itself more than anything... My recordings are unintentionally lo-fi (hopefully not for much longer), my timekeeping on the drums suspect, guitar skills shitty. Good on bass, but nobody seems to care about that. Anyway, mature subject matter, all in good fun, etc.

Lyrics on the soundcloud page.

KNIFE PT II:

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/knife-pt-2/s-LPpPH

Here's the original KNIFE if you're interested in the humble beginnings of America's favorite folk hero:

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/knife/s-BNHQn

Thanks!
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I thought the sound of the first song was better than the second. :D A bit fuller, and richer in the bottom end. Also the vocals were clearer. In the second song I think you ought to have a bit more variation in the vocal tune. :D I understand it's meant to be a driving, insistent kind of vocal, but it doesn't have to be mostly on one note. :D

Good stuff. :)
 
Bubba po said:
I thought the sound of the first song was better than the second. :D A bit fuller, and richer in the bottom end. Also the vocals were clearer. In the second song I think you ought to have a bit more variation in the vocal tune. :D I understand it's meant to be a driving, insistent kind of vocal, but it doesn't have to be mostly on one note. :D

Good stuff. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bubba. I was fighting a battle with muddiness, so I wound up cutting more of the lower bass guitar in part II than I normally do. Didn't want to, because the bassline drives both tunes (particularly the first one), but I gave in. I got the mixer out, I'll see if I can fatten up the bottom of pt II a little and turn up the vocal.

Part II, at least the way I saw it when I wrote the music, doesn't really lend itself to much vocal variation, but I can see why you would think there should be more of it. I also originally had a short spoken word part before the last couple verses in pt II. I thought it was pretty funny, but it was a pretty "rough" kind of funny, so I yanked it. :)

Thanks for the listen and comments.
 
The drum sounds are fine if you ask me but they seem to almost be in mono. Have you fooled around with room mics and wide panning of overheads before? It could really help out.
I think that the vocals could cut through more. The guitar solo/interlude around 1:12 could be a bit more defined in tone as well. Louder/less gain/something.
The timing is off in a few spots.

Good lyrics.
 
Not only are they "almost" in mono, my friend... in fact they are in mono. A pair of condensers are in the mail, though. This should be my mono swan song.

Thanks. I did another mix with a louder vocal and stuck it above. I like the original mix better, but I tend to like a vocal that's a little buried in guitars and such.
 
This reminds me a lot of Suicidal Tendencies "Possessed to Skate". The phrasing of the verse in part 1 is just like that song, but that's okay. Everything kind of sounds like something else somewhere.

I don't have much to add to what I've said before about your mixes. Better performance and better miking will get you better results. But you're doing very well with what you have. These really do sound like authentic 80s punk mixes. Minor Threat or The Circle Jerks never really sounded "pro" either. Knife part 1 sounds pretty good. I think the 2nd mix of part 2 is better.

I really like your raw midrangey overdriven guitar tones for this kind of music. Plucky bass is good too.
 
Greg_L said:
This reminds me a lot of Suicidal Tendencies "Possessed to Skate".
Click to expand...

That's funny you mention them... I decided a few days ago as I was driving and listening to their first album that the next cover song I do is going to be "Memories of Tomorrow". I'll probably wind up tearing a labrum.

Thanks for the comments.
 
I think this tune has a great feel to it. It rocks out. As far as the mix goes, I don't think it's bad at all. I think the vocals need to come up. It sounds a little squashed and the bass level is a little hot.....
But, if you polished it up it may take away from the energy and raw groove of it.

Really cool tune man!
 
NotThatBright said:
I'm looking for criticism of the song itself more than anything... My recordings are unintentionally lo-fi (hopefully not for much longer), my timekeeping on the drums suspect, guitar skills shitty. Good on bass, but nobody seems to care about that. Anyway, mature subject matter, all in good fun, etc.
Click to expand...

I liked the sound of the first one better. (I didn't listen to the original.) On the second one, the drums sounded kinda tame and contained. On the first one both the drums and the guitars sounded better to me. You could play with a slapback on the vocal on this one.
 
jimistone said:
I think this tune has a great feel to it. It rocks out. As far as the mix goes, I don't think it's bad at all. I think the vocals need to come up. It sounds a little squashed and the bass level is a little hot.....
But, if you polished it up it may take away from the energy and raw groove of it.

Really cool tune man!
Click to expand...

Thanks! There are only a few songs I ever wrote could ever say I'm actually proud of (while still being somewhat ashamed :) ), and my KNIFE songs constitute most of them. Now that I have a bunch of better mics I will, at some point, re-record them and see just how close to professional I can make them sound. There are 6 installments so far... the last was "Knife at the Cheerleader Car Wash", so... well... Knife is running out of things to do at this point. :)

dobro said:
I liked the sound of the first one better. (I didn't listen to the original.) On the second one, the drums sounded kinda tame and contained. On the first one both the drums and the guitars sounded better to me. You could play with a slapback on the vocal on this one.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're like me... you prefer the choppiness of the guitars to the louder bass. When I increased the bass and vocals in the second one it took away from the guitar and, to a lesser extent, the drums in the first one.

I'll google "slapback on vocal" so I know what the hell you're talking about. :)

Thanks, guys.
 
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It's a delay with a distinct echo. Start with 60 ms and tweak up and down from there.
 
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