lover

[dobro]

I'm ready for the ten ways to make this better. Bring it.

 

[K-dub]

You could do a lot more with panning on this. Everything is nice and sparse, but center. The guitar and the bass are stepping on each other a bit. I'd have the instruments spread more on the soundstage ...

Walk the guitar left and right. Throw the block out to two O'clock ...

Just use the full l/r range.

I'd probably experiment with a delay on that block btw ... dry to the left ... soft rhythmic echoes hard right.

That's my nickel's worth anyways.

 

[dobro]

Block?

 

[RAMI]

Block?

I think he means that cowbell-ish percussion that's playing on the 1,2,3,4. I actually would have called it a wood block, too, but it might be something else.

Major groove, especially considering there are no drums in this. Sing it an octave higher in falsetto and you've got yourself a great Prince thing going on.

I've personally never been a fan of a 1,4 ,5 progression. I know you change it up a bit at the end of the progression, but I think you can use more creativity and not go from the B to the E. It's just personal taste, but I've always found that 1 to 4 change kind of a cop out because it's such an "obvious" place to go, if you know what I mean.

But I love your creativity and this is another example of the originality and quirkiness your tunes always have. I have no mix nits, but what Kev said about spreading things out is probably worth paying attention to.

 

[heatmiser]

All I hear percussion-wise is bongos and a shaker at first...then it sounds like a cowbell gets introduced later?

Another mouth trumpet solo...really?

Mix is clean and clear as always. Performances are good. I thought the stereo spread was sufficiently wide myself, but wouldn't in any way object to it being wider. Good job.

 

[K-dub]

Yeah ... the cowbell-ish block thingy.

 

[Bruthish]

neat sit back and jam fun song. I agree on above about spreading out alittle more spatially but its really not too bad. Good unique voice. Great job

 

[Schwarzenyaeger]

Sounded fine. Maybe you could introduce a new element at some point? Mix it up a bit.

 

[Armistice]

I'd be hunting down some of the lip smacky noises and eliminating them with extreme prejudice... and unwind the HPF on the bass, needs a bit more rumble for mine... plus a bit more spread would be good. Apart from that... sounds nice.

If I need a mouth trumpet solo in the future, I'll know who to call..

 

[dobro]

All I hear percussion-wise is bongos and a shaker at first...then it sounds like a cowbell gets introduced later?

Another mouth trumpet solo...really?

Mix is clean and clear as always. Performances are good. I thought the stereo spread was sufficiently wide myself, but wouldn't in any way object to it being wider. Good job.

Yeah, bongo and shaker first, then cowbell and then a second shaker. I'd have put handclaps in if I'd thought of it.

I think I'll experiment with making stuff wider. I like taking advantage of a full soundstage, but I had my head up my ass when I did this one. I was struggling with other issues and didn't even notice the panning thing.

Thanks for the listen.

ps Yeah, lip trumpet - I do a lot of it nowadays. See, I never learned how to do the 'harp-in-the-rack' thing.

---------- Update ----------

You could do a lot more with panning on this. Everything is nice and sparse, but center. The guitar and the bass are stepping on each other a bit. I'd have the instruments spread more on the soundstage ...

Walk the guitar left and right. Throw the block out to two O'clock ...

Just use the full l/r range.

I'd probably experiment with a delay on that block btw ... dry to the left ... soft rhythmic echoes hard right.

That's my nickel's worth anyways.

No, that's worth at least six bits. I'll experiment with the panning thing. Or, I might just put some voodoo on one of the panned tracks. See, each guitar is already panned both left and right, but the mics I used (a ribbon and a dynamic) don't exhibit enough inherent difference to be heard as anything more than a slightly large centered track. I think I know what to try first. Thanks for the idea.

I think he means that cowbell-ish percussion that's playing on the 1,2,3,4. I actually would have called it a wood block, too, but it might be something else.

Cowbell, hit with a plastic ocarina. (I didn't have any drumsticks lying around.)

Major groove, especially considering there are no drums in this. Sing it an octave higher in falsetto and you've got yourself a great Prince thing going on.

I've personally never been a fan of a 1,4 ,5 progression. I know you change it up a bit at the end of the progression, but I think you can use more creativity and not go from the B to the E. It's just personal taste, but I've always found that 1 to 4 change kind of a cop out because it's such an "obvious" place to go, if you know what I mean.

It started off as a finger-picked bouncy thing you could play at an open-mic night. The original lyrics had the word 'Buddha' instead of 'lover'. Then it morphed from a really interesting song about being a Buddha into what it is now - I thought people would relate more easily if I was talking about sex rather than enlightenment. Meh.

I have no mix nits, but what Kev said about spreading things out is probably worth paying attention to.

Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks very much for the comments. My biggest problem with the mix was the two guitars cancelling each other in some parts. It still bugs me.

 

[RAMI]

Hehe......

OK, I said this......

I've personally never been a fan of a 1,4 ,5 progression. I know you change it up a bit at the end of the progression, but I think you can use more creativity and not go from the B to the E. It's just personal taste, but I've always found that 1 to 4 change kind of a cop out because it's such an "obvious" place to go, if you know what I mean.

....and you answered me this......

It started off as a finger-picked bouncy thing you could play at an open-mic night. The original lyrics had the word 'Buddha' instead of 'lover'. Then it morphed from a really interesting song about being a Buddha into what it is now - I thought people would relate more easily if I was talking about sex rather than enlightenment. Meh.

What the fuck did I miss? Can you please speak Canadian to me, I don't see the correlation.

 

[gecko zzed]

A joyous exuberant track, and the variations on the 12 bar towards the end save it. I was disappointed when I heard it go from B to E (I think those were the chords). I enjoyed the vocal treatment, and the general economy of the arrangement. I enjoyed the sound of the bass at first, but it need then to be, well, more bassy. It has like teasing someone, but then not delivering.

I was just thinking the track could probably happily stay on the one chord all the way through.

 

[dobro]

neat sit back and jam fun song. I agree on above about spreading out alittle more spatially but its really not too bad. Good unique voice. Great job

Hey, thanks for listening

Sounded fine. Maybe you could introduce a new element at some point? Mix it up a bit.

Maybe I'll do it with the original lyrics. Then we'll have a saints version and a sinners version lol.

I'd be hunting down some of the lip smacky noises and eliminating them with extreme prejudice... and unwind the HPF on the bass, needs a bit more rumble for mine... plus a bit more spread would be good.

Three good ideas. Thanks for that. You getcher producer's badge on this one.

 

[dobro]

Hehe......

OK, I said this......

....and you answered me this......




What the fuck did I miss? Can you please speak Canadian to me, I don't see the correlation.

Ah, sorry. The progression in the finger-picked version sounded more interesting somehow than this kinda funked-up version. Things morphed, but not the chord changes. The changes were fine when it was just a guy and his guitar. Now it's got a whole percussion section and electric bass and distorted guitar. See, I never plan things - I just write songs, and then later they start to develop into overdubbed things and what you get at the end is the sort of thing you get here. So I get what you're saying about the progression, but when it started out as a simple fingerpicked thing with burbling lips solo, it was really cool. Now it's produced. Ha! Ya gets what ya get...

 

[dobro]

A joyous exuberant track, and the variations on the 12 bar towards the end save it. I was disappointed when I heard it go from B to E (I think those were the chords). I enjoyed the vocal treatment, and the general economy of the arrangement. I enjoyed the sound of the bass at first, but it need then to be, well, more bassy. It has like teasing someone, but then not delivering.

I was just thinking the track could probably happily stay on the one chord all the way through.

You're a good listener. What do you think of the bass now? (But I ain't changing the chord structure - the tune's written. )

 

[dobro]

Second mix up above. I incorporated all the suggestions that made sense to me, which was most of them.

The bass: I didn't shift the highpass much, cuz it was just kissing the lows anyway. But I turned the level up and tweaked the sound a bit.

 

[Tadpui]

I'm finally back up and running after a couple weeks of being sans audio interface, finally getting to listen to this one.

This one is a lot of fun, I like your sensibilities about putting a song together.

I don't really have any major gripes about this one. Maybe a little more low end on the bass guitar? The mouth harp thing may be wearing a little thin, but it still makes me giggle a little every time. It may be time to pick up the trombone or the theramin...one of those slidey instruments with the same freedom of pitch that a voice has.

 

[dobro]

Which one did you listen to? First or second mix?

 

[Anders Erisian]

I listened to mix one yesterday, and mix two today, and the bass sound seemed to work much better in mix two. I thought it was pretty light-on in mix one, both in terms of volume and extension into the lower frequencies.

I didn't think either of the guitar sounds cancelled or masked each other, i could clearly hear their individual tones and neither seemed to be getting swamped out by the other at any point from my perspective.

The chord progression didn't bother me, i like dissonant and discordant music as well as crazy song structures as much as more traditional harmonies and structures, but this didn't seem cliched, or boring and predictable to me, even if not overtly adventurous. What works, works when it does sometimes as far as i see it . I tried replacing the word buddha for lover in my mind while i listened and it didn't really make sense to me, i would like to hear the 'saints' version too.

 

[TripleM]

I listened to mix #2. I thought it sounded really good. The bass sound is very cool. Vocal is very clear (but a bit dry).

Still trying to decide whether I like the electric guitar sounds. My initial reaction was that I didn't care for them. But in a song like this they seem to work fairly well.

I think the vocal sounds like it's in a different spot from the rest of the instruments. I'd try to do something about that. The rest sounded good to me.