Today Is Gonna Be My Day

CrowsofFritz

CrowsofFritz

Flamingo!
Sad little tune I wrote. The harmonies arent working. Ive done multiple takes. I think it’s time I invest in auto tune.

Edit: guess I’ll have to upload a file.
 

Attachments

  • Today is Gonna Be My Day.mp3
    4.9 MB
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I think the song is great for the most part, the simplicity of the music highlights a good melody. The blade cuts both ways though, with such a bare background the vocals are really highlighted and to be honest the vocals are pretty shaky. The held notes drift off pitch and when you string a few words together the enunciation gets blurred. The start of the third verse is also awkward rhythmically, i would sacrifice the lyric for the melody in this case. Criticisms aside i really like the melancholy melody and the no time wasted arrangement. I would think you could get more solid vocals if you took your time and did it in sections and apply melodyne where needed or find someone to sing it? The song deserves it.
 
Stratomaster said:
I think the song is great for the most part, the simplicity of the music highlights a good melody. The blade cuts both ways though, with such a bare background the vocals are really highlighted and to be honest the vocals are pretty shaky. The held notes drift off pitch and when you string a few words together the enunciation gets blurred. The start of the third verse is also awkward rhythmically, i would sacrifice the lyric for the melody in this case. Criticisms aside i really like the melancholy melody and the no time wasted arrangement. I would think you could get more solid vocals if you took your time and did it in sections and apply melodyne where needed or find someone to sing it? The song deserves it.
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Thanks Stratocaster! I can definitely re-record vocals for sure. I honestly only applied Melodyne in three spots rather than as a whole track, so let me use its auto-correct feature and get back to ya!
 
Here is the song with 100% pitch center and drift. Sounds a tiny bit better.
 

Attachments

  • Today is Gonna Be My Day.mp3
    5.5 MB
I'm in a low data cell area so I haven't listened to your song yet. I can give you a little insight into using Melodyne, which I've been learning for the last few months. Unless you are a whole lot better singer than me, I find that snapping notes to the key with pitch and drift centering usually end up with a lot of the notes going the wrong way. If I want things to work at all, I have to go through and edit individual wrong notes as the track plays through to fix the errors. It takes more time but after that all is good. So far I've been happy with the results.
 
R D Smith said:
I'm in a low data cell area so I haven't listened to your song yet. I can give you a little insight into using Melodyne, which I've been learning for the last few months. Unless you are a whole lot better singer than me, I find that snapping notes to the key with pitch and drift centering usually end up with a lot of the notes going the wrong way. If I want things to work at all, I have to go through and edit individual wrong notes as the track plays through to fix the errors. It takes more time but after that all is good. So far I've been happy with the results.
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Seems like all but one note sounds fine with the pitch centering/drifting. I took a couple takes to make sure it was pretty on key.
 
Yeah, the nice thing about Melodyne is that it can really help get things in tune without sounding un-natural. The not so nice thing is that just adjusting the sliders doesn't often take care of the problems...I hear that 'one note'.

If you get a chance, send me the two separate vocal tracks so I can see it in Melodyne. Hell just send all the tracks separately while yer at it. I've had a few months off from studio and could use something to mess with. :)
 
jimmys69 said:
Yeah, the nice thing about Melodyne is that it can really help get things in tune without sounding un-natural. The not so nice thing is that just adjusting the sliders doesn't often take care of the problems...I hear that 'one note'.

If you get a chance, send me the two separate vocal tracks so I can see it in Melodyne. Hell just send all the tracks separately while yer at it. I've had a few months off from studio and could use something to mess with. :)
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Sure thing, Jimmy. I’ll try to get you the tracks later this evening if I can. Hope you’re doing well!

Do you want me to keep the amp sim on the guitar or just have the no processing on it? Actually ill just send both.
 
CrowsofFritz said:
Sure thing, Jimmy. I’ll try to get you the tracks later this evening if I can. Hope you’re doing well!

Do you want me to keep the amp sim on the guitar or just have the no processing on it? Actually ill just send both.
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Yeah, just send em all. Why not. :)
 
I really enjoy this tune. The Melodyne version is definitely better, but did you maybe not apply it to the harmony? The harmony part still sounds flat. The lead sounds much better though.

Ha! As I was typing this, Jimmy's post just showed up. I listened to the raw version, and that sounds very nice. Now the harmony sounds in tune as well. Listened to the other versions as well. The reverb sounds nice too. The lo-fi is an interesting effect, but I probably wouldn't stick with it the whole song. Just my opinion.

Back to the song and recording ... the only thing I don't really care for is the guitar sound. I'd rather hear something a bit warmer, like maybe a nylon-string guitar or a mellow piano.

I really dig the song, though. I wish it were a bit longer. I also agree with Stratomaster on the verse line "In the morning, the cries ..." I think you should make an adjustment there - either change the lyric or change the rhythm. It sticks out a bit.

You have a gift for melody, form, and simplicity that I really enjoy. Thanks for sharing.
 
famous beagle said:
I really enjoy this tune. The Melodyne version is definitely better, but did you maybe not apply it to the harmony? The harmony part still sounds flat. The lead sounds much better though.

Ha! As I was typing this, Jimmy's post just showed up. I listened to the raw version, and that sounds very nice. Now the harmony sounds in tune as well. Listened to the other versions as well. The reverb sounds nice too. The lo-fi is an interesting effect, but I probably wouldn't stick with it the whole song. Just my opinion.

Back to the song and recording ... the only thing I don't really care for is the guitar sound. I'd rather hear something a bit warmer, like maybe a nylon-string guitar or a mellow piano.

I really dig the song, though. I wish it were a bit longer. I also agree with Stratomaster on the verse line "In the morning, the cries ..." I think you should make an adjustment there - either change the lyric or change the rhythm. It sticks out a bit.

You have a gift for melody, form, and simplicity that I really enjoy. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks @jimmys69 and Beagle!

I’ll have to listen to the track later. I’ll also try recording it with a nylon guitar and see how that sounds. Only problem I might have is the intonation with that thing. It’s a capo on the fourth fret. Sounds fine when playing individual notes but when fingerpicking chords on the middle of the fretboard it can sound wonky at times.
 
Sheesh, can't get this one out of my head, nice work, CrowsofFritz. Nice work as well sorting it out, Jimmy.

It's a bit haunting, melancholy & sad, disturbing even. May I ask the motivation for the lyric content?

In a way I hate to go there for the risk of tainting your song: I could see this used in a documentary. Not necessarily any specific documentary, but have you ever heard of "The West Memphis Three" murders? I think there were 3 maybe 4 separate documentaries produced on the subject. Very sad story, 3 little boys murdered. If I recall correctly 2 drowned and one died from injuries. Horrible, 3 little boys about 7-8 years old. There seems to be a tragic narrative going on, can't say exactly why it reminded me of that tragic event....maybe from the perspective of one of those poor children? Devastating thought about such an innocent sounding little tune. I could totally see it, a montage of photos of those boys, the crime scene, and final resting place in the cemetery, laid in the sun. Apologies, yeah I probably shouldn't have gone there. I hope that doesn't ruin the tune for anyone. On the humorous side, it even seems to make my dog a little sad.

edit: Should I delete that description? I think i'm going to delete it, that's just too heavy.

I like your work, your voice and delivery. Consider me a fan.
 
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Wow, thanks Mick!!

I wrote this by hearing a folk song. The lyrics I tried to resemble John Wayne Gacy Jr. from Sufjan Stevens. Such a good tune.
 
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