A Patch of Ground for camel parking

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rayc

rayc

retroreprobate
Here's a track that's almost directly up from the 4 track tape. I've worked on the levels only as there'd been some drop out & uneven recording way back then. Oh, I added some chorusing to the flute just to lift it up further.
The drums are mono - sorry. The guitar is split to stereo and the bass was a marshall amo & etone box mic'd with a Realistic omni dynamic. yeah, it was done a while ago.
Terry sings & plays flute.
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4247606&q=hi
This track needs some sundry percussion and probably a second guitar under the chorus.
As it's in the early stages I'd like you opinion on the song, the structure, the arrangements, additional instrumentation needed and so forth.
 
I like how it's sounding...vocals could use a small boost, but not much. Guitars sound good, and bass sounds fine, and seems to have a good spot. Drums don't even sound too bad. Other than vocals being a bit quiet, it sounds like it's shaping up well.

Structure sounds good also. Has a good vibe, and fits some of teh stylings you have posted before. Nice addition man....
 
Excellent tune, very catchy and good vibe. Vocals are completely buried on my monitors.

As for arrangement tips:

I hear the B-52s in this. I dont know if you have keyboards or even like them, but I would add a few. Then again, I add stacks of keyboards to pretty much everything :rolleyes: :D
 
rayc said:
Here's a track that's almost directly up from the 4 track tape. I've worked on the levels only as there'd been some drop out & uneven recording way back then. Oh, I added some chorusing to the flute just to lift it up further.
The drums are mono - sorry. The guitar is split to stereo and the bass was a marshall amo & etone box mic'd with a Realistic omni dynamic. yeah, it was done a while ago.
Terry sings & plays flute.
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4247606&q=hi
This track needs some sundry percussion and probably a second guitar under the chorus.
As it's in the early stages I'd like you opinion on the song, the structure, the arrangements, additional instrumentation needed and so forth.
Click to expand...

Hey - I've heard this song before !!!! :o ;) :)

"The system's fine - just needs a little tuning".....another great line...."Patch of Ground" (the title/chorus) is cool too.
Well done on lyrics as always.....strong, cynical, political, meaningful.

Guitar - jumps right out at the beginning with a very cool sound. It sounds acoustic-electric like a 335. It has a round sound/thickness that I like. It carries a lot of weight for just one guitar. I'm getting some nice reverb on the guitar and it suits the guitar well. The strumming style is extra cool...

The vocals are up and down a bit. They have a nice bottom end to them - fullness. Maybe use some compression? or automation? Overall they could come up a few dbs - in some parts they seem lost in the mix. I wonder if just eq'ing them in the mid-highs would pull them up a bit. I really like the bottom end though (just my preference) Sound like they have a bit of reverb on them - on tape? It's a nice sounding reverb....might be contributing to pushing them back a bit. That's why I would think eq'ing might be something to try and pull them forward. Do like the sound of that 'verb though.

Bass - big and thick and carries a large part of the spectrum. No problems there, sitting nicely in the mix. Nice bass lines.....Did a lookup on the etone stuff - looks like Aus only as I've not heard of it here. Nice looking equipment.....

Flute - I'd bring it up a little during the intro and a bit more during the solo at 2:39. Can't get the effect of the chorus at the current level. Nice playing!

Drums - mixed bit low compared to the guitar and bass. I'd up them a touch. Sounds like Roland is doing his usual good job. (just "got that" on your Soundclick profile - I'm a bit slow ;) )

There's something to be said about the "tone" on a tape recording too - maybe that belongs in the Analog Only forum though... :D

I like the overall arrangement/writing on the tune - no changes needed there. The instrumentation is nice and full now, so additional instruments could include persussion and maybe a second guitar as you mentioned....

:) :D :) :D
 
Your stuff is always original and imaginative. I love the rawness mixed with tightness. I wish the vocals and drums would come up a bit, but I like the effect on vox. Sort of a psychadelic thing going on in all your tunes. Nice flow to the tune...the parts meld into each other like buttah....I'd buy the CD.
 
Excellent style and groove here, just sounds real cool throughout.
I agree the vocals are buried. The drums are a bit weak, but that doesn't bother me... they fit this tune fine IMO. Love the rhythm guitar sound and flute. Wouldn't mind hearing even more flute. Cool, enjoyed this :cool:
I think maybe you already posted this... but what's the story behind the camel and camel comm and so on...?
 
I think the guitar is louder than everything else. That may be why the vox and drums are sort of hard to hear... Or not... lol... what do I know? It's good stuff though... Vox sort of remind me of something like rush.
 
monkeymanx,
Thanks mate. the Rush comment has been made a few times. They didn't have any sort of following down here. I'll have to do some research. The guitars are pretty up front. I'll begin balancing now I've had some commentary.
SnakeDog5050,
The drums are in mono & are just a couple of rudimentary patterns in a Roland. Back in the 4track day I stuffed up a few things bouncing tracks so ended up simplifying in hope of a chance to fix thins a bit - which is now. the Camel Comm. comes from the idea that the camel is a horse as designed by a committee. It's used as a put down for group or consensus decision making but I reckon the camel is brilliant & if it was the result of a committee it works perfectly for it's purpose.
RAMI,
Thanks cobber. I'll balance things soon Vox & drums up. Any sugestions for percussion OD's?
ido1957,
Thanks for the details. I love it. The guitar is a semi-acoustic a very strangely reshaped version of a 335 - good call. The verb on it comes funnily enough from Terry's mic plugged through his amp (flautist playing through a Paevey bandit but he had to to be heard in some bands) & inadvertantly catching my guitar & sending out his amp as well as the one I'd mic'd.) I'm still working on his vocal levels - they are all over the place - I've tried comp & am now working through automated fading & watching the outpt lvels - painful task. The bass was through either a marshall head or a Jands & then the Etone box. It's a fairly cheap Vantage bass but it sounds good with flat wound strings. Poor Roland, cops a lot of flak - it's all the digital watches. What percussion would you think might fit?
DavidK,
Interesting reference to the B52's. I saw them when they 1st toured. When was that? '80 or something? I'll talk to Terry re keys. I'm a 1 finger player. Someone made a B52's ref a few months ago to something else - Love Shack specifically. I'll play the song through a couple of monitors/speakers (something I normally do but haven't), over the next couple of days & do some more work on the levels & balance.
Dogman,
Thanks for the comments, particularly re structure. Some of our stuff has odd or even no discernable structure so we've been concerned that it hangs together. You've calmed me on that point for this one.
Thanks folks, I have lot's of work to do. the constructive & ppositive comments you've offered are just what I need to proceed. I'll post an iupdate in a new thread. If you have any percussion or instrumentation ideas please let me know.
 
rayc said:
.
RAMI,
Thanks cobber. I'll balance things soon Vox & drums up. Any sugestions for percussion OD's?
Click to expand...
Well, I have no idea what a cobber or an OD is :p :confused: :D :eek: ....But I'd be more than happy to give it a shot with a drum track if you want to have my banging on one of your tunes.





(Ido.....you're a jewel in this place, man. Your commentary is always awesome and much appreciated)
 
RAMI said:
Well, I have no idea what a cobber or an OD is :p :confused: :D :eek: ....But I'd be more than happy to give it a shot with a drum track if you want to have my banging on one of your tunes.

(Ido.....you're a jewel in this place, man. Your commentary is always awesome and much appreciated)
Click to expand...

Thanks Rami.....

I googled cobber and got:

cob·ber (kbr)
n. Australian
A pal; a buddy.

OD - need Ray's input on that one... :confused: :confused:

SnakeDog - I'm not sure if you've heard this before but I definitely have! I swapped CD's with rayc a few weeks ago and have been enjoying Ray, Terry and Miriam's tunes in full .wav quality! I have a few pre-releases I guess!

:D :D :D :D :D
 
DavidK,
Interesting reference to the B52's. I saw them when they 1st toured. When was that? '80 or something? I'll talk to Terry re keys. I'm a 1 finger player. Someone made a B52's ref a few months ago to something else - Love Shack specifically. I'll play the song through a couple of monitors/speakers (something I normally do but haven't), over the next couple of days & do some more work on the levels & balance.
Click to expand...

Several of your songs remind me of the B-52sm who I like. I met one of them , we play on an REM song together ( Kate Pierson). They dont do a lot of high tech synthy stuff, just enough to add some textures.
 
RAMI,
OD - Over Dub. Just my head running faster than my fingers & leaving me to try to type something to fill the gap.
Mate, if you're offering to thump tub on this tune I'd be a mug to say no.
If you are interested tell me how I go about it - I've not been involved in this sort of collab before so don't know the ins & outs.
Let me know. No hurry, it's entirely up to you.
Ido1957,
You're becoming a dab hand at my national language: 'Strine (as in Oz-try- n)
Here's a quote from an email from Terry this morning. We'd been discussing the relative merit of a track on the MP3 clinic I quite liked but he wasn't convinced about: "...it didn't really grab me the way Gerry's music did - maybe because he is so happy..."
 
David K,
Would that have been Shiney Happy People at all? Kate did some good work with other folk. Didn't she do Candy Baby with iggy pop? B52's were very big down here in their 2nd incarnation - Love Shack, Roam etc.
One of our songs, next on the list for work, uses a nice bit of Rhodes piano in the outro. Pity I loaned the thing to a friend - it, or rather they, disappeared.
 
Ray...

Reckon!!! I'm keen as mustard!!!

To give you the dinkie die, the best way to get me the good oil would be to post or send me the tune with a LOUD, generic drum beat and she'll be apples. It would probably take me no more than an arvo to get it done and I can send it to you the same evo. I can't do it until next week. Not because I'm a bludger and I'm certainly no drongo. But I have to conk for a bloke who lives back of Bourque beyond the black stump in Bullamanka. So I'll be from arsehole to breakfast until then. I don't mean to grizzle or whinge but that's the way it is. Sorry mate, I'll belt up now before I start coming off like Alf. It's a goer. Caaarn!!!
 
RAMI me ol' China',
Crikey! You're on Digger. Struth, that was as quick as a sparrow's naughty.
I'll do a quick remix to drop on you. I'll suss out whether or not I can send it to the RAMI site mid week so that it's not a distraction.
That's an excellent line of 'Strine you've strung together. I often wwondered whether Alf had been translated into TV land via Wilcannia.
Oh, translation Digger = colleague/mate/fellow infantryman
China = China Plate = mate
Struth = God's Truth
sparrow's naughty = really quick
Crikey = goodness gracious me.
I'll be off down the old frogg'n on me plates to the rubbity for schooner and a snag before the cheese catches up with me. Hooroo then, n' avagoodweegend.
 
I really like your jangly guitar sound....Rickenbacker?Whatever it is sounds great...agree with earlier reviews about drums being a bit buried...vocals also seem to be lacking some sparkle or high end that would help them come out in the mix a bit.Interesting tune...I always enjoy hearing your music!
 
Dogman said:
I like how it's sounding...vocals could use a small boost, but not much. Guitars sound good, and bass sounds fine, and seems to have a good spot. Drums don't even sound too bad. Other than vocals being a bit quiet, it sounds like it's shaping up well.

Structure sounds good also. Has a good vibe, and fits some of teh stylings you have posted before. Nice addition man....
Click to expand...


All that DOGMAN said plus...

Simple and good tune ,remember a lot of 60´s and 70´s songs .Noboby will stops and said: "oh, drum sound isn´t good" cause the "magic" is in the air here(and "tape" probably helps in that way) :cool: :



MY SONGS HERE
http://www.soundclick.com/openstation
 
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variaxman,
The guitar is a Bruno Royal artist Semi acoustic. Cheapoh MIJ from the very early 70's I bought for AUS$70 in 1979. It had modified pickups (that is someone had taken some poles out to give the E & A strings a twang) & was stolen 2 years ago in a house break in. I replaced it with another but the new one had a brooken bridge PU - the one that janngles & cuts so I've spent 2 years trying to fins a replacement to get that sound back. I'll look into adding soome sparkle in the vox after RAMI has done his little piece of magic on the bottom end.
CIRO,
Yeah Dogman's pretty accurate. The tape recordings are in good nick since I did them in 1986. 20 years later it's getting some sprucing up - yeah. Odd that the previous track we put up is from 2006 & this 2 decades prior & by the same pair of loonies. thanks for the +++ comments.
 
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Bump - last comments before I close this thread & open a new one when RAMI has done the do, thumped the tubs and smacked the tin lids?
 
cool tune with a nice groove. i would bring up the vocals just a bit. i'm struggling to make out the lyrics. i realize you're shootin for the vocals to sit back but i don't think a little more volume would hurt that effect.
 
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