A Stupid Song

[TripleM]

I mean literally. That's the title - Stupid Song. It pokes fun at stupid songs, and in the end I take a shot at myself.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=1436/singles

Please let me know your thoughts. Personally I don't like a couple of things. In particular, I don't care for the bass. It's the first time I seriously tried to DI it and I don't like the way it turned out. Before I retrack it, I wanted to see what others thought.

Please comment on anything though... General mix quality, songwriting, etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jake-owa]

Kinda funny, kinda stupid....but that's the point right?

I like the BBS reference.

Rhythym guitar needs more body, drums need punch....not too much just thinking aloud. A bit of bass in the mix might help.

 

[powderfinger]

i like the jangly rhythm guitars.........i like the melody.........nice harmonies

i really like the lead lines...they give it extra depth....i don't mind the bass sound at all........that's usually how i like my bass though.....you don't notice it much when it's there, but you miss it when it's gone

 

[Toki987]

yannow, this really is a cool song. Its got a happy saturday morning prime time nickelodeon singalong flavor to it. The instruments were mixed well and the harmonies were done well. I could hear the singing clearly. In fact you could smooth the instrument levels a little, and the drums a little and it would be near ready for tv. The bass aint bad, it could come up jus a little more, like PF said, but not enough to stick out. I'm serious about the tv sound, its good.

 

[Guernica]

Hey Trip,
Im listening at work, so take this as just another listening source.....and not a dependable mix critique. From here i cant hear any bass at all. From that im thinking that its sub-low and lacking a little in the punch dept. Im gonna have to hear it from home.
Cool tune man. Nice light pop to get the foot tapping and sing alongs from the listener by the second chorus of the first listen. Your vocs are always a perfect compliment to this 60's-style pop.
Cool stuff Trip!!
g

 

[Pedullist]

Hey Trip...I heard a little something (it's really stupid, I know) at...at....well.....during the whole song! Could you perhaps try to fix it?

Fun song. And I haven't even listened to the lyrics yet.

What a peculiar voice do you have. They had voices like that in the 60s, but you don't hear them too often these days. Intriguing.

I would love to hear an acoustic guitar on this. As a supplement: to make the mix a bit fuller. Or choose a different electric guitar sound. Or double it. Double everything. Go Phil Spector style (without pointing guns in studios bit, and don't go shooting women either )

Hey, isn't a lack of bass in the mix good when you're trying to go for a 60s mix? Although a different sound would be more appropriate I think: what about that famous 60s thumb/plectrum kind of sound: a big 'thud with a click' ?

I'm not too fond of the descending chromatic walking bass in the chorus.

Btw, if you need help with the bass...I'm here, remember? I'd love to play a part for you, if you want....

 

[B.SABBATH]

I'll hit this later on Trip..

 

[TripleM]

jake-owa. Yes it's supposed to be funny and stupid, so you got it. Listening on cheap headphones at work, I think the guitars sound a bit on the thin side. I could beef them up because I cut a lot of low mids to make room for the bass and to a lesser extent the vocals. I have such wimpy mixes, and I wish I knew how to make them "bigger."

powder - so now there's one vote for "good guitars." I don't know, maybe they're ok as they are. I just wish the whole mix were "beefier." But I just can't get that sound.

Toki - thank you. Writing-wise, I'd say it's decent but not much more. Nice chorus, decent line or two. I'm glad you like it. A bit more bass - I wondered that too. Sounds like I should give it a little nudge.

G-man. I'm happy you like the song. Yeah, it's supposed to be one of those songs you're afraid to admit you like. The bass is definitely lacking in the punch dept. I thought it had a buzzy sound too. I like micing an amp better because you have more control over the sound. I don't think I'm going to DI it again. Just an experiment and lesson learned.

How do I make bigger mixes? Anyone? Am I going to have to PM crawdad again?

Seriously, thanks everybody.

 

[Pedullist]

How do I make bigger mixes? Anyone? Am I going to have to PM crawdad again?

Use more instruments? I beef everything up with overdubs..until it's barely mixable....LOL

 

[TripleM]

Hey Pedulist, you snuck in while I was typing...

Actually I sing that way because my voice holds out longer and I think records better. But if I were to just naturally sing, it would sound slightly different.

As I was mixing, I thought that an acoustic in place of the "jangly" electric probably would have been better. But I don't own a good acoustic, and it's always a hassle for me to borrow one. The jangly guit part is doubled - if you listen you'll notice several syncing errors in them. I also noticed this morning that there is a sync prob or to with the low harmonies (and they're spread too far too).

I love doubling as you can probably tell from the vox. And fortunately, unlike Phil, I don't own a gun. And if I did I wouldn't be pointing it anybody when showing it off.

I can certainly get a bigger sound, but at the price of a muddy, unclear, clippy mix. I want to get big and clear at the same time. I think next time out, I'm going to compress the piss out of everything, especially the vocals - my vocals eat headroom the way Rosie O'Donnell eats Hostess Cupcakes.

You really wanna put a bass part on it? PM me and let me know how you want to do it.

Thank you.

 

[Pedullist]

Hehe, I was already trying to play along. But what kind of tuning do you use? The A is more 438 than it is 440...

You didn't pitch it up, did ya? Some of the harmonies sound a bit like that... (I wish I could sing as high as that)

OK, I'm ready to sacrifice my left hand pinky for this bet: I'm pretty sure you recorded it about two semitones lower than we're playing it right now. You're allowed to do that, it is after all 'a stupid song, but I just want know if I'm right? Your vocals sounded much more normal when I played it at this speed...and my bass seemed suddenly in tune

 

[sonusman]

I like the vocals. Nice and dry and no harshness. The backup vocals though are a bit vague, although, they support the lead fairly well.

I don't like the guitars. I think the idea of a real acoustic is a great idea. This sounds like a POD on a clean setting. I did sort of like the lead guitar, but it seemed to lack some "space".

No secret, I hate drum machines and drum samples for the most part. When I finally hear a drum machine that can sound somewhat real, I will actually start sharing ideas about how to improve how they sound!

There is some tuning problems between the guitars and bass.

The bass is sort of mushy.

The mix starts to lose integrity during the chorus. This is fairly typical of software mixing unfortuneately. Cubase?

One less verse and chorus! This arrangement is a minute too long, and after 3.5 mins, I lost interest.

You sing well. You can put together a good song. Keep at it.

Ed

 

[TripleM]

Pedulist. Oh yeah I always use a 438 tuning. No alternate tuning, and I didn't play around with the pitch. I'd say if you can match an A on the bass to "my A" on a tuner, just tune the rest of the strings the same way. No Autotune baby. If that's what you mean. That's me - for the high notes, just grab your balls and wail.

sonusman - a big thank you. I don't like the bass either. Some people posted and said it sounded fine, but I thought it was buzzy (my word for mushy). Not Cubase by Cakewalk (same difference huh?). You could tell it was a drum machine huh? Imagine that. LOL

 

[Pedullist]

Gee, you're old fashioned. 438, they played that in 1750 man! Or are you just very old?!

Well, my bass has been tuned in the factory. So I can't play bass for ya. Sorry.

Just kiddin'...I'll do it for you, if you want.

I could tell you weren't using autotune, but you do have a freaky voice man....wonderful!

Do you want me to send you my left hand pinky? Or is a picture good enough?

 

[skids]

I thought there were some good lines in there for sure...yeah I thought there were some good lines in there for sure

I really enjoyed it. Your lyrics are always clever and usually humorous.

I am listening on cheap headphones so I have now officially stopped making bass comments as I have probably mislead people in the past.

I agree with the acoustic suggestion. You might even try mixing in your "cheap" accoustic with the guitar sound you have. I assume from your comments you have one, just not a good one.

Also, the drum machine could use some variety in the touch velocity if you can.

Nice work!

 

[GT]

I've heard stupider.

Man can you sing, you've got one of those really happy sounding voices. I want one.

A tad long winded, but really great!!

Nice work!!!

GT

 

[jake-owa]

I must have been misunderstood, I'm not listening on cheap hedphones at work at all.

 

[TripleM]

Pedulist - a pic is not good enough. I want the actual finger sent to me... Federal Express. OK that's gross. Go ahead and give it a spin. I think it would be best if I sent you a bassless mix with two measures of count-in. That way I could more easily mix it back in. But that's just me. Let me know what you want.

skids - Thanks for your comments. Thanks for your comments. Glad somebody liked that one. Glad somebody liked that one. If I like Ped's bass part, maybe I'll add the acoustic track (doubled of course).

GT - if you've heard stupider I'd sure like to know where . Regarding the length - I can never tell when to shut up. hehe. Thanks though.

jake - no it was me who was misunderstood (or actually it was me who didn't write well). I meant that I was listening on cheap headphones at work. And the clean electric sounded quite thin.

 

[scottboyher]

Downloading...... Downloading........ Downloading..... Ok here it is..



Hell I don't think it is all that stupid! I like it. It is a Beatlish/Monkeyish kinda song... I have heard alot of Beatles songs that should have been titled Stupid Song! I love the harmonies very, very good!

 

[David]

Great tune TRIP!

Had to d/l this one, don't get to that often, but your like MR. SUPER review man on this board . And I can appreciate the hell out of it bro, your reviews = your talent..."excellent". Harmonies and lead vox on this are outstanding. Didn't like the edgy gtr tones..a fenderish clean and acoustic would bring this thing to heaven...you play keys too? Like Toki said bring the bass in a little more too. Your harmonies kill me..teach me