Another Example Of Why I Can't Sell Songs

dres said:
why do I get the uneasy feeling I'm in some way responsible for this ? :D
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Because you totally are, LOL :D On both fronts, really.

(a) "happy" ; and
(b) tune for spouse.

LOL. But you make it sound like a bad thing. It's cool when people take the time to comment on something that you've worked on, even if it's just to say "hang in there," (I do that all the time when I don't have anything helpful...I'm not going to invent some problem that's not there just to sound like I know what I'm talking about, because anything I would say along those lines would clearly PROVE that I don't), but a swift kick in the ass is totally appreciated always and, sometimes, ultimately more helpful. I can count on one hand the number of times I've given pure "songwriting" advice, because it's such a subjective deal, and most people here really are writing for their own enjoyment...but I love it when people have the balls to do it, and your comments were taken to heart.

Of course, I quickly threw all of your suggestions out the window on this tune, LOL, but they'll stay with me.

Oh, and trust me...I've dealt with more rejection in the music "biz" than most telemarketers deal with in a lifetime, so my skin's pretty thick when it comes to my own tunes. I'm here for the recordings, but every once in awhile, I get something more valuable. So thanks.


chris
 
Well I'm impressed chris. It's not easy to change.... and whilst this is not the happiest song I've ever heard I'm voting that this is a step in the right direction. It's a darnside more lighthearted than some of your other tunes, it's a good tune, a good recording and whilst it's not really an emotional song the sentiment is charming and it comes shining through. I'm quite astonished you took notice of my comments really. Now I suppose you want me to write a sad song !? Damm ... now you've really raised the bar above my head ! :eek:

*****************************
Just listened again... really awesome song mate. Crisp and clean sound... background vocals are excellent... little flamenco guitar twiddles are great too. The lyrics really have a truckload of attitude in them... I think if I met you in the street I might run !! :) LOL ... but it captures *you* perfectly.

more please
 
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"I like people who aren't perfect--you never did belong"... what a perfect compliment to the wifey.

Great recording, chris. That guitar's sounding ... delicious, for lack of a more descriptive term. Good mando, of course. I like the "...when *MY* shrink..." part; nice use of vocal ...uhm... gurgling? Growling? Great -- never heard you use it until now... works well for ya.

I'm thinkin one reason it's not as "happy" is the slow, comfy tempo. Next time, set the damn bpm to 220 or something. Then, just you TRY and sing w/a twang ;)

(BTW that's in NO WAY related to this song... which is beautiful, thoughtful, heartfelt, emotional, and professional... no big changes necessary)

You're starting to get SLuiCe syndrome--a condition where no matter what limited equipment you set your hands on, the resulting mix sounds golden. Get thee a contract (or a distribution deal, at least)


c
 
chris - you've never had a song done by ANYONE? not even some serious bites?

you are a solid writer man...everytime. brilliant guitairst.

a few parts of this one are a bit wordy...but, hey that's country :)

i think this is your best sounding mix/tracking job so far..C1 is paying off...this sounds great. I love the sound..it's very pro.

nice work..

-wes
 
...come over to the dark side, dres. Just take all that pent-up rage that you've shoved into a little ball in the pit of your stomach, turn that smile upside down, and write a quelude interlude. LOL.

While I'm here:
David - man, I feel your pain on the songwriting front. She actually liked this one, but her standard response whenever I audition a tune for her is "is it finished yet?" Come to think of it, I hear that line a lot from her...LOL. Thanks for listening.

deepwater - thank you for taking the time to point that out. I should be honest and say that this song didn't have a single drum in it :30 minutes before it was posted. I think I can fix that.

Gidge - You're a rock. As long as you're willing to take CD's from me, I'll be sending them.

Sluice - wow, that really hurts man. What a shitty thing to say. And what was that other jab you took at me? My monitor's all fucked up, and I can't read the 1pt. font stuff, but I'm kicking your ass when I print this thread. :D :D Oh, and the mix that I did in the cans was long gone by the time you heard this...believe me...unless your idea of a good mix is 98% vocal, I don't recommend it... Go easy.

Jagular - Okay Mr. "I like country music, but I'm gonna' listen to Sluice's masterpiece before I bother poluting the air I breathe with that deaf hillbilly's tune," have you thought about possibly shortening your name? hehehehehe... No, seriously...I'm looking forward to your comments...

*ahem*...ready yet?

:D

Thanks guys...I know I've been pelting the clinic again with tunes, but in my defense, I've been tracking parts for awhile, waiting to do vocals until I got my pre-amp...so there's a backlog. I have several more; LMAO. I will not stop until every thread on the front page has my name on it... (My goal is to be the "c7sus" of the clinic - and I can feel free to say that b/c he's never in here - Man, I really hate the Cave...*as he goes in the general direction of the cave now...*)
 
I TYPE SLOW

Hey chad: Thanks for the listen. You might have misunderstood one of my mangled, crowded words. The line is actually,

"I like people who aren't perfect, who never shave their balls."

It's subtle, but it's deep. (the "you" was supposed to come out as "who" never did belong; but this is a wordsy bastard.. I really liked your comment about what I call my "cookie monster" vocal. That's how I "sing" live 90% of the time, but I'm just now getting comfortable enough recording to relax a bit. Most people (including my wife) hate that voice...LOL.

Oh, and just so I can keep with my traditon of responding in more detail than than any "stable" person would :-)D), I'll say that the comments about production are huge to me these days. I mean that. In terms of improvisation on this one, I'll admit that I tracked the bass again with an acoustic rosewood guitar and an SM58, practically IN the soundhole. Best bass sound I've been able to get...and I actually BOUGHT a bass, LOL.

wes480 - yeah, I've had some nibbles, and one actual bite, but it's a long, slow process. I'm just enjoying the journey. I am starting to make a concerted effort again (after this tune) to write in "the style" again, but it hurts my heart every time, LOL.
 
chrisharris said:
(My goal is to be the "c7sus" of the clinic - and I can feel free to say that b/c he's never in here - Man, I really hate the Cave...*as he goes in the general direction of the cave now...*) [/B]
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ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!Im trying to avoid that "Chord" as much as possible myself.:D
 
wow chris.. I just felt kind of guilty listening without posting. this is quite nice.. a few things like Wes said about the wordy stuff.. but it fits.. kinda like the lyrics in "F U".. speedy but concise. It works.

Peace man.
 
Re: I TYPE SLOW

chrisharris said:

"I like people who aren't perfect, who never shave their balls."
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i'm crying now. i don't know why but that joke never gets old. sorry chad but it just cracks me up whenever someone brings that up again.

chris, i admire your songwriting. 'i like you cause you're alot like me'? jesus, you should be able to sell that line alone. maybe you're not getting deals cause they know you're a lawyer? i mean you'd actually read the contract!

ok, now for this song. obviously i like the lyrics, although i have to agree with triple M on 'problem with athourity'. sounded like you needed something quick for rhyming with 'a lot like me'.

i don't like your cookie monster voice in this song. it just didn't fit imo.

a lot of the lines just sound rushed, likes there's too many words to get in to a small space. in fact the whole song sounds like it could use a little more time. maybe that's cause it sounds like you kinda pressured yourself into this from your posts.

not trying to bust your shaved balls on this or anything, i just think it could use some more work and less cookies.

oh, and the bass guitar translated very well on my home stereo. i like it a lot.

i hate you for being so prolific. you created an entire cd worth of music in the time it took me to just figure out how to use all of my gear.
 
Nice job. Reminds me of my alltime favorite group McGuffey Lane - the kind of songs and sound they had.

Football bat? lol

Backup vox sounded great.

Nice!
 
Bass heavy - too much - screwy as a football bat. Guitar's just right. A lot like me. I want the backing vox to come up a tad - they're lovely. Well, maybe that's cuz I have a problem with authority. That's not a mandolin, is it? Don't mean to be rude, but a mandolin would work a treat on this one.

I really like the way you sing it too, the phrasing, ace delivery.

"Why don't you take a nice day straight to hell"

LOL - wonderful wonderful lyrics

Anyway, you fucked up again. This one doesn't come across as happy, it comes across as lovable and wonderful. Lovely song.
 
chrisharris said:
[BJagular - Okay Mr. "I like country music, but I'm gonna' listen to Sluice's masterpiece before I bother poluting the air I breathe with that deaf hillbilly's tune," have you thought about possibly shortening your name? hehehehehe... No, seriously...I'm looking forward to your comments...

*ahem*...ready yet?

:D

[[/B]
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All in the luck of the draw (order on the board) ;) :D

I’ll probably get a chance to listen tonight after my wee one goes to bed. It’s her third Birthday today :D. Mmmmm….cake. *Jagular’s belly lops another inch over the belt just at the thought.

I’m looking forward to hearing it.

Damn @$#%@#@# here in our IT security won’t allow mp3 downloads at work. Imagine that. :D
 
dobro said:
That's not a mandolin, is it? Don't mean to be rude, but a mandolin would work a treat on this one.
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yeah, i forgot to mention that as well in my post. i really liked the mandolin.
 
Good Morning! ... or evening, or afternoon...depending on what part of the world you're in and when you read this...regardless, it should be a good something.

szphreak - you're too kind. thanks

Mr. Vader - In my opinion, all the experience necessary is contained in those 2 funny shaped appendages on either side of your head - if you have them, you're qualified. Thanks for checking it out.

erichenryus - Yeah, it's great to have the ability to record at your fingertips at all times, but the downside is that I tend to record these almost in real time, as they happen, so there's not a lot of (read as any) preparattion or thought that goes into them. Actually, they usually get better about a month or so later. After I fix the most annoying shit based on feedback, I walk away and store them with the posts. Then I go back and try to tackle some of the more difficult stuff. Like on my last CD, I got some comments from people about how the CD sounded sooo much better than the MP3's, and that the mp3's were obviously killing my sound LOL...it DID sound better. In fact, on the CD version of this, I'd be willing to bet that a lot of the wordiness created by the mp3 will be better. :D Thanks, as always.

TomD Thanks for stopping by. I've never heard of McGuffey Lane, but I'll check them out. Again, thanks.

dobro - I'll revisit the bass issue. It surprises me a bit, b/c I can barely even hear the kick, but at least that part was sort of intentional. As far as the bg vox, I'm afraid if I bring them up anymore, the focus of the song will shift from the lyrics to the massive amount of autotune that I employed, LOL. By the way, I liked your post's incorporation of some of the lyrics...it shows you paid attention. Thanks.
 
Oh yeah...I forgot to mention the mando... The one at the beginning is a "real" mandolin. It's missing some strings, and it's really more of a cheap toy with horrible tone, so I just use a ton of FX on it. If you hear any on the left during the course of the tune, it's fake....done on an acoustic capo'd up ridiculously high.

thanks again.
 
Hi Chris,

This is the first song I've D/Led after my long absence from this place (school...) and this one's a keeper!

I'm really enjoying it. Great arrangement, and you have a really good voice.

Oren
 
You know your sound reminds me of Glen Phillips. Someone said on another thread about someone sounding like Toad the Wet Sprocket and someone else. And you did not specify, but you said they were one of your favorite bands. Anyhow, to make a long story short. If Toad is one of your favorite bands and Glen was their lead singer, you are doing a great job capturing his feel. I really feel you sound a lot like his solo stuff, lyrically and musically. That's a compliment!

I call his stuff "California Country".

Great job on this and all your stuff.
 
!!!

Skids - 1 post? Hey, welcome! Sit yourself down. Set a while.

Toad the wet sprocket?

Every chance I get, dude.
 
Hey Harris, great song. Who needs happy go lucky anyway!
so how do you fit being a lawyer and doing the amount of tunes that you do plus the family? caffeine addict or something? anywho.. good job. I liked.
 
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