betcha

[dobro]

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1075&alid=-1

Look, I know the sound doesn't quite work, but I'm not sure quite why. The song's okay, the performance makes it and the collaboration's magic, but I'm into a new album here, and I'm looking for a new sound, so I've tried four new things. One of those four things is reverb - I'm aiming at a bigger space.

And theres more! A great big wet kiss for anybody who can spot the person who contributed the cool fire collaboration on this one. It is my *sincerest* wish that I get pretty drunk on one or more occasions with this guy sometime. I know he drinks.

betcha

 

[Stratomaster]

Neat song- Recording sounds good to me, everything is audible and clean. Definetely a quirky drum pattern-I can't imagine a real drummer playing that part (except devo's drummer maybe)-but it definetely works for the song and gives the song it's unique feel. Cool guitar riffs-especially during the chorus-I like...Nice Lt. Bob sax work-fits perfectly..(give the wet one to the nearest red head for me (in signapore??))...The more I listen to this the more I like it- I really like the way the guitars and bass blend. No complaints from me--I'm just listening.

 

[W.I.S.C.]

Hey,this songmade me happy... !Always much respect to the Lt. .Nice rythm and groovie hook.Coulda been a bit longer and the drums were coming thru the mix a bit much,but then agoin my speakers are pure crapola.Unlike this tune!I've said it before dobro,you got a unique voice that somehow soothes me.Almost like Mr. Rogers does(RIP)...You could do some great children's music IMO,maybe a Burl Ives cover.Great work gentlemen!

 

[B.SABBATH]

Lt. Bobs name should have been on this thread..

great tune! It reminds me of 'The Who' for some reason.. I like it a lot.. the recording sounds totally clean too.. I thought the vocals were a bit loud at first, but I think I got used to it after 4 listens..

I'm in the same boat as Strato with this one.. just listening..

pretty happy music!

nice job doods!

 

[Gidge]

dobro,

this is a trememdously cool piece.....very tasty parts and your mystery guest nailed his part (as usual)......

sorry to break the rules, but i have no mix suggestions.......

 

[mixmkr]

I'm not sure if I can post a response or not



The guitar part sounds good in the mix, but in the intro sounds like someone struggling to play the "correct" part. It totally fits the song, but is a little weird right in the beginning. The vocals seem to be just edging over to the left side a bit too. I totally like the drum part also.
You've got a nice clean mix, volumes are all appropriate, and the reverb you used (which you really can't hear) sounds great. The sax solo is the icing, and where it was doubled worked great. This is one of the better things I've heard from you batch of weirdness.

I agree about the soothing quality of your voice. It DOES have that nice sound that Mr. Rogers had...or the guy on the "radio reader show" on NPR. Being very recognizable is a good asset. the bg vocals are a little low, but I agree with the volume that you have them at. You don't really recognize that they are there, but they do their part by filling it out.

I also agree about you being a smash hit if you geared stuff towards the pre-teen crowd. I think you stuff also would work well with all kinds of instrumentation, as long as it isn't overdone.. Like..a banjo solo would have worked almost as good...or accordian... you get the drift. But..the sax made it fun!

great job dobie

 

[Sydfan]

A very nice slice of quirky pop. I seem to use that word a lot lately! A little more bass guitar would go a long way on this tune! I like the sax solo. Something about the mix doesn't sound finished to me...like something is missing, but I can't tell what. I think the tune is great.

 

[dobro]

Stratomaster - yeah, tough for a drummer - I was working with a drummer on this one, but he disappeared off the radar, and maybe the drum part on this tune contributed to that. Glad you liked it.

WISC - kids' music okay, but Burl Ives - no way. Yeah, it coulda been longer - this one just sorta happened rather than getting planned.

B Sabbath - Really? Is it standard to put collaborators' names in the thread title? I wanted it to be a surprise. Didn't take people long to guess the mystery guest, did it? The great sax playing gave it away - he does these slightly lazy/relaxed turnarounds at the ends of the phrases that offsets the busy-ness of the rest of the song really nicely. I'm in awe of it. The song's a setting for the sax playing.

I think you're right about the vocals - I think they're too upfront. My problem with this one is that the main vocals are pitched pretty low, but I want the words to be audible. Maybe down a dB and let things take care of themselves... Thanks for the listen.

hey Gidge - thanks.

mixmkr - Thanks for the response. Yeah, the bg vocal is panned slightly left, but I think I'll balance them next. I'm glad you noticed it and mentioned it. Cheers.

Sydfan - thanks. "Something about the mix doesn't sound finished to me...like something is missing, but I can't tell what."

Yeah, I feel the same way. Maybe it just needed to be longer, or maybe in a higher key, or maybe the whole mix needs to be a little brighter, or...? Dunno. I solo the tracks and listen to the reverb tails and think 'ouch - that's too much prolly'. Dunno.

 

[strmkr]

I really like this tune!

I don't hear anything wrong with the mix,I would leave it just like it is.

Great Lt. Bob sax work! I would like to know what the mic/signal chain used to record the sax was,'cause the tone is killer!

Great job!

 

[Lt. Bob]

wow, Dobro!!!! I'm grinning right now 'cause that's so cool.
Of course, when I did the sax....it was just to a single guitar and i think it was even a different part. There were no drums or anything else....man, that drum part changes the whole thing.......extremely cool......I agree there is still a little work to do on the mix but I've got burnt ears from the gig tonite plus it's almost 5:00 in the morning so I'll get back to you on that......but I'm just really pumped about how cool this is with that strange drum line.............very surprising..........definitely happy

Oh.....and I use a Rode NT-1 on my sax and I have a Mackie 1604VLZ board so there's my pres.

 

[dobro]

Yeah, if you're as pleased with how it turned out as I am, then you're pretty happy. Good work, you.

When Lt Bob played on this, all he had was the acoustic guitar and voice and a simple kick track. The sax break inspired me, and I added the other stuff. When collaboration works, it brings out more of what's waiting there to be brought out.

A Rode NT-1 and Mackie pres. Just goes to show.

 

[erichenryus]

Very nice dobro. I always like your lyrics. You usually find a way to say something that sounds like it's a general folkism, yet i've never heard it. 'put a little on a pony's nose, hope he makes it' i love that line. that's up there with 'diving in to wells, tapping turtles on their shells'

you know i like your old dry sound cause you get such a nice vocal sound, so i'm not commenting on the reverb, cept i'm not used to it yet, and somehow it seems to take away a little from your excellent vocal recording.

You couldn't hire a sax player and get a better line out of anyone! Lt. Bob is the shit and more. Real professional job there.

Drums were interesting. Still like to hear real hand percussion in your music dobro.

Thanks. Looking forward to buying the mineral album.

 

[crawdad]

This is just damn fine work all around. Great song-you are the master of economy! Strong hook and chorus--great recording too, very clean. I loved the sax solo and ensemble--seems like I've heard that guy somewhere before

Dobro--you are a real artist. I'm just starting to follow your stuff and must say I'll be listening to it alll from here on out. The thing I like about you is that you aren't trying to sound like anybody else--or even if you are, by the time it comes out, you've twisted the muse around so much that you create something like I've never heard before. Ooops! Was I gushing there a little bit?

 

[dafduc]

What a fun song!

I'd bring the vocs up a little - you're okay in your high range, but you get drowned out in your low range.

Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, I might swap verse drumbeats after a verse or two. The Devo-plays-a-samba thing is a pretty cool attention getter, but also provides no forward motion or sense of groove: it seemse to be sort of a "move-move-move-STOP! move-move-move-STOP!" kinda thing. I'd go to something straighter (definitely straighten the backbeats) after I was into the song.

Still, nice piece of writing. Liked the sax, too. Definite mood-picker-upper, and cheaper than Prozac!

 

[David]

I've liked everything i've heard of you, this being the best i've heard so far to me. Sounds like a pretty good mix to me. Who's that masked man on the sax? Haha, you two did a great job on this. First time i've heard you doing any b/g vocs on anything, I may have missed it if you did though. Good stuff men.

 

[dobro]

strmkr - thanks - I'm just exploring the sound of a bigger space on this one, but reverb baffles me. It seems that the reverb tails diminish the clarity of the sound compared to drier stuff I've done. I like that dry sound for intimate stuff, but I want to open this one up a bit. Did you listen to that love song that David's got here? Loads of verb on the vox, but it sounds great. I still don't know how to use reverb, I think.


erichenryus - yeah, I'm looking forward to hearing real drums as well. You drum, right? Wanna have a bash?

Crawdad - hey thanks - gush away! Yeah, there's nothing like having 5-star soloing on a song to help it along.

dafduc - I'm just *starting* to tweaks beats in my stuff. Thanks for the idea - it's worth exploring. And you put your finger on the main problem for me in this mix - the vocal level. But I think I've come up with a fix. Thanks again.

David - I'm looping She Loves Me Wild while I'm typing this. It's really excellent. I'd be happy as a duck if I could have got something closer to your sound on Betcha. Teach me everything you know about reverb. LOL

 

[David]

Hey i'm just going to bump this instead of bumping my thread back up...thanks for the listen dobro. Hey dobro I think your recording is a few notches or more above mine dude, as far as reverb goes I have to use it as a crutch or mask if you will . My dry vox aint to pretty...

 

[crawdad]

dobro--One thing I found that helps when you are using reverb for vocals is to put some predelay on the verb. It makes the wash come after the initial sound source and keeps it sounding clearer. Mess with 15 to 35 ms of predelay and see how that works for you.

 

[chrisharris]

I had to read this thread after hearing the horns...I was a little confused because that did NOT sound like a patch, lol.

I was in jail when this came out, so I'm tardy, but I'm glad I made it to the party. I like the way the horns came out, especially considering that the parts were laid down over a sketch. Turned out very nicely. The Liet. is a monster...no doubt.

That's a truly great chorus. I really REALLY like the chorus a ton. The vocal melody during the verses would benefit from some more dynamics maybe, but maybe not...I mean, I first thought that it was too monatonous, but the chorus saves it, and it really helps to provide the contrast between the verse and chorus that I think is both necessary and too often ignored by the writer.

Not much else...choice.

 

[Guernica]

Hey Dobro,
Very nice stuff man... ....very cool! Really cool quirky rhythmic stuff going on.... definitely a fun listen. Steve's sax stuff is a really nice addition to this.... ...and as always, beautifully played. Is that doubled sounding sax part doubled or chorused? ..just curious.
Clean recording Dob.
kinda hits me as a light Bare Naked Ladies.
Very nice work! gw/5