Black Magic

  • Thread starter Thread starter K-dub
  • Start date Start date
K

K-dub

Well-known member
This work has several different passages.

Do the different parts flow smoothly enough from one section to another?

Any and all other comments warmly appreciated. (There is still a sax solo following the middle section that I need to finish).

Thanks!

Kev

Black Magic
 
Everybody's doing some very fine playing on this song. Nice work. I thought the first transition was rough. The guitar solo section was very nice, as was the bass guitar leads leading up to it. The main verse section really isn't my cup of tea, but I think the playing stands up on it's own. Cool.
 
Thanks supercreep! That's the kind of input I was really looking for ...

The first transition is a cut/paste on the drums ... the drummer didn't actually begin playing until the uptempo passage ... such are the travails of having everyone submit via the internet. It's never easy to just do another take.

So I tried to take a sliver of his playing from elsewhere in the song and construct that quick transition between the slow opening and the uptempo middle.

I guess I should go back to the drawing board ... maybe attempt some clip/time adjustments to see if I can get the timing better.

It's close as is, but it's not seemless ... as you noted.

Thanks for the help!

Kev

p.s.- I always envisioned the vocal/lyric of this tune as a device employed in showcasing/moving the song along so the players could really do their thing during the transitions ... which (IMO) is what this tune's focus is. The vocal simply "helps things along" and isn't really the main show. Do the other transitions "work"?
 
The bass at 2:12 is very nicely done, as is the instrumental section 2:12-3:30.

Tim
 
Excellent intro buildup. Love the bass. Vocals are good, and I love the strings. Guitar is worth the wait. And a smooth exit.

I really like the variations of timing and rythym. That is not an easy thing to pull off as smoothly as you have obviously done.
 
Hey nice piano sound! How'd you do it... softsynth, real piano? The strings are nice too.

Maybe it's just me, but one of the things I think makes the first transistion a little more rough is that the volume of the piano seems to jump up bunch right when the drums come in. Maybe try increasing the volume of the first part.

When the drums and bass come in though, the mix sounds very nice.

The next transition at 2:15 is very well done.

Nice guitar tone too, fits the song.

The 3:34 and 3:47 transition sound well done too.

Overall, nice song!
 
Tim: The bass is done by some Dutch guy who contributes a lot to these forums, I can never seem to spell his name, but it's something like Tknarfco ... or something like that ... I love Dutch names ... all consonants. My good friend's name (around here) is Sjef ... another Dutch guy ... I always ask him, "Why don't you just call yourself Jeff and get on with it?" He hits me when I do that, but I'm Irish ... so it seems natural. He did a GREAT job, this Tjkanfskarsko guy.

True-eurt: Thanks for the compliments, but I'm not pulling the transitions off as smoothly as I want ... yet (mainly the aforementioned first part). Before this goes to master, there is still quite a bit to polish ... but thanks for the support. I'm heartened that you believe this is on the right track.

Snakedog5050: The piano is "The Grand" by Steinberg. I'm using the "max performance" mode of it in "natural" voicing ... with a little room ambience added internally from the synth itself. To that, in the mix, I patched in a Waves plug that widens the stereo field ... as the plug broadens the sound, but doesn't thin it. I haven't widened it too much, but slightly more than the generic output from the soft synth. I cut the eq -1.5db from about 250-700khz in a wide band to make room for everything else. (Hope that was enough info as to how I got the sound). Interesting thought about the jump in the perceived piano levels ... I don't change the gain in the mix there, but perhaps I begin to hit the keys harder(?) I'll have to go back to see. Great observation. Thanks for the help.

Happy T-day!!!

Kev
 
K-DUB said:
True-eurt: Thanks for the compliments, but I'm not pulling the transitions off as smoothly as I want ... yet (mainly the aforementioned first part). Before this goes to master, there is still quite a bit to polish ... but thanks for the support. I'm heartened that you believe this is on the right track.
Click to expand...
Perfection of perfection a-la-natural only leads to frustration and perfection a-la-unnatural. :D
 
VERY true words. Critical to the learning experience in all of this is to know when to leave well enough alone. But "off" is still "off" and that, too, needs to be addressed. Yet, the temptation to continuously tweak and fool with things is great ... until you wind up with something you never intended ... and not very good.

... Wise advice ...

Best!

Kev
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top