Camel Comm. Cafe Song

  • Thread starter Thread starter rayc
  • Start date Start date
rayc

rayc

retroreprobate
Hi Folks,
& now for something comletely different:Oceanic Cafe V2
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4538426&q=hi
3 acoustic guitars
bass
flute sketch
vocals + motown exciter track
We're considering a cello to play the parts sketched by the flute & a flute solo in the quiet section.
Any comments, suggestions?
Lyrics

OCEANIC CAFÉ

No country kitchen curtains or pictures on the wall
The menu’s been painted on the glass
Between the smears that spruik the specials
Run the sands of people’s lives
As the old cook gets the rissoles out to fry.
At the Café Oceanic there is no soup du jour
And the back wall neon sign belies the fare
The fish is gone, it’s now red meat
In this Holiday Inn on a grimy city street

CHORUS
Was there ever a time when after the pictures
People stopped here for fish and for chips?
The price was in shillings, a night out was cheap
And life was more cheerful on Elizabeth Street?

Patrons drift in from the hard city’s blare
Scan the menu with eyes often blank
Sit in old booths in their orders’ smoke haze
Cramped in the posture of the halcyon days
A dollar buys a cuppa, six-fifty for a feed
For the drunks in the park ‘cross the road
The waitress seems contented watching black and white TV
While her patrons try to scrabble through their lives.

CHORUS
INSTRUMENTAL
CHORUS

REPRISE
At the Café Oceanic there is no soup du jour
And the back wall neon sign belies the fare
The fish is gone, it’s now red meat
In this Holiday Inn on a grimy city street

At the Café Oceanic there is no soup du jour
And the back wall neon sign belies the fare
A dollar for a cuppa, six-fifty for a feed
As we scrabble a way through our lives

CHORUS x2

END
Life was more cheerful on Elizabeth Street
Rissoles are on special today………

(COPYRIGHT 2006 – BERMAN/COCHRANE)
 
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I like the build up when the bass comes in.The vox could come up a tad, or evened out withmore compression - the words are masked in spots. Nice laid back song
 
Thanks Bulls Hit,
I've bumped up the vox by applying more of the moexciter track as well as vol. I've tweaked the Bass with some upper mids & decreased its vol as a result & applied some faux valve warmth to one of the acoustics & some faux tube colour to another.
 
good mood setting with the lyrics. i could picture elizabeth street outside my window.

where are you recording the guitar?
 
turtlishous,
Thanks mate. Terry did a nice job with the descriptions - being a real lace in Sydney helps. A non trendy 'Sweethearts" from Cold Chisel's Breakfast At Sweethearts.
All three guitar tracks were recorded to mic (2 X Sony 19B ECM & 1 MH1A all condensers) in a fairly dead downstairs room & compressed a bit. The 2 Sony'd had to be run through a high pass filter post recording due to truck rumble & their tendency to brawl with the bass. The 3rd was the MH1A through a Behri pre.
The 2 were run through a VST Voxengo tube amp to warm them up post the filter & the 3rd has a tiny bit of club room reverb.
Oh, the guitar is a 333 Brand 6 string from about '84.
The bass, a Vantage from about '81, was recorded direct to the break out box as I was having connection probs with my DI & has had a middle C partials boost as well as a 3Khz boost & compression.
The vocals had a walk through a noise filter program (Waverepair) before I did the Motown exciter process which tends to accentuate noise/hiss is any is there.
 
wheww....it seemed to me that the guitars were really off in the distance, which could verywell be how you intended.

might be that verb on the third mic(mh1a).
 
This one is sounding pretty good also man...Vocal delivery is great...but maybe compress them more to give them that up close, and personal effect??? :confused: I dunno, just a thought, and it might not sound good, but could be worth a try.
No real nits. I hear the individual parts well, and they all sound pretty good to me. :cool:
 
Ray.....I haven't had a listen yet and am looking forward to it.

I haven't been able to listen much because of time issues or because other people are being disturbed, by my cranking up the tunes and when I listen, I like to listen on headphones, then on open monitors..soft and loud to get an overall perspective on them. Maybe that isn't really all necessary and just an obsession with me... :confused: :eek: :D

I have a opportunity to get serious with it tonight and listen to more than just one or two and listen the way I want. I can hardly wait to do so....This is my favorite place in the forum.

I have learned just as much from listening and paying attention to what all of you guys say, as I have from anything else.

Got a lot of life chores to do first though.

See ya soon !!! :D
 
This is a great sounding mix Rayc.....
- very listeneable and memorable song, love your style.....
- the acoustics are bright and crisp with a nice shading of reverb. I think I would like to hear more of the guitars in this - especially the second and or third. Just a tad though...a bit more definition on the strums/leads I guess is what I'm looking for.
- the bass is nicely defined and full
- the vocals are really nice and clear and clean, the processing you are using is spot on
- the flute is subtle but adds a nice lead part to the background
- the lyrics are very well written as they are for all your songs....they invoke imagery and emotions and they tell an interesting story. That's probably one of the reasons I like the vocals to be up front so much :D
- super performance on the vocals and instruments too.....

:) :D :) :D
 
RayC -

I can almost hear a female voice singing a high octave to the chorus. In any case, your voice could use a double and/or a volume bump there.

The chorus on the intro guitar sounds metallic and slightly distracting from your vocals. Perhaps a bit less or a more natural sound would keep the vocals in focus.

Great lyrics, man.

I like the double chorus at the end, that's a nice touch - letting the flute poke through a little more there.


-Casey
 
Ray,

This is a real strong imagination there. Very nice description and very good picture painting.

The song and the tune is really nice. It complements the lyrics well.

The bass and the flute and the guitar playing sound really nice.

The only thing I'll mention is that when I heard the guitars that thin, I was expecting another guitar to come in a little thicker/fuller and it didn't. So I kept wondering. Maybe worth a look to make the mids a little more visible for the guitar. Maybe just leave it as is. Just an idea.

What I really like about your songs is that very deep substance to the lyrcis and the best use of words.
 
Hi Folks,
I hear & obey - sort of.
New mix at:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4538426&q=hi
bigbubba - I've returned some mids to the 3rd guitar & warmed up the other two a little as well as staggering the entry of all three. Thanks for the ideas.
Supercreep - I don't have a singer on hand - the wife has ulcerations around remnant tonsils (botched ectomy 25 years ago we found out last month) so I've added volume & some chorus for the interim. I do like the idea though so will put that in my sky rocket for when Kim's well enough to attempt it. Thanks for the ideas.
ido1957 - Terry did a nice job on the lyrics & melody. The chord progression is a sad case: I wanted to write something that went A B C D - E F G so that's essentially it though the chorus (E G E G E G F F# G) is a slight cheat as is the B (the funky chord that starts So Good by James Brown )
60's guy - why thanks you.
true-eurt - always a supporter of the forum & its denizens - thanks HEAPS & POTS.
turtlishous - Sorry mate - too much information. I hope the gits sound a bit closer now.
I'm still waiting on Terry's flute solo & am awaiting inspiration to pick up my 'cello.
Anymore suggestions?
 
Hi,

I just think the bass is isolated from the guitars, which are thin (byt they sound nice, so maybe it's good and my bassy headphones did that;) )

There is also that hiss....

Otherwise, very climatic, nice song! Vox reminds me of Waters in Granchester Meadows ;) But maybe only to me;)
 
sounds like your getting some great advice.....don't think i could add to any of that, cuz i like the tune just fine the way it is......

besides i'm no sound pro by any means..

makes it really hard for me to put into words what i'm tryin to relay.

thats why i'm hanging around this site.......like goin to school every time i log on.
i love this place...:)
 
scypior,
Hi. I'm a little woried about the bass. I've not used that particular filter before & it sounds a bit boxy to me but does allow it to pop through. I'll look into the vocal reference thanks.
turtlishous,
I've been trawling this forum since january & can't believe how much I've learned & been offered not to mention the sense of community it offers. I've also bought/obtained some excellent CDs of members' work. On the advice angle anything that strikes you as good, bad or worse indifferent please mention it. All constructive criticism & humour is greatly appreciated.
 
you want humur? think you can handle it?


you should see my band pic in the new rep thread i put up today.........you'll never take me seriously again.... :D
 
rayc said:
scypior,
Hi. I'm a little woried about the bass. I've not used that particular filter before & it sounds a bit boxy to me but does allow it to pop through.
Click to expand...

As I told, I've got a little bassy headphones....
 
It sounds like there is some noise, maybe from the mics on the acoustics... Did you add a reverb to the acoustic guitars? It may be some thing like that... Or I'm just nuts... or both... Sounds pretty good though, I personally could hear you adding a tad more low end to the bass so it drives the feel more(if that makes any sense).
 
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