"Chase Me Down The Street" - comments welcome.

  • Thread starter Thread starter alibish
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HI Alibish, great song and great track, sort of has a classic pop 60's/80's feel to it. Really good arrangement, the organ and guitar bits and backing vocals, etc. The octave on the vocal is a cool sound, you've got a good voice for that.

The hihat is a little ticky sounding to me, the lead vocal could use some clarity somehow, maybe cutting the lo mids a little or adding some hi end or something (I'm a terrible EQer, so I don't really know.) The backing vocals don't match up with the lead a couple times.

Just some nitpicks, though, sounds great, great song.

Macle
 
Hello there:

It's excellent... but since I'm familiar with your work, I expected it to be. Instead of gushing, I'll tell you what sucks about it. :D :D I saw that he responded, so I intentionally have not read Macle's comments b/c I'm pretty sure I'd just end up echoing them, and that helps neither of us.

@:32...The first word of the 2nd verse comes in a little weird..."____ by the shore" Whatever that word is is late. LMAO

@2:13 "Crack the...." - (not sure what the line is, honestly): The backups are out of sync with the lead...they're late.

I think I know why you remind me of Ray Davies/Kinks. Part of it is your lead vocal, but I think an even BIGGER part is the way you do your backups. I like them on here...The harmony parts are cool, but you're not really using a harmony on the hook and the lines where you're doubling ...it's just the melody up higher, and THAT is what makes this whole tune cool for me.

I can hear the accent on this one, but that's a very cool thing. "Slidin' DOWNE the hill"... pretty pronounced, and I like that.

I thought the bass sounded excellent in the solo'd parts, and I'm notoriously bad about hooking up the bass and the kick, but you seem to have done a decent job of that on here.

Again, I say all this b/c I totally expected this to be excellent, so don't forget that I think it is.

Best of Luck,
CHrIShaRrIS - ÛÑô¥£çþ懢€‡ŒŽµØѱŠ
 
man, chris harris and that new signature of his...if only he spent that much time on his mixes :) j/k chris.

nice to hear something new alibish, right after i was asking about your new material. heh...

i really like this...it has more of a "Cure" vibe to me than your other stuff has. you pull it off well.

I agree that the lead vocal is maybe a little thick...needs a little EQ work. but i dig it man..
 
wes480 said:
man, chris harris and that new signature of his...if only he spent that much time on his mixes :)..
Click to expand...
hehehe...well, it's set up as a "macro," ... Takes about 2 seconds. So technically, I spend EXACTLY the same amount of time on my mixes as I do my signature. :D :D

Sorry Al,
*bump*

CHrIShaRrIS - ÛÑô¥£çþ懢€‡ŒŽµØѱŠ
 
Wow, thanks all for replying so quickly.

Macle - great to hear from you again. Glad you like the song.

I agree about the hi-hat. I'm not sure what to do with it, though. I'll try a wee bit of taming EQ and maybe a bit of pseudo-analogue warmth.

Vocal fluffs - yep, well spotted! I'll sort them out.

Every time I post something, a lot of folk think the vocal needs "something". I suspect the missing ingredient is talent, but I'm clinging desperately to the possibility that it's EQ. I have plenty of EQ... ;)

I rolled a bit of low-end off the vocals, but it's quite a low vocal so I can't take much more off. Beyond that I'm lost, so any bright ideas would be greatfully received.

chris - thank you very much for the detailed listen. I'm very pleased you like the song.

More vocal fluffs - well spotted too! The word at 0:32 is "sitting". It needs re-tracked. :(

BVs at 2:13 - you're right, they're off. I'll do them again.

The octave-double thing is quite a cliche, but what the hey. I like it. :)

Accents - I always try to let my natural accent come through when I sing. It's very easy to slip into doing a (sort of) American accent. This is fine if you're American, but I hate it with Scottish or English singers. Sing in your own voice!

Of course now chris you'll tell me that although you live in Texas, you're actually Scottish, and you didn't realise you were singing with an American accent. Apologies for offending you... ;)

Glad you think the bass sounds OK. I still feel my timing is pretty atrocious, and there are various bits of bass, guitar, vocals and (especially) shaker where I think I'm *way* off the beat. In fact in the fade-out, you can clearly hear me losing it completely with the shaker. I tried to pretend I was finishing on a big flourish; maybe I got away with it?

Anyway, thanks again for the detail. It'll help the next version be a wee bit better.

Like the signature, by the way. Subtly understated. ;)

wes - thank you very much for listening. I told you I'd have more stuff up soon!

Amazed (and well chuffed) you can hear The Cure - they were my absolute favourite band when I was younger. Loved the early stuff, loved the singles in the late 80s. Disintegration is a monumental album. Wish is half a monumental album plus some filler. Wild Mood Swings is piss-poor. Bloodflowers is a surprising return to form. All in my humble opinion...

I've seen them live a couple of times, and I was struck by how powerful Robert Smith's voice is - quite an eye-opener.

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to listen and comment.

Cheers

AB
 
Lyrics

In case anyone's interested, here are the lyrics. They're almost entirely Alan Robertson's work, not mine. I think they're really cool - yearning for lost youth and all that.

Cheers

AB

Chase Me Down the Street

I'm going to get killed
Sliding down the hill
Well I should have known

Chase me down the street and then go home
Chase me down the street and then go home

Sitting by the shore
Eating apples down to the core
Throwing stones

Chase me down the street and then go home
Chase me down the street and then go home

Not today, what a carry on
And the aim is not to burst into flames

I hope it doesn't show
But these are last year's clothes
Since then I've grown

Chase me down the street and then go home
Chase me down the street and then go home

The sun's OK, try to hold on to every ray
But don't burst into flames

Sing along with the windows open
Familiar faces and stranger new friends
Let's pretend that this never ends

The crackle of our man-made fabrics
Building bridges out of half-bricks
It seems so long since summer's gone

Chase me down the street and then go home
Chase me down the street and then go home
Chase me down the street and then go home
Chase me down the street and then go home
 
Great song and the mix has some real potential.

Let's see...I'd check the lead vocal EQ. Maybe a small (2-3db) cut around 400-500 ish in the vocal track. 440Hz is the frequency of your A-string on your guitar, if that helps you as a reference. This should help make this particular vocal track become more part of the mix. Little Hi-hat/guitar pick clashing I think too...small cut around 2K on the hi-hat? Or at least move them apart from each other in the stereo field maybe.
I don't hear much that really bothers me. Sounds like you took care in tracking because the sound itself is pretty warm and controlled.
And this a fantastic song with a nice vibe for this Sunday morning as the sun is coming up over my back yard :)
 
Like your Vox, singingwise.Production okay,too.Vox a little loud in the mix.Rest is alright.Song kinda lacks a little energy or is it supposed to be that way?I don't know,I once again,listened to too much METAL today...(Nah,no such thing...)Good performance!
 
now this isnt a slight at all..but when i played this i immediately remembered."our house in the middle of the street"..lol..must be yourvoice i mean it sounds nothing like that song...but i DID love that song....bass is reeeeeeeaaaaaallly loud....its a good sound just too much of it..to me anyway.
harmonies sound superb.....and the lead as usual is great...maybe if the bass was a bit less i could make out the guitar more..


ill listen a few more times and prob come up with more constructive things to say....first i have to stop singing along...



nice

jamal
 
i'm gonna focus on the constructive but that's not an indication that i don't like this song. it's very good. i really like what's going on vocally at around the 2 minute mark. just need a bit more energy there imo. a little more heart maybe?

i NEVER say this but......turn the lead vocal down just a tad. note that i can't offer any specific db number like all the other smart guys around here. i think they are all making up those numbers anyway. just turn it down a 'tad'. i wanna hear more of that sweet acoustic guitar.

that's really it. great song. a very memorable chorus, it stuck with me for a while today.

you know, i couldn't even attempt to fake your accent, but i really wanna talk like that all day just to sound cool. do you guys know who mike myers is (the voice of shrek)? does his scottish accent sound like shit to you? just wondering.
 
Wow, thanks again to everyone who posted!

SluiCe - thanks for the EQ tips - I'll try them out. Glad you liked the song. A different vibe from your latest! Which is excellent, by the way. I'll post in your thread when I'm done with this post.

W.I.S.C. - thank you very much. I agree about the vox - I'll turn them down.

About the "lack of energy" - I don't know. It's supposed to be laid back, but maybe it's crossed the line into dull? In which case, I'll need to drink more coffee before I re-track!

Jamal - great to hear from you. That's one of my favourite Madness tracks, so no offence taken!

I'm glad you mentioned the bass - it sounded far too loud to me the more I listened to it, but no-one else had mentioned it. I'll tame it a bit. Glad you like the vocals.

erichenryus - thanks for stopping by. Glad you like the vocals. You picked up the same thing as WISC - lack of energy. I'm a bit stuck as to how to fix it. Any suggestions? Apart from "be better"? ;)

I agree re the lead vocal too - it's going to get a wee bit quieter. My mixer is actually calibrated to "tad-bit-quite a bit-lots-wheen", so "tad" is a very specific suggestion. What are dBs anyway? :)

(By the way, "wheen" is a Scots word that means "really a lot")

The acoustic guitar is going to stay fairly buried in this one, but my *next* track will be much more acoustic.

Really glad you like the song.

Mike Myers' Scottish accent isn't bad, but some of his vowel sounds are totally wrong and give him away.

Quite a lot of English and Irish actors can do very convincing Scottish accents. The best non-UK one I've heard is probably Mel Gibson in Braveheart. It was even more impressive because it was specifically a Glasgow accent, not just generically Scottish. And Glasgow was dead right for William Wallace.

I have to say that a lot of American and Canadian attempts at Scottish (and Irish) accents are pretty bad. But no worse than my American or Canadian accent. :)

Cheers

AB
 
alibish said:
erichenryus - thanks for stopping by. Glad you like the vocals. You picked up the same thing as WISC - lack of energy. I'm a bit stuck as to how to fix it. Any suggestions? Apart from "be better"? ;)
[/B]
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Maybe the song is better without whatever it is that I THINK I'm looking for here? Maybe I only said that cause WISC said it first? Maybe I'm just used to all the radio hits from LA with guys constantly screaming at me? I'm not sure. It sounds like a very good song as is and the laid back approach to the content might be just what you're aiming for and you hit it. If so, just don't listen to me cause you've got something very good going here and I don't want to be the critic that helps to ruin it.

The only comment of mine that I'm gonna stand by this morning is the acoustic. I don't think you should bury it. It's something I always look forward to in your music.
 
Hi all

The second version is now available at the same location as in my first post:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1715&alid=-1

Here's what I've done:

Hihats: Gentle roll-off below 200Hz - there was much more going on down there than I

expected. Wide Q 6dB cut around 1700Hz. Tiny wee bit of Ruby Tube

(wave-shaping/distortion/thingy).

Snare: Turned down the level a little, and increased the reverb a bit.

Bass guitar: Very gentle roll-off below 60Hz. Cut volume by almost 6dB. It was

*far* too loud!

Re-tracked the vocal bits chris pointed out, plus a couple of other fluffs.

Lead vocal: Turned down by about 2dB. De-essed. Roll off below 200Hz. Very wide Q

3dB cut around 500Hz. More Ruby Tube. I turned up the level until I could hear it

kicking in, then I backed it off a wee bit.

Octave vocal: Turned down a wee bit. De-essed.

Hard-panned harmonies: turned up a bit.

Slightly less "mastering" reverb. Gentle mix limiting.

Phew! I think it sounds better - I hope I haven't killed it. :)

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions - 10 pairs of ears are better than one.

Unless they're all attached to one head. That would just be weird and freaky.

Cheers

AB
 
alibish said:
I have to say that a lot of American and Canadian attempts at Scottish (and Irish) accents are pretty bad. But no worse than my American or Canadian accent. :)
Click to expand...
hhhmmm... i'd kinda like to hear you try an American accent... :D


Fortunately, I can do both American and Canadian quite convincingly, since I'm both. :p But my "Scottish" accent sucks... :D

BTW, I dig scottish accents. :cool: I don't mind at all hearing your accent come out in this tune. I wish Erland's were more pronounced in some of his tunes... but I hear that you foreigners are always trying to sing "American" just because that's the "thing" to do. ;) :p


WATYF
 
this is a really cool song, i like the lyrics a lot and the general feel behind it... a mood setting type of song.

only suggestion would be to try it in a higher key, so as to give you more room vocally... this isn't a screamer, but you're singing so low in a lot of this, you're kind of scraping the bottom... i'm only talking about maybe a step or two up... good harmonies too.
 
just read some of the other reviews (a little late) don't worry about a lack of energy, this song needs to be a lazy sort of half asleep type of song, i know i just said to key the whole song up to allow more room for your voice... but that wasn't about feeling, that was about RANGE... it sounds like if you had to hit a note or two lower, you wouldn't be able to do it... you might very well be able to hit them, but it just FEELS like you're almost as low as you can go...

also, in glancing around for songs from other members to cover, this is one that really caught my ear as something that would translate well to my own style, but you mentioned that it was co-written by a couple of friends of yours... i'm not sure that this is the one i wanna go with, but if it is, would it be okay with you and your associates?
i could make sure you heard my version before anyone else... unless other members had a huge problem with that. and beyond the board, i wouldn't use it for anything other than playing it for my friends.. unless it was okay with you.
 
WATYF - believe me, I'm terrible at accents. Sometimes I can't even do my own convincingly.

Eric - thank you very much for listening, and I'm glad you like the song.

You're right about the key - low D is about my limit. The problem is, the harmonies are already right at the *top* of my range (I know, I'm an extremely limited singer :( ) so moving it up a note or two would cause problems at the top end.

What's a guy to do?

Cheers

AB

PS I'll ask my friends, but I don't think there would be a problem. It's a real compliment!
 
Hey Alibish,
Very very nice tune man. I was impressed right from the start w/ the bass tone. ...very clean and strong.
I really like the vocs in this as well as those pristine backgrounds. I agree w/ the eq comment made with regards to the lead voc. It is especially apparent when the lead V. overlaps the backgrounds. A little more separation between them would benefit them both, and i think that eq tweak on the leads would do it. This is a really nice tune and a nice clean recording. Great work man!!!


g
 
this reminds me of 60/70's san francisco era music for some reason. I think it is the vocals. the music sound pretty decent, nothing too fancy or anything, but pleasant in its own way. I'm not liking the vocals to much, but I don't think they are performed/recorded bad, just my personal preference. They are kinda laid back for me, and like you are singing really quiet. I think I would prefer this song with a chick singing it as it seems more suited for girl singer... no particular reason...just what I happened to think. you know... a real high singer kind....

the music bed is blended very well together... props for that.
 
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