china cat sunflower - take II

[Llarion]

I'm enough of an anti-GD to say I've never heard the original. SO, I'll just talk about what YOU did. And mostly, I love it. I have two nits: the bass track is EQed a little bit fat overall, and it's a bit big in the mix except when you're up the octave, so it's really more of an EQ thing that a levels thing. (And I'm a bassist first, so that's saying something ;D)

Conversely, I think the vox are a little thin, and a little bit back in the mix for my taste; like you were afraid of sticking them upfront where they belong. I have no complaints or nits about the performance at all; it's all spot on, every note. I daresay, your funky groove probably makes the tune a lot more interesting than the original. I was doing a chair boogie.

 

[Goldilox]

If I can't sing this melody one octave higher, perhaps I could create a harmony line that is higher than this, but within my range? Kind of a difficult part to harmonize with though...we'll see. Thanks!

You probably don't really want to hit an octave higher, it'll sound out of tune if one of the lines is even a tiny smidge off perfect. Good harmonies are (apparently, I don't profess to be an expert) about chord theory so you'll probably want to think about pitching it a third or a fifth higher.

 

[heatmiser]

What he said.

I like the idea of a female singer. Did you process your vocals differently this time? They sound kind of low in volume and lacking bass. I think the drums and vox could come up. Good job otherwise.

Thanks for checking it out squibble. I kind of do everything a little different each time around, so it's tough to tell, but I noticed I did EQ out some low and hi end on this vocal track and also used a dynamic mic rather than a condensor. I think my voice is so naturally bassy, I often trim some lows with EQ, but maybe I went too far this time?

I'm enough of an anti-GD to say I've never heard the original. SO, I'll just talk about what YOU did. And mostly, I love it. I have two nits: the bass track is EQed a little bit fat overall, and it's a bit big in the mix except when you're up the octave, so it's really more of an EQ thing that a levels thing. (And I'm a bassist first, so that's saying something ;D)

Conversely, I think the vox are a little thin, and a little bit back in the mix for my taste; like you were afraid of sticking them upfront where they belong. I have no complaints or nits about the performance at all; it's all spot on, every note. I daresay, your funky groove probably makes the tune a lot more interesting than the original. I was doing a chair boogie.

Hey Phil. Ironically, the last time I remember getting feedback from you (maybe a year ago), I was also struggling with singing a dead tune. Eventually I will learn my lesson. You are probably right about the bass, but I kind of meant for it to have a bomb-like quality on this for whatever reason.

You and squib (and some others) have similar points about the vocals. Yes, I think I did intentionally keep them from being up front. I kind of just wanted them floating around in there somewhere. I can hear 'em fine, but then again I am all too familiar with it. I do have a new mix with a new vocal track that retains the bassiness of my voice, but with all of the changes, it doesn't really sound all that different...

 

[heatmiser]

New Mix - New Vocal Track

You probably don't really want to hit an octave higher, it'll sound out of tune if one of the lines is even a tiny smidge off perfect. Good harmonies are (apparently, I don't profess to be an expert) about chord theory so you'll probably want to think about pitching it a third or a fifth higher.

Yeah, I think we're on the same page. What I meant was that the existing melody probably should be sung one octave higher, which I can't do, but I could conceivably hit higher notes as part of some sort of harmony part. I liked your idea and spent some time last night trying to work out some alternate lines to support this, but for the most part, they just sounded weird!

Here is a link to a new mix - many subtle changes. New vocal track recorded on a different mic and not EQ'd as much. Level seemed higher on the monitor setup but sounds more or less the same to me now on Soundclick. Never before have I worked so hard to accomplish so little!!

New 10/06 mix:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=660667&songID=9712563

Original mix:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=660667&songID=9695274

Not really any better, is it? ----- Edit 10/06 - answered my own question - new mix added 10/06 with vocals mixed higher.

 

[rayc]

Heat,
Here's a quote from a song called Kid's Blues from 1975 by Jim Keays the former singer from the Master's Apprentices:
When your mother digs the Mothers
And your daddy's into Greatful Dead,
that's the time to start thinkin'
Something's happening in their heads"
It's from an album called The Boy From the Stars.
I just noticed in a typo that if I miss the space in "an album" I get analbum! Not as interesting as the quote though.