Collaboration with Gidge

[Toki987]

I listened to the whole thing as a package first, then went back with the goggles on . Tune is really alive sounding, I like the way it wakes up real bright, right in the beginning and keeps it up. Gidge, IF I ever get my lazy overworked butt out to the parrish, first crawfish ettouffe at Ralph and Kackoos is on me dude . There was a bit of flavor difference in the guitar trax but it still sounded real nice.......
ken

 

[B.SABBATH]

nice song..

it sounds like the bass player is hitting a bad note, and he keeps hitting it.. when the song kicks in the bass gets too low.. Maybe that was to cover up the bad note.. I don't think it sounds out of tune, bit I do think he's hitting a wrong note consistently.. If it wasn't for that, I would say turn up the bass.. That's my major complaint..

good collab!

 

[Pedullist]

Overall: good sound. I like the lead guitar coming from a far distance. Anyway, good job!

One thing:

I hear bass frequencies, but it kinda ends there...some definition would be nice. How to fix it? No idea, I have to hear it first!

O, the 'odd' note in the bass is a F# under (or is it on? damn english!) a D major chord. It's not wrong, but I would personally play the root here...as you've already noticed, it draws attention to the least good part in your song (soundwise)

 

[Gidge]

Dave-mo,

Im still not sure about the verb on the lead, the rest is cool.....it may grow on me.......



theres a part that goes A - E/G# - D/F# - E , is that where the bass appears off?

 

[Gidge]

wow, sorry about the sync issue...they should have fell right in line with the original that i overdubbed from.....we'll work on it.....

 

[chrisharris]

Great tune...I'll cut to the chase.

I'm gonna' go out on my own little limb here and say that the guitar tone in the chorus is actually *PERFECT* for this song if the bass can become more a part of the song. It's a real mid-heavy git tone, and it will sit very well, but IMHO, the bass in this song is mixed way too low. I think, as is, this needs to be mixed more like a rock tune...heavier on the bass and high end.

I'd try turning the bass up a few db; everything else is recorded so cleanly, I really don't think mud will be a problem.

Oh, and I feel your pain on the bass tuning thing. I've learned to use the tuner on the guitars, and ditch it on the bass...use your ears and monitor really loudly when you're playing. If it's off, you'll know it immediately. Everybody knows that no matter what the tuning meter says, it can be off for some mysterious reason with the rest of the song.

Bass sounds in tune to me, though...I can't be sure because IT'S MIXED TOO LOW...blah blah blah...you get my point.

Great collab....Tastey stuff, Gidge. Great song, dres.

 

[dres]

Thank ken for the compliments ! It means a lot to get encouragement.

 

[dres]

B.SABBATH , Pedullist , Gidge : can someone please tell me exactly what time (eg min:sec) this bad bass note appears ? I'm happy to record bass again but I tend to play by ears ... I'm really hopeless when someone starts talking letters of the alphabet

chrisharris: what are you doing here ! haven't you signed with a major record company yet ??

thanks for listening. *I* don't mind the electric git chorus tone at all .. very 80's but then so am I ! glad you agree.

tunng bass seems to depend on the tone too... the different hamonics in the note can make it "sound" sharp or flat. According to my learn'ed wife modern (electronic) tuning of instruments is "even tempered" meaning the frequency shift between semitones is all the same. But it wasn't always this way ... what sounds really sweet is fine adjustments depending on your key. I guess this is emphasised with bass ?

I will have another crack at bass and turn it up.. I promise.

 

[JMarcomb]

you guys sound great

i esp. liked the tone that gidge was getting on the rythm sections.. fit very well.
vocals sounded strong with nice lyrics.
i was just reading the previous post and
i hear that bass note that is out of key at 15 seconds into the song... i think it goes flat to sharp like somebody went over the note not too noticable though

enjoyed this ... nice work guys!

 

[dres]

JMarcomb: Can't really hear bad bass at 0:15 very well at work on tiny phones... will check out at home. Thenks for the encouragement.

Funny thing is I can't believe nobody has spotted the glaring timing hickup toward the end of the song. It's sounds really bad to me but since no-one's mentioned it I'm not about to point it out !! Thing is if no-one's picked it up by now I guess it's not obvious to other people ! to be I honest I couldn't face recording all that stuff again !

But I will have another crack at bass .. I like recording bass . it's fun.

But can anyone tell me the secret to a really tight bass sound ?

Is it heaps of compression and low cut eq below 50Hz ?

 

[Pedullist]

Like I said, the note at 0:15 is not a wrong note (and it's not flat)....it's a F# (second fret on the E string) on a D chord. Which is something you can do (F# is in a D), but the root (a D) is more appropriate. The F# more or less resolves into the next chord (at 0:16/17), so it's over before you know it. The fact that it sounds fairly OK at 0:16/17 proves that it can't be out of tune.

Try to replace that note for a D (fifth fret on the A, which is the second string from top ) and let me know what you think of it. And remember, you're the boss....

 

[dres]

thanks pedullist, I'll give it a try.

 

[CyanJaguar]

I love it.

This is the kind of tune that one can listen to for ages. In other words, a WILDCARD song

 

[CyanJaguar]

OK,

I listened to the wrong song.

The wildcard song is Deadlines Mk2

I clicked it by mistake. Its really cool. I am about to go download it now.

 

[flat-9]

Salutations!

Sweet tune! Well constructed, nice hooks, harmony and lyrics.

Vocals are way to out front and need de-essing bigtime especially considering the amount of the 's' on the lyric. (necessarily so) [ it's ok with a flatline EQ , but with the common "v" EQ it is to s heavy.

Song screams for a guitar solo, even if it's only 12 or 16 bars. Gidge provides the foreplay in the intro but doesn't ( isn't allowed to) finish the job.

Amplitude fluctuation especially @ 2: 48 ( I know what you wanted to achieve here as it should be softer in this section to call attention to the lyric, but you faded it to much on the master mixdown.

Bass needs a boost and definition.

Did I mention I LOVE this song! The lyric is quite powerful, coaxing & refreshing. Well Done!

peace,
flat-9

 

[Pedullist]

OK, this is nitpicking to the max :

If you listen to the song with headphones you'll hear that at 0:33 there's a tiny millisecond 'beep' right before you sing 'don't ask why'. It's really really tiny, and perhaps it's the mp3 conversion, or me.

But if it's in your recording, cut it out!

I'm beginning to like the song even better after all these listens! It has that relaxed melancholic Downtown Train (Waits/Rod Stewart) vibe...

 

[Doug H]

wow, nice mix. Is that a hi hat on the left? That always freaks me out. All the instruments and singing sound great except for the lead guitar. It kind of sticks out a bit compared to the rest of the mix, not the playing just the tone.

That snare sounds awesome.

Comparing this to say, professional cds I would say there a bit of mid and low range mud going on.

Good song.

 

[dres]

wow - I can't believe this thread is still going ... so much good advice too. I'm sorry to say I didn't get round to looking at it again on the weekend. But with so much advice to condsider now I'm kinda glad I didn't.

flat-9 : I can tell you know what your talking about ! will pay special attention to your comments in the next mix.

CyanJaguar: Bonus ! so you found another song you like ? Good to hear.

Pedullist: Thanks for the careful listen ... I'm going to print these comments out and take them home as a reference for the next mix.

Doug H: Thanks for listening. Drum are as always electronic Roland TD-7 but played in live. Sorry the hi-hat bugs you ... but there's no way to fix it now without recording again... unless I reduce the width of the stereo image for the stereo drum track ?? (I might try this).



So my burning question is people........

.... what's the secret to a punchy bass sound ??

Thanks in advance
David

 

[flat-9]

So my burning question is people........

.... what's the secret to a punchy bass sound ??

Thanks in advance
David

I'm still striving for it, but have had some sucess with Cool Edit Pro EQ presets. ( For the best results I'd go for a collab with Pedullist or Toki if they can swing the time.

 

[jake-owa]

Yow! That intro lead is almost too thin...almost. It's actually kind of ethereal. The mix is real nice, good balance and tonal makeup.

I didn't catch the message or anything..just digging the rock. The drums seem a bit artificial but they fit well enough.

If anything the bass seems a bit out of key in a spot toward the end (2:50-65)...that's nitpicking and really opinion I guess. The song loses a bit of impact in the bass end around 3:45...

Good work!