Come Die with Me AKA Faithful Kind of Morning

[fritsthegirl]

Can you isolate the drum tracks and send them to me? If so, PM me and we can dropbox them. I'll give them some treatment and send them back to you ... with description of how I did what I did. You can then feel free to use them or lose them.

Thanks heaps for the offer, I can PM the drum track tonight, but not sure you can work anything on just one track. You know they're just samples aye? From what Armistice said there is not much I can do. But maybe you didn't realise they were samples, OR you have some secret weapon.

 

[jonny deep]

Hey Frits. Liking the new song - especially the bit where the drum kills the cyclist! I think you've already got more good feedback than I can give.

I used to cycle in London and I'm not surprised they're getting killed. There's a combination of bad cycling on one side and bad driving on the other that's not a great mix. A friend of mine nearly got knocked off once and the driver shouted at him saying that's what you get when you don't pay road tax - that's exactly the attitude that gets people killed. But then, there's plenty of idiots who think they can just make it down the left hand side of a lorry that's turning left. I sympathise with the bus drivers down Upper Street on my old route who have dozens of bicycles swarming around them at traffic lights.

 

[fritsthegirl]

Hey Frits. Liking the new song - especially the bit where the drum kills the cyclist! I think you've already got more good feedback than I can give.

I used to cycle in London and I'm not surprised they're getting killed. There's a combination of bad cycling on one side and bad driving on the other that's not a great mix. A friend of mine nearly got knocked off once and the driver shouted at him saying that's what you get when you don't pay road tax - that's exactly the attitude that gets people killed. But then, there's plenty of idiots who think they can just make it down the left hand side of a lorry that's turning left. I sympathise with the bus drivers down Upper Street on my old route who have dozens of bicycles swarming around them at traffic lights.

Hey Jonny, thanks for listening. Your interface is still awesome, really happy with it. Yeh cycling in London is pretty dire. I was cycling behind a girl once who chose to put herself between a 2 tonne bus and a barrier. I really thought I was going to watch her get killed and so I got a bit pissed at her for almost ruining my day. When I cycled past her I told her she was a moron for taking that risk. You don't toy with a vehicle like that. You'll lose, each and every time.

It's true to say that currently, there are a lot of cyclists that decide to start riding without an inkling of what they're getting themselves into. On London roads you're playing with your life almost every second. It's all trendy now to cycle, but unfortunately it's also becoming a bit of a trend to die whilst doing so. Anyway, I could talk til the cows come home about it. Which is why I wrote a song instead.

Thanks again for having a listen, that's cool.

 

[fritsthegirl]

No, we don't have that program but I've heard of it via the English GF.. and I was sort of wondering...

Hmmm... not much you're going to be able to do there... next thing to save up for: EZ Drummer or Addictive Drums methinks... you can get a free starter kit for the latter, incidentally.

I don't dislike the bass, BTW. I think it works with the song... you'll get better with practice.. and make up more complex bass lines in future, perhaps. And please, don't sound like Jaco Pistorious.... he's a bit OTT. Aim for Flea instead...

I love that programme, I veg out to it on a Sunday afternoon with a bag of crisps. I know it's flatline TV but that's why I love it. I don't watch much telly, but when I do I like to zone out completely. My flatmate hates it, and always gives me a hard time. Once he heard this song, he said hey you should call it, Come Die With Me.

I really just like Jaco for his fashion, those Native American outfits he wears are great.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I liked the tune. I could second a lot of the previous comments, not all. As far as the bass, I really think it is perfectly simplistic and fits well. My only thing is the level maybe could come up a tad. But, I was listening on ear buds, so, might just be me. Nice work!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to have a listen. I'll check that bass level for sure.

 

[jonny deep]

Hey Jonny, thanks for listening. Your interface is still awesome, really happy with it. Yeh cycling in London is pretty dire. I was cycling behind a girl once who chose to put herself between a 2 tonne bus and a barrier. I really thought I was going to watch her get killed and so I got a bit pissed at her for almost ruining my day. When I cycled past her I told her she was a moron for taking that risk. You don't toy with a vehicle like that. You'll lose, each and every time.

It's true to say that currently, there are a lot of cyclists that decide to start riding without an inkling of what they're getting themselves into. On London roads you're playing with your life almost every second. It's all trendy now to cycle, but unfortunately it's also becoming a bit of a trend to die whilst doing so. Anyway, I could talk til the cows come home about it. Which is why I wrote a song instead.

Thanks again for having a listen, that's cool.

Remember the number of deaths per year is pretty constant, even with the recent rash of them. It's not like all truck drivers have suddenly decided to crush all cyclists - you're not in any more danger than before.

 

[rayc]

As a commuting motorcyclist I have an inkling of your angst and a shared frustration at the silliness of some two wheelers.
I ride a 30k return trip along what has become an extremely popular tourist viewing route

with 100 opportunities to look out over the Tasman Sea - the amount of rubbernecking and resultant wonky steering puts everyone on the road at risk but cyclists and myself even more so.
I love the song.

 

[Greg_L]

I think it's finished - except for ALL the things I didn't hear that you're going to tell me about without holding back.



More bass now (my playing is like a giant stomping through the song) and vocals.

Bit topical (6 cyclists died in 14 days in London). Cycling in London is a subject I've wanted to sing about for a long time. I hope I've done some justice to how desperately pissed off I feel about the situation.

Definitely up for some feedback. I changed everything quite a bit since the instrumental I posted for comments. Hopefully for the better.

The guitar parts have been re-done with my new amp, I think in tune this time (but tell me if not), I mic'ed the amp up with my new SM57. Also first of my own vocals done with this new mic. I've had it for a while but I was scared of it. Quite keen to check if it all sounds OK to you.

Thanks.

Haha what a great song subject. I like it overall but I think the vocals need to be leveled out better. They get like a truck barreling ass down a mountain during the tour de france in some spots. The layers and backups just build up too much for me and drown out the backing music sometimes. All the sounds seem great to me though. You're getting better and better.

 

[Btyre2013]

I think it's a brilliant subject and very nice arrangement, very very well done. (as a cyclist myself I can deeply relate to this too), it just needs a bit of work on the mix and has potential to be amazing in my opinion. The Drums could be a bit more 'solid' overall by using compression and limiting, apart from that I really love it.

 

[fritsthegirl]

They get like a truck barreling ass down a mountain during the tour de france in some spots.

LOL. Thanks Greg. I went totally over the top with the vocals on this. Quite unusual, must be this new mic. I think I've got 5 tracks of vocals, probably a bit too much. I'll have a look at it this weekend after taking a break from it for a week. Thanks for the listen.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I think it's a brilliant subject and very nice arrangement, very very well done. (as a cyclist myself I can deeply relate to this too), it just needs a bit of work on the mix and has potential to be amazing in my opinion. The Drums could be a bit more 'solid' overall by using compression and limiting, apart from that I really love it.

Thanks a lot. I'm glad you liked it.

 

[jiff 41]

Everybody else has given good mixing advice, I just wanted to say,"You're doing good Fritz!"

 

[robgreen]

Hey, listened to this a few times but only just had time to comment. Starting to sound really good - nice melody and arrangement. I agree with Heat's critique mostly that there's some more work on the leveling required - mostly around the vocal layers. The backing and harmony vocals compete with the lead quite a bit.

Also agree with him on the bass - it kind of appears every now and again, but it's kind of lacking definition for the most apart from some flubby presence. From what I can hear, the playing itself sounds fine. How are you recording it?

Let's just say I agree with Heat rather than rephrasing everything he's said

I like the subject matter too. Cars aren't the problem for me on my bike personally though. I've had two big accidents in the last few years - both times on the frigging cycle lane. First time was after some high winds when I went round a corner and straight into a 30 odd foot advertising hoarding that had blown over. Front tyre hit the large wooden stanchion that had previously held it up and catapulted me over my handlebars. Fortunately missed all the rusty nails poking out, so nothing other than cuts and bruises. Fuckers left the sign there for a month before shifting it though. Second time, again on the cycle lane came round another corner to find myself about to collide head on with another cyclist coming the wrong way down this one way path. Both adjusted the same way to try and avoid each other and collided head on. People going the wrong way on cycle paths are one of the banes of my life . Still, there's a limit to how seriously I'm going to get injured colliding with anything on cycle lanes, so I can live with a few cuts and bruises every now and again...

Anyway, I digress - look forward to hearing your updates now you've had chance to take a break for a week

 

[rpm61]

I am very happy for you to have matched these lyrics with this tune, nice job! It would be nice if you would post them, but cool if you don't want to.
I agree with a lot of the mix critiques, Heatmiser seemed to sum it up and I won't pile on. I definitely vote for the old intro as I liked the added dementia of the abrupt cuts. On the way plus side I would have to say this one gives you an opportunity to play and experiment quite a bit and get more practice with mixing technique, that's how I would view it.
When I was in High School I once hit a motorcyclist on my way to school who flew about 10 feet but was uninjured, it turned out to be one of my teachers. Needless to say, classes soured after that and I ended up kinda wishing I'd had a heavier foot.

 

[Hot_Mess]

Very cool song! Charming and modern. I really like the tone of your voice. Awesome: "almost all notes are out of my comfort zone..." Here's my constructive critique: When you're doing the spoken part, in some parts it seems too calm and collected compared to what is being said. Like the "idiot" part for instance, I think you should sound more pissed off.