Critique needed

P

PJH

Member
Hi there guys,

I've just stumbled onto this forum by accident and am very glad I have.

I'm looking forward to browsing the various topics.

I have a home studio (pc based) and have released four albums to date. The albums were funded by ourselves and fortunately we were able to sell enough over the web to cover costs etc. We only print about 500 at a time.

I would really appreciate some comments and opinions regarding the songs.

Equipment used:
Pentuim 3 450
256 MB Ram
Gadget Labs 4/24 Soundcard
Mackie 1202 mixer
Roland JV2080 Sound Module
Gibson Les Paul
Software: Cakewalk 9 and Cool Edit Pro 2.0

The link is www.mp3.com/off_the_edge
Band's website: www.cd.co.za/offtheedge

Thanks

PJH
 
man......you got a great 'studio' sound using cakewalk........i can't seem to get my stuff out 'demo' quality, but the quality on this stuff is really well done..........i've got a similar setup to you, so now i realize that maybe it might be possible for me to break out of 'demo' quality w/ what i have...........i listen to the first track.....great guitars and amazing drums.........how do you get that studio sound?
 
Hi there Powderfinger,

Thank you for the kind words.

I can tell you that the first two tracks (Cheating and St Aidans) were recorded using an SB Live soundcard. The other two were recorded with the Gadget Labs card and Cool Edit Pro 2.0. in 24 bit mode.

Basically the drums are all programmed using a kit that I've made up from the Roland JV2080 samples.

The guitar sound is a Les Paul played into a 10 watt amp cranked slightly and miked.

I also miked the acoustic as I don't like the sound of an acoustic with the onboard pick up.

The FX used were stock standard Cool Edit chorusing, reverbs, ehoes and compression.

We did get a mention on a South African radio station about the production but otherwise very little recognition. I suppose you could say that the style (melodic rock) is a swearword there days.
 
cheating

good stuff man, im gonna go out on a limb here and say..this song sound's like it could have come straight of a pat benatar album!! i like the female vox. i think the song went a little to long before the vox came in and got a little repetative.

and who ever the artist was on your album cover, deserve's some serious prop's!!!!!!

thank's man

peace

rick
 
Crituque needed

Thanks for that.

I agree 100% that the intro goes on too long. One of the reasons we didn't get playlisted on radio.

As far as Pat Benetar is concerned, the singer modelled herself on Pat Benetar, so your comments are right on the money.

Your comments are greatly appreciated.

I'm glad that you mentioned the singer because ahe has since emigrated to Australia. We've replaced her on the new album and there are twp songs featuring her.

Please give me your thoughts on her performance on "Cry for help", or "Still want you back"

Thanks, Rick.
 
Last edited:
great stuff, i cant say much about the mix other than i hope i can make pro audio 9 sound this good someday. the female vox are great realy fit in nicely. your mix has alot of good driving low end in a good sorta way.the song off the edge has a weird sort of abrupt ending to it, im not saying thats a bad thing and as far as the song goes i realy like it, i will listen to the rest of them after i get some sleep i just gott home from work and i work nights, by the way welcome to bbs youll get some very profesional opinions here. unfortunately my opinion is just that it isnt profesional by any means because im new to recording myself, but you guys have a great sound comparible to pat benatar or maybe even vixen a little bit. thanks for sharing with us. tim pate
 
New Singer

Thanks Tim,

Between the last two albums, we had to replace our singer. On the link there are two songs with our old singer and two songs with our new singer.

It seems that the jury is still out on whether it's an improvement or not.

Could you guys listen to the two and give some feedback please.

The two songs with the old singer was "Cheating and St Aidans"
and the two with the new singer is "Cry for Help" and "Still want you back."

Any feedback will be most appreciated.

Thanks.
 
yo Pee Jay Harveee! (excuse me... was posessed by the spirit of MISTERQ there ;))

Very clean production on "Cheating"; impressive, given your gear list. Would say that you're probably not getting the "recognition" you desire, since this sound is "dated"... very "early 80's" rock sound to it... but, FWIW, very good stuff. This type of rock IMO for that reason won't make it back to radio (at least States-side... much more of an RIAA problem here :()

Keep playin' dat funky music, and thanks for the link!


Chad
 
wow

i realy like the new singer alot, she has like a cher quaility to her voice, nice vibrato and very clean excellent stuff, i love this kinda music anyway, very killer guitar work on your new stuff to. and everything else sounds great. the mix is just to good for me to coment on. http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1751&alid=-1 this is my site and i use cakewalk pro audio 9.0 but im nowhwere near your stuff. thanks for sharing this with us i no i realy enjoyed it alot. simply awesome. thanks tim pate
 
Listening to Cheating...

Congrats on several things!

1) You managed to program drums that SOUND HUMAN!! Well done! Kept it simple and straghtforward, concentrated on the groove, which is formidable! Most impressive!

2) GREAT female lead vox, she makes the harmony sound oh so sweet.

3) The guitarist has really nice chops, a solid, workmanlike, sensible lead style, very commercial and easy to embrace.

4) The mix is tasty, even, clean, and crisp.

Some constructive feedback:

1) The overall sound is very 1983. Now, if you were going for "retro Pat Benatar" on purpose, you nailed it, and bravo. :) If you were going for "fresh and new sounding", well, the style's been there for awhile.

2) I think the delay on the lead vox slightly compromises that lovely voice. It distracts the ear, even though you were meticulous enough to match the rate perfectly with the song tempo...

3) the intro is a full 0:45 too long. I thought it was going to be a Satriani thing, and was caught off guard by the vocal entrance.

Tight stuff overall though; you do an exemplary job, especially being self-produced. This clean of a sound is tough to accomplish!

Cheers!
Phil "Llarion: The Jazzinator" Traynor
www.llarion.com
- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons; for you are crunchy and go well with ketchup.
 
Last edited:
Listened to the first song

Very old school. Pat benetar is all over this mix. She should get royalties.
I would lose the delay at the end of every phrase and use it (if at all) much more selectively. Nice space although thats not hard in a mix with 4-5 tracks going at any time. The drums are programmed well but sound programmed, especially the cymbals.

Nothing new here but its a decent example of what cool edit pro can do. While CEPs effects are not the most efficient, the quality is there.
 
Thanks guys for taking the time to listen and give crits. I know that the stuff is dated and definitely goes back to the 80's. I have worked more on the drum programming side to make it more realistic and have also used real cymbals where I can on the newer recordings.

I'm glad to have some comments on the delay on the vox. I'll watch that in future.

Tim, I've tried to listen to your stuff but my server seems to be playing up. I'll try again later today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top