Donkeys and Elephants (Asses who never forget?)

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K-dub

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"Donkeys and Elephants"

This kind of started as a joke -- I quipped to someone recently that "Donkeys and Elephants" were just "asses who never forgot."

Then I wrote this--

First faders up version...newly readied for human consumption.

As always -- ALL comments about ANYTHING are warmly appreciated and received. (I'm thinking a deep delay on the vocal?)

Donkeys and Elephants

Lower it was believed
So much lower than it was conceived it could sink
It’s gets all upside down
When nobody stakes the higher ground

There’s just so much that we can take
It's enough to drive one crazy

Say bye bye

Bye bye
Bye bye
Sigh Sigh
Bye bye

Darkness descends over the stage
Are the cardboard actors in place?
There's no one stepping up for the fight
Because the parties keep forgetting their lines

They can’t speak if they can’t see, can't see the lines

Got to tell you, it tore us down
Always hoping folks would all come around
There is so much hurt in the world
Does it matter? Come on boys and girls
A little flex, some give and take
A little common decency...Please police?

Or say bye bye

Bye bye
Bye bye
Sigh Sigh
Bye bye

As long as people staunchly believe
As long as no one’s willing to give
There’s nothing left but to step aside

Because, there just ain't no way to change their minds
There just ain't no way to change the lines
We'll all wake up on the other side

Singing:

Nyah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
Nyah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
Nyah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
Nyah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah

Thanks!

K-

P.S.- For those that remember, explicitly follow the directions on Ziggy Stardust for maximum listening enjoyment!
 
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That was a really enjoyable, refreshing change of musical direction from anything else I've listened to all day. Beautiful recording too! Drums sound great- Everything sounds sweet and balanced, plus the clean, concise production is just right for this song. I think if I were to have "deep delay" on the vocals I'd keep it as a really, really subtle effect. I think my brain wants to hear more of an aphex aural exciter-y sound on the vocs with nice even compression (hair verb?) and giving it some lush space in the mix. Nice.
 
Not sure how the intro connects to the rest of the song...

Bass guitar is a little too much, a little muddy. Give it some definition.

I'd like to hear a slightly louder snare, or at least some bottom on the snare to it really thumps, especially in the "drum heavy" roll parts. Overall the drums sound nice, but I'd like a little less high hat.

This song changes around too much for my tastes, arrangement wise. I'm not sure where it's going or trying to go.

The singing is pretty good and sits in the song good. GREAT JOB on this!

One of the better sounding songs I've heard on here, I just think it needs some rethinking on the arrangement, work on the snare, less hat, and tame the mud on the bass guitar. Then it would be amazing.
 
aciddart -- Thanks! I'll try those suggestions -- after listening to the vocal for a little bit, it struck me that I might have mixed it too dry. It sits well, but doesn't occupy a large enough space. Those are good ideas.

Cloneboy- I've actually played this completely w/o the dirty guitar intro ... starting it when the full band kicks in just afterwards ... and the song doesn't suffer for the loss of the intro...that much. That stupid guitar just strikes my fancy. (One person, after listening, commented, "I'd thought something had gone horribly wrong w/ my speakers) What does anyone else think? Trash can the intro?

If you listen to the whole arrangement a few times, I think you might find you settle into it a little better. Some of the confusion might stem from just early listens. There is a lot going on. Some of the changes are purposefully "unusual", but I think that kind of thing prevents subsequent listening fatigue...maybe it's a "taste" thing? (Any other comments on this from folks?)

I strongly agree w/ you on the hhat/snare/bass issues. I'll address in the next mix version. As I said, this was a first "faders up" mix...there is some tweaking still to be done...but there is ALWAYS tweaking to be done, isn't there? :D

Thanks for taking the time to offer your suggestions and opinions!

K
 
Can the intro, or change it to match the rest of the song.
Really well mixed, but I echo Cloneboy on the drums and bass.
Nice job!
 
Thanks for the vote, Rokket. Perhaps it should more closely relate to the rest of the tune? I, too, agree w/ Cloneboy on the bass/snare/hhat issue.

K-




Hey folks- I didn't want to bump the thread, so I'm just editing my last post. A new mix, w/ the aforementioned changes, has been posted above. I did keep the beginning still, but I made it weirder, if that makes any sense.

What do you all think of the changes?
 
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Yeah! That was exactly what I had in mind for the vocals and it sounds absolutely great. They ride in there great and the whole mix sounds tighter with the perfect amount of sparkle. Also, the more I hear this, the more I like the style and feel. I listened pretty loud, like I said before, it's different and rewardingly so.

The only thing... I liked the intro just fine the way is was originally. The arrangement made sense to me all along... I'd much rather see it the way it was instead of the "weird" version, and I'd definitely leave it in. At any rate, I love this mix now! Sounds excellent loud!
 
Excellent! Someone who understands the Ziggy Stardust directions! Thanks for chiming in on the vote for the beginning. I'll have to live with the weirder version for a bit to see if it grows on me. I kind of like the mono to stereo/throwback to modern effect, but it might strike me as gimmicky after a few listens. It's no big deal changing it back...I kept the original.

K-
 
FYI -- New version posted at link in top thread -- Thanks in advance for commenting on the newer version.

K-
 
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