drift

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Amp sims on a drumkit? Okay, now you're my role model. :)

Ha! Yes, it sounds strange now that you mention it.

It seemed to dirty-up the sound nicely without using full on overdrive. Fender Twin to be exact. It's all the rage in drum processing.
 
I'm just starting to get into parallel processing and layering. Any suggestions for where to learn it? Or just jump in and get wet?
 
Are the breaks really in a different key? I wasn't trying to be avant garde or anything. I don't think in those terms. I just hummed along and it seemed like it fit. I used the exact same melody for the instrumental break earlier...does that sound off? I know my "do do doooo's" were a little pitchy.

No, just the one "Do-do-doo" break from 3.20 to 3.40...it's sharp by not quite a half-tone though all the vocal tracks are in tune with each-other - almost like the vocals in that part were done to a tuner that was calibrated differently. Unless I'm going nuts? Kinda bothers me that I'm the only one hearing this....

Again, I REALLY REALLY like this song a lot (2 rillies).
 
I'm just starting to get into parallel processing and layering. Any suggestions for where to learn it? Or just jump in and get wet?

I really don't know any techniques other than through trial and error (lots of error).

What I've been doing lately is copying a track (or pair of tracks) a few times and then playing around with the copies and mutilating them with FX and compression and EQ. Then I just mix and match and pan all the different copies making adjustments as I go. When I think I have a cool sound, I bounce the 4,6,8 or whatever tracks down to stereo and move on. Just keep pressing buttons and turning dials until it sounds cool. If it starts to sound sucky, back up a few steps and resume.

But seriously, I think it is a combination of purposefully trying specific adjustments to achieve the sound you intended and also being open to changing direction entirely if you happen to stumble across an unexpectedly cool sound. That isn't much help is it :o ? Sorry...:)

No, just the one "Do-do-doo" break from 3.20 to 3.40...it's sharp by not quite a half-tone though all the vocal tracks are in tune with each-other - almost like the vocals in that part were done to a tuner that was calibrated differently. Unless I'm going nuts? Kinda bothers me that I'm the only one hearing this....

Again, I REALLY REALLY like this song a lot (2 rillies).

Oh jeez. Those are supposed to be the same. At first I thought you meant a different key like, "why did you modulate from Am to F#maj during the..." or whatever. If it's less than a half tone (how can you hear that??) it has to be human error. It's not like I'm using a Japanese scale or something :).

I left that part of the song blank from the beginning, so when I tracked those, I only had the drums behind me. I did have the classical guitars right before the break which I'd listen to for a sec before punching in though. I guess I just assumed I'd hit whatever note that was and probably came in sharp? Damn! Now it's going to bug me. Someone should autotune the shit out of that part. :)
 
I like whatever it is making the noise in the intro. The opening hi-hat threw me initially - I was expecting a Ramones-type tempo. Good solid bass line, nice change up to the chorus. The breakdown with the doo-doos is cool. I'd be tempted to make the drums sound more different in that part like running them though some distortion, and maybe bring back the intro noise again just there in the breakdown. Good balance and separation on everything heat, you've got a good tune here
 
I like it, I like it just fine.

Thanks for the detailed anaylsis dude :rolleyes: :)! Still following your blog thingie...The latest recording is great. Love the verb you use on your vocals. I'd love to get that sound.

I like whatever it is making the noise in the intro. The opening hi-hat threw me initially - I was expecting a Ramones-type tempo. Good solid bass line, nice change up to the chorus. The breakdown with the doo-doos is cool. I'd be tempted to make the drums sound more different in that part like running them though some distortion, and maybe bring back the intro noise again just there in the breakdown. Good balance and separation on everything heat, you've got a good tune here

Ha! Yeah, the cymbals at the intro do kind of say, "hold on - I'm gonna rock!", and then I'm like, "uh, nope...not gonna rock...just gonna chill out for like 5 minutes".

The intro spacey sounds are homemade loops of cassette recordings of me playing a lowrey organ years ago. I bring them back periodically throughout the tune, but not specifically where you're talking about. They are there immediately before and after the doo doo doo's though...

I played around with adding some saturation to the drums during that section as you suggest, but everything I came up with was too extreme, so I left it. Thanks much for listening and for your suggestions!
 
Hey rob - I'm glad you got a chance to hear this. I would've sent you a PM, but figured if you logged in to see a PM, you'd probably see this thread anyway.

Most lines of yours were kept intact, just shuffled around. I did have to Americanize some of it as things like Kingsway just didn't sound right coming out of my mouth. Thanks so much for letting me use them.

Glad you like the tune. There's a lot of keyboard stuff sprinkled throughout. I used old cassette recordings of me playing a lowrey organ through a leslie cab and then running that through guitar pedals. I took the tape, tranferred to this project, and then chopped the tracks up and made my own mini lopps by eyeballing it and cutting and pasting. I wanted more of that, but was trying not to overwhelm the song. Thanks again! :)

Ha, yeah I noticed that as I listened. Kingsway's one of the main roads that runs through South Manchester and I've lived off various parts of it over the years, so that's where that phrase came from.

It's a cool change to hear some keyboard on your music, you manage to extract a lot of interesting sounds from your guitar via effects pedals but I din't recall really hearing many keys before.
 
It's a cool change to hear some keyboard on your music, you manage to extract a lot of interesting sounds from your guitar via effects pedals but I din't recall really hearing many keys before.

Thanks. Unfortunately, that old organ died a few years ago and took a one way trip to the dump a while back. I still have a couple more cassette recordings of it that I may hack apart and try to use in the future, but that's about it...:(
 
Hi Heat - It's a line from an old movie, just can't remember what movie now! As far as reverb - I've been using the SIR2 true stereo verbs on most vocals. Inexpensive VST plug and you can pick up impulses for various verb units and natural spaces for free from the web. The other main one I use is EMT140 from UAD, but that is mostly for big dark plates...

Anyway - I really liked the track, great song. Any mix input I had was well covered by others. As always lust after your bass. I've been working hard at it - but still maybe 50% of where I want to be.
 
Cool - thanks chuck. My Roland can supposedly accept 3rd party plugs, but I'd have to buy a specific additional fx board that goes for like $300 on ebay, so I'm probably stuck with built-in Roland effects and hardware for now anyway. I probably should do some research on what all the different settings mean, 'cause what you use sounds to me like it has a nice long tail to it evoking a big space, but at the same time it's not overwhelming. I haven't found that balance yet.
 
Cool - thanks chuck. My Roland can supposedly accept 3rd party plugs, but I'd have to buy a specific additional fx board that goes for like $300 on ebay, so I'm probably stuck with built-in Roland effects and hardware for now anyway. I probably should do some research on what all the different settings mean, 'cause what you use sounds to me like it has a nice long tail to it evoking a big space, but at the same time it's not overwhelming. I haven't found that balance yet.

Well - if you ever wanna try it out you can dropbox me a track and I can dropbox you back the stereo effect return :-) ps - I gotta make another run at a final mix of foodeater so I can post it here.
 
Thanks Chuck. I may take you up on that at some point. Still would like to work together on something from scratch with you sometime!

Looking forward to hearing foodeater in all its glory!
 
Thanks Chuck. I may take you up on that at some point. Still would like to work together on something from scratch with you sometime!

Looking forward to hearing foodeater in all its glory!

Oh god yeah we gotta collab!

I'm having a problem with foodeater where everything just too hot/present/forward no matter what I do. I wanna just drop all the faders, nuke all the plugs and spend a couple hours getting it back together. It would help me go back and finish if I stopped recording a song every damn day, but what the hell....
 
What a great tune Pete...Ive been out "on the road" for a week so I had this bookmarked


it starts of with a drone then seems like its going to be massive attack before falling into this hotchpotch of hippy sixties swing, laid back beck style, and eastern influences..

I havent read the comments but I dont think anything jump out to me, its feels really busy and full, at parts the acoustic sounds like its playing a little looser, which is great...theres a breathy kind of whistle tune in the background, I love little parts like that...I also like the relentless beat, works really well, sounds live but played like a sampler


again your signature sound..Im sure folks here a different era than me as I always think you sound contemporary yet I know your lying in a puff of green smoke in the late 60s early 70s...nice work bro, very nice tune...good lyrics too
 
What a great tune Pete...Ive been out "on the road" for a week so I had this bookmarked


it starts of with a drone then seems like its going to be massive attack before falling into this hotchpotch of hippy sixties swing, laid back beck style, and eastern influences..

I havent read the comments but I dont think anything jump out to me, its feels really busy and full, at parts the acoustic sounds like its playing a little looser, which is great...theres a breathy kind of whistle tune in the background, I love little parts like that...I also like the relentless beat, works really well, sounds live but played like a sampler


again your signature sound..Im sure folks here a different era than me as I always think you sound contemporary yet I know your lying in a puff of green smoke in the late 60s early 70s...nice work bro, very nice tune...good lyrics too

Hey - thanks Keith! I'm glad you got a chance to check this one out and that it meets with your approval :).

Yeah, there's definitely an unintentional fakeout at the start there. You think I'm about to ROCK...but I don't.

I inexplicably continue to try to get live drums to sound like loops. Don't most people try to do the opposite?

And yeah, I'm actually going for something at least somewhat contemporary, but it does always seem to come across as '60's - '70's all the time. As long as it doesn't sound '80's I'm ok. Thanks again.
 
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