Due to the honest feedback....

[George Parler]

....I came back for more.

Here is another song I wrote called "Does Anybody See You".

Does Anybody See You

I did boost the kpbs from 128 to 144 on this song when I encoded. Of course I'm new at this, but it did sound better to me when I listened to it on the internet. But I did notice that I also increased the file size. There's always a trade off I guess.

The drums are live on this one.

Thanks for your opinions; good, bad, and/or ugly.

<><
George

 

[theron]

Well, the quality of writing and singing and git playing must be noted for sure. Nice job Sir!

At the risk of making an ass out of my ears (and that's as far as we'll take that visual kids), I hear a rhythm git on the left and piano on the right and a lead git mostly on the left(when reinforceing the rhythm and playing fills). I'd say, put that lead git on the right side where the piano is resting and nudge the piano a tad towards center. I heard a bit of a "left lean" in the mix and I think those pan adjustments would even it out as well as give the piano a happier home and make the fills a little more cutting. I don't know, just thought I'd throw that silly sugestion at you.

The break around 3:22 was perfect!! Nice addition to the dynamics of the arrangment.

Except for more compliments, that is all I have to offer.

Thanks for the listen,

Theron.

 

[jjtcorsair]

Good time rock and roll country feel, I like it. Great playing and vocals.

I agree with Theron's suggestions regarding the stereo spread. I have the same problem due to the way I'm forced to record. I have to print mono reverbs to mono tracks and the result is a kind of disconnection with the main rhythm tracks. Some day I'll upgrade to something more versatile. The drums panning around in the bridge is a good idea but because the drums are mono it doesn't work. Try spreading out the drums in stereo, if you can, and then use tom fills going from right to left and then back again to accomplish the same thing (does that make sense?). Otherwise, keep the drums in the center for that part.

And one more thing, I could stand to hear some more low end specifically the bass guitar and kick drum.

Good job, most listeners wouldn't hear anything wrong with this.

Jon

 

[George Parler]

theron and jjtcorsair;

Thanks for your responses. The keys were recorded in mono. The next project will be in stereo.

After reading your comments and going back to listen, I can hear what you're talking about in regards to panning. Thanks for your input. It is appreciated.

<><
George

 

[flapo1]

Hi, George!

I really liked the song and the recording, it's a nice cross between country and a rockier edge.

Did you play all the instruments? Everything was very well played except IMHO the drums, which I found a little thin and repetitive. But overall it's a great work. God has blessed you with a lot of talent.

Well, gotta go, see you soon maybe in the other thread (the one I "resurrected" )

 

[ChuckU]

Good playing and writing. I have the same panning issues as the others, especially with regards to the drums at 3:10. Because of that, they didn't sound like live drums.
If you're stuck with mono, just leave them centered IMO.
Again, nice tune.

 

[Fed]

I had to listen to your staff after reading thread in songwriting.

The songs are great.
"I saw love" has some kind of hiss in it... don't know what it is might want to check it out.

One thing that bugged me on all tunes is that it seems that music was made to the words. Don;t know how to explain it maybe I'm competely wrong but all three, though great songs and well played, were somewhat stiff. it's just MHO that means nothing . good gtr playing, liked the sound too...

Don't know why but your stuff reminded me of some Mark Farner tunes.

cheers

 

[TripleM]

I liked the music. It had a nice lead guitar hook. I liked the 7th chord in the chorus. Lyrically, I thought it "was just there." The acapella thing at 3:20 was nice.

The lead guitar could get a bit screechy at times. It was played very well however. I also heard a vocal sync issue (very minor) at 3:13 (on the word "show")

The toms were panned a bit wide. Listening on headphones, they make you a bit dizzy.

Good song.

 

[George Parler]

flapo;
Our group is a mix of a little country, rock, and R&b. We just throw out what comes out.


ChuckU;
Thanks for you comments.


Fed;
Actually the words and the music were written together. The hiss was a vocal effect on one of the keyboard patches that seemed to get over emphasised in the mixdown for some reason.


TripleM;
Thanks for your critique. Our lead singer did the mixing. He, like the rest of us, are just getting into doing our own recording. The panning was something new we've learned. Just haven't learned to do it right yet. But that's why critiques are good. Sometimes when you've heard the same song a thousand times it's a good idea to let another set of ears to listen. Which opens the door to something you might have been missing. Again, thanks for your comments.

<><
George

 

[flapo1]

Hi, George

What kind of gear did you use?

 

[George Parler]

Hi, George

What kind of gear did you use?

Flapo;
Recording equipment: Roland VS-880-EX 8 track digital recorder was used to record and mix down. It was mastered on computer in Cool Edit Pro 1.2. I got the program Cakewalk Sonar XL 1.0 afterwards. That's what I used to encode to mp3 for the songs uploaded to NWR.

<><
George

 

[flapo1]

Well, as I said before, great work! keep it up!

 

[George Parler]

Thanks Flapo1.

Later,
<><
George

 

[Fed]

ok I had to listen again....
tight playing ....
I think the small room reverb on the vocal gives it a demoish quality to it.... don't know .... what??? no acc gtr ???
this needs some good strumming uh ... maybe not

it sounds like musicaly and production wise you know what you want... this sounds great to me...

great song, and recording ... is this live drums?

cheers

and ye I din't care much about the panned toms... before accapella part

 

[George Parler]

Fed;

Yea the drums are live. He's using a Roland electronic drum set.

And yes I agree about the panning. I guess it's like sugar. A little makes a glass of tea taste great. But a lot makes it taste like syrup. But we are trying to make better tea.

<><
George

 

[muzeman]

Nice song.

I especially liked the vocals,I dig the twang to your voice.

Good song writing and production,really enjoyed it!

Thanks,

Best to you,
Pete

 

[George Parler]

Pete;
Thanks for your comments. But I can't take credit for the vocals on that one. I wrote the song, but Luke, our lead singer in our group, did the lead vocals. That was me hackin' on one of the harmony parts.

Thanks for listening.

<><
George

 

[chrisharris]

I've Sincerely Tried...

George:

I've watched this thread for a couple of days to see if anybody else would say this...I have nothing negative to say in the area of mixing...I can hear the vocal, and I personally think the lead tone's just about perfect for this song.

But...

there's like a D7th in the back half of each chorus that, no matter how much I listen, well...I just hate it. There, I said it. It seems so out of place to me that the very first time I heard it, it was actually distracting. It's so distracting that I think it throws the singer off right there too...(1:23, 2:50, and 3:39)...see, I listened, AND I took notes.

I totally realize that you probably can't (and wouldn't) go back and retrack the piano and guitars for a lousy 7th note, but just so you don't think I'm being hypercritical here...my wife "frowned" at the exact same spots in the song when I had her listen to it...(without me saying a word to her) and she's about as musically critical as a pillow.

All's I'm sayin' is, if you ever re-record it (as I seem to do with just about every song I've ever recorded)...CONSIDER losing that 7th...(or else somehow prepare the singer for it, because he always seems a little shocked by it

If I didn't think the song was worth it, I would have remained a passive observer.

Oh yeah, I'd hardly call your backups a hack job...bright spots in the song were your harmonies at 1:00, 1:21, and 3:23...(right before that horrible, misplaced 7th chord).




feel free to retaliate...I have one song up right now that's so obnoxious to me that it feels like it's about a week and a half long by the time you get to the first chorus...now THAT requires some major work. This is minor (so to speak) stuff.

chris

 

[CrankyOne]

There's way too much high-end in the hi-hat. The drums sound bad. Sounds definately like a drum-machine. Other than that, the mix is decent. The drums kinda ruin it for me. Wait, maybe I got used to the high-end, because I didn't notice it as much as the song progressed. The mix is decent, not great. There's these little things that need improvement. I'm not sure what, though. I guess the bass guitar sounds weird panned left, and also the rhythm guitars left and center also a bit strange. I do know that the middle guitar isn't only a rhythm, but rather a rhythm & solo thing, but anyway. The piano should be in the center, or even better if it kinda surrounded the thing slightly. But then it would be mixed like every other tune out there, so what do I know I'm not sure if the panning is the solution here. Nice solo guitar work. The solo tone could be a bit beefier, but I'm a bit over critic about beefy tones and such...