Hi. It's me again.

E

ErichArndt

New member
There's probably no one around who remembers me... or maybe there are. I don't know. Anyway, I've posted here a couple of times before, sporadically... but then I always end up dropping out again.

Anyway... I do home recording. I'm primarily a guitarist, but I do all the instruments in my stuff... and the drums are sampled, along with any keyboards/synths you might hear.

I'm working on putting my album together. Most was written 10+ years ago so it's out of style or whatever. Anyway... I've been feeling kind of down about it lately, actually almost depressed, and I thought I'd get some reviews from some people who A. know what they're talking about and B. don't know ME well enough to want to either stroke my ego or, conversely, tell me it's garbage just to bug me.

Please just give it to me straight. Writing, performance, production... the works. I know I'm not a great singer, but I'd been telling myself I'm at least good enough... I call it rock 'n' roll... but other people tend to say it's pop-punk. Whatever... I'd appreciate any comments, good or bad.

Album Tracks

If I Could Be Like Andy (explicit lyrics)
I Think I Can
I Like It
Caffeine Bomb (Cover, originally by The Wildhearts)
Addictive Personality
Original #2 (Half cover/half original, parts based on Nirvana's "Come As You Are")
Sparkle
Touch (The Eff-Me Mix) (explicit lyrics)

The Touch EP (feat. Jaime Evans)

Touch (clean mix)
Touch (The Eff-Me Mix) (explicit lyrics)
Touch (Organic) (sans electronic effects, clean mix)
Touch (The Eff-Me Mix) (Organic)(sans electronic effects, explicit lyrics)

Extras

Vanilla Radio (Another Wildhearts cover... there was supposed to be a tribute album)
 
ErichArndt said:
I call it rock 'n' roll... but other people tend to say it's pop-punk.
Click to expand...

I listened to the first two mp3s.

You sing like the guy from MXPX, and your sound is kinda pop-punky. It would fit in well on a mix tape with Green Day, Blink 182, Yellowcard, NOFX, so maybe the alternative/pop-punk category is a good fit for your music.

The songs kept my attention and nothing felt like it didn't belong, so the songwriting is not too shabby.

As for the mixes themselves:

The obvious weak point is the drum track. Some real drums on there would make a world of difference. But that's a given.

The tracks I listened to were a little too loud. I applied a loudness maximizer to one of your tracks to prevent clipping, and it automatically made it sound better to me. I also widened the track a bit and applied some excitement, to give the tracks more room to breathe, and it really opened up the sound.

There be my 2 cents.

Cheers!
 
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mrdellano said:
I listened to the first two mp3s.

You sing like the guy from MXPX, and your sound is kinda pop-punky. It would fit in well on a mix tape with Green Day, Blink 182, Yellowcard, NOFX, so maybe the alternative/pop-punk category is a good fit for your music.

The songs kept my attention and nothing felt like it didn't belong, so the songwriting is not too shabby.

As for the mixes themselves:

The obvious week point is the drum track. Some real drums on there would make a world of difference. But that's a given.

The tracks I listened to were a little too loud. I applied a loudness maximizer to one of your tracks to prevent clipping, and it automatically made it sound better to me. I also widened the track a bit and applied some excitement, to give the tracks more room to breathe, and it really opened up the sound.

There be my 2 cents.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot! I'm really surprised you found the drums to be the weakest part. It's the only part that wasn't directly me. :D
 
I'm listening to 'Sparkle'...hehe, I like the 'Staying Alive' riff...

It's really good. The mix sounds good to me, but I'm not a pro just learning myself. The only thing that sounds kinda strange to me are the vocals which could do with being panned a little. They seem too central in the mix or too loud? Good catchy punk tune though.

I'm listening to 'I think I can' now...this is a bit heavier.
I liked the slightly more jovial and poppy chorus. Very very Green Day sounding there with the harmonies. Good stuff here. Can't fault the mix. The chorus really is good! "I'm a sucker for a girl with a bow in her hair" part.

That'll do for me - tinnitus sucks:D

intomusic
 
intomusic said:
I'm listening to 'Sparkle'...hehe, I like the 'Staying Alive' riff...

It's really good. The mix sounds good to me, but I'm not a pro just learning myself. The only thing that sounds kinda strange to me are the vocals which could do with being panned a little. They seem too central in the mix or too loud? Good catchy punk tune though.

I'm listening to 'I think I can' now...this is a bit heavier.
I liked the slightly more jovial and poppy chorus. Very very Green Day sounding there with the harmonies. Good stuff here. Can't fault the mix. The chorus really is good! "I'm a sucker for a girl with a bow in her hair" part.

That'll do for me - tinnitus sucks:D

intomusic
Click to expand...

Thanks for listening. I'm feeling a bit more confident now.

Yeah, I guess I do have a lot of pop punk influence... I just don't go out of my to fit in there like that. The bands I'm compared to are usually hands I love. I guess I just hate lables. It's all rock n roll to me.
 
I listened to "If I could be like Andy"

Good song. guitars and bass sound just fine. tasteful keyboard use.

vox are very good--enough complexity to be interesting. lots of harmonies and counter-melodies.

I like the Brian May-like lead guitar bits, too.

The song was maybe a bit on the long side, nearly 6 minutes.

Well done, wish I had time to listen to more. . . maybe later.
 
Incanus said:
I listened to "If I could be like Andy"

Good song. guitars and bass sound just fine. tasteful keyboard use.

vox are very good--enough complexity to be interesting. lots of harmonies and counter-melodies.

I like the Brian May-like lead guitar bits, too.

The song was maybe a bit on the long side, nearly 6 minutes.

Well done, wish I had time to listen to more. . . maybe later.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much.

See, the thing is that I post at another board.. it's pretty much just a general discussion board and everyone there is a regular. Sadly, a lot of the people are into "smack"... basically just insulting the hell out of people at every opportunity. So I hear it all... some people swear my music is better than most of what's on the radio... and other say they've pretty much never heard anything worse. I hate to hang too much on others' opinions... but sometimes it just gets under my skin, and I'm just neurotic enough that sometimes it bugs me enough that I think about just hanging it all up and collecting stamps or something.
 
Incanus said:
I listened to "If I could be like Andy"

Good song. guitars and bass sound just fine. tasteful keyboard use.

vox are very good--enough complexity to be interesting. lots of harmonies and counter-melodies.

I like the Brian May-like lead guitar bits, too.

The song was maybe a bit on the long side, nearly 6 minutes.

Well done, wish I had time to listen to more. . . maybe later.
Click to expand...

Also... I just listened to your song, "Song #6"?, and I must say BRAVO. It is positively brilliant! Totally pro in all respects.
 
DrummerStrummer said:
Awesome recordings..how did you record your guitars?
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Thanks!

I have a Digitech GNX1 effects processor running directly into a mixer which then runs directly into the soundcard of my computer. I guess the processor has "amp modeling" or something, because it doesn't have the normal terrible sound you get running a hot guitar straight through. I used to mic my amp... but I've found that this setup gives me an even better sound... plus I can record with headphones on so my family can still watch TV in peace.
 
ErichArndt said:
Thanks!

I have a Digitech GNX1 effects processor running directly into a mixer which then runs directly into the soundcard of my computer. I guess the processor has "amp modeling" or something, because it doesn't have the normal terrible sound you get running a hot guitar straight through. I used to mic my amp... but I've found that this setup gives me an even better sound... plus I can record with headphones on so my family can still watch TV in peace.
Click to expand...

You should try Guitar Rig or Amplitube some time. I have used those before with good results. They have demos online, me thinks.
 
Erich,
If I Could Be Like Andy.
Not bad at all. the guitars are a little "generic" but effective nonetheless.
I like the keyboard swirly things. The kick (click) drum isn't up to the rest of the song though.
The May Treble Boost solo is nice - but I love early queen - I'm not sure that tone matches the song though - sounds better with the second guitar playing too.
Too long by - well half! Only because the solo/effects section divides it in half and the 2nd half doesn't offer any new other than the harmonies (which are ace by the way).
If I had my hands on this I'd edits it ti 3.30 mins with the harmonies, spoken words & 2nd half odf the solo included.
Ah, but I'm a meat head. Oh, if you suss out my stuff DON'T listen to Heart Shaped Bruise - it's a 9 minute sketch for the vocalists to hum along to until they get a melody. Anything else'd be Kosher though.
Well recorded, good mix, good song in need of editing & maybe some grit in the guitars.
Good stuff so far.
 
rayc said:
Erich,
If I Could Be Like Andy.
Not bad at all. the guitars are a little "generic" but effective nonetheless.
I like the keyboard swirly things. The kick (click) drum isn't up to the rest of the song though.
The May Treble Boost solo is nice - but I love early queen - I'm not sure that tone matches the song though - sounds better with the second guitar playing too.
Too long by - well half! Only because the solo/effects section divides it in half and the 2nd half doesn't offer any new other than the harmonies (which are ace by the way).
If I had my hands on this I'd edits it ti 3.30 mins with the harmonies, spoken words & 2nd half odf the solo included.
Ah, but I'm a meat head. Oh, if you suss out my stuff DON'T listen to Heart Shaped Bruise - it's a 9 minute sketch for the vocalists to hum along to until they get a melody. Anything else'd be Kosher though.
Well recorded, good mix, good song in need of editing & maybe some grit in the guitars.
Good stuff so far.
Click to expand...

You'll find that the other songs are a bit shorter and to the point. See... it's kind of a vice with me, the long drawn out songs with long meandering instrumental sections. I grew up with Metallica... and then later discovered The Wildhearts, who you're probably not familiar with... but they do a lot of that kind of stuff and I just have this huge soft spot in my heart for long songs that go a lot of places. But like The Wildhearts, I recognize the value of a short simple popper as well. Most of my songs average between three and four minutes, with several coming in under three, and one just under two.

So... I try to split it up... indulge in the epic journey song now and then, but keep the bulk of it down to more standard lengths.

Thanks for the kind words though. :D
 
Listening to Touch. Enjoying the guit effects. Nice vocals. Clear, well sung and in its own space. Song sounds Radio-Ready.... not something I say very often. It is squashed, though. Not sure if my meters moved....

One suggestion might be to bring more definition to the kick. Nudge it up a tad. At 0:25, it disappears in the mix.

Listening again. In the intro, you've got the bass doing its thing, then you bring in guits and drums with 16th notes. There is something there not quite right. Maybe the very first note is truncated on each set. Not sure, but I think you can leave the kick out of it and it will sound better. This is ultra nitpicking so take it with a grain of salt.

This song has been downloaded. Thanks for sharing.


peace.
 
Chili said:
Listening to Touch. Enjoying the guit effects. Nice vocals. Clear, well sung and in its own space. Song sounds Radio-Ready.... not something I say very often. It is squashed, though. Not sure if my meters moved....

One suggestion might be to bring more definition to the kick. Nudge it up a tad. At 0:25, it disappears in the mix.

Listening again. In the intro, you've got the bass doing its thing, then you bring in guits and drums with 16th notes. There is something there not quite right. Maybe the very first note is truncated on each set. Not sure, but I think you can leave the kick out of it and it will sound better. This is ultra nitpicking so take it with a grain of salt.

This song has been downloaded. Thanks for sharing.


peace.
Click to expand...

I've had a little bit of concern about the kick being too low for some time now. See... this is the one song that I didn't mix myself. The guy who does my mastering mixed it for me because I couldn't get it quite right and it was especially important to me. So I let him mix it and he just nailed it so hard. At first it seemed perfect and only gradually did the issue with the kick become clear to me. Since then I'd kind of decided that, yeah, it's lower than I'd like it to be... but not by much.... and figured it'd be best not to rock the boat. Plus, I was worried he would get sick of dealing with me because I'd already asked him for several other tweaks from his original mix.

Interesting note about the singer, Jaime... she has no kind of training at all, and the recording of this song is the only real experience she has in music, other than a brief stint with a live band I was in with her when I met her, and the occasional karaoke night. She's beautiful, has an awesome personality, and is a total nutjob when it comes to performing... totally loses herself in the song. She would be so great in someone's band, but now she's married with a couple of kids.... probably well beyond the point where she'd think about doing anything serious.

She traveled from Oregon to Pennsylvania specifically to record this song with me, and it's the only thing she's ever done.
 
Being married with kids shouldn't stop your friend from pursuing an interest in singing. She did well with this song.

Yeah, I agree with what you said about the kick. It's just barely not enough. I'm listening on headphones, but I know them really well. Maybe the guy mixed (and mastered) on a nice system in a great sounding room and the kick is at the right level. But honestly, I can see this song in the club and that kick has to have a dimension all its own.

just my opinion, but gotta say, I really enjoyed the song.
 
Chili said:
Being married with kids shouldn't stop your friend from pursuing an interest in singing. She did well with this song.

Yeah, I agree with what you said about the kick. It's just barely not enough. I'm listening on headphones, but I know them really well. Maybe the guy mixed (and mastered) on a nice system in a great sounding room and the kick is at the right level. But honestly, I can see this song in the club and that kick has to have a dimension all its own.

just my opinion, but gotta say, I really enjoyed the song.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. It's kind of my pride and joy, from a production standpoint. Now, I'm scared because my other stuff is so different.
 
What are you using for your drums? I usually record real drums but somtimes id like to have some sampled drums just to get song ideas down quick..I like the sound of your drums..what are you using? cheers man.
 
Hi - I listened to Addictive Personality and Touch (clean mix). Liked them both very much. I almost never have much to say about the actual mixing part because I am still new at it myself. Plus I listen to all the songs straight out of my computer with no additional speakers, so my perception could be totally off anyway.

On Touch, I really liked the changes you made to the vocal sounds. It was cool. I liked the singer very much. At first I was wondering if her voice was too pretty for the song, but it ended up working really well for me. I liked the harmonies. Everything was great!

Same with Addictive Personality. Although Touch was more to my liking, I enjoyed listening to this one as well. Great musicianship all around and the mix sounded great to me.

Thanks for posting your songs! Talented group!

Jen
 
DrummerStrummer said:
What are you using for your drums? I usually record real drums but somtimes id like to have some sampled drums just to get song ideas down quick..I like the sound of your drums..what are you using? cheers man.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I'm particularly proud of my drum tracks. I think I put more time and thought into the drums than any other part.

It's a very large set of samples that I collected from a couple of VST drum programs. I didn't like the interface of the original programs so I re-recorded each sound by hand. I use Fruity Loops to sequence them. The key is the fact that there are a lot of multiple hits for each sound... like, for instance, there are five different snare-hits at full velocity... so it's never the same sample played twice. It's the same for each drum/cymbal:

Snare (left and right hits), three toms and two floor toms (left and right hits), kick (left and right hits), one ride/crash, five crash cymbals, one hi-hats (seven levels of openness, plus foot), two splash, one trash, two chinas, one cowbell.
 
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