"Hypnotized"

[badgas]

Damn, that's good, Kramer.

 

[mixmkr]

I listened earlier...but the food bell rang, and eating became the priority before commenting

Yeah..your bass playing is ok...just fine. I mean, do you have to be Jaco to do this stuff? I think the lead sound works too. This is a voc up mix...SEE EVERYONE!!...to me it works.

Hey Track Rat...(or any other St. Louisian) doesn't Kramers stuff remind you of the old Mamas Pride?? Does me...

anyway... nice catchy tune, if not unfortunately dated. But, you should lead the cause to bring this stuff back around, because your stuff will make the mommas dance!!

I'll be eager to hear the final ...with keys..right??

 

[Kramer]

Bad Gas,
Thanks for the compliment man!

MIXMKR,
Who is "Mamas Pride"?Am I outdated?! I write a lot of different styles so maybe I wont end up being totally outdated with the tunes I post here.Thanks for the compliments on the tune!

Now I gotta see if I can download some of "Mamas Pride"

 

[theron]

Speaking of "reminds me of".........this song reminds me of a band called "the ugly americans". They were on WAR records and then switched to Columbia. Put out a couple of l.p's in the mid 90's.
The lead singer was Bob Schnieder(sp?). He has a couple singles out on the "alternative radio" formats.

Great band, the lead git player layed down backing vox very close to your tune (Max Evans). If you can find a clip, you should listen.
The band had the Hamond in full force.

again,
nice tune dude,

 

[King Elvis]

I love this. The bass has a great groove going. I gotta disagree because I really like the lead guitar sound. I definately hear horns on this one, not a harmonica. I like the way the harmony vocals come in. Give us a rundown on the equipment you used to track this one.
very cool!!

Keep it up!!!
The King

 

[VOXVENDOR]

Kramer,

I didn't have time to go into too much detail last night as I was recording...

Don't be ashamed of your "canned" drums.... They are fine.. Just make sure you record them right, preferably all on different tracks... Then you can add effects to each seperate drum...

Yeah, they don't sound totally real to us, but to the average listener, they will do, and they sound clean...

Real drums are ultimate... and it's a given to suggest them, but I would much rather hear what you have than hear some poorly miked drums that were recorded in a basement... So if you don't have the facilities or knowledge to record proper drums, just leave them...

Your listeners won't really notice the drums you have..They are clean sounding. but if there are crappy sounding drums on the song, you can bet your ass they will notice.

Stick with what you have, and work with it.. In the future.. maybe even try doing what I do.. Use "canned" snares and bass drums, and then all live cymbals and hi hats..

And, stop calling drum samples "Canned" Drums.....

Sheesh, it makes me think of canned laughter in some 1950's TV Program...


What are you using anyways... Fruity loops, or is it a drum machine?...

Joe

 

[Track Rat]

Hey Track Rat...(or any other St. Louisian) doesn't Kramers stuff remind you of the old Mamas Pride?? Does me...

Oh yeah. It does have the Liston bros sound doesn't it. I dig it.

 

[Fed]

Sounds like horn section is a must on this one. Great groove. It's a well established style so there is a lot to draw from. It depends on what talant is available to you for the project. Sounds like it would be great fun to arrange.

cheers

 

[twist]

Excellent vocal and guitar work. I think this one screams for a sax solo. And I could easily hear harmonica fills between vocal lines.
Go crazy man! And please post the finished song.

 

[Kramer]

Kramer,

I didn't have time to go into too much detail last night as I was recording...

Don't be ashamed of your "canned" drums.... They are fine.. Just make sure you record them right, preferably all on different tracks... Then you can add effects to each seperate drum...

Yeah, they don't sound totally real to us, but to the average listener, they will do, and they sound clean...

Real drums are ultimate... and it's a given to suggest them, but I would much rather hear what you have than hear some poorly miked drums that were recorded in a basement... So if you don't have the facilities or knowledge to record proper drums, just leave them...

Your listeners won't really notice the drums you have..They are clean sounding. but if there are crappy sounding drums on the song, you can bet your ass they will notice.

Stick with what you have, and work with it.. In the future.. maybe even try doing what I do.. Use "canned" snares and bass drums, and then all live cymbals and hi hats..

And, stop calling drum samples "Canned" Drums.....

Sheesh, it makes me think of canned laughter in some 1950's TV Program...


What are you using anyways... Fruity loops, or is it a drum machine?...

Joe

VOXVENDOR,
Thanks for the feed-back!Im using an Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine so Im pretty limited on recording separate tacks for drums.It has a set of stereo outs.I usually record the cymbals and high-hat to stereo tracks,I usually play the snare and kick by themselves panned hard right/left to a channel of their own and 2 tracks for stereo toms.The reason the drums are not so great on this to me is because I played the pads by hand along with the song "faking" a real drummer ,and as you can hear in few a spots I get quite eradic.LOL.The pads are about 3/4 of an inch by 5/8 so there about too small to be tapping along live with.I guess I need to sit down and learn how to program this thing to get the most out of it.

About the canned drums,LOL,I just think of them as drums in a box,not as bad as canned laugh tracks on tv.I have access to a set of Roland Digital drums and Real Cymbals and High-hats and thats the route I prefer to go when I get ready to track a song 'for real'.Im not equipped for mic-ing a complete acoustic set here in my bedroom The songs Im working on now are just outlines of how I want them to be and they work as a good guide for the drummer to learn the structure of the song by before he gets here to record.

Thanks for the input man!

 

[Kramer]

Oh yeah. It does have the Liston bros sound doesn't it. I dig it.

Do you know of anyplace I can download some of these cats music?I read a little about them yesterday but I couldnt find anything on WinMX or Morpheus.

 

[Kramer]

I love this. The bass has a great groove going. I gotta disagree because I really like the lead guitar sound. I definately hear horns on this one, not a harmonica. I like the way the harmony vocals come in. Give us a rundown on the equipment you used to track this one.
very cool!!

Keep it up!!!
The King

Thanks Elvis!I appreciate the compliments.

Im using an Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine that I play live.I played the kick,snare and toms on 2 tracks and then went back and did 2 tracks of cymbals.

Bass guitar is ran direct(no POD or anything between the Bass and the recorder)into a track.

Rhythm Guitars are ran direct(same as bass,no POD).One is a little too hot.Im playing a Les Paul Special on those tracks.

Lead Guitar is an OLD Yamaha Strat wanna-be guitar ran into a ZoomGM-200 Amp Modeler.

I recorded the Vocals through a Peavey 380-N microphone ran directly into the Recorder.No pre-amp other than the one on the recorder.

I record on a Fostex VF-16.It has a digital SPDIF/Toslink output on it but Im mixing down analog because I dont have a digital soundcard.Gotta get one of those quick!

Thanks again for listening!

 

[Kramer]

Sounds like horn section is a must on this one. Great groove. It's a well established style so there is a lot to draw from. It depends on what talant is available to you for the project. Sounds like it would be great fun to arrange.

cheers

I have a few people available as far as organs go but I dont have a horn section anywhere around. Im gonna try some of the Organ and keys advice I got here and see where it sits after that.This style is wide open for just about anything.

Thanks for taking the time to listen FED!

 

[Kramer]

Excellent vocal and guitar work. I think this one screams for a sax solo. And I could easily hear harmonica fills between vocal lines.
Go crazy man! And please post the finished song.

Im gonna try a harmonica and see what happens.A friend of mine is a killer harp player.I'll just have to tame him down a little and let him know when to play.I dont know any sax players but Im sure it would sound great.Maybe if the song ever takes off and gets enough interest I will be able to record it with a horn section.

Thanks for listening

 

[Emeric]

Hey that's a groovy tune Kramer!

Village Idiot would like this tune, he's into that kinda funky/blues stuff.

The bass is fine!

The vocals I find jump out in places (mainly the 'hypnotize'), maybe tweak your compression settings a bit, faster attack. Not too much though, they are very close. They are panned off a bit to to the left, which I find a bit annoying in this style, dead center would work better for the main lead doubled vocals The backup harmonies are fine, maybe a touch more of the verb. Maybe a slight equal pan between the two doubles, or lower the volume of one, and have both dead center.

The funky guitar in the right channel sounds like it clips at 1:59

Guitars are funky! Dig the leads!

The drums are ok for a drum machine. I'd like to hear it with real drums, I'm on the other side of the fence. I'd much rather hear shitty recorded acoustic drums by a real player than a machine any day.

Nice job.

 

[mixmkr]

Do you know of anyplace I can download some of these cats music? [Mama's Pride] I read a little about them yesterday but I couldnt find anything on WinMX or Morpheus.

where did you read about them? They where just a top local band "almost" making it out of the St. Louis scene back in the mid 70's. They made one..or, I think maybe two albums back then. Nothing to really write home about, but they were one of the few that did it back then, for the most part. Plus..they had a great following wherever they played. They had a great show and live sound..for a top end bar band, I thought. I knew Track Rat would remember them, from previous posts with him. I think he said that the Liston brothers (the lead singer and the rhy gtr player..kinda the nucleus of the band) where trying Christian stuff now. I'd be interested in any updates on them...more out of curiosity, as we played a couple gigs together, and alot of the same places.

Hey track rat....remember that Gene guy...he had a flying V too...always played as a three piece...usually under the name of "Rush" ..and really frickin loud. He kinda looked like Zappa, in a way...Always used dbl stacked Marshalls... and on Art Hill all the time.... is he still alive??

 

[Kramer]

Hey that's a groovy tune Kramer!

Village Idiot would like this tune, he's into that kinda funky/blues stuff.

The bass is fine!

The vocals I find jump out in places (mainly the 'hypnotize'), maybe tweak your compression settings a bit, faster attack. Not too much though, they are very close. They are panned off a bit to to the left, which I find a bit annoying in this style, dead center would work better for the main lead doubled vocals The backup harmonies are fine, maybe a touch more of the verb. Maybe a slight equal pan between the two doubles, or lower the volume of one, and have both dead center.

The funky guitar in the right channel sounds like it clips at 1:59

Guitars are funky! Dig the leads!

The drums are ok for a drum machine. I'd like to hear it with real drums, I'm on the other side of the fence. I'd much rather hear shitty recorded acoustic drums by a real player than a machine any day.

Nice job.

Hey thanks for listening and commenting Emeric!

The vocal is a little jumpy because I didnt use any compression!I guess I need to make a point of running the mic through my 3630 when tracking.I just got so used to trying to control my singing playing live by backing off the mic when I had to scream or get a little louder.I should know better than not to use a little compression when recording.

The thing with having the lead vocal just off to the left was a compromise.I generally mix the lead vocal straight up and down,but this time The bass guitar seemed to be compteting with the vocal so for the sake of leaving the Bass tone alone and in the middle of the mix I moved the lead vocal to the left just a hair.

Im gonna re-record the whole thing with a real life drummer and I'll post the result of that session when it's done.Thanks again for taking the time to listen.

 

[Kramer]

where did you read about them? They where just a top local band "almost" making it out of the St. Louis scene back in the mid 70's.

I did a Google search on them as soon as you mentioned them last night and I found some Biographical stuff on them but no music clips or mp3's.I figured they were some sort of a regional hit.From what I read on one sight last night the 2 brothers were still making music with Mamas Pride and were also doing solo projects.

So you played some gigs in the same area as these guys?Was this in the Mid-west?

 

[Emeric]

"I just got so used to trying to control my singing playing live by backing off the mic when I had to scream or get a little louder.I should know better than not to use a little compression when recording."

No, that's better than any compressor! Vocal mic technique is hard to find. Keep doing it!

 

[mixmkr]

So you played some gigs in the same area as these guys?Was this in the Mid-west?

yes...based out of St. Louis.