inertia

  • Thread starter Thread starter heatmiser
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Jeez, this is excellent Pete. It takes me an age to get my mixes to a level of unevenness that I'm comfortable posting, but you seem to have knocked out three well balanced crackers in no time at all. It took me a couple of listena to get my head around the rapidfire vocal bit, but then it clicked and so I got nothing much for you in terms of nits. Maybe the left panned cymbal crash juts out a bit? Maybe I'm just trying too hard to find something...

Particularly love the guitar part that forms the bridge (?) - was it influenced by that sound on the last tune chuck posted in here? It's rich and makes a great hook. Vocals sound excellent too, though I hope for your sake your wife never hears the lyrics ;)
 
propman said:
Wow. Here I am listening on the crappiest of half-blown out laptop speakers and I'm still impressed.
You consistently write great tunes and this is no exception. In fact, it might be a shining example. I love the chorus.
It's one of the catchiest bits I've heard in a long time. Good job!
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Awesome. Thanks Adam. You're too kind. I don't generally do catchy, but that was pretty much the idea here, so...mission accomplished!

My music is specifically tailored to translate to crappy, half-blown out speakers, so you were in luck there. It doesn't sound any better on anything else!

Telegram Sam said:
They are worth checking out.
I think I'll start a thread in Prime Time...

ETA: Here you go - https://homerecording.com/bbs/safe-places/prime-time/jazz-butcher-358895/#post4065089
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Doesn't ring a bell, but some of that stuff is pretty cool. The song about the devil was hilarious.

I checked out at least a little by every band mentioned in this thread. World Party was a surprise, as the name suggested some big, world music/reggae kind of thing, but it was more like two old British folkies. They sounded really nice though and the lead singer guy looks really familiar?

My favorite was Galaxie 500 though. That dude has a cool, almost whiny kind of voice that I wish I had. Instead I am stuck with this weird baritone. Always interesting to hear stuff that your song reminded someone of in some way. You can't always hear the connection to yourself, but in my case, I always learn something new. Thanks.
 
robgreen said:
Jeez, this is excellent Pete. It takes me an age to get my mixes to a level of unevenness that I'm comfortable posting, but you seem to have knocked out three well balanced crackers in no time at all. It took me a couple of listena to get my head around the rapidfire vocal bit, but then it clicked and so I got nothing much for you in terms of nits. Maybe the left panned cymbal crash juts out a bit? Maybe I'm just trying too hard to find something...
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Cool rob. Thanks for checking in as always. It's all in the tracking man. I mix pretty much mix as I go, and by the end, there isn't much to do but fine tune some levels and panning. I'm really not much of a "mixer" per se as most decisions have already been made by the end of the recording of the last track.

You and the girl (I don't want to call her frits, but "the girl" could be considered demeaning - I hope she doesn't mind) both had to adjust to those faster paced lyrics, so maybe that wasn't the best choice. I don't want someone to have to get used to it or whatever. I kind of knew they'd be an issue when I was doing 'em even though it made perfect sense to me in some strange way ;).

robgreen said:
Particularly love the guitar part that forms the bridge (?) - was it influenced by that sound on the last tune chuck posted in here? It's rich and makes a great hook. Vocals sound excellent too, though I hope for your sake your wife never hears the lyrics ;)
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HA! Guilty as charged. I was absolutely thinking specifically about that riff of chuck's when I did that part. Busted :o. He didn't even catch that though...unless he was just too diplomatic to point it out? Good call on the wife. She doesn't even pretend to give a crap about my music anyway, so I don't even bother anymore. I think (hope?) this was just drawn from my feelings about our relationship from years ago when we were having troubles. All is good now, but she wouldn't buy it!
 
heatmiser said:
HA! Guilty as charged. I was absolutely thinking specifically about that riff of chuck's when I did that part. Busted :o. He didn't even catch that though...unless he was just too diplomatic to point it out?
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Lol - nope - I just thought it was cool. That's what reminded me of Beatles a Beatles 65 kinda tone :-)
 
Yeah, Kinks def. I was trying to be more contemporary (well 79 is sorta) POWER POP!! Plimsouls, Big Star, Shoes, etc - love 'em. I played in a PPop band in the mid 80's.
 
Great tune. I like how I can hear everything. Lots going on, but all right there to pick out of the mix easily. I think this is one of your best tunes yet. I really like the uptempo feel.

I am not without nitpicks, though. But only two!!! :D

I thought at times the crash and hihats were a little too much.

The transition into the break sounded like you pulled all the faders down. It wasn't a natural feel. I think there is room for improvement in that area.

If you want to put together a cd, let me know, I'd like to have a crack at it.
 
heatmiser said:
You and the girl (I don't want to call her frits, but "the girl" could be considered demeaning - I hope she doesn't mind) both had to adjust to those faster paced lyrics, so maybe that wasn't the best choice. I don't want someone to have to get used to it or whatever. I kind of knew they'd be an issue when I was doing 'em even though it made perfect sense to me in some strange way ;).
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Don't mind being called "the girl", been called a LOT worse. But my real name is Trish. :D Nah, I think the lyrics work. Seriously appreciated them when I came back to them. I quite often have a couple of listens to a song that has bits I don't quite get the first time, they often end up being my favourite tunes. And I definitely felt like that about this.

I really liked how you got those random sounds to sound so cool together BTW. I don't know HOW or WHAT made you decide & think of that, but it's inspiring. Might have to get into that sort of thing, sounds like a heap of fun.
 
Wow, big change from your usual stuff. Very 60's pop-like. Overall I think the mix is pretty good but I have a few mix and arrangement critiques. I find the overheads to be pretty crispy and kind of harsh. I like the basic Beatles-ish drum style, but it needs more kick for me. Bass and guitar tones are great. The lead is pretty off-putting though. I like the idea of it, a sparse simple little lead line, great idea, but it just seems out of place to me. I think it's the weird vibrato. Too fast and shaky. The tone is kind of thin for the lead. The lead you play over the outro section is much better in tone and style to me. I like your vocals but I think a change in register here or there could be good. You kind of stay in this low monotone style throughout the whole thing. The song style is light and poppy but you've got this kind of dreary vocal style going throughout. I know I'm the last pitchless mofo to talk about vocals, but that's just how I hear it. I also find the song to be way too long for what it is. I enjoy the song, but I'd enjoy it at 3 minutes as well. I wasn't running to turn it off or anything, but it's long. Nice change-up though and you did very well at fully executing something that isn't your usual style.
 
Chili said:
Great tune. I like how I can hear everything. Lots going on, but all right there to pick out of the mix easily. I think this is one of your best tunes yet. I really like the uptempo feel.

I am not without nitpicks, though. But only two!!! :D

I thought at times the crash and hihats were a little too much.

The transition into the break sounded like you pulled all the faders down. It wasn't a natural feel. I think there is room for improvement in that area.

If you want to put together a cd, let me know, I'd like to have a crack at it.
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Thank you Chili. I appreciate the encouragement and your two nits are spot on. I posted this worried about the cymbals, and others have agreed (some not), so thank you for confirming that.

I like that you noticed the problems with the transition to the break. I agree, but felt it might pass for others not listening as closely or as many times as I have, but you nailed it. I'll see what I can do. Unfortunately, it was going to be an abrupt stop, so when tracking the chorus there, I just did a hard stop with all the performances. Only then did I realize how jarring it sounded, so I tried to leave in all the reverb tails and whatnot, but it's still pretty sudden. So, there isn't much material there to extend that transition, but I'll see what I can do. Thanks a lot for the offer of help with a CD. I don't know if I can take that plunge, but maybe someday...

fritsthegirl said:
...my real name is Trish.
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Well, hello there Trish! :D

fritsthegirl said:
I don't know HOW or WHAT made you decide & think of that...
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Medical grade marijuana from Vermont.
 
Damn...I really wish you were wrong on this one, but I think you may be right on each point :mad: :D.

Greg_L said:
I find the overheads to be pretty crispy and kind of harsh.
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Agreed. Just needed confirmation on that. Will try to fix - thanks.

Greg_L said:
...it needs more kick for me.
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Cool. Easy enough to do. I pretty much always like more kick.

Greg_L said:
The lead is pretty off-putting though. I like the idea of it, a sparse simple little lead line, great idea, but it just seems out of place to me. I think it's the weird vibrato. Too fast and shaky. The tone is kind of thin for the lead.
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I don't know what happened there man. Armistice clearly heard the same thing and I think others too. It sounds more or less like so many other things I've done, but I certainly don't love it or anything and am committed to replacing it at this point. I guess I went a little vibrato happy with the 'ole fingers there. Not sure what else I can do with that part, but I'll think of something!

Greg_L said:
The lead you play over the outro section is much better in tone and style to me.
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Funny, but it was the same guitar, amp, settings and even part of the same take. Only thing is, I paused in between those two parts and moved the mic a little further from the center of the cone before the end bit there. Kind of a big difference. Not sure now why I didn't just start over at that point?

Greg_L said:
I like your vocals but I think a change in register here or there could be good.
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Not much I can do there...I have this super deep voice and limited range. I tried some stuff on this in higher registers, but my voice kept cracking. I don't think this song is different from my others in that regard, but it probably stands out more due to the contrast with the music. Other than that, I guess I'm relatively happy with the vocals.

Greg_L said:
I also find the song to be way too long for what it is.
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Absolutely! I don't even have a lick of an intro and it still clocked in close to 5 minutes....wtf? I think the 1st chorus could go entirely. That would trim about a minute or so. I've never actually cut/pasted or deleted entire portions of songs before, so not sure I can pull that off. I'm gonna try though. Thanks for all the ideas Greg!
 
propman said:
But . . . I like they shaky guitar. (I was sure that was an effect! You were just bending the string? THAT FAST?)
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Well thanks props. It's really strange. I swear I feel like I'm listening to a different track or something :confused:.

I've listened to that damn "solo" a bunch of times since the 1st vibrato comment, and I still don't hear anything unusual at all...there are no effects on the guitar there, just a little drive from a rat pedal and then into the amp with some reverb from the amp. More or less my normal sound. I think I use vibrato like this all the time when playing leads and it's never come up before. I think it helps with sustain a little especially when playing relatively clean. It's not bending the string per se, but sort of wiggling the finger tips in place...I dunno...I thought everyone kind of did that? This is really weird :eek:.

P.S. - I tried cutting out the 1st chorus, but the transition sounds like ass. It's totally abrupt and obvious. I guess this stays long...I don't think there's any way to shorten it without retracking the whole thing and that ain't gonna happen.
 
I like the song a lot. I love you did with the vocal at :47. Sounded great. I liked the rhythm guitar part on the left side.

It's not as though the vocal is buried, but there are spots where I wished it was a db or so louder.

To me, the bass tone was too heavy for this type of song. It's really strong in the low end. If it were me, I'd try to roll off some lows, and give the low end to the kick drum.

And yeah I thought the guitar solo was wussy. Gimme a little attitude. Not a ton, just a little.

I love the drumming. Snare sounded nice.
 
TripleM said:
the guitar solo was wussy.
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LOL :laughings:

That was awesome. Is that what everyone's been trying to tell me? Why didn't you just freakin' say so?! Ok, I think I get it now. Thanks :D.

I'll think about the other stuff.

Oh, and the thing with the vocals at :47 is double tracking and panning which I know you're a huge fan of :p.
 
TripleM said:
The performances were tight enough where it worked. It sounded really good.
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Well thank you for that!

I hope to work on this tonight and at least address some of the low hanging fruit. Hopefully something new following the break too.
 
heatmiser said:
Cool rob. Thanks for checking in as always. It's all in the tracking man. I mix pretty much mix as I go, and by the end, there isn't much to do but fine tune some levels and panning. I'm really not much of a "mixer" per se as most decisions have already been made by the end of the recording of the last track.

You and the girl (I don't want to call her frits, but "the girl" could be considered demeaning - I hope she doesn't mind) both had to adjust to those faster paced lyrics, so maybe that wasn't the best choice. I don't want someone to have to get used to it or whatever. I kind of knew they'd be an issue when I was doing 'em even though it made perfect sense to me in some strange way ;).

HA! Guilty as charged. I was absolutely thinking specifically about that riff of chuck's when I did that part. Busted :o. He didn't even catch that though...unless he was just too diplomatic to point it out? Good call on the wife. She doesn't even pretend to give a crap about my music anyway, so I don't even bother anymore. I think (hope?) this was just drawn from my feelings about our relationship from years ago when we were having troubles. All is good now, but she wouldn't buy it!
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That's good to hear. Sorry for blowing your cover re. Chuck's guitar - art borrows, great art steals etc ;-)

Thinking more specifically about what I meant by part of the rapidfire section jutting out, it was the 'don't they know, how low some of us can go' line. For me, the phrase doesn't quite fit the meter naturally and so sits slightly awkwardly. A lyrical re-jig might resolve this if you feel it's where the issue is too.

One thing I'd been meaning to ask you was that you mentioned on this and other recent songs about using drum loops. I wondered what you meant by this - whether you recorded a bunch of drum patterns, fills etc while you still had the kit and are now tailoring/splicing them for projects or whether you'd bought some drum loops from somewhere commercially. Or something else maybe? Whatever iyt is, they sound really good.
 
New Mix 6.18

Thanks for explaining that rob. Since I lost the drum set, I've been resorting to a few things, but mostly these loops that I bought. They're called Discrete Drums. They were designed specifically for the Roland VS series. I think they'd be classified as loops?...basically there are 2 CDs containing roughly 40 "songs" of drum tracks cut up into sections like "verse 1", "bridge fill", "crash", etc. It's pretty easy to cut them into pieces and assemble a song. They're divided into 8 separate tracks - so lots of versatility in terms of tweaking the sound too. Lately I've just been going down the list picking the next drum "song" and forcing myself to record a song over whatever those drums offer. It's been a good way to just force myself to create something...

I did a new mix last night and will try to add the link to the 1st post.

I lowered the OHs and reduced around 14k by at least several dbs.
I raised the kick drum
I raised the chuckD/beatles ripoff riffs
I replaced the wussy solo
I cut out the drums entirely for one passage right before the end

Does this sound better? I am totally willing to go back again and tweak further if not - thanks for all of the help so far everyone!



I guess maybe now the bass somehow seems more rumbly and I think I lost some of the good snare sound when fiddling with the OHs??
 
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