it's all too much

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heatmiser

heatmiser

mr. green christmas
Hey,

Here is a recording done right before I started coming to this site in early 2006. This would be before I heard about signal to noise ratio, gain staging and stuff like that. Everything was tracked really low, so quite a bit of hiss. Pretty rough, but an interesting take on a not-too-often-covered beatles tune.

I took a lot of liberties with this one - retaining only the basic melody - so my apologies to beatles purists. I could try retracking the vocals, retracking the whole thing, or just scrap it.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=660667&songID=7172890
 
The original is one of my favorite underdog tracks of The Beatles.

As far as this new arrangement, there's nothing I really like about it. Don't like the vocals, not a fan of the drum machine, etc. etc.

Its not bad, I just don't like the arrangement.
 
Thanks for the honesty Seafroggys :).

I too always liked this tune. As a kid the feedback and keyboards gave me chills. This has none of that.

Drum machines really tick me off :mad:. I know it is possible to make them sound sort of cool - I swear I've done it a few times...this may not be one of them.
 
There's some quality bits inside this track. The percussion and that low wah-ish thing are very cool. The acoustic came out good too. You have to consider the medium of 8track cassette too. It's got that nice saturation but some cloudiness as compared to today's (overly) bright digital stuff. The vocals although slightly hidden have an interesting vibe to them. I'm not familiar with this tune so I'm going strickly on what I hear on this track. :cool:
 
Thanks ido...you always manage to find a silver lining ;). I think not knowing the original helps in this case.

Have I maybe outgrown this medium (not saying this a good example of the capability of cassette let alone one of my better cassette productions) or is it just about commensurate with my abilities?

Hmmm...money aside, I wonder if a 2488 is something for me to consider. Cleaner, less noise and more tracks...but still stuck with a drum machine, no bass and questionable decision making :p.
 
This sounds really good to my ears. I really like the way this sounds, and I am a beatles fanatic, and have heard the original more times than I can count. It has a very nice feel to it, and very psychedelic in nature. It has this kind of wishy washy wah thing going all the way through the song, and it sounds cool. I don't see anything wrong with the "drum machine". I think it sounds Da Bomb! Good job!

-Adam.
 
Man I feel like a dick now. :p Everybody else likes it.

As you implied, the original has a really epic, powerful feel to it, especially with the keyboards. This is, IMO, almost like an indie rock version. My big beef with indie rock is that it has no power to it.

I think the musical interlude is a bit too long as well, in the middle before the last verse I think.
 
The drum machine work well - the tambourine helps it out somewhat but the little fills work a treat.
Extra kudos for the obscurity factor. his reminds me of what I liked about some beatles stuff, not made to be hit singles or world shakers - this has a nice progression and gentle melody.
The chiming guitars work well and given that Mr Martin & Mr Emerick weren't on hand to do the process thinking for you I think you've done well.
Is this a recent remix or an old one?
I find I get better levels to tape than I do in the box - I'm still too tentative about digital clipping!
I like it - it works. It has a Velvet underground Live 1969 sort of feel to it as well.
Nice!
 
-- Thanks for the good word Adam. I admire your work and your opinion is valued.

-- Thanks Ray. The drums were one continuous beat recorded backward and then a 2nd track (frontwards?) playing along with cheesy drum pads -mistake-ridden, but less robotic.

This was tracked two years ago but remixed last weekend. I now make an effort to track to tape at levels much louder than I once did (as loud as I can without distorting) - this seems to give me a stronger signal with less unwanted noise. This was tracked at sadly low levels...(VU listlessly bouncing nowhere near the red). I brought the overall level up on this mix, but with that came hiss and extra noise.

-- Seafroggys - quit being such a dick :p. You were honest and straightforward which is great. I am sure you are not alone in your assessment. I agree with your points...this is anything but powerful - just a completely different thing altogether. The middle is too long. When I tracked the drums and left that space I imagined all kinds of cosmic buildup that never occurred (ran out of tracks). 2 times through would have been nice as opposed to 4 or whatever...thanks again.

Sorry ido - I need to spread some rep.:(
 
I like it. I feel like I'm listening to one of the local college radio stations. Actually, that's all I listen to on the radio...

I bet if you cleaned up the hiss before the song starts, you'd be ready enough for prime time. Or at least the overnight show! :)

I like the fade out, but there's something weak about it.... a slower fade or some kind of remixed fade or general degeneration into reverby chaos / noise / subliminal beatles style gibberish... or something.... might work--- it'd set off the phasy filtery vocals. Or something.
 
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Thank you jedi master. You are wise in the ways of the fade out.

A nonsensical freak-out semi-musical meltdown is in order. :D
 
That'll be $5, please. :) Good recording, though. I'm inspired to branch out and start getting more creative. Since my four track days, I've not done anything but live takes of my jazz quintet.

....you must do what you think is right, of course.... ;)
 
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