Laramie

[DM60]

Yea, I have to say, there are a lot of chords and vocals in your song that sound like "Cats..." (If you listen to the part on Harry's song, "I'm gonna be like him..." you will here it really clear. Few other hints throughout the song) I don't see it intentional, more a coincidence.

Good tune.

 

[Mr Clean]

I'm late to the party but the latest mix sounds really good to me. I also get the "Cats" similarities everyone is mentioning but I don't see it as a problem.

I really enjoyed the tune. Got a real good feel good sound to it. This is a keeper for my HR MP3 folder.

 

[PDP]

Nice recording,

The nit picks have already been pointed out.

Cool song. Enjoyed the listen.

 

[TripleM]

I thought it was pretty good. I like your singing voice.

I thought the snare sound was a little muffled. It could use a little more snap to it.

Caught a couple of spots where the double tracking in the lead vocal was out of sync.

I thought the instruments in the intro were a little brittle. Just a bit, not horrible by any means. And it's a cool full sound.

I like the electric guitar on the left. For some reason I think it's a cool part. I know it's nothing fancy, I think it just supports the song well.

 

[rayc]

The Cat thing was only a tiny bit from my persective & 12 notes only have so many arrngements.
It's a cool song. When you've tweaked the vocals I'll enjoy listening again. (Ididn't read through the commentary so assume there's no remix posted as yet.

 

[fat_fleet]

If we're talking about other songs this brings to mind, I thought of Buckets of Rain by Dylan first time I listened. Kind of "Laramie, Laramie, I aint no monkey, but I know what I like..."

It's good to hear something new from you fleet. It's a bit different stylistically from your usual stuff - less droney maybe? I really liked it - cool arrangement, guitars sound good, mandolin part works well, I like the drum pattern.

Main thing to fix for me is vocal levels - they kind of veer between dominating the mix and getting lost in it at various points in the song. I can only pick out the words in the occasional lyric too. Maybe this is something you're bothered about, maybe not - I just know from experience that when you know/sang the words, it's hard to distinguish when others can't - so might be a useful observation.

I listened through a few times already, I enjoyed it very much.

Hey Rob, thanks for the spin! Yeah, I heard the Buckets of Rain early on when I was putting this together. It's the same vocal riff as that Lennon tune that someone (jm67?) pointed out. I'll pretty trad sounding and, like the "Cats in the Cradle" melody, I'll bet it goes back to one of those delta blues guys I know nothing about..maybe further. I'd like to think I differentiated mine from those other spare tasteful songs, if only by cramming a whole lotta unnecessary instrumentation in there!

I can already see myself retracking a lot of the vocals here. In this song, I wrote the words pretty much all at once but there were two lines of lyrics, I won't say where, that I just couldn't place. I mean like, for weeks nothing I put in there sounded right. Eventually I just threw something in and now I hate it and cringe every time that part of the song rolls through. Anyways, at that one point my incomprehensibility is not exactly an accident.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I was listening on KRK Rokit 8s in a well treated room. Since it's 5 am I'm now listening on some Shure cans. Either whatever you did to the mix is an improvement or I'm hearing it with clearer morning ears or I'm just more familiar with the song now and my first impression is gone, but the drums and overall balance do seem to be better now. I'm not crazy about the snare sound, but it's okay. It's got pop but not much body. I do like the way you drummed this thing. Almost Keith Moon-ish. As for the vocals, I'm having trouble pin-pointing what it is about them that I'm not liking. I think I'm usually pretty good about articulating into plain speak whatever it is I'm hearing, but your vocal tracks are throwing me for a loop. It might be the distance from the mic and room reflection. 18" off is a bit far IMO for singing in an untreated space. It kind of sounds like you have some layers or double tracking in spots that aren't harmonies? That probably doesn't help. The vocals just have this kind of vox-in-a-box kind of sound. They're not roomy in the sense that they have a long decay or anything, but they sound like they're in a small box. I guess a clearer, closer-the-the-mic kind of sound is what my brain wants to hear.

Yeah I did tweak some parts of the kit before the last mix, mostly the kick and snare, though I think I bumped the OHs a half dB and reigned in the bass a little too. I also took a slapback off the vocals, but they're still rough in places. They'll probably get retracked, like I was telling Rob. Sounds like you have a good listening environment and stuff. I'm pretty jealous. I've got no treatment, mostly because my music room is so small- like about 11'x13', concrete walls with a kit, mics, amps, and all this gear..and I share it with a 150 g oil tank. I don't know where I'd even put gobos and bass traps or if they would even have an affect down there. I've toyed with the idea of tracking vocals upstairs in a bigger and less reflective room, but usually get lazy and would rather sing into the mic that's plugged in and ready to go than drag heaps of shit upstairs for an hour of tracking.

 

[fat_fleet]

Yea, I have to say, there are a lot of chords and vocals in your song that sound like "Cats..." (If you listen to the part on Harry's song, "I'm gonna be like him..." you will here it really clear. Few other hints throughout the song) I don't see it intentional, more a coincidence.

Good tune.

Damn, the Cats comparisons are just rolling in now. I guess you could say the Cat's out of the bag!
Thanks for checking it out, DM..

I'm late to the party but the latest mix sounds really good to me. I also get the "Cats" similarities everyone is mentioning but I don't see it as a problem.

I really enjoyed the tune. Got a real good feel good sound to it. This is a keeper for my HR MP3 folder.

Heya, Mr. C. Thanks for the spin! It is cool that you have an HR MP3 folder. I have members' songs, but they're all over my pute. I definitely should organize them one of these days..

Nice recording,

The nit picks have already been pointed out.

Cool song. Enjoyed the listen.

Cool, thanks for that PDP!

 

[fat_fleet]

I thought it was pretty good. I like your singing voice.

I thought the snare sound was a little muffled. It could use a little more snap to it.

Caught a couple of spots where the double tracking in the lead vocal was out of sync.

I thought the instruments in the intro were a little brittle. Just a bit, not horrible by any means. And it's a cool full sound.

I like the electric guitar on the left. For some reason I think it's a cool part. I know it's nothing fancy, I think it just supports the song well.

Hey MMM, thanks for running it through your golden ears. Once again no pops, woo hoo! I'll double check what I have for processing on the snare next time I'm down there, though I don't think there's much and the snare stuff's probably a tuning issue. And I think I'm looking at a retrack for the vocals down the road..

The Cat thing was only a tiny bit from my persective & 12 notes only have so many arrngements.
It's a cool song. When you've tweaked the vocals I'll enjoy listening again. (Ididn't read through the commentary so assume there's no remix posted as yet.

If a song could have a tagline, the one for this one would be "It is much better than Cats, I am going to play it again and again." Anyways, since you didn't read the comments, I'll just mention that no one agreed with you about Cats in the Cradle and everyone else thought it sounded like Crocodile Rock. Also, if you ever happen to do a version of Listen Like Brian with robgreen on vocals, I'd enjoy checking it out..but I didn't read through the MP3 Clinic, so I assume the board crashed and is currently down.

 

[Greg_L]

Yeah I did tweak some parts of the kit before the last mix, mostly the kick and snare, though I think I bumped the OHs a half dB and reigned in the bass a little too. I also took a slapback off the vocals, but they're still rough in places. They'll probably get retracked, like I was telling Rob. Sounds like you have a good listening environment and stuff. I'm pretty jealous. I've got no treatment, mostly because my music room is so small- like about 11'x13', concrete walls with a kit, mics, amps, and all this gear..and I share it with a 150 g oil tank. I don't know where I'd even put gobos and bass traps or if they would even have an affect down there. I've toyed with the idea of tracking vocals upstairs in a bigger and less reflective room, but usually get lazy and would rather sing into the mic that's plugged in and ready to go than drag heaps of shit upstairs for an hour of tracking.

At least make some bass traps for the corners. They're simple, and they alone will make a gigantic difference.

 

[fat_fleet]

At least make some bass traps for the corners. They're simple, and they alone will make a gigantic difference.

I do happen to know where I can find a couple DIY bass trap threads with pictures.

 

[robgreen]

Hey Rob, thanks for the spin! Yeah, I heard the Buckets of Rain early on when I was putting this together. It's the same vocal riff as that Lennon tune that someone (jm67?) pointed out. I'll pretty trad sounding and, like the "Cats in the Cradle" melody, I'll bet it goes back to one of those delta blues guys I know nothing about..maybe further. I'd like to think I differentiated mine from those other spare tasteful songs, if only by cramming a whole lotta unnecessary instrumentation in there!

I can already see myself retracking a lot of the vocals here. In this song, I wrote the words pretty much all at once but there were two lines of lyrics, I won't say where, that I just couldn't place. I mean like, for weeks nothing I put in there sounded right. Eventually I just threw something in and now I hate it and cringe every time that part of the song rolls through. Anyways, at that one point my incomprehensibility is not exactly an accident.

Yeah, I know that feeling well. I can't bring myself to listen back to the last original I posted up on here for that reason too - I like the arrangement, the melody etc, but the lyrics make me cringe to the point where it puts me off the whole thing! At some point they need a re-write, but I can't face that yet. I'm at the same point with another mix - I've got a melody and instrumental mix all done and I'm satisfied with them, but every time I attempt some vocals, all the clumsy lyics just jut out like rusty nails...

Glad that there's some foundation in my Buckets of Rain comparison. I must be the only contributor to your thread that doesn't hear the Cats likeness - but then I don't really know that tune very well.

 

[fat_fleet]

Yeah, I know that feeling well. I can't bring myself to listen back to the last original I posted up on here for that reason too - I like the arrangement, the melody etc, but the lyrics make me cringe to the point where it puts me off the whole thing! At some point they need a re-write, but I can't face that yet. I'm at the same point with another mix - I've got a melody and instrumental mix all done and I'm satisfied with them, but every time I attempt some vocals, all the clumsy lyrics just jut out like rusty nails...

That sucks. I get jammed up once in awhile and make a mix with scat vocals that rhyme with what I think is supposed to be there... then listen to it for a few weeks.. usually the right words pop out eventually.

I must be the only contributor to your thread that doesn't hear the Cats likeness - but then I don't really know that tune very well.

Well, I didn't hear it either 'til Rami pointed out the part. Maybe I should call it Cradles of Rain? Buckets of Cats?

 

[robgreen]

That sucks. I get jammed up once in awhile and make a mix with scat vocals that rhyme with what I think is supposed to be there... then listen to it for a few weeks.. usually the right words pop out eventually.

Buckets of Cats

I often do the same technique with nonsense lyrics until I can replace them. That usually works when I start with the music though. This time around, I started with a set of lyrics and then built a tune around them - so coming to the conclusion that I don't like at this stage in the game means that they're pretty well embedded and stubborn to shift...

I'll get there eventually - the collab with ray came at a good time to take a break from it.

 

[rpm61]

Just listened, on phones, sounded better each time, I listened thrice. I thought I heard Piano also, and later even chimes, but it was the overtones from the Mando and elec guitars at the end. Funny how that happens sometimes. It's a very good song and I didn't hear the Cats thing until it was pointed out, so no flagrant foul. I really like the drums, sound and playing, but some hits got lost. My first couple listens I really thought the overall balance was heavy left, especially in the low-mids, but my third listen I took more notice of the lower portion of the mandolin, I was only hearing the highs at first. I also like the spread of instruments and the interplay, the walking lead is cool too.

 

[heatmiser]

Hey fat cat

Wow. There is a lot going on here man. It's kind of complex, even for you. It must be a bitch to mix something with so many different sections like this.

Love the bass. Drums are kind of loose, but very cool nonetheless. The kit is a little dull or muted sounding to me maybe. Could use more brightness or bite to it, especially the snare. I wasn't a huge fan of the 1st lead being panned across like that, but the effect was probably more exaggerated in phones, which I'm using now, but typically don't when listening in here. Tremolo guitars sound awesome. Mandolin is nice and sparkly sounding. Vocals are good, but a little uneven in volume over the course of the whole thing.

A very fun track to be sure. Always glad to check out your stuff .

 

[fat_fleet]

Buckets of Cats

I often do the same technique with nonsense lyrics until I can replace them. That usually works when I start with the music though. This time around, I started with a set of lyrics and then built a tune around them - so coming to the conclusion that I don't like at this stage in the game means that they're pretty well embedded and stubborn to shift...

I'll get there eventually - the collab with ray came at a good time to take a break from it.

Yeah, sometimes just walking away from something for awhile gives me a better perspective.. I have so many songs in half-finished states. This was one of 'em.

Just listened, on phones, sounded better each time, I listened thrice. I thought I heard Piano also, and later even chimes, but it was the overtones from the Mando and elec guitars at the end. Funny how that happens sometimes.

Cool, thanks. Yeah, that's one of my favorite things about the mando is how it sound like a piano sometimes.

It's a very good song and I didn't hear the Cats thing until it was pointed out, so no flagrant foul. I really like the drums, sound and playing, but some hits got lost. My first couple listens I really thought the overall balance was heavy left, especially in the low-mids, but my third listen I took more notice of the lower portion of the mandolin, I was only hearing the highs at first. I also like the spread of instruments and the interplay, the walking lead is cool too.

Yeah I think it sounds like it leans left a little because the mando's just not as meaty as the guitars.. but spreading them symmetrically wasn't really working. It just sounded cluttered in the center. I'm trying not to listen to this for a few more day, but when I do, I'll probably take a look at the drums. I put a little compression across the whole kit that could be doing more harm than good.

Hey fat cat

Wow. There is a lot going on here man. It's kind of complex, even for you. It must be a bitch to mix something with so many different sections like this.

Love the bass. Drums are kind of loose, but very cool nonetheless. The kit is a little dull or muted sounding to me maybe. Could use more brightness or bite to it, especially the snare. I wasn't a huge fan of the 1st lead being panned across like that, but the effect was probably more exaggerated in phones, which I'm using now, but typically don't when listening in here. Tremolo guitars sound awesome. Mandolin is nice and sparkly sounding. Vocals are good, but a little uneven in volume over the course of the whole thing.

A very fun track to be sure. Always glad to check out your stuff .

Hey-a heatriser. Yeah, like I told rpm61 I'll probably take a look at the drums when I revisit in a couple days. I'm-a-keepin' that panning on the 1st lead though. I just love that stuff. Thanks for da listen!

 

[rayc]

A couple of days have come & gone - I'm looking forward to the rework..soon maybe?

 

[fat_fleet]

A couple of days have come & gone - I'm looking forward to the rework..soon maybe?

Ray, I posted a few versions.. did you not hear much difference between them?

 

[rayc]

Sorry Erik, looks like I missed them.
I'll trawl back and have a listen.

 

[fat_fleet]

Sorry Erik, looks like I missed them.
I'll trawl back and have a listen.

Don't be sorry, I got a ton of useful feedback from everyone, yourself included!
Working on other stuff ATM.