Latest song - take a listen

  • Thread starter Thread starter leahkim
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Being a sucker for pop melodies (My Specialty)
I thought the song had a good hook to it.

The overall mix sounded a bit muddy to me.
The Classical guitar (?) solo was unexpected and cool.

I won't critique the lyrics, as you said it's a fluffy pop song.

I would have like to have heard the acoustic rhythym guitar up more in the mix.

The vocal talent itself was fine, but t sounded as if it was delivered a little to monotone (Emotionless) for my tastes.

But I love a good pop song, and this was one.

VI
 
Village,
Glad you liked the hook. Hmm.. I am not sure about how to fix the mudiness in the mix -- maybe I need to EQ to bring some highs in? Anyone have suggestions there? Is there anything in particular that sounds muddy?

Yeah, the lyrics were silly. I felt like I needed to be smiling and laughing to bring the right emotion into the song, but I guess I didn't have that mood in me the day I sang it. :)

Thanks for listening! Glad you thought it was a good pop song.

leahkim
 
It was cool...I was not downing "fluffy" lyrics.
I like REM's "Shiny Happy People" for that exact reason.

If you still have control of each original track, then I would sweep up the eq's across the board a bit & see what happens.
And for grins-Maybe try a chorus on the lead vocals, see if it takes on some life.

VI
 
Damn I am so glad you posted this stuff on NWR (I don't listen to anything on mp3.com).

Had some time to browse around and listen today, as my partner is 3 hours late for picking me up...

Great tunes, I especially like 'It's only money'.

Keep up the good work ;)

W.
 
Waldo, thanks for listening. I hadn't really heard much about nwr but I saw other people posting there, so I figured I should check it out. It seems much less complicated to put stuff on there than it is on mp3.com.

Village, I will try the EQ and chorus and see what comes out. Thanks for the suggestions.

leahkim
 
Cool tune, sounds really old fashioned (which is a good thing, i think), kinda like the lovin spoonful or something, one of those groovy songs from the sixties. I didn't notice the muddiness (i'm listening on headphones though), i thought it sounded real clear, maybe too clear, i was thinking a little dirt would sort of be good. I didn't really go for the acapella vocal thing, reminded me kinda of the African influenced Paul Simon, whereas I like the more Feelin Groovy Paul Simon of the sixties (which the rest of the song is sorta like). Another thing, I thought the answer vocal was too loud, or too like the lead vocal, maybe lower the volume a little or pan them a little. Just some thoughts. Overall, good job. What do you record on, btw?

Macle
 
Macle,
That is hilarious -- your thoughts were pretty much right on with mine -- both in that the tune came out like "bubble gum rock" of the 60's (especially with the organ sound) and also with the African influenced Paul Simon!!! It sounded like Lady Black Mambazo or whatever their name was. Not exactly the style of the rest of the song, but I wanted to keep it in there. :)
I was wondering if anyone else thought it sounded "African" during that part, or if I was just crazy.

Well heck, now I don't know if the song sounds muddy or not! I didn't think so on my monitors (I use PS6's) but I don't have enough experience with them yet to translate their sound to how it will sound elsewhere. I also play the songs back through my small computer speakers with subwoofer to get another perspective. Hmmm... what do other people think? Is it muddy? What part exactly?

I record on a Fostex VF08, then I transfer the files over via S/PDIF with an Audiophile 2496 onto the computer to mix (using Sonar), since the VF08 only has 8 tracks and sort of poor effects. I play the mix back through the S/PDIF back through the VF08 and out onto monitors. Sort of a wacky setup, but after buying the monitors and my mics and bass guitar, I don't have any money left to buy a multiple input soundcard like your Paris. Plus, my power supply fan sounds like a helicopter, so it would be hard to record with the computer on!

Thanks for listening, Macle -- I certainly respect your thoughts! By the way, I am hoping to get some songs written in time for my sister-in-law's visit in March -- she is a good singer, so I am hoping to get her to do some backup parts to add some variety to my song style. My wife is so jealous of your girlfriend's voice! She really wants to be able to sing on my songs, but just can't sing on key... her sister is much better at it! ;)
 
Hi leahkim.
Like the take on your handle, btw. :)

It's Only Money has a nice balanced sound.
I'd pump of those vocals a bit, try to give the singer a bit more emotion. Make the listener get involved. You know, sing along, feel what the singer is saying as well as hearing it.

Over all it's really nice.
Easy, laid back sound.
Good job.

I'll check out your other song in a bit. ;)
 
VERY very nice sound going there.. I thought about 3 things
1. muddy snare-sound.
2. organ in the intro was a bit loud
3. main vox too loud aswell.

Otherwise, excellent job.
 
Badgas,
Figured out the handle, eh? ;) I'm not sure that many people have! I appreciate your comments. I do feel like I can improve on my vocal emotion; I think I wind up concentrating so much on hitting the notes and pronouncing the words that I get a bit too "clinical" when I sing. Another problem is that when I do my vocals (actually, when I do all my recording!) it's very late at night after my wife and daughter have gone to sleep (and it's quiet in the house!) I think I'm a bit too tired to get more feeling into my voice! Thanks for listening.

Meshuggah,
I have been playing around with the levels in the song a bit, I think I have taken down the main vocal just a bit (after all the tweaking I've done, it may actually wind up louder! who remembers...) I will take another listen to the snare sound. I know I have an effect on the snare, maybe I will take it down a notch. Thanks for the comments!

leahkim
 
Very Solid. It is a little muddy sounding for me also. I think it's the cymbals. Is that a drum machine? There might be a little too much reverb on the instruments all around. That will make it muddy also.

But overall very cool. Nice vocals. Catchy melody.
 
I hear the Mudd too. But to me it sounds like it is the drums, the hi-hat cuts through, but the snare sounds yucky. (Technical term). I think the drums are the problem though. I enjoy your vocals cause dog gon it they are on. I have been cursed with perfect pitch to the point that it interferes and often turn my head from side to side like a beagle in an attempt to make the bad go away. Thanks for the relief.

Fangar
 
TexRoadkill,
Actually, the drums are from a free soundfont file I got off the net (it was recommended in one of the posts somewhere on this BBS...) but I added some effects to the snare and kick. The cymbals are also from the same soundfont.

Fangar,
Sounds like a majority is starting to agree that the snare and/or all drums need tweaking. I will go back and listen carefully to that drum track again and see if I can scoop out the yuckiness. I appreciate the vocal compliment!

I started looking around the net some more for ideas on getting better drum sounds, and I found something called Discrete Drums that is a bunch of CD's of multitracked drums. I can't afford the $200 bucks for it right now, but I might look into it down the road for my drums sounds. I'm just always a bit scared of using loops since I feel locked in, but at the same time, it seems to have a wide variety from their website.

Thanks for the comments.
 
I tried

to listen but it said the media server was offline...

ill try again later..
 
leahkim said:
I started looking around the net some more for ideas on getting better drum sounds, and I found something called Discrete Drums that is a bunch of CD's of multitracked drums. I can't afford the $200 bucks for it right now, but I might look into it down the road for my drums sounds. I'm just always a bit scared of using loops since I feel locked in, but at the same time, it seems to have a wide variety from their website.

Thanks for the comments.
Click to expand...

Look into Acid. You can get the top of the line pro 3.0 version for about 199.00 or less. Then you would not be locked in with the loops. You can drag drop, cut paste and create from scratch. I love it. I play drums a bit, but can compose way better than I can play. Also, the Sounds are real samples. Zillions of snares available along with every other sound in the world.

Fangar
 
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