My Goal: To Bring Back The 70's Space Concept Album...

very good. a brit feel in the drums and vocals. This is a new feel to new times. I liked all the instrument mix and vocals. slight pitchiness in one of the backgrd vox but it works . The ending was cool, I'd like to here it vamp the ending vocals and music till it falls over the horizon.
 
WOw, I really find a lot of similarities between this tune and my writing style. I can totally see some FLoyd git playing in this one. I think your vocal sounds just fine, except for a few flat notes, but really, it fits this song perfectly IMO. This is really great, I agree on the comment about Beatles covering Pink FLoyd :) Love'em!!

The chord changes can be a little less poppy in my opinion, but the synth already gives this song that space feeling.

Great job!!!

Al
 
Jimistone - :D

Sluice - Thanks man! I agree that the eq is pretty off on this one. I don't have any proper monitors to mix on, so it is kind of a guessing game...but this feedback really helps. The drums are actually real this time around recorded using five mics, but I just got the mics and the drums and learning how to record them is a challenge that I am still trying to get. Thanks for listening! :D

Toki -- Thanks! I am still working on the ending. I actually had a few ideas for this and I haven't decided yet what I'm going to go with. I guess it depends on the next song in the running order. Thanks for taking a listen! :D

A1A2 - Haha, I guess the Floyd comparison is gonna' be there. I've been listening to Animals a lot lately (I love that album) ... Pop is really where my heart lies (Beatles, Beach Boys, that type of Pop)...Thanks for listening! :)

My good friend Pete (Muzeman) put a lead guitar track on this that I really like (he just sent me the link out of the blue -- Thanks Pete!)

If anyone is interested, it is the first song on his site. I really like the track and it kind of brings the song more to life for me.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1317&alid=-1

Thanks again everyone! :D
 
Damn this reminds me of the monkees. Also a bit of Tripping Daisy, and that's all good!

Yeah Tripping Daisy!!!! Cool stuff!!!

I'm working on a concept album myself, boydman! It's actually finally nearing completion after going on three years of working on it! The nature of personality is looked at in this 14 song monster.

The hardest thing I've had to deal with through this is remaining focused. It's natural to come up with songs that may not fit in with the concept, and it's been hard to set them aside to keep going on the big concept.

Keep up the good work!
 
Real nice song. The instrument selection was ambitious (isn't supposed to be on a concept album?). But the parts worked real well together. Great arrangement IMO. Those keyboard parts in the intro were incredible.

That bass thumped through real hard. I'm listening on small headphones, so I'm wondering if it's too much on a bigger system. This is especially so in the intro - kind of a "thuddy" sound. It's a real cool bass part BTW.

Some pitchiness in the vocals, especially on some of those harmonies. It would be very cool if you introduced harmonies in the middle of the first verse - on the line "From the start, I have known my mission..."

As long as you're "going big" with this song, some heavier reverb might work well.

There's a good 10 seconds of silence at the end that could probably be snipped off.
 
boydrj said:
The drums are actually real this time around recorded using five mics, but I just got the mics and the drums and learning how to record them is a challenge that I am still trying to get.
Click to expand...


ahhhh yes. Nice man. Well, I'd have to say you're well on your way then! Cheers.

Tom
 
Rats -- Concept albums rule! I would love to check yours out when you are done. I can totally understand how it would take so long to complete. I've already written a few tunes that I know are not going to fit...It is definitely a challenge! BTW -- I love the Monkees (I have all of their albums, even "Changes", probably the least known from them) and I dig Tripping Daisy as well. Thanks for checking this one out!

TripleM -- Thanks! I agree with some of the issues you've pointed out. I was going for some heavy verb on this, but maybe it needs just a tad more... :)

Sluice -- Thanks man! :D
 
Really, really nice composition. Arrangement is cool...

This does have the Brit invasion flavor to it, doesn't it? Kinda Sargeant Pepper... kinda Floyd...

Mixwise/recordingwise, I'm noticing some harshness in the voc trax, but esp. the snare drum... somewhere between 3k-7k

I'd do some mic placement experiments on your drums for better quality... it sounds like the capsule was off-axis by quite a bit on the snare mic, or just general bad mic placement.

Nice efforts and song!!
 
Thanks Participant. This was actually my first attempt to ever mic and record a drum set. I usually just use pads, so this was a real challenge. I used a five mic set up, and kind of took my que from a post in the drum clinic (there is a post in there about a three-mic set up that I used) and I kind of liked the way this came out, but wasn't really too happy with it. It sounds better with the all of the other tracks complementing it than it does on its own. I added compression and reverb, but it still doesn't sound right. I just let it go so I could get something down.

I am definitely going to go back and re-track the drums. Unfortunately I work in analog, so it means I literally need to go back and re-track just about the entire song (someday I will need to go digital ... when the funds are there)

Thanks for your feedback, man!

I think it is time to let this thread die. I have a lot of work to do on this. Thanks to everyone who responded.

:D
 
Listening to Taking Off as I write this. Intro is cool, I like the way the drums are sounding and the keys are right on. Nice transition from the intro to the first verse. Good harmony put in the right places. A little like Bowie (major Tom), and early Pink Floyd.
I also must compliment you on your goal to do the concept approach.
 
How'd you do that great big slappy hit at the beginning? - it's delicious.

This is like a trip in a time machine - I was listening to stuff something like this 30 years ago. :)

I like the overall sound. Here are some things to try out and see what result you get: cut the drums a bit (as for the drum part itself - I'd really like to hear the drums come in right from the get go with 'Taking off...' Pan that chirpy keyboard sound a bit farther right - it seems to crowd the vocal a bit. The falsetto backing vocals are the weak link in the whole thing - intonation problems. I tell you what - recently I struggled and struggled take after take trying to get a three-part falsetto harmony to work. In the end, it still didn't work. I scrapped it. Some doors just don't open LOL. Maybe you can make it work, or maybe you'll need to get some help. In my case, I need help LOL.

You doing just one song at a time, or do you have the whole album written?
 
I agree it has a very brit feel to it, but I wouldn't really put it in the floyd realm.... somewhere between bowie and the beatles but even that doesn't really describe it well.

You mentioned it's a sketch, but I thought it was all very solid save a few vocal cleanups in pitch.

Good stuff!
 
Well, I was going to let this thread die, but ...

Reaper -- Thanks! The concept approach is something I've always wanted to do. It may take awhile, but it is great to have something in mind when I sit down to write. It is kind of a double-edged sword -- I have a built in subject, but I have to say something that I haven't said before, so it is a challenge. Thanks for checking this out!

Dobro -- Thanks for your suggestions. I'm printing this thread out and a lot of the suggestions I have are going to be very useful. I hear you about the high pitched bg. vocals. I can always hear them in my head, but my range is pretty limited, so I do take after take until I get something close, but I need to keep trying until I can nail it. I am kind of writing songs as I record to give it some kind of continuity. I've written this song and started on two others that I need to get down to see how they flow. I also run into the problem of writing a song and then not having it fit (I've written another song that just does not fit at all) ... Thanks for taking a listen, and send me a PM when your new CD is ready :D

Bass Master -- I have so many different influences, they all kind of run into each other. Beatles, Bowie, Floyd, I love them all...Thanks for taking the time to listen! :D

I'll pm anyone else who takes a listen. I'm going to let this thread die (really) now.

:D
 
You can't let it die now - I just got here!!!:D

Actually d/l'd last night, but then our power went out - and we're not even near the coast.

This is excellent - even without hearing the lyrics, you can tell it's a space song - kinda Major Tom and Silent Running and 60's Floyd all tossed together. And the lyrics are great.

A few thoughts - keep your lead voc - I love it as it is. But maybe get someone else to sing background - they're off, and it's problematic. They're also too upfront in spots. Maybe mike em with a small diaphragm and some more distance???

I'd either make the intro shorter, or make it build more slowly - you kinda need some tension to make people think something else is coming - I started thinking we were just gonna hear a happy little synth jam.

Your drums sound like they're in a different space from everything else - I like their sound, but the mix is missing that sense of unification you can get. Dunno how to fix - the "masters" have already chimed in and didn't mention it - so maybe I'm wrong.

But it's a great piece of writing, and you did a good job of getting your idea to mp3. Just some tweaks, and you got it. Excellent work!

Daf
 
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