New Guitar indie-pop songs. Opinions are welcome

  • Thread starter Thread starter fossil jr
  • Start date Start date
F

fossil jr

New member
Hi, guys:

I´ve just uploaded at www.mp3.com/moitoh some guitar indie-pop tunes recorded and performed by myself.
I´d really appreciate any opinion about

songs (composition)...

songs performing (guitar and vocals)...

mixes...

recording quality....


or anything that you´ll want to tell me.

Thank you very much for your time.

_______________________________________
The basic equipment used was:

Roland VS 840GX recorder
Hughes&Kettner Tubeman Guitar Preamp
ZOOM 234 rythmbox
Epiphone Les Paul Custom
Yamaha APX-A4
Talmus Bass
...and some more
 
Strong song.

I wish I could grade the recording but I'm listening through only 1 speaker (left).
 
Man, you can't expect anyone to listen to all your songs and give all that info. List a song at a time and ask about that only. You will get way more responses that way. I don't have time to be your everything consultant.
And it wouldn't hurt to do a few reviews before you expect complete attention.
 
im listening to comalong...

im listening in lo-fi...and the vocals are so low i cant even make them out...?...the rest sounds pretty good mix wise....the bass is pretty dominant. tho. song structure is cool...man i would like to give you feedback on the lyrics...but they are waaaay too low....it sounds in tune and such.....maybe its just my system....you try it on lo-fi and see if you can make it out???


jamal
 
comalong: Vocs are way too low, but otherwise the mix sounds reasonable. I don't hear much kick drum, but I guess that's not a big thing with the jangly indie-pop sound.
 
I listened to Comealong...

Nice feel to the song - it's a style that I like. Nice sounding bass. Kind of a long intro...

Did I hear an out of tune guit?

The vocals are too far back in the mix. Bring'em up. Sounded like some pitch issues here and there in the vox. The lead at 2:13 was way too harsh sounding. However, the part complimented the song well. Other than the tone, I liked it.

Just my thoughts...
 
Hey Fossil-

It certainly seems we have the same influences, so I thought I might share a bit-

Comalong- As stated, the vocals are really way too low. You lucked out in the timbre of your voice- it really fits the style (I wasn't so lucky), so crank it up and share it with us. The drums sound almost real, except that crash cymbal that seems almost completely over to the left. Im listenin with headphones, but it sounds incredibly unatural.

SpaceFog- nice recording, might work as a secret track or something, but it doesn't hold my attention much....

Space Head- Drums sound more real, but the panning is still a bit wild. Do you have any guitars with single-coil pickups- I think an 'in-between' single-coil sound will sound much rounder and complement the tune better (like Barcelona or Imperial Teen)

Rock On!
 
I took a listen Memory Loss.

Pretty decent song. The overall vibe to the song is ok.

Clipping on this as well. For example, listen to 1:27-1:32. You'll hear a staticy sound - at least I do. It happens in other spots as well. I'm not sure about the changeup at 1:05. When the rhythm guit drops off, the dynamics seem to change too much - or at least not in the right way.

Vox could be brought up on this one too. I would also definitely double track them. Or triple or quad them. It would add a nice touch. The singer seems to have a bit of a problem handling some of the notes, for example the section around 1:02 or around 2:25-2:35. Maybe a few takes while concentrating on that would smooth them up.

My thoughts.... Trip.
 
THANKS A LOT TO EVERYONE WHO ANSWERED HERE¡¡

First of all, I have to say that jake-owa is right. I should be more simple about the feedback I asked for. So, instead of starting a new thread, I´ll give some links for you to listen directly to my friends´ favourite songs:

"No Better End" (kind of punkish-indie-pop)
http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2723/2723467.html
"Space HEad" (maybe the clearest sound and mix)
http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2680/2680812.html
"This is 4 U" (the most complete song)
http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2721/2721100.html


I didn´t want to say that you guys will listen to ALL of my tunes - only one or two was more than enough for me. Sorry, I´ve been misunderstood. :(
Another thing is that I should send some reviews before asking for feedback. I posted some reviews a time ago with another log. You can be sure that I´ll post more from now. :)

Now, to anyone who post an opinion:

I agree with the ones who say that comalon has very low vocals. That was my intention in the beggining, but I found myself going too far in burying my voice in the mix. I had some troubles during mixing that explains this thing. Anyway, what I like most in this song was a raw and fresh feel as well as the chorus. This was the first song I ever recorded¡¡


TripleM -- I totally agree with your comments about "comalong". Thank you very much for your support ..and which was the song you mentioned in your 2nd post (memory loss??) what do you mean ? (By the way, I don´t know if there´s an out of tune guitar, but for sure there is an out of tune voice (mine) ;)

Chrisjob --- I like to hear that we can have the same influences. People say that they notice this bands´influences in my tunes dinosaur jr, pixies, teenage fanclub and more . I just don´t know. I´m glad you liked my voice - cause I don´t :) and I have to agree with you about the cymblas sound -- it was vVERY loud and harshy(I think I controlled it for the latest songs I recorded).For spacehead: I only have that electric guit I mentioned, but maybe you´re right - I could bring some different texture to the song with changing sound type of my guitar - via FX or preamp or coil positionning.You have to let me know about your recordings too and will talk about them¡¡

Again, thanks to everyone.

Juan
 
fossil jr said:

TripleM -- ..and which was the song you mentioned in your 2nd post (memory loss??) what do you mean ?
Juan
Click to expand...

Yes it was memory loss. You had a question about what I meant. I spoke about a couple of things so I'm not exactly sure which one you're referring to.

I'm going to take a guess that it was the "double tracking" comment. What I meant was record 2-4 lead vocal tracks. You need to pay attention to syncing issues when you do this, but it gives the vox a nice full sound. I personally really like the effect. And on this style of music it would be a significant enhancement IMO.
 
TripleM said:
I took a listen Memory Loss.

Pretty decent song. The overall vibe to the song is ok.

Clipping on this as well. For example, listen to 1:27-1:32. You'll hear a staticy sound - at least I do. It happens in other spots as well. I'm not sure about the changeup at 1:05. When the rhythm guit drops off, the dynamics seem to change too much - or at least not in the right way.

Vox could be brought up on this one too. I would also definitely double track them. Or triple or quad them. It would add a nice touch. The singer seems to have a bit of a problem handling some of the notes, for example the section around 1:02 or around 2:25-2:35. Maybe a few takes while concentrating on that would smooth them up.

My thoughts.... Trip.
Click to expand...

Trip, I´ve been re-listening to some songs of mine but I can´t find which song you did listen to. The timing points I can´t find them in any corresponding song.
I´d appreciate that you´ll post the title of the tune for I can check it out and improve it with the help of your advices.

Thanks, Trip
 
My goof. I got your tune mixed up with another band's tune. Disregard everything after my first response.

Sorry.
 
"Comalong"

Better Than Ezra? Maybe ;)

Mix problem? Crash cymbal and snare cloud things up in the intro... crash (in general) sounds bad... snare sounds bad...

Bass isn't bad... guitars are o.k., but low in the mix... Vox should come up in the mix too...

The chord progression reminds me of "Black Metallic"... the sound is similar to "The Cure" crossed with Better than Ezra...

It's a nice song... but the out of tune-ness, the badly mic'ed drumset, and panning confusion should be fixed...

If you can get yourself a great DRUM recording, the rest is all downhill from there (... meaning "easier")


Take care
 
Mr. participant, you´re right ¡¡

Crash and snare sound specially bad in this tune cause this was the first recording I made and I didn´t have control with my Roland Vs recorder (in fact, I haven´t yet :) ) and also my drum set is a ZOOM rythmtrack so ... it´ll never sound like a real drum but in the latest recordings I think I made it sound a lot better. You can take a listen to "Spacehead" , for example, http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2680/2680812.html


During the recording of "Comalong", as I was an absolute begginer, I had troubles with the tracking : I recorded rythm guitar (Tr. 1) and lead vocals (Tr.2) at the same time and I made a mistake so I got both mixed in the same track --> Tr.1=rythm guitar + vox, Tr.2=rythm guit + vox

GREAT mistake indeed, :( but I didn´t realize until the end of the recording so I couldn´t go back nor re-do. So I lost control of that instruments as I got them linked in the same track. I did some arrangemets but I obviously couldn´t fix the problem.

Anyway I kept that tune recorded and I decided to upload it cause I think it is a cool tune. MAybe someday I´ll re-record it from the beggining.

________

The chord progression reminds me of "Black Metallic"... the sound is similar to "The Cure" crossed with Better than Ezra...
__________

I did never listen to better than ezra til this moment - they seem to be a great pop band ¡¡ and I´m glad you compare my tune to this band and the cure :) :)
About Black Metallic .. I didn´t heard about it

Bye
and thanks for your participation, participant
;)
 
Hey... signing in here during work... (on a quick break I shouldn't be taking :D)

"Black Metallic" is a song by Catherine Wheel... pretty cool toon
 
Fossil...your mixes are everthing that they should be for this genre. Anybody that disagrees should listen to Pavement, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, or any other indie rock.

Right on, Fossil. My kinda shit. If we lived closer to each other, we would make a damn good team. But alas, you are in Spain, and I'm in Nashville, Tennessee. Boo.

Darth
 
I listened to "Big Disgrace," and it wasn't. A disgrace, that is.

I'd have liked the acoustics to be mic'd, but the DI'd acoustics make for a kind of a nice low level bed...not abrasive at all...I just like natural.

The song's cool.
 
thank you, guys :)

chris :

I´m very glad you like the tune (Big Disgrace).
In fact, the acoustic guitar was recorded both ways: direct to digital recorder and mic´ed to that recorder. While I was playing i had a mic over the hole of my acoustic YAMAHA and also I had a cable to my recorder. Then, when recording the same sound in both ways I got a very full and warmer sound - in my opinion.
Maybe that was what you liked.

And, yes, I used these acoustic tracks as a "bed" for the rest of the tracks. There is a slight electric guitar too, playing chord during most of the song. I like things giong natural , too :)

darth:

your comments are very pleasing (is this the word??- I don´t know) to me, thank you ¡
I think that indie-rock bands may have influenced my mixing taste, though I´m not conscious of it: Pavement, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, Teenage Fanclub, Gigolo Aunts are some of my favourite bands.
We live miles away but in the net we are side by side - ouch¡¡ what a phrase¡¡ this could be in a ENrique Iglesias´ song. :D


regards from spain
regards from A Coruna - we are SO SAD here, since Nov. 13 :(
We had the boat "Prestige" sunk here, very near from my home - it carried 77.000 tons. of petroleum.
It is ever worst than the Exxon Valdez in Alaska¡¡¡

:(

Maybe I´ll start a new thread in another forum if anyone´s interested in this ecological disaster.
 
fossil jr said:
I´d really appreciate any opinion about

mixes...

recording quality....
Click to expand...

Fossil...your mixes are everthing that they should be for this genre. Anybody that disagrees should listen to Pavement, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, or any other indie rock.
Click to expand...

Not to piss on the thread, man... but this forum is about opinion. Ask and ye shall receive ;)

All that matters is that you're happy with your work :)


Chad
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top