New Jongleurs tune - Gravity (Like A Spaceman)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Armistice
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Armistice

Armistice

Son of Yoda
So this is the first recording I've done of my band The Jongleurs on a completely new system, since ditching the old standalone and moving to Reaper, interface, PC and new monitors - so it's all a bit foreign to me still!

Going from a 16 track to an unlimited track system is a real temptation so there's a bit more of everything than I usually fit into a tune. Not too many acoustic guitars for those a-feared of the deadly instrument...:D

My paean to space travel...

Interested in any and all mix feedback as I don't really have a reference point with the new gear yet....

Thanks dudes. :guitar::D

Gravity (Like A Spaceman) - The Jongleurs



GRAVITY (LIKE A SPACEMAN)
When I was eight, I told my friends
By the time I was twenty-one
We'd be living on a different planet
And wouldn't that be fun?
We would all have jet packs, and laser guns
And be spinning round a different sun

Well I wasn't much good at physics at school
That's still the case today
I was born on this pale blue dot
Looks like I'm here to stay
But I would give almost anything
To shoot away
On a joyride through the great Milky Way

I wanna go high, high, high like a spaceman
To a planet in a distant galaxy
Can you tell me why I'm still grounded
By this cruel force of gravity?
Gravity, gravity, gravity

I wanna go to Jupiter
On a great silver rocket ship
Out to the planets and then beyond
On a life time one way trip
And if I had a TARDIS
Through space and time I'd slip
It's like living in my own comic strip

I wanna go high, high, high like a spaceman
To a planet in a distant galaxy
Can you tell me why I'm still grounded
By this cruel force of gravity?
I wanna go high, high, high like a spaceman
To a planet in a distant galaxy
Can you tell me why I'm still grounded
By this cruel force of gravity?
Gravity, gravity
Gravity, gravity
Gravity, gravity
 
GREAT intro.
Once that's done the bass seems to lose some definition for a little while.
I like the niave lyric except for the 1st line of the chorus. I mean it fits the general theme etc but it and the pronounciation of gravity as gravidy don't really work for me. Harry Nilsson got away with "spaceman" in the song of that name buut I think the high added to it is the problem for me.
You panning & delays are terrific, the instrument tones are good too.
There's a solid touch of Argus era Wishbone Ash in the song up to the end of the intro guitar solo. That's a cool thing to me.
You ought to give into temptation and add a few electric guitars and do a spacerock mix as well.
As this stands the instrumentation is just right as it echoes Space Oddity.
 
I really like this. Been playing along to those nice easy changes. I like the way the changes climb during the chorus.

I think you will have to channel Mr Newton to answer your question though.

Nice work.
 
Great stuff! Man, your production is perfect to my ears. Beautiful performance. I'm amazed and inspired! This one goes to my mp3-player for mountain hikes.
 
rayc said:
GREAT intro.
Once that's done the bass seems to lose some definition for a little while.
I like the niave lyric except for the 1st line of the chorus. I mean it fits the general theme etc but it and the pronounciation of gravity as gravidy don't really work for me. Harry Nilsson got away with "spaceman" in the song of that name buut I think the high added to it is the problem for me.
You panning & delays are terrific, the instrument tones are good too.
There's a solid touch of Argus era Wishbone Ash in the song up to the end of the intro guitar solo. That's a cool thing to me.
You ought to give into temptation and add a few electric guitars and do a spacerock mix as well.
As this stands the instrumentation is just right as it echoes Space Oddity.
Click to expand...
Thanks ray.. Wishbone Ash? Heard of them, but never actually heard them! I'll check them out...
 
Manslick said:
I really like this. Been playing along to those nice easy changes. I like the way the changes climb during the chorus.

I think you will have to channel Mr Newton to answer your question though.

Nice work.
Click to expand...

Thanks Manslick.... don't forget that A chord has got a 6th added in as well, as I tend to do! Cheers...:D
 
dainbramage said:
Great stuff! Man, your production is perfect to my ears. Beautiful performance. I'm amazed and inspired! This one goes to my mp3-player for mountain hikes.
Click to expand...

Hi dain... thanks for the rap... I hope it sounds good, I'm a bit unsure with this new system. It's our "sing along song" when we play live... mind you it sounds completely different with just two acoustic guitars and voices... :thumbs up:
 
Love the nice clean guitar tones on the intro melody. What did you use?
 
ibleedburgundy said:
Love the nice clean guitar tones on the intro melody. What did you use?
Click to expand...

Thanks IBB - I've got a "strat" made by a Swiss company called Levinson... he's taken the strat shape / style and added his own twists - pickup config is the same, although they're his own pickups - think this was the neck pick up on its own. It's played through a Laney 30W tube amp, SM57 on the grill, and I think I may have roughed it up just a bit with Ruby Tube plug in, from memory.
 
I like this one!

I like the use of harmonies and the sudden emergence of extra vocal lines on important bits.

My critiques would be:
"physics at school" was a tad buried
During the chorus, all I can hear of the acoustics is string noise.
Reading through the lyrics, I cringed a bit at "Through space and time I'd slip" (bad sentence structure!), but I didn't really notice when it came up in the song.

I really identify with the melancholy of "why haven't we friggen' colonized other planets yet?"
 
Great song, and I love the topic of the song. I have been a space and sci fi nut since I was a little kid. I have a soft spot for songs about space and related subjects. Balance is good, vocals are spot on and the harmonies are great. For me this is music at its best.
 
Killer chorus on this really grabs you. Really pretty melodies. Wish I could give you some mix feedback but I don't have any, sounds just fine as it is. Quality composition, got a bit of a Starman feel to it. I enjoyed this a lot. You and your band did a good job
 
VomitHatSteve said:
I like this one!

I like the use of harmonies and the sudden emergence of extra vocal lines on important bits.

My critiques would be:
"physics at school" was a tad buried
During the chorus, all I can hear of the acoustics is string noise.
Reading through the lyrics, I cringed a bit at "Through space and time I'd slip" (bad sentence structure!), but I didn't really notice when it came up in the song.

I really identify with the melancholy of "why haven't we friggen' colonized other planets yet?"
Click to expand...

LOL, yeah I normally hate sentences like the one I stuck in this song too... I'm always on people about putting the verb at the end... but I sort of got used to it early and couldn't think of anything else, so now I'm stuck with it! I'll have a listen to the acoustics in the chorus, I have a second mic of each I may bring up a little. Thanks for listening!
 
Illsidgus said:
Great song, and I love the topic of the song. I have been a space and sci fi nut since I was a little kid. I have a soft spot for songs about space and related subjects. Balance is good, vocals are spot on and the harmonies are great. For me this is music at its best.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. Glad you liked it. Spent an eternity automating volume envelopes on the vocal tracks... soooo many of the damn things, but sounds wicked in "acapella" mode! Cheers :D
 
Bulls Hit said:
Killer chorus on this really grabs you. Really pretty melodies. Wish I could give you some mix feedback but I don't have any, sounds just fine as it is. Quality composition, got a bit of a Starman feel to it. I enjoyed this a lot. You and your band did a good job
Click to expand...

Thanks Bulls... glad to know it's sounding balanced... that's the bit I'm uncertain about.. it sounds good to me but I'm used to having to fight more with frequencies on my crappy old Behringer monitors which I've now replaced with Dynaudios... makes life much easier!

Cheers :D
 
Illsidgus said:
Great song, and I love the topic of the song. I have been a space and sci fi nut since I was a little kid. I have a soft spot for songs about space and related subjects.
Click to expand...

I'm of this ^^^^^ opinion and this song is my perfect cup of meat. Love anything to do with space. I have a song written myself called Spaceman, yet to be recorded.

I really like this.....a job very well done to my ear. Very pleasant groove, performance and production. Nothing sounds out of place to me.

Well done mate. Look forward to hearing some more stuff from you.
 
Mr Clean said:
I'm of this ^^^^^ opinion and this song is my perfect cup of meat. Love anything to do with space. I have a song written myself called Spaceman, yet to be recorded.

I really like this.....a job very well done to my ear. Very pleasant groove, performance and production. Nothing sounds out of place to me.

Well done mate. Look forward to hearing some more stuff from you.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mr Clean! And also for your various bits of Reaper advice during the process... Cheers :thumbs up:
 
Sounds good. I dig the harmonies during the chorus.

My subjective input - I thought the lead guitar in the center seemed a little hot, especially during the intro. If you added a touch more of a big room to the vox to make them a little more "spacey" how would it sound? I think if just a bit more was added it could add more ambiance to fit the theme - but too much would make it sound like space mud.

Overall, great job and kudos for the Time and Relative Dimension in Space reference.
 
Thanks DV...

There's already a fair bit of 'verb on the vocal tracks but I'll up it a bit more and have a listen and see what happens... and I'll also listen again to the intro/lead bit.

Cheers:thumbs up:
 
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