New Rock song by Leeking!

where to start?..sheesh..songwriting...pop/rock genre...very nice effort here man. You've got good clean verse structure with a semi strong hook..gtr solo to hook..all is good there..now..vocals..like tube said...too far out front...listen man, you're not a gr8 singer (yet), so here's what I think you should do about vocals...take them down..too up front...place them deeper in the mix..BUT...try doubling and maybe even tripleing the vocal. Either with 3 seperate tracks..try that 1st...or with software. Next...the guitar sound....sucks man...sounds like a cheap pedal or lousy preset rack unit. Find some balls somewhere....I'd suggest a mesa boogie....but....take some of the highs off....makes it too thin...try using 2 mics on the amp if you're not going direct...and if you are...try EQing the piss out of it....I liked the bass...bring the guitar level up to where the bass is....drums....too dry for me...snare needs some reverb, and, more pop. more use of cymbal crashes too. gl
 
Thanks! Good comments so far.... I think I lowcut my guitar a little too far... will try some EQing....
 
Hi Leeking!
Its been a long time.:)

I'm not sure if I had ever heard any of your stuff. Try doubling your guitar and scoop the mids out of one of the tracks and leave them in on the other one. Also think of layering your guitars like you have the vocals layered on "You are my love". I liked the vocal sound you had on that, so now try the same thing on your guitars. :)

Keep working on it, you'll get it!

take care,
H2H

ps, my cousin and her family who were doing mission work in malaysia are now working in Beijing.
 
Hi H2H,

Long time indeed. :) I think this is the first comment I ever received from you on my songs. :)

Glad you checked it out and thanks for the comments.

Let me know next time when you have friends coming to M'sia for mission work, especially Penang island. :)

Ever consider coming here for a tour? :)
 
Hi Leeking :)

Groovy song of yours, bro' :) Simple beat, yet groovy :) Simple melody, yet very enjoyable... :) Anyway, I agree with H2H. Try layering guitar part L & R. I dunno, but GNR's Appetite For Destruction came across my mind as good reference to hear. In addition to those above, I think Bass part sounds too boomy. Great vox and guitar performance. Very expresive. I'll be glad to wait for it's re-mix :)

;)
Jaymz
 
Thanks James, I was hoping your response. :)

I was hoping to get one kicking guitar track then having to layer them ( I have the impression that's how the pros do it) :)

But I'll try the layering suggestions.

Thanks again!
 
Just an fyi about the pros ;)

The last top 40 record I worked on (last year) averaged 10-16 guitar tracks per song.


H2H
 
The vocal sound is very good. Well done, it's where so many people go wrong. You've got FAR too little bass end on the guitar - I know the type of sound you've gone for but it's not necessary to roll of that much bass! Also double track it.

Panning - there isn't any. It all sounds pretty much dead centre apart from the solo. Address this.

Levels - not too bad. Keep the vocals in check with some compression. The guitars need to be fuller and more present as someone already said. Double tracking and adjustment of the original guitar sound should help. Pan a little each way.

Drums - too far in the background. You should be tapping your toes to this kind of music. I wasn't doing that because the kick and snare weren't present enough. Bring them forward a little. Bit more weight on the kick is needed.

Bass - send it back in the mix a little. Lower the levels slightly. Could do with a better, fuller bass sound but I am guessing it was a DI'd bass so what can you do... Maybe adjust the tone controls on the bass itself if it has any?

It's a catchy, poppy song. Pretty good work.
 
Great comments Alchemist, good ears! :)

Guitar: Agree, I low cut it at 200Hz.... a little too much perhaps.... :)

Panning: Did not put too much effort in this... :p

Bass: this is the best bass track I have gotten from my cheapo bass so far.... will experiment more. :)

Thanks again!
 
Hey dude.

When I hear this tune I think "live" and I think "punk-pop".

So ...... you might consider trying having the music tracks playing through your stereo ...... really loudly ..... and then sing the vocal along with the "live" music ....... try it with out the headphones .... or one ear ....so you have to really push.
You'll prolly have to use the PA appraoch and put the speakers closer together and try to point the back of the mic so the null spot keeps the speakers from overpowering the vox but let it bleed.
A little bleed cant kill ya...... much.

Or just play the whole mix through your amp and mic it in the room some where and then combine the two.

The main thing that I hear lacking is dynamics.

It sounds like you used a drum machine..... yes.
Can you edit or shape individual hits????

If so, try bumping up the volume of the downbeat consideraby at the beginning of each chorus... or even every phrase.
Real drummmers do not hit every hit with the same volume and intensity.

If you are using software you may be able to use volume envelopes on the tracks.
You could even double (a la re-inforce) those specific down beat hits with just a kick hit. ....... you have to be dead on with the timing though.

I see from your pics that you have a small amp.
Do you have a different mic from the one pictured???
Like a kareoke mic or a cheap Radio Shack jobber.
Try micing the amp fairly loudly with one of those.

Try running the amp with a little more low end and record the guitar. Then take the recorded track and run it back through the amp and screw with the amp settings until you find a texture that beefs up the 1st tone and record that.

Do this until you have a number of different guitar texures and put the one you like and give more body to the song. Throw the rest away.

I dont neccessarily think rolling off 200 and below (perhaps a little more gently) on the guitars is the biggest tone killer, as opposed to the amp sound, but if you're gonna do it like that you kinda need to have some real bottom from the bass.
If you have a crossover (or plugin) you can slit the bass signal into high and low frequencies and then compress the low end a lot and give ample make up gain and then keep the high end more dynamic.
Scoop a little out somewhere between 300 and 500hx and maybe give a nudge up in the 800 range.

Maybe a little reverb on the vox or about 15-20 milliseconds of delay.
If you have a delay that you can EQ the effect return then you should roll off some high end to avoid getting some robot effects.

Nice tune.
Great attitude.

Sounds like your having fun.

-mike
 
Hi FZ,

Thanks for taking the time to make these comments. Appreciated. :)

I am not that familiar with puck-rock/low-fi kinda production.... but will try out your suggestion when time permits. :)

yup, drum is programmed. Will do some tweaking on the dynamics... I PLAY drums afterall... :)

Yup, had fun doing it... did not take me much time from written to recording... the vox track is actually a guide, but what the heck! ;)
 
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