New Song New Mix: Killing Time

[arcadeko]

It's been a while - finally got this put together today. Probably want to change it tomorrow anyway I would appreciate a listen and any comments.


Muchos Gracias in Advanceo

 

[VomitHatSteve]

That's some interesting delay you have on the vox.

The vox are a little pitchy throughout.

Mix sounds pretty good though.

 

[atticproject]

mix is good, i like the vocal delay you have going here

 

[Greg_L]

You've got some booming sub frequencies happening in the kick. I suspect it would overload something like a car or home stereo system. Bass has a really nice growl to it. I'm not liking the vocal effect and the vocal performance is really pitchy. Sing it better and get em out front more. Guitar sounds pretty cool. The abrupt ending sounds like an I-give-up afterthought. Not too bad overall, but keep working with it.

 

[arcadeko]

mix is good, i like the vocal delay you have going here

- Thanks for the listen attic

That's some interesting delay you have on the vox.
The vox are a little pitchy throughout.
Mix sounds pretty good though.

Thanks for the listen Steve - I have an ongoing problem with pitchy vocals - any suggestions on how I might be able to work on improving my pitch?

You've got some booming sub frequencies happening in the kick. I suspect it would overload something like a car or home stereo system. Bass has a really nice growl to it. I'm not liking the vocal effect and the vocal performance is really pitchy. Sing it better and get em out front more. Guitar sounds pretty cool. The abrupt ending sounds like an I-give-up afterthought. Not too bad overall, but keep working with it.

Thanks for the feedback Greg. Is that like under 60 or under 100 on the bass drum? Think subtle EQ would fix it or maybe a high pass filter? I will run spectrum on it. the pitch thing is f*ing driving me crazy - I need to come up with some way to improve my pitch. I am going to write anew ending for it.



- Maybe playing the vocal melody on guitar and then singing along with that a few times would help me get the pitch right?

I have a hard time hearing the pitch problems - are they pretty much throughout the entire thing or is the pitch problem worse in specific parts?

 

[heatmiser]

Hey arcadeko - I think this sounds tighter than the last round of tunes I heard. I like the bass sound, but it seems a little too prominent at times to me. Like, it comes really far forward on some of the riffs and then kind of goes away a bit when it should be holding down the fort.

This one sounds a little more straight ahead rock than the more punk-like tunes before. Interesting.

I think your pitch is actually better on this one, but hard to tell due to the vocal effects, the level and the way you mixed them. I think they need to come out front more myself.

I don't have very good pitch, but it is getting better. One thing that seemed to help me was to get better headphones, and to turn down the backing tracks when I tracked vocals. I also would mute a lot of tracks - especially the bass which seemed to help me. You want to monitor your vocal take way up front so you can hear what you're doing clearly. I was told that muting the bass guitar was good too, as when you hear it, you subconciously hear the bass filling in for the low end of your voice and you tend to waver without realizing it.

I have no idea if that is true, but it really did seem to help me focus on pitch having a quieter, more empty backing track with just enough elements to guide you along without drowning out your vocal take. Just a thought...

 

[Greg_L]

The pitch problems generally run throughout. And it's not even so much the pitch as the general delivery seems timid and unsure. That's understandable. Not everyone is a strong singer or comfortable with their singing. But if you can't hear it, then you might have bigger problems. You may simply be tone-deaf. Singing along to a guitar melody might be the help you need.

For the kick, I'll take a wild guess and say it's in the sub 60 region. With my own kick, and other kicks I've recorded, 60 and above doesn't give me that booming rubbery hip-hop sound that you're getting here. But we also generally can't hear anything less than 20 or so, so look in that 20-60 range. I'm a firm believer that kick drums, if tuned right and miked correctly, don't need much, if any, super low enhancement. It's naturally a low end instrument. Instead of boosting lows, cut out some of the low-mid mud. I've personally never heard a kick drum that has anything good to offer in the 300-500hz region, so look there to get rid of some cardboard-ish slop and it will tighten up the bottom end without you having to boost the super lows.

 

[arcadeko]

I think your pitch is actually better on this one, but hard to tell due to the vocal effects, the level and the way you mixed them. I think they need to come out front more myself.

I don't have very good pitch, but it is getting better. One thing that seemed to help me was to get better headphones, and to turn down the backing tracks when I tracked vocals. I also would mute a lot of tracks - especially the bass which seemed to help me. You want to monitor your vocal take way up front so you can hear what you're doing clearly. I was told that muting the bass guitar was good too, as when you hear it, you subconciously hear the bass filling in for the low end of your voice and you tend to waver without realizing it.

I have no idea if that is true, but it really did seem to help me focus on pitch having a quieter, more empty backing track with just enough elements to guide you along without drowning out your vocal take. Just a thought...

Thanks man - I will try muting out all the extra stuff while vocal tracking - and I will check out the bass presence try to get it a little more consistent.

The pitch problems generally run throughout. And it's not even so much the pitch as the general delivery seems timid and unsure. That's understandable. Not everyone is a strong singer or comfortable with their singing. But if you can't hear it, then you might have bigger problems. You may simply be tone-deaf. Singing along to a guitar melody might be the help you need.

For the kick, I'll take a wild guess and say it's in the sub 60 region. With my own kick, and other kicks I've recorded, 60 and above doesn't give me that booming rubbery hip-hop sound that you're getting here. But we also generally can't hear anything less than 20 or so, so look in that 20-60 range. I'm a firm believer that kick drums, if tuned right and miked correctly, don't need much, if any, super low enhancement. It's naturally a low end instrument. Instead of boosting lows, cut out some of the low-mid mud. I've personally never heard a kick drum that has anything good to offer in the 300-500hz region, so look there to get rid of some cardboard-ish slop and it will tighten up the bottom end without you having to boost the super lows.

It was only the 3rd or 4th time I sang it and I do know exactly what you mean - I think if I practice it a few more times I will be able to get a smoother delivery. The more I listen to it the more I hear it - but I don;t think I am tone deaf cause I can hear off-pitch vocals on other peoples recordings instantly It must be psychological.

thanks for the drum tips - going to go in and tweak those bass frequencies.

 

[Jimtl]

I like the overall sound and feel of the song ... you've got some cool stuff going on. I'll be interested in hearing this song as it progresses.

 

[Chili]

There seems to be only a few notes you have difficulties singing. I like Heat's suggestion about muting the bass during a vocal take. you need one instrument to cue off of and maybe not a lot of other distractions. Practice the trouble spots a capella or with only one instrument until you get it right, then it's muscle memory from there.

I think you've got your levels off a little. Guitars are way out front and vox are buried. Bring them vox upfront. Kick, bass, vox up fornt and at same level. Everything else is supporting.

This songs feels like it's ready to bust loose and be a killer rocker. I so badly want to hear the tempo kicked up by about 10bpm and rip right through!!!! As it is now, it feels held back.

But all in all, cool song. lots of potential and I might cover it for Greg's challenge if you don't mind (and if I have the time!!!)

peace,

 

[THEMUSICJUNKY]

Everything has already been covered mix-wise, and performance -wise so i will just add that this reminds me of old Danzig ever so slightly. Could be cool if you work it all out.

 

[Murdersgalore]

I was gonna say Danzig, and actually the opening riff is almost exactly like the "A Twist of Cain" riff in the key of major with a different resolution every 4th measure. Take a listen for yourselves.

 

[arcadeko]

I was gonna say Danzig, and actually the opening riff is almost exactly like the "A Twist of Cain" riff in the key of major with a different resolution every 4th measure. Take a listen for yourselves.

SHIT -

guess there is only so many things you can do with the pentatonic scale...

man this is awkward.

 

[Murdersgalore]

No big deal. I am like a riff encyclopedia anyway. Most people couldn't give a shit.

 

[THEMUSICJUNKY]

murders...that was precisely the song i was alluding to in my previous post.

arcadeko, don't sweat it...realistically almost anything anyone plays has been done in some fashion by some one else already...most music these days is borrowed either intentionally or subconsciously anywho!

 

[arcadeko]

arcadeko, don't sweat it...realistically almost anything anyone plays has been done in some fashion by some one else already...most music these days is borrowed either intentionally or subconsciously anywho!

The funny thing is - I was really trying to rip off Led Zepplin - (or at least do a Zepplin "style" riff ) but it really bums me out. I am sure I heard that Danzig song before even though I don't really care for Danzig (I was really into the Misfits and I even listened to Samhain, but just never really like Danzig much). So I guess it was bounceing around there in my subconscious. I couldn't help it tho those three dots on 3/5/7 are so tempting...

When i first wrote that riff I was like - man this has to be a Zepplin or AC/DC riff so I went through the first LZ album because or whatever reason I thought it was on there. Then I checked early AC/DC - Hells Bells actually starts off with the same few notes and rhythm. Anyway I couldn't find anything and I was like - well this riff is so simple no one would every use it

I don't really know how I feel about it now. I tried to come up with some variations on it but I couldn't come up with anything I liked.

Well at least it is a pretty obscure song - of course I would hate to run into Glen if I was ever out performing it - he would probably eviscerate me with a sharpened cattle spine.

i guess as it stands now I can live with it I like the riff too much to just dump it tomorrow I am going to retrack the vocals.

But all in all, cool song. lots of potential and I might cover it for Greg's challenge if you don't mind (and if I have the time!!!)

Thanks Chili that made my day - (even if you don't do it the fact that you considered it is totally cool)

 

[arcadeko]

That's some interesting delay you have on the vox..

I went a little crazy there, I admit it I had this reverb effects channel then I was like - hmm maybe I will put some wacky long ass delay, drop the mid frequencies out and run it through some heavy reverb... I think I can get the vocals a little more upfront and still keep some of that weird sh!t in the background

 

[Greg_L]

Don't worry about sounding like something else. There's only what, 12 notes you can use in standard western music? You're bound to sound like something else eventually. It's gonna happen. Don't worry about sounding like a Danzig song. Be more worried about sounding like a shitty Danzig song.

 

[trumpino1]

I like it dude. You got a lot of good stuff going on here. I think this will be great when you get everything exactly right.

BTW. Who gives a fuck if it sounds like some other song, at least you ain't taking the exact song and then rapping over top of it.

Sounds good so far.

Trump

 

[fendersk8911]

I actually....(and I don't think I've ever said this about pitchy vocals)....think that the pitchy vocals kind of work here...Kinda reminds me of the whole Les Claypool vocal thing.