New Song -- Windy City

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nola
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I love the song. Good writing man. Not much to change. The vocal is effective. You've got the focus on that, as it should be, and on the guitars which sound great. The bass is at a good level. That's your P/J? The drums are low obviously, but it seems to work with the mellow, trancy vibe.

Yeah, I did think it went on a bit long.

What are you doing with the guitars? They sound fantastic.
 
Robus said:
I love the song. Good writing man. Not much to change. The vocal is effective. You've got the focus on that, as it should be, and on the guitars which sound great. The bass is at a good level. That's your P/J? The drums are low obviously, but it seems to work with the mellow, trancy vibe.

Yeah, I did think it went on a bit long.

What are you doing with the guitars? They sound fantastic.
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Thanks, Robus. The guitars are the Princeton amp when I was able to record it loud last year. Yeah that's the P/J bass with mostly the J pickup. There's no processing on any of it except a HP filter and there's a compressor on the lead guitar fills but it's barely doing anything. The guitar that comes in at the end panned C has delay on it. That's it.

Do you think I should turn up the drums? I left them low yeah but was considering raising them. When I raise them there's more energy, but it interferes with the vocal and mood. So, that's why I just left them low but I'm not sure on that.
 
That Princeton sounds great. Hope you were cranking it! How were you getting all that sustain? Just from pushing the amp, or is that compression?

I'd hesitate to turn up the drums. It's a simple part, sounds like a loop with variation added here and there. For me, it wants to stay in the background a bit.
 
Robus said:
That Princeton sounds great. Hope you were cranking it! How were you getting all that sustain? Just from pushing the amp, or is that compression?
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Thanks, Robus, glad the amp finally came through -- I kept telling you I loved it.
I can't remember the exact settings, but the amp is the older one with very simple controls of just "volume" and "tone"... I think I had volume at 7 and tone around 5.5. The mic was about 2" away and just off the dust cap. The main guitar has a unique pickup (dynasonics) you don't see much, so that might have something to do with it, too. The other guitar on the right is a Strat (disliked it and sold it for a jazzmaster). I never use compression on guitars unless it's a clean lead part that has some spikes, but even then it's just the smallest amount to catch peaks. So I'd guess it's the amp naturally compressing. I'm really not sure how I got the sustain and never really think about sustain, tbh. Maybe the delay I put on it in post? But that's only on the center guitar during the ending so I'm not sure.
 
I think the drums are good where they're at, seems to fit nicely. Turning them up would take away from the vocals and vibe of the guitars I think.

Nice job on the vocals, too. The subtle organ in the background is a nice touch.

The ending is a little drawn out, but once you add a lead/other elements, it won't be.

I don't hear any hats or cymbals, was that intentional? Not an issue with this particular tune, just curious.
 
Hmm, to be honest, I'm not sure. It works, but it sort of takes away from the vibe. I see why you kept lowering it. The one with no cymbals seems more, "personal" for lack of a better word. I think I would leave it out, but that's just me. Others might think different.
 
Reminds me of Lou Reed.

I like the song.

I think you could nudge up the guitars and keys. Except the guitar that comes in around 1:57. That one is plenty loud - probably too loud. That solo went on a bit long without doing a whole lot.

I wasn't thrilled with the guitar tone. The distortion was a bit grainy.
 
yeah, so, I'd completely want to redo that ending...I think it would be awesome if right after "strength" you just went all out with heavy drums and hard panned doubled guitars whailing away. Just like 6:50 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4spkVX8z-vs&index=10&list=PL7A331C4B7954C1E1

The rest sounds great to me. I just feel like that solo guitar is doing one thing and everything else is staying right where it was, and they aren't complementing each other but kind of fighting about where the song is going. Honestly, I'd kill it at the end, just let those guitars go nuts with that solo and bring in the drums full blast.

That's all I got.
 
andrushkiwt said:
yeah, so, I'd completely want to redo that ending...I think it would be awesome if right after "strength" you just went all out with heavy drums and hard panned doubled guitars whailing away. Just like 6:50 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4spkVX8z-vs&index=10&list=PL7A331C4B7954C1E1

The rest sounds great to me. I just feel like that solo guitar is doing one thing and everything else is staying right where it was, and they aren't complementing each other but kind of fighting about where the song is going. Honestly, I'd kill it at the end, just let those guitars go nuts with that solo and bring in the drums full blast.

That's all I got.
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That's good advice, thanks, man. In the first post I mentioned I planned to add a lead guitar to the end and that part wasn't completely finished yet. Right now it's just chords with delay on them. I was planning to add lead, but you're right, I should change the drums up at the end to match the mood and drive. I'm not sure how to program them that heavy so I'll have to study that Weezer beat (if you can figure out that beat can you pm me what you think the main beat and fills are?). It sounds like kick/kick/snare-kick/kick/kick/snare for the main beat? And the drums sound like they have a lot of compression.
 
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I just meant the vibe, not the exact beat or fills or anything. Wasn't being specific at all, just in "the manner of" is what I meant.
 
Cool, thanks, Andru, for the suggestion. I rewrote the "outro" drum part to have more drive.
I'll have to go in and fine tune it and look for 3-armed drummers and match volume, but in terms of vibe for that section, do you think this is better?
 
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I wouldn't feel the need to do anything more to it by way of adding stuff in at the end. Nothing wrong with droning away like you do for as long as you do - would fit nicely in an album. Sort of thing Wilco might do - in terms of the drone ending, that is - not comparing you.

What I would do is go and hunt down some of the clicks and pops which are appearing here and there.

It's you, it's your own particular style and the warbly vocals fit in perfectly with it - there have been lots of people who don't have the greatest singing voices, theoretically, who make interesting and listenable music. Not enough people pursuing their own particular thing as you are, if you ask me.

Nice.
 
Nola said:
Cool, thanks, Andru, for the suggestion. I rewrote the "outro" drum part to have more drive.
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Honestly, I like that A LOT better. I think it sounds great and it's a well written part. From a producing aspect, I'd consider another set of hard panned guitars with hard chords at that spot. Something is lacking on the 1st beat of that section, like it's not hitting as full as it could. Need to see the mix to see if it's something in there or if it could just benefit from an additional set. Still really good, and I think you did a great job on it.

How do you feel about it? In the end, it's your tune. Just offering my opinions. And I have a lot of them when it comes to arrangement and whatnot :)
 
Armistice said:
I wouldn't feel the need to do anything more to it by way of adding stuff in at the end. Nothing wrong with droning away like you do for as long as you do - would fit nicely in an album. Sort of thing Wilco might do - in terms of the drone ending, that is - not comparing you.

What I would do is go and hunt down some of the clicks and pops which are appearing here and there.

It's you, it's your own particular style and the warbly vocals fit in perfectly with it - there have been lots of people who don't have the greatest singing voices, theoretically, who make interesting and listenable music. Not enough people pursuing their own particular thing as you are, if you ask me.

Nice.
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Thanks, Armistice, that's a really nice thing to say and insightful commentary/observation.

Can you pinpoint the time on one of the clicks and pops? I'm a bit surprised b/c each track is 1 take straight through (no punch ins or edits) so I don't understand where they'd be coming from, and I don't hear them.
 
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andrushkiwt said:
Honestly, I like that A LOT better. I think it sounds great and it's a well written part. From a producing aspect, I'd consider another set of hard panned guitars with hard chords at that spot. Something is lacking on the 1st beat of that section, like it's not hitting as full as it could. Need to see the mix to see if it's something in there or if it could just benefit from an additional set. Still really good, and I think you did a great job on it.

How do you feel about it? In the end, it's your tune. Just offering my opinions. And I have a lot of them when it comes to arrangement and whatnot :)
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Thanks!
I feel pretty good about it now and agree it's much better with the new drums. I can probably refine the fills a little more. I tried some solos at the end and didn't like them, so I might just go with this or maybe try adding an organ today, but maybe I'll just let the drums and drone lead the end.

I hear what you mean, it's like I hit the opening chord to that ending a hair late...I'll look at that. It could be off time or it could be b/c those chords are all dyads and maybe lack "oomph" by nature. Kinda wish I hit a full triad on beat 1.
 
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Nice-Enjoyable listen. I like the guitar sounds, hell I like all the sounds. Vocals are well performed and are out front-no stuggle to hear words. It seems like the vocals ended too quick in relation to the length of the song. The solo sound is fairly harsh compared to the tone of the singing, pretty big contrast the song takes there...I like it but might turn more casual listeners off. I like the overall sound very much, has it's own identity for sure.
 
Cool tune nola.
I hear that Lou Reed vibe in it too. Great drum sound! I think the mix is very balanced and warm...without being muddy. Really good lyric on this song too.
I enjoyed it.
 
When the vocal first came in - the first couple of words- I thought it was too lo-fi sounding, but then they just melded right into the song and the vibe and it worked.

I thought the drums were at the right level throughout most of the song. They could have come up at the end. The crash cymbals particularly don't add any energy to the song. They seem like an afterthought.

I don't like the tone too much on the droning guitar. Personal preference. If you like it, then there's no need to change. However, I didn't mind the long repeating ending, it fits the song.

To me, the whole song could work in a movie. The turning point in the story where the main character has self-reflection and realizes he was at fault for the conflict.

Good work.
Thanks for sharing.
 
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