Ok, I've Got a New One Finally

CMiller

CMiller

New member
It's been a while...several months I think, but I've finally got a new one up. As usual, it was the lyrics that had me stumped, and a nice healthy dose of laziness too. You can find it at...

http://www.mp3.com/alphadog

It's called "Take a Number & Wait"

Here's a little background on what I used...

Recorded acoustic guitar to click on my MSR-16. I added everything but drums, then I took my machine to my buddy in Tucson, AZ where we recorded his drum parts. On this one, all guitars recorded with SM-57, drums recorded with Sennhieser 421's (including kick), with 57 on snare. I can't remember what we used for OH's. Oh yeah, we recorded the drums through a Soundcraft Ghost (the same as Ed's).

Then I dumped everything into Cubase (this song also fell victim to the "bogus 16-track buyer") and recorded vocals.

Let me know what you think! Thanks!
 
Cmiller, oh man... that was clean. I could be wrong, but I think that was cleaner than any of your other mixes.

I like this tune very much... also, where the organ thing comes in reminds me of a subdued "SmashMouth".. tis a good thing.

How do you get that nice clean tone with your acoustic? I tried using my 57 on my acoustic... it was horrible... tell me more about how you mic'd it and your setup for recording it (your acoustic) and any processing you used.

A couple of things... I don't know if you know any good female singers, but those little backup vocals, I think, would sound much better if they were sung by a woman, harmonizing with herself... just a thought... Hey, maybe you can get one of the mp3.com female artists to do a collaboration (sort of) and she can do your backup vocals for this one... (?) I dunno... again, just a thought.

There's one vocal part near the end that sounds like your off time a little bit... not off key, but off time.

Dang clean mix my friend, and I really like this song as well.
 
Sweeeeeet!

Cool yet again Mark! Sounds really good... especially vocals... what was the formula?

What was the reasoning behind the choice of that organ solo at 1.08... I wasn't really expecting that... I was surprised you didn't rip out a guitar solo there... but I think it sounds pretty cool still... although I think I would have faded out the feedback when the vocals kick back in - I listened to it with headphones and it seemed to overpower the vocals a bit.

When's the CD getting finished?
 
Hey guys, thanks a lot. I appreciate your comments, I really do.

Teddie: I think it does sound a little cleaner than the other ones. I think it has to do with it being a very simple mix. I have guitar (stereo), bass, drums and vocals. It's only at the end when the electric comes in that it becomes a little more complicated.

As for the guitar, it's been about three years or so since I recorded them, but if I remember correctly, I miced the guitar (Kramer Ferrington) below the soundhole and one above the low strings near the tailpiece. Both mics were about 6 inches away. I also mixed the signal with a little of the pickup. I thought that would give it a little more presence that was missing. Then I added some chorus (probably too much). The little acoustic lead guitar part was miced differently, but I'd have to check my notes on that one.

About the vocals. Yeah, I knew exactly what part you were talking about at the end. I tried to do something funky, my gut told me it didn't work, but my ego said, "shut up gut, you just don't recognize the brilliance of it". I should have listened to my gut. For the backups, I was looking for a kind of campy falsetto sound. I don't know if it works or not, but it's pretty close to what I imagined.

Coop: Ah, the organ solo. I wanted something different. It would have been easier to do a guitar solo, and I knew that I was going to put one in the middle and at the end, so I thought, "I've never done a keyboard solo before" and just went with it. You are right on about the feedback thing. I wish I could have changed that and the little harmonic after the middle solo, but during my emergency backup in the middle of the night, I just missed it. There's also a lot of hiss in the most quiet section of the song, but I missed that too. The CD is coming soon. I think it'll probably just be a DAM CD, but I'll probably burn a few too. I'm not sure what I'm doing really.

Thanks again for the input!
 
Big "C"...that song was put together well. Just my personal observation...backing vocals sound f***ing good but need some "S P A C E", ie...tweak those fx knobs! This song deserves attention to detail. Rock on!

Garger
 
Heh heh, I thought you were going to break into Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey near the end of the organ solo. The bass was tasteful all the way through and the nylon solo was a great touch. The only things that really jumped out was the shrill string noise right at 3:00 and the single note at 3:02. You might wanna reign those in a little.
 
Nice song. I finally listened to the right one. I listened to "Leave it all Behind" , then started reading everyone's posts, and said to myself, "I musta completely missed the organ solo" so, I listened again, and still didn't hear the damn organ solo, so I checked my cigarette pack to make sure I didn't light the wrong one, then I decided to refer to your original post to discover everyone else was listening to a different tune. To make a long story short (yeah right) I liked it. The background vox sounded a little Beatlesque, and the mix sounded pretty good on my crappy system. Nice job.....Ray J
 
Thanks guys for giving me a listen. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best part of finding out about this place.

Garger: Thanks! I think I know what you're suggesting, but I'm not exactly sure. Do you think I have too much FX on the BU's or not enough? I'd love to know exactly what you meant...since I don't have an extra set of ears around here, I rely on you guys to some extent to see if my intentions are perceived accuratly.

pglewis: Yeah, I was kind of expecting that too! I know exactly what you mean about the noises. I wish I could change it, but the mix of the music is fixed. It just got by me somehow. Interesting note though: that's not a nylon, but it is supposed to sound like one. (I get a point for fooling you).

RayJ: Tell me when you light the wrong one...I'd like to be there for that (if you know what I mean)! Thanks for the complements, it does sound very Beatlesque. I've thought many times about scrapping it because it's so obviously influenced, but I forged ahead anyway.
 
Alternate description @ 3:00

Great song once again. But that noise around 3:00 didn't sound like a synth patch as much as a cat having its tail stepped on. Both of mine turned around with worried expressions each time they heard it.
 
And here's some feedback from...

...drstawl's less talented brother. I went to mp3.com and managed to

a) get error messages that told me I couldn't do what I wanted to, and then finally

b) download "leave it all behind" by accident instead of the track you really want feedback on.

Never mind. (what his friends all say). The only track of yours I've ever listened before now is 'on my side', which I'm fond of. As for 'leave it all behind', it's better in 3 ways - the guitar work, the vocals, and the sound. Curious thing is that I'm still fonder of 'on my side', even though 'leave it all behind' is holding all those aces in its hand. If it was me, I'd probably go back and re-record 'on my side', but then, that's probably why I don't even have one mp3 posted yet, and you've got loads.

If you want my feedback on your latest, you'll just have to... :)
 
Thanks again guys!

Doc: I'm not surprised that your cats freak out about the sound (maybe it is a cat). Actually it's a really nicely placed harmonic that's about ten times louder in this mix than it's ever been in any other mix I've ever done of this song. Unfortunately it's the only mix left. I don't know what happened, I just missed it (as impossible as it sounds). It's been a real source of irritation for me.

Dobro: That's weird, I had a problem with Teddie's latest, but it went away. I wonder if MP3.com has been having trouble. Anyone else have this problem with my stuff or anyone elses?

Yeah, it's funny how one song can just grab you in a way that other songs that might be more popular or better written don't. I have the same thing going on with a lot of the music I hear around here. For example, one of my favorite tunes from around here is "What Style?" by Ryan (37point5). Since he posted that, he's posted stuff that may be better written, or performed, and certainly recorded, but that's my favorite of his stuff. I don't know why, everything else of his kicks ass too, but I just like that song better.

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate you giving it a listen!
 
CMiller, hey bro... I came back into this thread to see what everyone else had to say. This is the fun part to see what little oddities and thingalings come out of the converstional thread.

How the heck did you get that nylon string sound? That's excellent... fooled me too buddy. I have an old Yamaha acoustic that I wanted to use in some songs, but I suck at mic'ing acoustic guits. I'd like to use your method of making a nylon string guitar sound if you'd share it.

Regarding what Garger was saying about the backups, I think for me, it sounded like little CMillers were crawling into my ears. It was a little bit uncomfortable for me. But you panned the BU's right? hmmm. Maybe a touch of verb on them to sit them back a little bit? and/or bring the level down on them. I'm not sure. I can't remember but did you put chorus fx on the BU's? If you did, maybe ... oh damn.. I forgot you said you couldn't do anything with this mix because it was the only mix left. shoot.

Regarding the problem Dobro was having with MP3.com, man, you know what's up... Mp3.com is going through some heavy changes and are frustrating all the artists and promoters in the process. Although, I know they're busy, but they don't keep us artists informed on much of anything, so we just sit around with our thumbs up our asses waiting for something to change or happen. Anyway, did you get to preview your arist page using the "new" layout... I freakin' hate it myself.
 
Very good song, C... excellent lead vocals, too.
I think the harmony vocals may have been just a bit too strained-sounding, but still pretty decent.
It's also well-written and arranged. Well done, sir!
I also listened to "Leave It All Behind", and I really liked that song... ALOT! No complaints whatsoever on that one. :)
I also listened to "Reach".... and I liked this one too.
This song sounds like what you would get if you combined The Beatles with Rush! Very cool.
 
well, obviously everybody liked this song a lot and i'm no exception but gawwwwd that thing at 3:00 was awful, like drstawl mentioned...also I agree about the back up vox comments.....but sheesh what a good song....gibs
 
I played it again, still sounds good!...on the BU's mabye back off the mid-hi and lo just a _touch_ and double the tracks. Detune the second set around .01 or 2cent hi and lo and add some verb to give a bit of space...or, mabye instead of stereo BU's, pan the BU's 11:00 and 4:00 o'clock and add guitar or key stereo notes with the BU's...either harmony or same note as BU's...I hope this helps.

Garger
 
Sorry, I've Been Busy Building a Deck

Hi guys! Sorry about not responding to your comments, I've been busy with my folks builing a deck onto our house.

Anyway, let me see where we are...Ok.

Nylon Secret: I may have misled you here. I did want it to sound nylon, but my studio notes indicate that the only thing I did different than what I already mentioned was that I used a single mic (57 again) placed about six inches from the 12th fret of my guitar. I also used really dead strings & none of the pickup. Pretty anticlimactic, huh?

Teddie: Actually the vocals I have complete control over. Everything else is fixed. Vocals are hard for me because I'm always unsure if they are sounding right. I'm my worst critic when it comes to my vocals.

3:00 Mark: I was wrong! I was thinking of another part of the song (the quiet section before the ending). What you're hearing was actually a pick slide. It's probably the harshest sounding pick slide I've ever done and shouldn't be in the song.

Thanks Gibs, Buck! I really appreciate your comments!

Garger: I'll get back to your email as soon as I have a spare minute. I'm intrigued by your suggestion, that might be neat.

Thanks again guys!
 
Very nice, C.

Been listening to old Beatles lately?

I think that most of us are critical of our own voices. You have plenty of voice to put out your songs. You might be happy with some help on breathing technique, getting the airflow smooth and relaxing the jaw.
 
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