Opinions on these four songs... (acoustic indie/singer/songwriter type stuff)

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stopstartstall

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Looking for feedback on these four songs please. You can stream all at myspace.com/stopstartstall

opinions on the mixes and anything else that takes your fancy! :D I recorded/played everything myself in an untreated room so bare that in mind!
 
thanks a lot! really appreciate you taking the time to listen.
 
I thought Old Patterns was an interesting song lyric wise about how we keep making the same mistakes. Very ambitious trying to sing that. I'm not sure I could and I've been singing for 30 years.;) Easy to get pichy with such a demanding song.

Didn't much care for the 2nd one.

Acoustic Book Club was cute with the references to Fitzgerald. You slipped into the choppy guitar changes of Old Patterns in that one. Old patterns never die, I guess.:D

Exes and Ohs is the best listen IMO because the guitar style is more varied. Nice change from the fingerpicking to the choppy chords and then back again. It's a bit long, and you don't make the point until 4:00 or so. Also a little pichy at that point.

You've got a lot of energy and it comes out in your choice of guitar arrangements. After you're done running, perhaps you might learn to walk.

You have talent. Keep writing.:)
 
Thanks a lot for the comments.

I actually wrote book club acoustic before old patterns but I hear what you're saying about the similar guitar parts. As for the lyrics, I literally just wrote them all down at work before I even had the music for them but yeah I guess it is a little ambitious. I'm well aware my voice isn't the best in the world, but I do the best with what I have :D

I thought exes and ohs might be a little long, thanks for pointing it out :D

After you're done running, perhaps you might learn to walk.
Not sure what you mean here, that I should simplify things perhaps?
 
sounds okay for what it is.

you may want to experiment with compression on the vocals.

the only thing that's popping out to me is the voice. you have this want to sound pretty, but i don't think that's what the style calls for.

try to sing without using so much air and using your head register.

just sing from your gut with a good umph into it. i'm thinking of a more tegan and sara sort of vocal.
 
thanks for commenting.

i did put a little compression on the vox, but I have a lot to learn as far as it goes so yes will definitely experiment a bit more with that.

heh, i love tegan and sara and i know what you mean about using that type of voice. i'll try and work on it!
 
Hey Han, nice to hear a girl's voice around here once in a while! :rolleyes:

Old Patterns - pretty busy tune guitar wise, so you get kudos for singing along with that and keeping the melody going strong. Get out of that relationship! lol...good lyrics.....been there done that! Mix is very nice and clean but I found it (on headphones) to be a bit distant - like the mic was a bit far away. Lots of room in there but I would prefer a little more closeness/ intimacy. That's totally a personal preference so I'll let others comment on that aspect. Good performance again....

All Night Long - The song gets stronger as you get into it, you might want to retrack the initial vocals if you want it dead on. Your melody and guitar playing is good again on this tune...Reminds me of some of the big name girl artists like Sarah McLaughlin, good writing here. Same mix comments as before.

Book Club Acoustic - very cool - love all the name dropping going on here and the associated references...

Exes and Ohs - nice arpeggios...you gotta go kick that guy's arse...if these songs are autobiographical you need to get some payback lol...Great Lyrics!

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to these tunes! Well written and performed! :cool::D:cool::D
 
wow, thanks for the nice comments!

I know what you mean about it sounding a little distant, I've noticed the same things when I was listening to it in my car. Its definitely something I'm going to try and work on. Same goes for retracking the vocals on All Night Long. It's an old some and it was a last minute decision to record it, between trying to remember the lyrics and proper tuning I sound a little distracted :D

The lyrics aren't autobiographical - but I am an American Lit major which is where Book Club came from - but I know what you mean, my better half is constantly wondering who I'm having these messed up relationships with, lol.
 
I reckon you should try another key.
The songs show potential - Old Patterns has a very Billy Bragg vibe to it - solo Billy obviously - but you seem to reach for the note a little too often. Key change or some vocal strengthening perhaps.
Also the recording of the vox needs something - if you're using a PC based comp try throwing the close or vintage vocal setting from Blockfish onto them.
You also might try double tracking the choruses for emphasis.
A good start - keep at it.
Oh, keep the mspace but set yourself up wih a soundclick account (free) so that you have better quality streamers & don't forget to listen to & comment on other folks' stuff.
 
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thanks for the comments.

I'll try throwing blockfish on to the vox and see what happens. as for reaching for the notes, that's probably my voice more than the song. my voice isn't the best in the world, just needs a lot of practice methinks.
will go and set up a soundclick now, thanks!
 
Sounds good, keep writing.
What gear did you use to record this?

Mike
 
pretty much budget gear tbh. I'm using the preamps on a yamaha mixer into an m-audio delta 44. the guitar is an old battered fender acoustic, miced with two naiant msh1s. vocals were recorded through a rode nt1-a. I'm a student and I've just had to buy a new car so I'm pretty broke at the moment, I'm slowly saving up for better gear haha.

thanks for listening!
 
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