Our 4 song EP

[MartyMcFly]

This entire album of songs was recorded during late December of 2001 hence the name of the cd...Christmas Balls. The rest of the band wanted it done with as little effort as possible. It was done on a Roland VS-1680. In my basement. All of these songs were part of our live show. Please check some or all of them out and let me know what you think. I know theyre a little rough but their still some decent songs. If you dont like the way they sound, comment on the song itself.
here

 

[Sweetchuck]

Marty...
I thought the opening bass line on "Prisoner Of War" was interesting. Also I liked the bass on "Opus no 3". The end of the song rocked. "Epiphany" was a little long but the fact that none of the parts are really the same through out the song made it worth listening to the whole thing. the song "Unknown" was alright. A little slow and droning for my taste but the chorus was pretty good. All in all the recording was mixed alright but you could have done better. Maybe next time you have to tell the band to chill out and actually put a little more effort into the whole process of recording their songs. The end product is what the listener will hear, not everything that went into making it. So if you have to crack the whip on them do it. But just becareful in how much control you take in producing someone cause they could start to resent you for it.
My opinion. Not bad, definitley worth listening to for the songwriting if not the actual quality of recording.

 

[MartyMcFly]

thanks for the input. could you be a little more specific. I want to show some of these posts to the guys and let them see what other people have to say. Dont nessicarily bash them though theyre really sensitive. But if you believe they need a good bashing, or me for that matter go ahead.

 

[kartikbala]

Hey Marty,

Prisoner of War: The opening riff is really good. I think the vocals have to come out a bit more. I really can't make out the lyrics. Maybe he can project his voice like the "I'm going around again" bit at 3:53

Will post more whwen I listen to the rest

KB

 

[mixmkr]

I think the recording is ok for band critiquing purposes, but if your wanting to record something for others to hear, remember, put your best foot foward. I keep hearing stick sounds in the drums (Prisoners...)...I know some are the bells of the cymbals, but other times, it sounds like the sticks hit. The songs are decent, for the most part, but a better recording would help a long way too. These sound like 'basement tapes' , truthfully...no production.

 

[xalien]

I listened to prisoner. The vocals really get lost in the mix. I think the vocals are a little dry. Overall the vocal performance is pretty good, but the singer really misses the high-note at 3:48. You might try another take there.

I really like the clean guitar sound during the verse, but the distorted guitar sound during the chorus is a bit weak. What did you use for that sound? BTW, I think the lead at 3:00 works nicely until 3:14 when the rhythum guitar pulls out and it starts to sound a little mousey.

Nice effort. Keep it up.

 

[TripleM]

What I'd do..

I listened to Epiphany. Pretty long. I got ding'd for a song that wen 5:12. I stopped this one at 6:10. I didn't want to shorten mine, and wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to shorten this one.

I liked the guitar. Nicely done.

The lead vocals are not real strong. They get washed out in many places. Not sure what advice to offer. Re-record maybe. Sometimes delay and reverb help, but I'm afraid the might make the washing out worse here.

The stops at about 2:57 and 4:35 sounded like someone hit the mute button instead of the band actually stopping.

Harmonies were used too sparingly. There were many opportunities for good harmony parts here that we passed up.

 

[MartyMcFly]

triple m...
thanks for the comments. I prefer people to be brutally honest w/me otherwise Ill never learn to try harder next time.

Youre right about the stops at 2:57 and 4:35 thats what I did. But the whole idea way to make the breaks as clean as I could. Its not that the band couldnt stop at the right time, but I thought it sounded better/cleaner this way.

About the harmonies in Epiphany...I wish I could go back and erase all of them with the exception of the "cognitive delay" one at 3:36. Even though I know "somekind" of backing vocals like that have been done "somewhere" before I thought they still fit nicley...except theyre to quite.

Thanks for the opinions thats why I've posted my stuff here