Please comment on our new song

  • Thread starter Thread starter Supercreep
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Supercreep

Supercreep

Lizard People
Incanus and I wrote and recorded this song together. It's called Radio and it was the last of our songs recorded on our "bad" microphones. I think it cleaned up ok. Any suggestions for improvement are welcome.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/lpc/singles


We remixed our other songs there too as per your suggestions.


Thanks,

Casey
 
Casey, very good tune!!! I'm listening on shitty laptop speakers right now, but it still sounds excellent. We are on vacation, so using dialup. I will burn it to cd later, and listen on a real stereo, but man, still hear the harmonies, and everything sounds really well mixed. Drums even punched through on these shit-ass speakers. Way cool.

Very good tune.
Ed
 
The arranging and mixing on this is excellent. Guitars, bass and drums are rich, clear and balanced. Intelligent lyrics, good intonation and harmonies. What's the vocal mic/pre? The sound effects at the start didn't make sense to me but then again maybe dial-turning radio crackle would have been too much like the start of Cass Elliot's Dream a Little Dream of Me. As I'm listening more the bass and guitars really stand out as well played and recorded. Great job Casey.

Tim
 
how's about emailing me some of that talent. you got enough to go around. :)
 
Blue Sky....

Thru the headphones.....

You know for some reason the flow of the melody combined with the vocal style reminds me of old Uriah Heep or ELP. The singer has a certain kind of aural charisma like Greg Lake... impossible to pin down but there nonetheless. The mix is ok by me but what really gets me is the actual hook of the song. I think it's really good.... like commercial airplay good already, compared to lots of garbage I hear on the radio .

Actually upon second listening I find quite transcendent. It sort of takes flight in the chorus, and reaches a real melodic peak. Very cool...I am really digging this. This song is extremely well metered and feels really good at volume.

Clarity is excellent through all the instruments and vocals are poised over top of the mix without being strident or muffled. Bang on for levels IMHO.

You should really aim for a video/ep/single ANYTHING to get you guys on the air ANYWHERE.

I normally listen to about 50 mp3's a month and so far I've only really commented on about a half dozen over the last 4 years. Just to let you know that I'm not blowing smoke here. You guys just need exposure. This has got to be the best single tune I've ever heard at HomeRec by a long shot.

That's a very credible song by any standard, with absolutely fantastic vocals and melody. I find that the vocals clearly overshadow the instrumentals in strength and vitality as opposed to volume or clarity; so I honestly feel that the song needs more flamboyant instrumentals simply to fill the enormous ceiling created by the vocal styling..... otherwise it remains a brilliant melody in need of a brighter rhythm section.

The only thing I noticed at all mixwise was that the snare drum seemed to be mic'ed a bit too closely or at too high a gain, the snare pop is muddy after the second chorus and the piano?? is barely audible. Geez I feel like a heel for even saying that now, I thank you for writing and playing this, to be perfect for me I simply would have added more high end to the guitars and less gain or presence to the drums in the second half.... I am not worthy. Get professional management. :cool:
 
Hi

Very good song Casey. I like the way the vocals are done, it fits well the song. I also like the guitars, bass and drums.

Nice work.

/Jack Real.
 
Penelope O'doule

Headphones.

I am at a loss for words. I can't concentrate on the mix because the song is so well written. You guys have shown me more melodic writing balls in two tunes than I have heard in months. This is also a great song regardless of the mix.
I get a vibe from this stuff like I want to run out in the street shouting it from the rooftops.. "At last!!!! Music!!!" I'll critique it more objectively later .... :)
 
Thanks Travis, the drums are real - just eq'ed pretty hard. We used C1000s for OH and SM57 for kick and snare.

Thanks Jack - we appreciate it.


Timothy, we appreciate your comments. Do you think a more "radio" intro would be more appropriate? To be honest, I was just dying to find some places to play my juno 106 before it dies. We used a MXL V67G and an RNP for the vocals. Any other suggestions?

Dogman, you're awesome. Thanks for the encouragement - have a great vacation, too.


Roland, we thank you for your kind words. Incanus is playing most of the guitars throughout the songs and I'm singing and playing drums and keyboards. We're learning how to record as we go along, so any suggestions for improvement are greatly appreciated. There are so many people here we are learning from it's impossible to name them all. Incanus and I are good listeners and careful arrangers, but I hear some kickass stuff here several times a week.

Either way, I want everybody to understand that Incanus had a great deal to do with the way these songs were written, arranged and recorded...

Does Radio sound excessively midrangey to anybody? Is that the RNP in action on so many vocal tracks?

Thanks again for everybody's time

-Casey
 
We used a MXL V67G and an RNP for the vocals. Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Listening more to this and IMO the quality of the writing, arranging, and performing makes me think you should consider getting better mics. Don't know if that's realistic for you guys financially or not, I'm just thinking artistically. I suspect you haven't found the right mic for your voices yet, and I'm thinking a ribbon mic might do it just right - sweetening and clarifying the midrange emphasis in your vocals. Just my opinion.

Do you think a more "radio" intro would be more appropriate?
Click to expand...
Yes.

Tim
 
Hi SUPERCREEP,

I like your music!

This song it has a 70'ish(Bowie) sound to it. On the mix i would try to fill it out more. The drums are a little to dry for me.

Over all nice job!

-Bob
 
very proggy bass.

Liked the tune, its even a bit 70`s.

great work
keep it up.
 
Thanks everyone for the comments!

Radio was highly resistent to mixing for some reason. After we got some new gear and used it for a little while, the drums on this song just seemed poor. But we did what we could.

We do tend to like most things a little dryer than many folks, for good or ill. Part of our sound, I guess.

Thank you Timothy L. for your appreciation of the guit and bass! Coming from such a great player, it means a lot. I'm a bass player first, but I've been working on my rhythm guitar lately for this project. Seeing as how we're not virtuosos on our instruments, or are ever likely to be, we just try to come up with good, solid ideas. The rhythm guitar parts on this song were not very difficult even for me; I think that mostly they're just ideas that work with the rest of the song (more or less).

Roland, thank you so much! Wow!
Even if this music is as good as you say it is, it will never be on the radio (or the TV). It simply does not belong in any currently popular genre. It's to 'old' sounding for hard rock or alternative stations, and to 'new' to be on classic rock!

Anyway, Thanks again everyone.
 
About your mic's... just noticed in the orig post that you've changed mic's after doing this tune. Saw that this song used C1000's, V67G, and 57's. Pretty amazing sound you're getting with that gear. What did you replace the AKG and MXL mic's with? And what's your recording space like - dimensions, treatment and such? Sorry for the nosiness.

Tim
 
Timothy Lawler said:
About your mic's... just noticed in the orig post that you've changed mic's after doing this tune. Saw that this song used C1000's, V67G, and 57's. Pretty amazing sound you're getting with that gear. What did you replace the AKG and MXL mic's with? And what's your recording space like - dimensions, treatment and such? Sorry for the nosiness.

Tim
Click to expand...


We've upgraded the kick to a D112, and put up either MXL 603s or B1s for OH. Toms are all 57s. Snare is a C1000s topside and a 57 on the resonant head. For vocals, I've got a pile of chinese condesers to choose from; V67G, NT1-A, JM-37... I like the V67G so far the best but haven't really given the JM-37 a chance yet. The difference in the drum tracks is dramatic, as you will see when we post our next song. (which won't be until one of us manages to get a decent guitar solo going -ughh!)

We (now) use a MOTU 896HD for converters and tom pres. Joemeek Twin Q on kick and snare and RNP/RNC for OH. I'm liking the way the RNP colors my voice, but I am learning to mix up mics/pres to place my BG vocs in different places sonically in a mix.

Our studio is a 9.5' X 13' tuffshed electrified and double sheetrocked. 2' X 4' x 4" compressed fiberglass traps in the corners. Ceiling is peaked and 8' at it's highest. We need lots more basstraps and some low and mid absorption. Portable AC, carpet on floor "floating" on neoprene pucks. We get maybe 25db reduction outside.


You're right about new mics, someday we hope to upgrade to some C42mp and perhaps a tube mic. Good mics are so expensive and my voice is so strange i'm afraid to pull the trigger for fear it won't be the right mic for me. I window shop at mercenary a lot. I dream of some of Royer 121s or a pair of MG M930s. A pair of c414s would be really useful, too.

But the G.A.S is so much worse for us because we play everything... meaning I also want a nice strat. And new cymbals. Monitors. Outboard verb. /sigh/. Not to mention sticks/strings/heads. Sheesh. So we're trying to get every bit of performance out of our gear that we can. And we're learning how important placement is - how an inch here or there makes such a huge difference in sound.

Anyway, pretty much everything we know about recording we learned at HR -and we've got a long way to go.

-Casey
 
Thanks for the info Casey. The freestanding studio outbuilding makes me think... my wife calls my studio my treehouse and I have to laugh because you're a step closer towards that... all you need is a crane, deck screws and an big oak tree. :D

my voice is so strange i'm afraid to pull the trigger for fear it won't be the right mic for me
Click to expand...
Just a thought, but maybe an hour at a studio w/an extensive mic cabinet or renting a few mic's to compare would be worth the modest cost to know for sure. I rented mic's to test and it was invaluable.

BTW, pls let me know when you've got a CD out so I can buy one.

Tim
 
radio

the bass seems a little thin to me, but take that for what it's worth, i like bass.

actually, the entire thing is just a touch on the thin side, some of the clean gits are really middy. (not muddy, middy)

vox could be a little bigger, warmer (not to be confused with louder)

direct in acu with a piazo (spelling) pickup??? not a big fan of that sound.
it's just a bit to mid heavy for me, you just need some good amps mostly.
it's good, and clear, and well written.
 
on your vox, it may be worth trying out a re-20 or sm7 or some dynamic, hopefully into a good tube pre.

a little proximity effect and a tube may be just what the doctor ordered for your vox. (maby)
 
Thanks for the input guys. We'll be remixing Radio tonight. We'll maybe try some overall eq and some special attention to the drums....(again). Retrack the intro, perhaps.

Anybody who wants a CD just PM myself or Incanus and we'll fix you up. I don't imagine we'd go so far as to ask for money. Just knowing somebody besides us wants to listen to this stuff is payment enough. We've got three songs to go for our first release. We don't plan to have it professionally mastered or printed etc, so please excuse the DIY aesthetic. Hopefully as we progress we'll be able to take on more of those business aspects as well. It's all very overwhelming.

So far my experience with top shelf mics has been mixed - the U47 hates me, as does the c414. I don't remember what the Equitech mic I used was, but it didn't like me much either. In fact, mics with "air" or "top" to them seem to accentuate the nasal and ringing qualities of my voice - I think I need a dark and complex mic. For this reason the V67 has been a "go to" for me - until something better comes along.

Girraffe, you're enabling Incanus. :D New pres are out right now, I'm afraid. But we'll try to get a more balanced mix tonight.

You guys are the best - thanks for all your help.

-Casey
 
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