poor boy demo needs critique by legally sane

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rats

rats

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Although people who have taken acid more than 10 times would surely enjoy this music I can't count on you for an accurate review.
All joking aside, this music is almost entirely recorded lo-fi on a tascam porta07, but I think it works ok to a point. There are like 15 songs here, but I think the first 5 are the best and a good example. I'm desperate to get out a few CDs to a few select zines, but I want to know if 1) they aren't productionally wise too horribly annoying to burn to a disk for review submission, and 2) what are the catchiest tracks, and 3) a description of the music. I know this may be a tall order, but if anyone would take the time, I would be greatly obliged!
Please don't make me plead, my cherished Newbie status is it risk!
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/94/the_thrigs.html
 
I gave electro a listen and heard music analagous of a rat and his thrigs. Very interesting and original music, and concept - production values are excellent. You've got some "T" for talent,rats, and your dedication shows in your mixes. Will check out more another time . . .
 
Checked out Electro, Psycho Tripper Sex Gang, If I Could Be Your Boogeyman, Jonathon(Dip Off My Chin), & Polly Ethelline. If I were a label I'd be interested in signing you guys (but I'm not). You could probably upgrade and refine the recording quality of the songs but that might lose some of the exciting rawness of the tracks. If you get a chance Check out BeOnAir.Com/Alternative (Internet radio station). They were actively solicitng cd's from new artists for airplay on their station. The worst that could happen is they don't play it----The best that could happen is they put some of your songs in rotation and promo it. Good luck!
 
ReallY??!!! Who would have thought!? I have a hard time making unbiased self appraisals of my work, but an old friend of mine mixed a few of those tracks through his massive system for me to clean them up and he said they might be the best 4track recordings on a machine of that caliber he's heard. I figure he was maybe embellishing a bit, but it's good to know it doesn't sound bad. I guess when you don't have too many variables to be concerned with you can focus on what matters. I used no pre amps, a shure SM58 with a 1/4 inch plug, and a memeorex SA60 cassette tape. The only effects I used on any vocals or guitars is my Lexicon Vortex, and an old Ibanez delay pedal. No reverb, no compressors, nuthin. I ran my strat direct (no direct box). Plain and simple.

I feel my status slipping away......
 
This stuff was really good...you've pretty much got yer own sound.......good composition, good playing, lyrics.......this is just my opinion, but the only gripe I can see that might put off somebody giving you a fair listen (for a deal, which is the point, right?) is the way the vocals are mixed...."Electro"- just seemed to be too much distortion on 'em, but the beastie boys style chorus was even more grating...."Psycho Tripper" was less harsh on the vox, but a little shaved off would make it easier to understand the lyrics....the chorus in that song is clearer than the others vocals...spoken word part in this one and the first one was pretty effective...."If I could be your bogeyman" was deliberately off key, right?...didn't work very well...a record guy would be put off by it...."jonathn" was too harsh in the beginning vocals, then got better, then got harsh again..."Polly"was my fave, but jeeze you got a thing about treble, huh???...this time, even on the guitar too much high eq......of all the songs I downloaded, the vocals were really good and nicely recorded on this one.......
Good work, chip chip, and all that....you really got something going on, but (this is just my opinion) lose the treble treble treble high eq....goes through the ears like needles...stuff like this needs to go through the chest....gibs
 
I really hate to be one of those self obsessed types and I'm really not, I just reaaaaaaly have been looking for a run down of this stuff by someone(s) that know what they're talking about and don't have an outside agenda with me that would keep them from being honest. My band and I plan on rerecording most of this material with CE when I get my new puter, but I kind of wanted to get some intial reviews from a few online 'zines that I know would post a review on their sites if I sent them a CD. I dont want to fuck my band by sending out prematurely, but if it's not that bad I don't see why I should wait. It wouldn't be to any of the big ones, just like splendid ezine, slash and burn, toast, that sort of thing. What do you think?
 
like Mac, said, you could probably refine and upgrade the sound, but I don't think it would ruin the "rawness" necessarily....as far as putting those songs out now, they're really good tunes and could probably get away with it.....after all, I'm the only one that bitched about the treble, so maybe I'm totally off base....wouldn't be the first time:D....don't totally rely on stuff we three say, though, use your own judgement and ears...if you think they're ready, then maybe they are...the only song that didn't well convey your sound was "bogeyman", but hey, that's my opinion via my opinionated ears.....gibs
 
OK rats: Excuse me while I infiltrate yet another thread. Time for a forcefed D-CON pellet break from the doc. A little bit of strychnine, a whole lot of rock and roll.
Here's the word from on high from the Evil Mutant General that took the time to D/L and comment on your 48 MB of .mp3 offerings. Can't you just hear your moldy Cheerios losing their crunch as I offer up yet another enlightened opinion, one of which is that Cheerios have too much Sodium/gram of Cheeerio for it to be considered food. And judging by your description of "Partaying" you're too messy to be admitted to my studio without handcuffs and a cattle-prod.
Party on.

Willow: really nicely done considering the Porta-07. I own one and understand.
If I could be your boogeyman. That shreiking vocal that gibs described feels like a dull bit boring through my skull.
Moving On: Loved the tune- didn't like the EQ choices. That constant whistling sound gets old in a hurry. The twangy string sound doesn't need that sort of EQ to stand on its own.
The Psycho Tripper Sex Gan: This is more like the comfy EQ that is superior to the ones complained about above. The 1st vocal, while purposely distorted is still fairly clear and quietly balanced with that ongoing bass vamp.
Stars: Again a more comfortable mix, only the drums seemed a little overdone, like they were recorded or mixed down a little too hot.
Electro: Very interesting style. Decent enough recording. Like Punk-Rap reliving the faded memories of the acid rock bands of 1967.
Loud Song Four Beat: I'll bet even the Beatles sounded like this at some time.
Mushroom Mary, ASL Demo Version: Like Early Beaker People.
Polly Ethelline: Shades of Captain Beefheart! Do you have experience performing this stuff for strangers on street corners? Or is this strictly an indoor activity?
Dip Off My Chip: Same complaint as in Willow and Moving On but not as harsh. Zappa did plenty of vocals with this sort of effect. It worked for him.... The stuff without the vocals was beautiful.
Electro Live Version- not up to your standards of recording and mixdown. Lots of blips. Same cool tune, though.
 
Holy cereal!! I'm humbled!! Well seeing how I don't know what to say I won't say anything.








Ok enough of that. General Stawl thank you thank you for for time and prof opinions I will keep this is mind in the insurrection (ROFLMFAO). I guess I will wait a few months then and send out a more quality version, because the songs I really want to hit hard seem like they might not have the weight behind them via poor recording quality. I do like the low-fi sound, and I hope I can get that out of cool edit pro.
Who is Beaker People?
The 2 acoustic songs (plus moving on) were written with the intent of playing them on street corners for strangers (your insight is almost to the scary point). We have had a rocky road as a band, and without a practice space to set up the drums for several months we resorted to acoustics and bongos/shakers/tamborines with the intent of promoting our bands outside clubs and concerts on the sidewalks.

You're a good man General.
 
I listened to Electro, and I dig that chick reading the story at the beginning. I like the song overall, and the recording is darn good considering what equipment you are working with. I like the raw feeling it has, yet it's clean enough that the rawness doesn't interfere with me listening to the song. I'm gonna go download some more from your page, cause I like what I hear so far.
 
I listened to the first 2. I loved psycho tripper sex gang. Great tune. The opening few lines (vocals)reminded me a little of Beck. But this is not to say the song wasn't very original.

Great work
Ray J
 
very cool!

Rats -

I really dig your stuff... very, very cool! Keep up the good work, yo!
 
watzup!
i heard Psycho Sex Gang song. it's good. i think it's a really catchy song. good riff. I think that the combination of distorted instruments/vocal and not-proffesional recording exqupment make the recording quality sound less good. i think it's an excelent demo.
 
Hey Rats. Listened to Electro. I will be of absolutely no help I'm sure. The only thing I can tell (at work on cans) is that there seems to be an abundance of lows and highs. The mids seem to be sucked out.

This song is pretty cool and considering what it was recoreded on, it's amazing. I would like to hear it retracked though. The vocals are just a little too distorted IMO and it's just a little too lo-fi IMO. It was an extremely fun listen though.

Nice work
 
Funny how you would want sane people to listen, it's obvious the performers on this piece were insane. This music says FuckYou from beginning to end, which means I liked it a lot. If there was a nice "heavy metal" solo on it and then the tune would make me get moist.
 
Yeah, a little low-fi, but it fits the song. Look what Ween did with it!

Wish I could understand the lyrics a little better. I bet they're either hilarious, head-scratching or profound.

This is a nice, unique tune. Obviously a digital setup and 20 more tracks would up the production value, but you do an amazing job with your equipment. If I were to go back and listen to my old four-track stuff right now, I'd have to burn it.

That was Electro I listened to, by the way. LOVE the intro. Fantastic female voice. I'd like to hear her do a lead vocal, unless that was a sample or something. Does she sing on any of your others?

Great song. You're very talented.

Piltdown Man
 
"Is this a joke?" -- Nigel Tufnail, Spinal Tap ...

Funny this thread from January 2001. Anyway, I actually did take a listen to the three
songs that are up there and I really like the songs themselves! I think that you have
probably improved greatly in your production values and these could probably be
re-worked and re-tracked, but they still sound pretty good for four-track (this isn't to say
they are nothing to be proud of...for just four track recordings they are good, but with two
more years of recording experience under your belt, I believe they could probably be
produced even better) :)

Songwise, very creative stuff. I was listening with headphones and there is a lot going on
with these pieces. Very nice arrangements you have on there and very good writing!

:D

We now return you to September 2003 currently in progress ...
 
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