Quick demo for new album

  • Thread starter Thread starter LemonTree
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LemonTree

LemonTree

Suck 'em and see!
So we've got 9 tunes together for an album, all in demo form. Tonight I finished a 10th. The idea is to do 15 songs then pick the best 10 or 12 for the CD. Maybe do a month of rehersals then record all 10 or 12 afresh from what we've learned from the demos. I think that's a good way of doing it...not sure.

So here's one I threw together over the last couple of days. My initial thoughts are to back off the compression and let the song breathe a bit. Also I just added all the precision plugs by UAD a few weeks back and think I may have over used them on their first outing. Still, it's only a demo and I wanted the rest of the band to feel that sense of urgency.

it's called MAYBE (you don't know).. bit of a rocker

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Guitars, acoustic is a variax, electric through a UX1 toneport. Drums are roland TD3 and superior 2.0, bass is DI, vox through an Rode NT1a. Tracked via the Yamaha N12, spit n polish by UAD. Cubase studio 4 on a dinosaur of a 3GHz PIV
 
Yeah good tune. There's a funny click or something @ .37 just b4 the drums come in. The snare is too squashed for my taste, but otherwise I like the inyourfaceness of it. Good job
 
vocals are very clear, they sit really nice and sound great. Not crazy about the snare sound though. The song sounds good though and seems to be fairly well glued together. Add some room to the snare maybe?

good tune man,
Josh
 
Really nice tune--good songwriting. Since this is a "demo" and will be recorded again (if it makes the cut) that kinda changes what advice we'd give.

I'd try the acoustic mic'd. The variax doesn't sound bad, but it's still got some piezo sound. A mic'd acoustic might give it some more of that air you're looking for.

Great tone on the electrics. And I really like the sound of the vox--good singing and good sounding recording. I agree with the others on the snare. It's got a nice pop but it needs a more "smack" sound--right now it sounds like a bit like a small roto tom. The cymbals sound really nice to me.

I hope this one makes the cut. Look forward to hearing more of this project.
 
The piezo/variaxe is very bright as mentioned in your 1st lyric line.
Good song - the demo is quite toppy- no real bottom end from the percussion.
This has a Smiths/Julian Cope pop vibe to it - nice.
 
Thanks for the replys,

Bulls, I think that funky click at .37 is the compressor on the bass kicking in and spiking. I need another look at the file up close but I'm sure that's what it is.

Slowjet, the vocals I am more and more pleased with. All our songs vocals had been tracked on a studio projects B1 prior to this song. I'm liking the Rode a lot more, seems a bit more rounded out on the bottom end and a lot more detailed on top without the harshness.

The snare now after several listens is doing my head in and needs some serious backing off of the compression. I think I might also try automating the room mics to give the drums a bit more ambience during the verse parts where the guitars are sparse.

I'm pleased with the demo, looking forward to picking the final tunes and re recording them and I'm sure this one will make it onto the CD.
 
Really good song, Lemon! :)
Love the lyrics and its got a scottish feel to it with that lead guitar. I almost expected bag-pipes....:D. Mix sounds fine to me, maybe if you fix that snare it'll sound more complete. This is already very good for a demo.

Cheers
Joe :):)
 
This could be pretty cool. I'm a fan of the song for sure.

I'm not sure if it's just my monitoring environment, but the vocals are hitting me as ridiculously loud, and the whole mix is missing energy in the low mids. It's like it's not moving any air at all on the low end???

I think I must have something unplugged....
 
Hi LemonTree - I gave this song a once though listening and I really loved it! Great melody. Catchy, but really interesting. I liked in the very end where you had the chorus as a background - interesting and cool choice. I'm not one to critique the mixing just yet because I don't know squat about it, but in thinking about it now, I'm remembering the beat, the chord progression, vocals the verses and chorus, but I don't recall anything about the bass sound/line or rhythm it gave. Not sure if that means anything to you or not. I guess it depends on what you're going for if that's supposed to stand out or blend in. I listen to a lot of old school funk and bass grooves jump out at you in those styles!

The vocals and style kind of reminded me of the group that sang "Pretty in Pink" - which is a good thing! I love that kind of sound.

Thanks for sharing your tunes!
 
lga5824 said:
I'm remembering the beat, the chord progression, vocals the verses and chorus, but I don't recall anything about the bass sound/line or rhythm it gave. Not sure if that means anything to you or not. I guess it depends on what you're going for if that's supposed to stand out or blend in.
Thanks for sharing your tunes!
Click to expand...

Yeah, the bass. I'm the bass player in the band although I've played everything here to give to the rest of the band an insight into what should be going on in the song. So when we get to rehersal stage after a couple weeks listening to this I pull the big shiny new bassline out the bag and that usualy inspires them to up their game and play off of it :D
 
totally agree with the bass comment. it seems to be what's missing. it needs to be more present in the mix. i think it sounds great though. i like in the break down where the electric guitar comes in from the other side opposite of the lead.
 
After a couple of days tweaking I'm starting to wonder if the whole thing needs another guitar in the verse parts. I'm finding it a bit empty and boring in there but maybe I just burnt myself out with hearing it so many times.
 
really liked the vocals on this...agree with others the low end is missing a bit.Love that flange bit on the "Once flying across mountains...'" part.... killer on my phones. Very cool song with a little 80's retro feel , but still with a fresh vibe.Enjoyed it!
 
Here's a completely different mix with a new bassline and a less squashed snare ...

MAYBE

I'm now thinking somewhere inbetween mix A and Mix B is the place I wanna be :D
 
The first thing is that the hats FX is really cool. The loud vox are very nice. This is a catchy song. The song seems fine. Just give the band a break and use this mix. :P
 
Great song!! can see it used in a movie soundtrack....
Would say the vox are a touch loud in the verse parts, just a touch mind you!

Great melodies, catchy as a catchy thing!
 
thanks for the comments Bubba & Aidan. I'm pleased with this for a demo. I think I've tweaked it silly but as it'll be recorded again it's time to put this one to bed.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in, comments were most welcome
 
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