rock and roll

[NotThatBright]

I tried something new with mixing the kick drum yesterday that worked pretty well, and I'm verifying it now by doing it with two other songs. These are covers.

This one is ridiculous, but amusing. I covered it a couple months ago, telling a friend that, while the original is just terrible, I could make it listenable. I think I did! God bless America.

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/sluts-in-the-city/s-rKkNg



This is a Lagwagon song.

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/twenty-seven2/s-AEvHK

UPDATE- There seems to me to be a lot of "empty space" between the kick and the snare with this song, so I did another mix with a louder bass guitar. I think it helps somewhat:

https://soundcloud.com/user92696274096/twenty-seven-more-bass-guitar/s-8fPNB



What I'd most like to hear is if you think the kick sounds good and is at a good level. Also if the overhead is too loud, not loud enough, or acceptable. Any comments welcome. Thanks!

 

[dobro]

Twenty-seven's pretty good. I enjoyed it.

Sluts in the City: Aw c'mon...get a drummer.

 

[jimistone]

I thought the guitars sounded good, the snare sounded pretty good, the kick is buried and needs more bottom around 40k. The vocals are recorded OK but are kind of pitchy, especially on the bridge. I would re-sing it. The bridge dosen't really fit the rest of the song in my opinion. It's like your doing an in your face crude song, with not much melody, then all of a sudden you're trying to get more melodic and fancier on the bridge.
I don't think the bridge works man.
Good job for the most part though.

 

[NotThatBright]

Twenty-seven's pretty good. I enjoyed it.

Sluts in the City: Aw c'mon...get a drummer.

Really, how good can you expect the drumming to be in a song called "Sluts in the City"?


Thanks for the comments.

 

[Greg_L]

Really, how good can you expect the drumming to be in a song called "Sluts in the City"?


Thanks for the comments.

I expect it to always be good enough that it doesn't suck. I steadfastly reject the all-too-common half-assed punk rock mantra that it doesn't really matter if you can play or not. That ideology has been taken to a bad extreme by tons of shitty punk bands and lazy punk rock people. Shit like that is why punk often doesn't get the credit it deserves. The original idea is that you don't have to be a virtuoso. You do still have to be competent though. If there's a mount rushmore of punk rock, I bet the bands that would be on it were competent at what they did. You did a Lagwagon cover for crying out loud. Those guys can play. I've never heard any Fat Wreck band that has a drum track that sounds like the drums were thrown down a flight of stairs.

Speaking of Lagwagon, I just saw Joey Cape last weekend with the Gimmes. Good band, they can play. NOFX's drummer, Smelly? He's tighter than a nun's butthole. Practice a little, dude. You don't need to be Neil Peart. I do think you need to do better than Sluts in the City. Twenty Seven's drum performance wasn't too bad.

Anyway, lecture over, I'm sorry for that. I think you have made improvements on your mixes. Definitely. The drums, as bad as they are played, do sound much better in the mix. The kick does lack a little low thump, but it's improved. The snare and toms have some pop now. Overhead seems a little cleaner. There's still plenty of room to sound better, but you're on the right track. The snare and kick still sound a little boxy and the whole mix seems a little stacked in the mids. Guitars and vocals sound good.

 

[NotThatBright]

I thought the guitars sounded good, the snare sounded pretty good, the kick is buried and needs more bottom around 40k. The vocals are recorded OK but are kind of pitchy, especially on the bridge. I would re-sing it. The bridge dosen't really fit the rest of the song in my opinion. It's like your doing an in your face crude song, with not much melody, then all of a sudden you're trying to get more melodic and fancier on the bridge.
I don't think the bridge works man.
Good job for the most part though.

I doubt I had a reason for trying to go sweet on the bridge, but if I did, I have no idea what the hell it was. Probably just trying to be annoying. I just remember not being able to stomach singing all the original lyrics (which is probably a good thing for a GG Allin song) so I just replaced some lines with non sequiturs that rhymed. The chorus was the thing that always made me laugh. It was cathartic yelling "sluts in the city" over and over. Really clears your mind. It's like one of those riddles without an answer... If a moron yells "sluts in the city" over and over and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

I appreciate the comment.

 

[NotThatBright]

I expect it to always be good enough that it doesn't suck. I steadfastly reject the all-too-common half-assed punk rock mantra that it doesn't really matter if you can play or not. That ideology has been taken to a bad extreme by tons of shitty punk bands and lazy punk rock people. Shit like that is why punk often doesn't get the credit it deserves. The original idea is that you don't have to be a virtuoso. You do still have to be competent though. If there's a mount rushmore of punk rock, I bet the bands that would be on it were competent at what they did. You did a Lagwagon cover for crying out loud. Those guys can play. I've never heard any Fat Wreck band that has a drum track that sounds like the drums were thrown down a flight of stairs.

Speaking of Lagwagon, I just saw Joey Cape last weekend with the Gimmes. Good band, they can play. NOFX's drummer, Smelly? He's tighter than a nun's butthole. Practice a little, dude. You don't need to be Neil Peart. I do think you need to do better than Sluts in the City. Twenty Seven's drum performance wasn't too bad.

Anyway, lecture over, I'm sorry for that. I think you have made improvements on your mixes. Definitely. The drums, as bad as they are played, do sound much better in the mix. The kick does lack a little low thump, but it's improved. The snare and toms have some pop now. Overhead seems a little cleaner. There's still plenty of room to sound better, but you're on the right track. The snare and kick still sound a little boxy and the whole mix seems a little stacked in the mids. Guitars and vocals sound good.

Hey, I'd rather play well, but it's a little tricky with my limited experience. I don't buy into any mantras... and if I did, it certainly wouldn't be one where the idea is to do a shitty job on purpose! No need to apologize for lectures. Every now and then you just gotta rip into some dickhead, you know?

Most of the stuff I've listened to over my life would be considered "punk", but I never wanted to be associated with the term. The music is rock and roll- to me "punk" meant jerkoffs dressing in silly clothes and having stupid hair colors so other people in their pyramid scheme will respect them. Oh well, different strokes for different folks!

I know you're a real musician, I hope you don't think that someone like me makes a mockery of your craft by recording stuff this shitty. I just think it's fun building a song from the ground up, and I learn stuff along the way. And it keeps me out of trouble. I would like to be able to play like you, but that won't be in the stars for some time, if ever.

Lagwagon can certainly play. As far as Joey Cape, while I generally don't care for singers with "sweet"-sounding voices (not sure what word to use here), I always thought his voice was great.

I took note of your comments regarding the mix. Thanks again for getting me on the right track.

 

[Greg_L]

Hey, I'd rather play well, but it's a little tricky with my limited experience. I don't buy into any mantras... and if I did, it certainly wouldn't be one where the idea is to do a shitty job on purpose! No need to apologize for lectures. Every now and then you just gotta rip into some dickhead, you know?

Most of the stuff I've listened to over my life would be considered "punk", but I never wanted to be associated with the term. The music is rock and roll- to me "punk" meant jerkoffs dressing in silly clothes and having stupid hair colors so other people in their pyramid scheme will respect them. Oh well, different strokes for different folks!

Right, I totally agree. Postcard punks. They're the worst.

I know you're a real musician, I hope you don't think that someone like me makes a mockery of your craft by recording stuff this shitty. I just think it's fun building a song from the ground up, and I learn stuff along the way. And it keeps me out of trouble. I would like to be able to play like you, but that won't be in the stars for some time, if ever.

Well I think I laid it on a little too thick and you maybe misunderstood me a little because of it. I don't really consider myself much of a musician and I certainly don't think you're "mocking my craft". I only do what I do. I'm only good at my own little sliver of music. I get it that you might be new and still learning as you go. No problem. I guess I mistakenly took your comment to mean that a certain style of song doesn't need to be performed adequately. If that's not what you actually meant, then I apologize. That kind of attitude is thrown around a lot though so I jumped to the conclusion that that is what you meant. I encounter that attitude all the time out here in the meat world playing the kind of music I play. I see bands all the time that just slop through shit songs because they think being shitty is !punk rock! or anti-establishment. Lol. It doesn't offend me as a musician, it offends me as a listener. They're not mocking my "craft", they're mocking my ears.

Lagwagon can certainly play. As far as Joey Cape, while I generally don't care for singers with "sweet"-sounding voices (not sure what word to use here), I always thought his voice was great.

Yeah Lagwagon is okay. I'm not a huge fan, they kind of sound like any ol generic Fat Wreck band, but they are pretty good. I got into Masked Intruder pretty recently. Talk about a poppy punk band with sweet voices. It took me a while to get my head around it, but goddamn, their songs are pretty funny and their whole schtick is pretty good. Sweet sounding songs about crime and robbing people with knives, and they wear ski-masks all the time and no one knows who they are...like they're KISS or something. Fucking silly. Check em out if you haven't already.

I took note of your comments regarding the mix. Thanks again for getting me on the right track.

No prob, keep working at it. You'll get there.

 

[NotThatBright]

Right, I totally agree. Postcard punks. They're the worst.

Well I think I laid it on a little too thick and you maybe misunderstood me a little because of it. I don't really consider myself much of a musician and I certainly don't think you're "mocking my craft". I only do what I do. I'm only good at my own little sliver of music. I get it that you might be new and still learning as you go. No problem. I guess I mistakenly took your comment to mean that a certain style of song doesn't need to be performed adequately. If that's not what you actually meant, then I apologize. That kind of attitude is thrown around a lot though so I jumped to the conclusion that that is what you meant. I encounter that attitude all the time out here in the meat world playing the kind of music I play. I see bands all the time that just slop through shit songs because they think being shitty is !punk rock! or anti-establishment. Lol. It doesn't offend me as a musician, it offends me as a listener. They're not mocking my "craft", they're mocking my ears.

Yeah Lagwagon is okay. I'm not a huge fan, they kind of sound like any ol generic Fat Wreck band, but they are pretty good. I got into Masked Intruder pretty recently. Talk about a poppy punk band with sweet voices. It took me a while to get my head around it, but goddamn, their songs are pretty funny and their whole schtick is pretty good. Sweet sounding songs about crime and robbing people with knives, and they wear ski-masks all the time and no one knows who they are...like they're KISS or something. Fucking silly. Check em out if you haven't already.



No prob, keep working at it. You'll get there.

The Sluts in the City drumming comment was a joke. More of a quip, actually. I can't blame you for taking it the way it was written, that's the logical thing to do, so I am responsible for that communication breakdown. We're on the same page.

I remember the fatwreck comps from many years ago... you are correct, most of those bands sound the same. Lagwagon always stood out to me, though. And Snuff. And there have to be one or two more that I can't remember right now.

I'll check out Masked Intruder. KISS is great, by the way. I do a mean cover of "Come on and Love Me" and "Mr. Speed". Now that this information is out there, I expect to hear from their lawyers in the morning.

Thanks again.

.