Simple 2 track ballad

dobro said:
...If you don't learn from the error and keep repeating it, it'll take you down eventually to suffering beyond imagining...
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Without getting too "philosophical" or "hijacky" ;) I gotta jump in and agree, Paul. I live this and see this all the time. Taking a step back from life if you keep having the same problems, to find out what you're doing wrong sometimes helps.

We keep trying to make ourselves happy doing the wrong things :( ("wrong" meaning "actions that led to problems before"...)
 
Nice job, Tom...

I like all your "Sluice" stuff and this is a nice change to the acoustic from what I had previously heard.

The only piece of advice I could offer would be to watch your breathing when you are singing. You sound a little chesty, ie. your lower notes sounded thin as they are not resonating out from the pit of your stomach.

I recognise this is a quickie - so don't stress -- just be aware of it when retracking. Diaphragm out - air in, diaphragm in - air out. Forget the lungs.

Can't wait to hear the "real" version :)

Keep smilin'

Q.
 
banjos turn songs into happy music!!

so....do you catch and release?


nice tune, dude
 
As soon as this started my cat ran in from the living room, jumped into my lap, and listened along with me. She rarely does that. Guess this has the feline seal of approval.:cool:

I enjoyed it too. Thanks for sharing. :)

by participant
Taking a step back from life if you keep having the same problems, to find out what you're doing wrong sometimes helps.
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Funny how mechanics can teach you about life. ;)
 
Ooh, this is great

Wonderful moody piece. Guitar sounds good, but your voice is terrific! This is a great piece--I like it all.
 
Qwerty said:
I recognise this is a quickie - so don't stress -- just be aware of it when retracking. Diaphragm out - air in, diaphragm in - air out. Forget the lungs.

Can't wait to hear the "real" version :)
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I know I shouldn't critique anyone's critiques, but....

Errrrrrrrrrr, how "real" do you wanna have it? Damn, it brings tears to my eyes man! Raw emotion. This is what music is about, in my ever so humble opinion. Btw, I don't mean that sadness is the only 'valid' musical emotion. Anything that evokes an emotional reaction to the listener is a valid musical emotion, but that's another debate. I'm sorry, this is the kind of quality music where thinking about reverb settings, breathing or intonation is inappropriate.

Might be a personal opinion, I'm actually quite sure of that. And I'm sorry, but I had to share it this time.
 
Ped, I think that you're right in everything you said about Tom's song, but I think you might have misread Qwerty. He wrote
"real" version, not real version. You put a word in inverted commas (quotation marks, whatever) when you're saying that you know the word you've chosen is an analogue of the real thing.

Let's come up with some words to use instead of 'real'.

How about: polished, dressed up for public, perfected?
 
OK, got it. Next question: will further polishing make this song any better? I'm sure it will sound more 'perfect', but there's a chance it'll lose some (maybe all) of the emotion as well.

Anyway, I don't want to spoil this thread with a ethic discussion on this subject (although it is very interesting) so I'll leave at this.
 
"OK, got it. Next question: will further polishing make this song any better? I'm sure it will sound more 'perfect', but there's a chance it'll lose some (maybe all) of the emotion as well."

Yeah, exactly. We got to hear Tom thinking out loud. It's a really good piece of music.
 
Hi guys. I just wanted to stop in and say thank you for the comments and philosophy lessons and breathing and compression and EQ suggestions. Thanks for taking the time.

I'm probably not going to be around in the clinic very much. Discussions about EQ and the sort are just not what I'm interested in these days. My head is in an entirely different place. It's expression that I'm pursuing, not production. With that in mind, I don't feel I have much more to offer or gain here in a mixing clinic. As I've said to a couple friends from here off line, I need to spend more time making music and less time producing it. Analyzing music seems silly to me some times. It's almost like analying sex. Just shut the hell up and do it. But then what would we talk about here? So no, in fact I don't mean to say there's anything wrong with the clinic. Quite to the contrary, I have gained so much here. And I hope that I have put back what I've picked up. I think I'm mostly just putting out a reminder that music is about expression, not technique. And certainly not recording technique. I've spent many hours thinking about how to better improve the sound of my music. And now, I only wish that I had spent at least half of that time making more music. Or making more love. Whichever ideas presented themselves first. :)

So take care of yourselves, and make great music that means something to you, not what you think it means to others. Use your voice.

Tom
 
:(


I'll miss your postings. I guess it comes down to ones goals with recording:

-Getting it on tape so others can hear your songwriting and appreciate it without being distracted by poor production.

or

-Recording as art where the song quality has no relation to how good the song will SOUND.

If you do one and really want the other, you will be unhappy.
 
Dethska, I don't want to imply that I'm going to completely stop coming here. But like Erichenryus said, I think a song forum would be more rewarding for me. Some place where the focus is on the creation or the expression, not on why the snare sample sound bad, or whether the bass really needs to come down that extra .3 dB's. And unfortunately, because my ears hear that shit, I feel obligated to talk about it here, despite the fact it means very little to me. So, I'd like to listen now and then and maybe post a few songs here and there, but I just wanted to basically tell my friends here that I may not always catch their tunes like I usually do, even though I'd like to. But I do check my emails too. :)

Cheers!
Tom
 
Well fine then, I won't miss your postings.:mad: :D :D

I understand your point. And thinking about it, when I make suggestions, I usually talk about the song structure, or the dynamics of the song.

Maybe that sort of thing is better in the song-writing forum? And the mp3 clinic is for raise the snare, de-ess the vocals, etc?

As long as you keep posting your songs, I'll listen. Whereever you decide to drop them. :D
 
Well, it certainly ebbs and flows. And it's all about balance. Personally, I *love* niggling over all the details - how loud the snare is, eq on the vocal, etc. - that stuff EXCITES me.:)

So does just PLAYING (and writing) without any thought of the ins and outs of recording it. I'm managing to balance the two pretty well. But occasionally one or the other gets out of whack and self-corrections must be made.

Tom, I actually think you've reached the first big plateau of home recordists. I think you're getting about as much as you can out of the gear you've got, and to a large extent you've learned the basics of compression, eq, mixing, etc. well enough that you no longer need to *study* them. They've become second nature and you're ready to move up.

PLUS I think you've developed tremendously as a musician and songwriter.

So really, the logical next step is to either get your ass into a real studio and record another record, or to get yourself some higher quality gear and push your recording quality up to the next level. Or maybe, as you said, just concentrate on the music for awhile with the degree of dilligence that you've devoted to recording the last couple years.

Whatever you do, keep us posted. And best of luck to ya.

Chris
 
Wow, not what I expected to hear. Pretty cool.

edit: oh yeah, productive mix comments...:)
Guitar sounded like it was coming out of the walls, sort of from everywhere at once. I think a little more focus would have sounded more acoustic and added to the gut wrench factor.

All in all everything sounded good.

edit again: doh, i guess I should read threads before I post sometimes, mix comments is likely the last thing you were looking for...heh
On the vibe front, the tunes hit's you like a brick wall right out of the gate, sort of what I meant with my first comment.
Short and sweet.
 
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"My head is in an entirely different place. It's expression that I'm pursuing, not production."

Good. Glad to hear it. Good luck with it. :)
 
SLuiCe said:
Discussions about EQ and the sort are just not what I'm interested in these days. My head is in an entirely different place. It's expression that I'm pursuing, not production.
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Good luck to you Tom on your continued journey. I respect and encourage you. Enjoy.

I do however wonder whether or not it would be possible to have a song writing forum. Can you critique any song without it ultimately descending into a clash of taste?

Q.
 
There is a songwriting forum here, and quite frequented from what i've seen.

Differences in tastes are to be expected and I guess welcomed.



Well Tom, some of that sounds a bit depressing but i guess if it ultimately leads to more productivity, that is the way to go. :( :) :p :D <~~~ a sad face slowly develops into a smile, just like a daffodil
 
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