Song Collaboration: Robus, Ibleedburgundy, easlern

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Robus

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I posted a demo with my own vocals and sample drums a couple of months back. Here's the song with ibleedburgundy on drums and easlern doing all the vocals. Cheers!

All comments welcome. I am working first on balancing the lead and backing vocals and getting them to sit. Any suggestions on that much appreciated.

I'm done with Soundcloud. Link below.

New Mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqJIqBR8uJeSngwRVU0N3gxWTg/view?usp=sharing

I'll Tell You Something
Words and Music by Ray Taylor, 2016

Call maybe call
With your stories of the war
Watched the window
Watched the TV
Guess I’ve seen them all
Called from your jail did you?
Just to hear me tell you something
Something happy, something sorry
Well anyway something new

Something real
Something strong
Something true
Well I’ll tell you something
I’ll tell you anything
I’ll tell everything
You look at me dark eyes inviting me in

Lines on your face
Maybe lines in the sand
It’s a hard world
To stay true in
Got the restless demands
But I’ll follow you if you want me to
We’ll set out to where you want to
Under my command
Somewhere deep
Somewhere strong
Somewhere new
And I’ll take you somewhere
I’ll take you anywhere
I’ll take everywhere when you look at me
Mad eyes invite me to dare

Call, maybe call, with your stories of the war.
I concede we disagree
But can’ts can’t come easy
You started something and I don’t see an end
Not another day goes by without the touch
Of your skin to my skin
Well who would have thought it in the
life of leisure, energy and breathless pleasure?
Pack your dreams
We’re leaving on a wild storm!

Nighfalls, evasions and dancers
Come the nightfall
Come the questions
Come the too-perfect answers
Wherefores and whys
We left them hanging on that wall
Turn to me
Burn through me
Let the pieces fall

Won’t you please take me somewhere
Where we’re strong and we are free?

Well I’ll tell you something
I’ll take you anywhere
I’ll give you everything
You look at me
Mad eyes invite me to share.
 
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I'd edit out some of the breaths and lip smacks. Fade those in a bit. You can be selective with them though - some are useful, some not so much. some of the phrases seemed rushed when over this tempo, but others fit perfectly....example 2:25 seems rushed, while 2:37 works great and is very effective. it's a lot of words overall, but I know that's something you like doing with your lyrics.

i thought the snare could come up front a little more, seems in the background much. guitars, as usual, sound great. I hear an overdriven bass?
 
"61 MB is too large for google to scan before downloading"
I would suggest a 320MP3
a) I have a limit on how much I get for free on my internet plan.
b) It takes forever to download it on my DSL connection (I cancelled after 5minutes)
c) Who knows what virus might tag along if it cannot be scanned
128 SC files suck for sound but this is too big.
 
Thanks Ido. It's fixed now. The OP links an MP3.

Taras, yeah. I've got some editing to do. I left most of the breaths in for starters. Some will come out. There's some growl on that bass. Fender Jazz through a Gallien-Krueger amp.
 
Weird, this doesn't feel like a Robus song to me without the voice. I think Easlern's vocals are technically better, but Robus was feeling it in that last version (one of his best vocals, imo). The vocal sounds a little out of place (different room feel). I think they need some weight cut out and maybe lower a db or so. Cool harmony.

With regard to the mix, it sounds good, but the snare seems to oscillate in volume. Sometimes it feels too loud. Is there a compressor on it? I'd check the settings on the compressor. The bass sounds a little "farty" instead of thick and smooth (maybe that's the growl?). That might be a preference and decision made, but I prefer an R&B smooth/deep bass sound. I do like the human feel to the drumming. I like how the guitars are panned very much.
 
Thanks Nola. It's always strange hearing another singer do a song you've written, but trust me: Nick's way better! I think you're right about cutting in the lower mids. I don't think I have any compression on the snare. I'll check.
 
Robus said:
It's always strange hearing another singer do a song you've written, but trust me: Nick's way better!
Click to expand...

I agree he's better, but to me it's all about fit. Like I can't imagine Roy Orbison singing a Green Day song, even though he's a better singer than Billy Joe.
In the version you sent me in privately, I thought this song had your best vocal performance ever, and it fit. Your voice had less weight naturally and fit the jangley guitars, etc. That's just my take. If you like this vocal take then roll with it. And no offense to Easlern -- he has a great timbre, and I like his voice.
 
Great song. Mix was good with my cans. Singing and other performances were very good.
 
Nice tight performances. I like the guitar tone - all around. Bass has pretty good tone. But maybe just a bit sterile sounding - like too many low mids have been cut.

Nice drumming IBB. Cymbals sound nice and clear. I could use a little more volume in the kick. It's getting dominated a little by the bass. I'd like a lot more snap/crack from the snare.

The vocals are clear. But I'm hearing a lot of clicky artifacts on them. Consonants have this weirdness to the attack. The vocal reverb treatment is very different than the guitars. The vocal reverb also sounded a bit unnatural.
 
It sounds pretty good to me.

Maybe the toms could come up a bit. There is 1 fill that I did that is kind of a folding fill at 2:55, I think that could come out more. Same thing at 2:42, the snare is so much louder than the toms that the rhythm of the fill is obscured. In other words I suck make me sound better haha. On the cans the cymbals sounded a little low and the drums overall were dark. On the monitors it's not really a problem. I can hear everything. Maybe a touch more overheads would brighten it up and help the toms at the same time. I dunno. Or maybe try more wideness on the OHs to match the guitars.

I think a big difference between pro drummers and amateurs is amateurs put fills all over the place. Pros put them strategically. That's what I am trying to do here. But the fills could maybe hit a little harder somehow. Another way to bring the toms out without interfering too much with other stuff in the mix is to give them more fatness (250 Hz -ish depending on the drum - lower for lower drums, a bit higher for higher toms) and slap (2.5Hz) coupled with possibly a mid cut in the 500-1K range. Nothing crazy, just a few DBs one way or the other.

Love the vocal harmonies. -Especially at 1:38, 1:00, 2:10, 3:19. Nice job Nick!

Guitar tones are awesome throughout. In particular I like the opening lead, 2:44 (both guitars), delay sound at 2:44. The slow hand lead at 3:30 is fucking beautiful - that could maybe be featured more. I hope you are writing down these amp settings!
 
Oh yeah 1 more thing. I think you can hear me putting the drum sticks down after the song is over lol. There are some erroneous bass guitar sounds there as well. I realize this is my fault lol.
 
Thanks Dave. I'll try out these tips when I do another mix, probably this weekend.
 
TripleM said:
Nice tight performances. I like the guitar tone - all around. Bass has pretty good tone. But maybe just a bit sterile sounding - like too many low mids have been cut.

Nice drumming IBB. Cymbals sound nice and clear. I could use a little more volume in the kick. It's getting dominated a little by the bass. I'd like a lot more snap/crack from the snare.

The vocals are clear. But I'm hearing a lot of clicky artifacts on them. Consonants have this weirdness to the attack. The vocal reverb treatment is very different than the guitars. The vocal reverb also sounded a bit unnatural.
Click to expand...

That is pretty much how I heard it. Especially +1 on wanting more crack from the snare...it seems awfully dark for this? I think I may have felt the same about your last track which I think also had IBB drums? Maybe it's just a taste thing on my part.

Performances are good all around although I agree with trip on the vocal processing.

Really nit picky, but I'd cut out the amp hum and other extraneous noises immediately prior to the start of the song.
 
The snare is dark. I am trying to mic it differently for the next tune. It is a pork pie snare. I like the way it sounds but it's not good for everything and my other snares are meh.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
The snare is dark. I am trying to mic it differently for the next tune. It is a pork pie snare. I like the way it sounds but it's not good for everything and my other snares are meh.
Click to expand...

Yeah. That's cool. I really like your drums on this. The kit sounds good too. It's just that, subjectively the snare specifically sounds like it would be more at home in a more cerebral, jazzy and/or progressive rock kind of track if that makes any sense. This track doesn't seem like it has that kind of feel to it to me. I think it's a pretty minor thing, if it's a thing at all. lol
 
I'm not a drum connoisseur but I like the sound of that snare. It's got a solid thwack that I noticed the first time I heard Dave's playing.
 
I really like the song. The drums could use a little more punch, the vocals some editing of smacks & gasps (not all just some) as their level suggests intimacy but the actual vocal level is a little distant sounding - has hints of prog in the delivery.
I like the bass lines but the toppy tone seems just a little too bouncy ball.
the ending is odd - seems to just fall over.
Lyrics are good but, Robus, you're almost as wordy as me.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
The snare is dark. I am trying to mic it differently for the next tune. It is a pork pie snare. I like the way it sounds but it's not good for everything and my other snares are meh.
Click to expand...

Playing with different mic positions is almost always a good thing - if for nothing more than a learning experience.

But the snare sound here is nothing that can't be made suitably bright. It's perfectly usable.
 
A disclaimer is in order: I’m pretty new to this, so don’t treat me as an authority on anything!

I’ve been around the interwebs listening to demos folks put up, but in my short time here I’ve found a lot of good stuff! This is one of them. Warmth and presence thumbs up, in particular :D

Here are two things I thought of while listening:
The snare is a bit boomy/wooly to my taste, sort of becomes a bump in the road rather than a nudge down the road momentum-wise.

Not sure how the drums were recorded, but they could be wider / the guitars brought in a bit. I find there is a lot of “empty space” between the guitars and the rest of the track in the middle.

You might disagree, of course :)
 
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