Song for my son...

  • Thread starter Thread starter ksounds
  • Start date Start date
Hi,

Glad to hear your song; just remember there is a dedicated music forum here; I am just saying it in case the moderators decide to move your post.:)

The song is sweet-natured, and your love for him certainly shows.

Some observations:

Good backing, guitar and bass sound full and varied. More on this in a bit.

Vocally, I would suggest you try one thing: re-track the vocals and put more air behind the lines. In other words, sing just a bit louder. This may help correct some small pitch issues that crop up along the way.

You need to end bigger. You drop the ending note down and it just kind of expires in the guitars. Go up and hold.

Consider doubling harmonies for some parts, to give more variety to the ears.

Orchestration:

I feel some texture is needed, during the 'rest' in the middle of the song; perhaps a few solo notes, as the song dies down a bit, and yet noone enters, if you know what I mean.

I keep waiting for the whole thing to 'break loose' with the bass wanting to 'walk' more than it does. A shift in tempo is a good tool to keep it fresh.

Structurally is where I find there are things that perhaps could change more.
I almost feel like the verses are a series of choruses; payoffs to (perhaps) quieter verses that set the story.

This brings in the tempo changes I suggested: a slower verse setting the story, and the current verses being the payoff, with a bit more 'oomph' in the singing and orchestration.

These are just ideas, one man's listen. I like the love that comes through the metaphors, and the purity of your intent. A song from the heart.

All the best and post again; I hope my suggestions may be of use :)

C.
 
Cosmic said:
Hi,

Glad to hear your song; just remember there is a dedicated music forum here; I am just saying it in case the moderators decide to move your post.:)

The song is sweet-natured, and your love for him certainly shows.

Some observations:

Good backing, guitar and bass sound full and varied. More on this in a bit.

Vocally, I would suggest you try one thing: re-track the vocals and put more air behind the lines. In other words, sing just a bit louder. This may help correct some small pitch issues that crop up along the way.

You need to end bigger. You drop the ending note down and it just kind of expires in the guitars. Go up and hold.

Consider doubling harmonies for some parts, to give more variety to the ears.

Orchestration:

I feel some texture is needed, during the 'rest' in the middle of the song; perhaps a few solo notes, as the song dies down a bit, and yet noone enters, if you know what I mean.

I keep waiting for the whole thing to 'break loose' with the bass wanting to 'walk' more than it does. A shift in tempo is a good tool to keep it fresh.

Structurally is where I find there are things that perhaps could change more.
I almost feel like the verses are a series of choruses; payoffs to (perhaps) quieter verses that set the story.

This brings in the tempo changes I suggested: a slower verse setting the story, and the current verses being the payoff, with a bit more 'oomph' in the singing and orchestration.

These are just ideas, one man's listen. I like the love that comes through the metaphors, and the purity of your intent. A song from the heart.

All the best and post again; I hope my suggestions may be of use :)

C.
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Thanks for the review cosmic. This is the kind of review I really look for in that it gives me some real outside insight into my work. All of it is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the time you put into it.

Yeah, there are a few pich issues here and there, but nothing I think is too terribly bad. I am thinking of retracking the vocals though. Anyone else agree with this review?

Oh, and I posted in this forum as I know that people do come here looking for advice on cassette portastudios, and hearing some actual work done on one might be appreciated in this forum as opposed to the mp3 clinic where it might get lost among my analog peers:D
 
I'll give it a listen later tonight. But I agree that posting songs here is great, as it gets totally lost and unappreciated elsewhere. Plus moderators rarely if ever come by.;)
 
Remixed this one. No new arrangements, but still, I like it a whole lot better. It's amazing what a little bit of advice and a little bit of ear rest can accomplish. o.k. so the vocals are a little off pitch at times (hey I'm still getting my technique down), and I am only utilizing 4 tracks, but all in all, I'm amazed at what the cassette format is capable of. I'm sure a more capable engineer could achieve better results, but I'm happy with it thus far. The master sounds even better than the mp3. I think I'm going to make this a hidden track on my album as what I usually write is pretty far removed from this kind of vibe.
 
Shit, sorry ksounds, I forgot about this thread [dementia setting in?:confused::eek:] but I did finally listen to the 2 versions and def the 2nd, remixed vers, is superior. If you told someone this was recorded on a 4 track cassette, they would find it hard to believe. It's very good. I especially like the part starting from 2:40 - 2:58 with the haunting, distant vocals. That was very, very well done, convincing and I could have sworn you used a large metal plate but in fact it was the LXP-1. What a great unit but it was all you and your technique which is most important. Don't let the "only 4 tracks" be an excuse and neither that you're using cassette. It's all technique. What type of vocal mic are you using?
 
I especially like the part starting from 2:40 - 2:58 with the haunting, distant vocals. That was very, very well done, convincing and I could have sworn you used a large metal plate but in fact it was the LXP-1. What a great unit but it was all you and your technique which is most important. Don't let the "only 4 tracks" be an excuse and neither that you're using cassette. It's all technique. What type of vocal mic are you using?
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Thanks cjacek. Like I said, performance wise I'm not completely happy with it, but overall sound wise I think the second mix is pretty darn good. The lxp-1 is definitely a stellar unit. For that haunting effect I just disengaged the assign L/1 & L/2 for the vocal track, but turned up it's effects send and it still ran through the buss, than reengaged it when it came back to the chorus while quickly turning down the effects send. I thought it was pretty cool. The mixer on the 246 is soo quiet, I really love it, and it does a nice job at capturing intimate performances. One of the reasons the song is so simple is because I'm purposely limiting myself to 4 tracks, which in a way is quite liberating. I think it will help me focus more on my song writing and less on all the rest of the crap. I can deal with the rest of the crap on a limited basis, and concentrating on 4 tracks is much easier for me to deal with than trying to mix 12 tracks of stuff. That can be quite daunting. I'm carrying this philosophy over to the rest of my gear as well. I sold all of my mics and some more of my gear to purchase a single large diaphragm and small diaphragm condenser. I found a used oktava mk-012 (used for the guitars) at a music-go-round and had it sent of to Michael Joly at oktavamod. Also had an upgrade done to a used oktava mk 219 (used for vocal), both with the premium electronics. These are now the only two microphones I own, and I don't think this song really shows the full capability these microphones offer (as I am still trying to get good at mic technique, etc.) but the potential is definitely evident. I'm really happy with both of them. Just gotta keep working at it. Definitely don't feel a need to upgrade anything at this point as I am truly stoked to be working in the cassette format!
 
Material-wise, it is not necessarily my kind of thing, yet I find myself really drawn to your recording (I mean that in a most positive way). I don't consider myself very sentimental, but I have a young son, and the earnestnest of this tune is very endearing.

I love the lines about building a "castle to the sky" and "dreaming of race cars"...just great. Nice delivery there as well. You have a nice voice which suits this song perfectly. I wish the spacey vocals beginning around 2:42 (which almost sounded like an organ for a sec at first) were a bit louder, but maybe with that kind of sound, its good that I'm wishing it was louder and not the other way around.

I feel as though I must get condenser mics now...I work exclusively with cassette and, although my material is very noisy and effects-laden, I wonder if some of the warmth of this recording might be imparted to my own work if I upgraded from sm57's and the like?

I am very much in favor of you posting this in this forum. It puts it in the proper context. I know as cjacek sez that using cassette shouldn't be an excuse, but I still prefer that it be taken into consideration when evaluating something sonically. It is different...not better or worse, but it is what it is.

Anyway, good job, man.
 
ksounds: Have you thought of experimenting a bit with increasing reverb / distance for your vocals? I know this may not be the thing now, in 2007 [but fuck it], I think it'd really sound nice if you added a bit more of this effect to the vocal, kinda like an in-between the current one and the "haunting" part, somewhere in there, 70's style! You may also want to return the LXP effects to one of the channels on the 246 and EQ out [cut] all that's above 10khz. I'm also wondering if maybe you were a little too close to the mic and if perhaps singing a bit more to the side of the mic would be better. I think I'm also hearing abit of pumping & breathing on the compressor side. I'd ease off a bit. Oh well, but that's just me picking at stuff which obviously you can experiment with on another song, or not ..;)
 
Thanks for the kind words guys...

ksounds: Have you thought of experimenting a bit with increasing reverb / distance for your vocals? I know this may not be the thing now, in 2007 [but fuck it], I think it'd really sound nice if you added a bit more of this effect to the vocal, kinda like an in-between the current one and the "haunting" part, somewhere in there, 70's style! You may also want to return the LXP effects to one of the channels on the 246 and EQ out [cut] all that's above 10khz. I'm also wondering if maybe you were a little too close to the mic and if perhaps singing a bit more to the side of the mic would be better. I think I'm also hearing abit of pumping & breathing on the compressor side. I'd ease off a bit. Oh well, but that's just me picking at stuff which obviously you can experiment with on another song, or not ..
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Actually my gut instinct was to throw a bunch more reverb on the vocal, and I kept struggling with that. But I guess I didn't want to over do it. Also, you're right, there is a little bit of over compression going on with the vocal because I was too close to the mic when I cut this. That's why it's a little "ssssss"y and the dynamics were pretty wide from the soft part to the louder parts, so I had to compress it a bit more than I wanted to, though I guess I could have just rode the faders. Next time I will back off a bit and angle the mic. I was using a pop screen, but I still need to angle it a bit. Very perceptive of you cjacek, right on all counts there. Good idea about the effects return as well. I may consider another stab at this based on your recommendations...

I feel as though I must get condenser mics now...I work exclusively with cassette and, although my material is very noisy and effects-laden, I wonder if some of the warmth of this recording might be imparted to my own work if I upgraded from sm57's and the like?
Click to expand...

Use your dbx and by all means get an external phantom power supply and some condensers. Condensers, I feel, give people using this format a bit of an edge fidelity wise that most portastudio users of the past could not achieve because of the high price of this type of microphone during that time. Now, they are everywhere and most of them are great. I think this is one of the reasons I came back to cassette, and I think people should be reevaluating this format's capability with the gear that's available to them today. You can get a nice warm recording for not much money out of a good cassette multitrack. Heatmeiser, are you an Elliott Smith fan? I don't usually write this type of song, but again, I wrote it for a 3 year old:D
 
elliott smith

I didn't recognize the name, so i googled him. I think I remember the song he had in Good Will Hunting which I think I may have liked, but I'm not sure.

One article about him had a link to "Heatmiser", and I learned that he was in a band by that name...hmmm.

I have always used this name online based on the character from "The Year Without a Santa Clause" (a family favorite).
 
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