Steppin' Out -- Newest WIP. First song done in Sonar X3

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K-dub

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Still working on this horn driven rock piece ... I've got to add harmonies and add solos etc ...

Any comments are warmly appreciated about anything that occurs to you.

Thanks all!

Kev-
 
Hey......good start. My 2 cents.........there's no depth in the mix and too much hard panning left and right. Since the tracks are a little "dry" they tend to be right up front and in your face.........which adds to the feeling that you almost have to keep turning your head to hear the parts. I think the concept of the song is good and the composition flows ok.........but your mix is not doing the song justice right now. As I said........just my initial opinion. Thanks for letting me listen.
 
Cool tune,

My only comment is that the guitars are too much a like. One side done in a G tuning would really rock this tune, (I'd love to get my hands on it) but anyway horns are way cool. Great job.
 
Great tune - tons of energy. I can't wait to hear it when it's complete.

My critique is that it sounds overcompressed. The horns are a little synthy, but I think they suffer from the compression more than anything else. They sort of flutter in and out of the mix on the long notes, rather than standing clearly above the rest of the mix. Only other comment is that the bass is very rumbly on my headphones, and could use a little more high end. Hope that's helpful. Great work!
 
jm67 said:
Great tune - tons of energy. I can't wait to hear it when it's complete.

My critique is that it sounds overcompressed. The horns are a little synthy, but I think they suffer from the compression more than anything else. They sort of flutter in and out of the mix on the long notes, rather than standing clearly above the rest of the mix. Only other comment is that the bass is very rumbly on my headphones, and could use a little more high end. Hope that's helpful. Great work!
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Agreed. I bricked it ... but in my defense, I'm not really at mix portion of process, yet. Mickster was accurate when he said the mix lacked depth. It does.

Right now, I'm in the "WTF am I doing w/ this" phase ... while fooling w/ mix ideas. Your comment perfectly encapsulates why I continue to post here -- VERY valuable to have separate ears confirm mix suspicions. I also wondered if the bass had too much air in its bottom.

Thanks for the comments!
 
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PDP said:
Cool tune,

My only comment is that the guitars are too much a like. One side done in a G tuning would really rock this tune, (I'd love to get my hands on it) but anyway horns are way cool. Great job.
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This is a great idea, P. I'll experiment with it. Thank you for thinking of it. It would also attend to the "overly stereo" comment Mick made above.
 
Mickster said:
Hey......good start. My 2 cents.........there's no depth in the mix and too much hard panning left and right. Since the tracks are a little "dry" they tend to be right up front and in your face.........which adds to the feeling that you almost have to keep turning your head to hear the parts. I think the concept of the song is good and the composition flows ok.........but your mix is not doing the song justice right now. As I said........just my initial opinion. Thanks for letting me listen.
Click to expand...

Boy, Mick. You sure do know how to hit a nail on the head. I think I explained my position in the prior two replies, but note that I referenced you both times. :) Thanks so much for adding your voice to this. It really helped clarify and confirm some of my own thoughts about what I was doing.
 
Just an update on this one ... rewrote the lyrics and redid the lead vocal -- added harmonies etc ...

Still waiting to get together w/ my harmonica playing friend so he can do the solo section ... then onto final mixing.
 
Loved the guitar sounds. Couldn't stand the "trumpets". I didn't think they sounded all that great. And I just hate the idea of trumpets. :)

Little tempo thing at :43. I'd guess it was intentional, but it seemed a little clunky to me.

Vocals all sound great. Except what happens to them at :31? Like a little chorus thing or something. Sounded weird. I hear it elsewhere too. It might help to fill in the sound during the chorus. But in certain spots it's noticably weird.

Loved the bass sound. I think you could nudge it up a wee bit if you wanted. Did I say I loved the guitar sound? They're really cool.

That's going to be a long harmonica solo. :)
 
TripleM said:
Loved the guitar sounds. Couldn't stand the "trumpets". I didn't think they sounded all that great. And I just hate the idea of trumpets. :)

Little tempo thing at :43. I'd guess it was intentional, but it seemed a little clunky to me.

Vocals all sound great. Except what happens to them at :31? Like a little chorus thing or something. Sounded weird. I hear it elsewhere too. It might help to fill in the sound during the chorus. But in certain spots it's noticably weird.

Loved the bass sound. I think you could nudge it up a wee bit if you wanted. Did I say I loved the guitar sound? They're really cool.

That's going to be a long harmonica solo. :)
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I know. You've a "thing" about horns. :)


Thanks for the comments, Trip. I'll check out those "glitches" and attend when I knuckle down for final mix. I've been trying to nail down the harp player all winter, but we've both been headed in different directions. We made a commitment to try over the next couple weeks.
 
FINALLY got together w/ the aforementioned harp player ... and this arrangement is complete. What do folks think of the mix?

Thanks in advance for any/all comments.

 
I thought it sounded really good. Guitars were really cool. So were the drums. Levels on everything are spot on.

I'm still hearing that chorus-y/flange-y thing on the lead vocal. It comes and goes. I can hear it in spots and then it goes away. The average listener probably wouldn't notice.

The harmonica solo was cool. I'd dry it up just a smidge if it were me.

Minor things. It sounded real good.
 
TripleM said:
I thought it sounded really good. Guitars were really cool. So were the drums. Levels on everything are spot on.

I'm still hearing that chorus-y/flange-y thing on the lead vocal. It comes and goes. I can hear it in spots and then it goes away. The average listener probably wouldn't notice.

The harmonica solo was cool. I'd dry it up just a smidge if it were me.

Minor things. It sounded real good.
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As per your earlier suggestion, I brought the bass up quite a bit. Minute I did, I knew you were right. It "pushes" the song better. I'm thinking an ever so slightly drier harp is a good idea too.

Thanks bud!
 
I love the sandy snare. The mix has a gritty, dirty feel to it like an unexpected punch in the face. Ha, and of course there's a horn section. Great song, I love the idea.

Please don't add a harmonica. Hahhahaha or maybe it will work. You seem to have a feel for weird things that end up working..

Damn it, there's the harmonica.

Your lyrical cadence is quite interesting. I like the spaces between the words and the slight flat downward drift in the melody.


JJ.
 
Not my style of music, and I can't stand horns either (both totally personal things). But I like the drive of the tune and really like the drum sound. Great snare sound. :eek:
 
joejohnstun said:
I love the sandy snare. The mix has a gritty, dirty feel to it like an unexpected punch in the face. Ha, and of course there's a horn section. Great song, I love the idea.

Please don't add a harmonica. Hahhahaha or maybe it will work. You seem to have a feel for weird things that end up working..

Damn it, there's the harmonica.

Your lyrical cadence is quite interesting. I like the spaces between the words and the slight flat downward drift in the melody.


JJ.
Click to expand...

Ha -- what I did was I sang complete nonsense ... just placeholder lyrics ... in order to riff w/ the musical bed and form the frame of the delivery. Then I went back and altered the nonsense structure that I built into actual lyrics ... keeping the frame intact. Interesting comment in that you noticed the cadence created by how I did it.

I think the harp is an unusual choice, but I think it works pretty well.

Thanks for the comment, Joe!
 
RAMI said:
Not my style of music, and I can't stand horns either (both totally personal things). But I like the drive of the tune and really like the drum sound. Great snare sound. :eek:
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Yeah ... even my wife doesn't like horns in rock and roll. They're quite tricky to use effectively, and can often take over the arrangement ... so that it sounds "too horn-y".

I think horns are most effective when they're least noticed. A perfect example of that would be "My Old School" by Steely Dan. They're there pushing everything along nicely, but they're so subtle ... you almost forget there are horns in the arrangement.

Thanks for the thoughts Rami!
 
I really like the song for a kick off. Very nice driving beat and groove going on. I actually quite liked the horns and thought they added to the song nicely. The Harmonica solo is great. Everything was pretty sound and solid.

The only thing I found offensive were the hi-hats. They're just a touch too loud for me during the verses and chorus's. They drop or the solo and sound a much better level.

*EDIT* Really really like the tone of the bass!

Top job so far though, I really enjoyed the track, several times. Thanks for sharing! :thumbs up:
 
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