tell me what you think...

  • Thread starter Thread starter maryslittlesecret
  • Start date Start date
M

maryslittlesecret

New member
I just posted the first song from my new band (which also happens to be the first song I've recorded on my computer with Cakewalk) and I'm interested in getting some feedback. General thoughts or specific comments regarding production, performance, songwriting, etc. -- I wanna hear 'em. Check it out at the link below and let me know what you think. Thanks!

http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/
 
Nice tune. Lotta bite in the rythmn guitar. Effects on the vocals were 'effective' and the mix was very good. I like the stuff going on at 2:55 or so. Nice work.

Ray J
 
WOW!!!!!!That was unbelievable!!!!
I love the fusion of powermetal and electronica!I wont comment to much on the
fidelity 'cause I'm on my family computer w/fairly cheap speakers.It still
sounded pretty good though.
You say your new"band".Those aren't real drums are they?In any event,
keep it up.Good stuff!
 
Me likey,

That was really great. I agree nice "fusion", and nice drum break. You kept it very interesting to the end!

Is that you singing, nice job.

Also can't find anything about the mix that I don't like, maybe rhythem guitar a tad loud.

Now I go play it again.
 
Thanks for taking the time to go out and listen and for all the positive comments, especially about the 'techno-metal' style -- I'm really glad you dig it!

beezelbubba -- as much as I wish I had the gear to record my live drummer, no, those aren't real drums. It's a BOSS DR660 (which I swear by). And while it is me on guitar, bass, vox, etc., my live drummer and I worked on the loops together and programmed the drums just as he would play them, so it's definitely still a 'band' project (or at least a duo)...

We should have another tune finished in the next week or two -- I'll make sure to let you guys know when it's up so you can tell me if this one was a fluke ;-)> In the meantime, if you know anyone else who you think might enjoy the song we have up now, please pass on our web address -- we need all the help we can get! Thanks again!

J

http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/

P.S. That track has no post-production at all, so if anyone has any basic mastering tips, I'm all ears!
 
Excellent arrangement vocal and instrumentally. There
was very good balance in volume on all the instruments.

It seemed though you had everything panned dead center is this correct? Otherwise great great stuff!!

Keep it up!
 
good mix,

I loved the guitars and bass, very in-your face.
THe drum programming was nice.

I think the kick needs more definition. The vocals also need work, but otherwise a good job.
 
Pan something. It's too centered. Your voice reminds me of that band Marcy's Playground, remember them, "Sex and Candy." I don't mean that as a put-down. A pretty nice little song, but it needs some stereo. I like the vocal effect in the chorus. Not too stoked on the drum sounds, they sound little over bright and plasticy... Especially with the technoish sound you have on some of this, it might be cool to get a sampler or a sampler plugin for cakewalk (if it does that, I'm not sure) and load it up with a really phat sounding, vinyl-scratchy kit.
 
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to listen and offer suggestions...

Any specific tips for the vocals, CyanJaguar -- is it an EQ issue? effects? performance? I agree that they probably do need some work, but I'd like to know your thoughts on the main issue(s)...

How about with panning? It may be hard to hear since there are 3 to 5 guitar tracks (depending on which point of the song), but the guitars are panned pretty hard. Other than that, the cymbals and toms are spread out to a degree and the stereo loops are panned, but most everything else is a mono track (vox, bass, etc.), which I tend not to pan for fear of losing the overall balance of the mix. Any thoughts? I really appreciate the input...

J

http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/
 
Nice song man, sounds awsome, but i agree you need to pan somthing, it would make the song sound fuller. What kind of equipment are you using?
-good work
Andrew
 
Last edited:
Thanks, iravage. Studio-wise, I used Cakewalk 9.03 and Sonic Foundry's ACID 2.0, with an EgoSys Wami Rack 24 for a soundcard on a homemade pIII 600 PC.

In terms of gear, it's a DR660 drum machine (again, I love it -- haven't found anything that compares), a POD 2.0 for guitar and bass, a Korg Kaoss Pad for the DJ stuff, an AKG C3000 for the mic, and an old ART DR-X for the vocal effects.

Finally, I ran the two-track mix through a BBE 362NR, which made a night-and-day difference.

Anyone have any specific thoughts on panning? Should I run the vox or bass off center? Spread out the drums a little more?

J

http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/
 
hey, im kinda of "new" to panning, so im probably not the best person to be telling you what to pan, but i will say this... i would leave the bass in the center.how many guitar tracks do you have? try panning one of those. maybe even the vocals or back up vocals . also try panning some of those cool little techno drum beats and "effects".im still new to this, hope im not totally off base with those ideas.
-Andrew
 
It sounds like maybe you have just a mono track of everything. First try panning the instruments that are
in the same freq away from each other. Then maybe try
creating a dupe of the synth fills and pan them opposite of each other. When doing this delay one of the duped tracks until you can hear that it sounds like they separate then pan for taste.


Just something to try ..again really great arrangement!
 
Overall very good effort here.

The guitars and bass meld very nicely...good sound. The main riff is kind of tired but it works. I like how you use the samples & effects in there...very NIN. In fact, you did a *great* job at around 1:21, I really like that.

I think the vocals are a little bit overacted. I think if you just belted them out without thinking about them they'd work better.

The mix is really good. Everything had a place. I enjoyed listening to this. Nice work!

Panning tips from a novice: hard pan one guitar right and one left and it will definately open up the sound. Adding a third guitar in the middle but at very low volume can help too. Experimenting with the tones of the three guitar tracks can be cool also. For your drums, pan them as though you were playing them, or standing right in front of them...either way is commonplace in popular recordings. Bass guitar and kick drum should both be dead center, same with vocals. However, don't be afraid to experiment. Recordings are rarely realistic (something that audiophiles seldome realize), so do whatever sounds cool.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I'm an idiot!!!

After reading everyone's suggestions on panning, I decided to review the tune and see where I could make some changes. I pulled it up on mp3.com so I could hear it as everyone else was hearing it (as opposed to listening through my studio monitors, etc.) and discovered that the version I uploaded wasn't panned at all! As it turns out, I had panned all of the individual tracks in Cakewalk but didn't end up panning the masters when I ran it through my BBE (hence, me being an idiot)...

I've reuploaded the correct version to mp3.com and will let you know when they've 'approved' it in case anyone would like to hear the stereo version... :-/> Hopefully, we'll have the follow-up tune ready in the next few weeks as well.

Thanks again for all the feedback and for keeping me on my toes...

J

http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/
 
Nice tune...the vocalist is really good and the song and arrangement are excellent also....cant wait to hear it with the panning sorted out....

I didnt understand what you were going after in the sction from 2:55 to 3:30....while the song held its own throughout, I started to lose interest there....maybe add some focal point part that stands out in that section.....

other than that, great tune man...keep rocking...
 
I like it..

Sounds really good....liked the song and thought the mix was really good (I think I just heard the panned version).

For my own purposes: how long did it take to program this song into the drum machine? very effective drums
 
maryslittlesecret, did you post the panned version yet? i've been waiting to here that. Let us know.
-Andrew
 
Thanks for the positive comments, Yadi. Glad you liked the tune. It probably took about two hours or so for me and our live drummer to program the individual patterns as he would play them and piece them all together...

And unfortunately, that wasn't the panned version yet. I uploaded the stereo version a couple weeks ago and mp3.com is apparently still 'approving' it. I'm glad to hear that people are still interested in hearing the new version (thanks, iravage!), so I'll definitely let you know as soon as it's up. There's not a huge difference between the two versions (especially on computer speakers) but you should be able to hear the difference...

Thanks again and I'll be back soon (finishing the mix on song #2!)

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/
 
Woah!

That was KICK ASS, dude! :)
Don't touch a thing on that mix!

Master it, press it, and get the tour bus ready.

I really liked this tune.... ALOT!
It's definitely worth a download.

If you can play that tight live, let me know when you're in Chicago... I'm there! ;)

Buck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top