The Id

Move your tunes over to http://www.nowhereradio.com. Most people here, including me, don't have time to download files at 3k. Especially when I'm using a t1 as my connection.

Dennis

Nowhere radio is free for 15mb and just a few bucks more for additional space. Very good deal.
 
Pirateking said:
Yay Geocities!
That's what happens when too many look at the website. It should work again in a little while.
Click to expand...

Yeah,with Geocities "too many" is usually 3 people.:D

Nowhereradio really is the best place to hang your hat.Very fast servers....
 
I made it though and listened to "building a new boat". It's actually kind of hard to comment too comprehensively on this one since the vocals are so buried. It sounds like the singer was about 40 feet away from the mic. I dig the energy and the jangly "garage" feel, but I'd like to bring the vox into the room with everyone else.:)

Just listened to "Ghost" as well. Same problem with vox being almost totally buried. I'd give the mix another shot and try to get things a little more balanced.

Cheers,
Chris
 
Pirateking said:
Why not listen to them and give me opinions (regarding recording, songs, whatever)?
Click to expand...
Well... from a recording perspective - YOU NEED THIS BBS...!

Stick around -- lots of info here to help improve your recording/mix quality...

As to the song style -- I suggest listening to The Violent Femmes -- compare your stuff to theirs and try and hear why their stuff works and your stuff really doesn't.... this isn't meant as an insult -- but just to give you a goal to shoot for....!
 
Waldo - I'm assuming yr someone from nowhereradio. Don't take it too personal. Since I can't even remember what it was that bugged me, it can't have been too bad. I'll have to check it out again.

Yeah, a remix might be in order. One problem I had was that 3/4 of the band recorded live (both guitars and drums) and our bass player did her parts later. But when I recorded her, I recorded the bass direct. It's so bassy that you can't even really hear it, it's like totally subsonic because there are no live trebley noises (pick hitting strings, etc.).
Also had trouble with the balance of the guitars. The other guitar player has a very trebley tone, and my tone is relatively bassy, so when I was mixing it, it sounded like my guitar was really loud and his was quiet, but I think I ended up overcompensating maybe.
My vocals I'm pretty happy with (that would be on Building a New Boat and Manic Semantics). Some of Jed's vocals are a little dead, but that's more from his performance (which isn't his fault, I kind of rushed him through it).
I actually like the way the drums sound. Our drummer has a different style from most drummers, I think the closest comparison would be Mo Tucker. Lots of pounding toms.
My overall opinion of the demo quality changes from day to day. But I think I'm pretty happy with it usually. Next time, I'm going to record bass live or at least through an amp when overdubbing, and spend a little more time on guitar and vocal sounds.
 
I agree with the other posts that the vocals need to be brought up more. I would suggest trying to get a little more pan on the toms as well.

Good start though! Keep reading the post on this BBS and you will get better quick believe me.
 
Listen to Building a new boat. It was quite a weird song. Interesting, but weird.

A loose recording, sounds live. Depending on your intention may not be a problem. The guitar tone was way high on the midrange. I think a smoother tone (at least the guitar that was hitting the chords) would improve the sound. At the risk of being overly repetitive, the vox were far buried. It's possible there's some interesting stuff going on lyrically, but I couldn't tell for sure.

I don't know, but it might help to get people a rundown of your equipment to see what may be lacking in the way of hardware. This was a long way from a professional recording, which may be due to lack of proper equipment. If you let us know what you have to work with, you might get some good ideas on how to improve.

Trip...
 
I dig it!
I've only listened to "Building a New Boat" so far, but I think it's awesome. No offense Blue Bear, but I'd take this over the Femmes anyday :). They are sterile compared to this. This is nice edgy lo-fi. I think the vocals are great where they are. I think for the type of music, the far away sound fits perfectly.
Reminds me of Jad Fair.
Is it two dollars or free?
 
Thanks for all the comments.
Yeah, we're coming from a punk background/aesthetic, though I don't think we're a punk band, so professionalism isn't really what we're aiming for. But obviously we want people to be able to hear all the different parts. I think I was aiming for an Albini-esque dry, live sound, and he tends to mix vocals quieter than others (to make music sound louder), but that wasn't a conscious decision on my part.
I was a little confused by the Violent Femmes comparison too, I wasn't sure if he was saying we sound like VF or if he was just giving them as an example of a well-produced band. I'm not insulted or anything, I think they are a fine band and their first album is a classic, but they are more of an acoustic band and we're a little noisier than that.
Ha! Jad Fair! I like Half Japanese. I think you might be referring to my "nonprofessional" singing style. Thanks. The cd is generally $2, but if you can't afford it, I'll send you a free one. Email me at naamme@yahoo.com if you really want a copy.
 
I wasn't talking stylistically in comparing to the Violent Femmes - I was talking about a getting raw, even atonal sound, yet still have it be a high-quality recording....

This doesn't necessarily apply to you PirateKing - because you didn't mention it - but fprod south brought up the term "lo-fi"...

I'm sorry, but describing something as "lo-fi" is really just an excuse for "I can't (or don't know how to) get a good-sounding recording, so I *wanted* it to sound crappy that way...!"
 
I would disagree, Mr. Bear. I think using the term "lo fi" can be an act of reclaiming a term, like gay people calling themselves "queer." It's taking a word that's supposed to be an insult and turning it into a battle cry. The implication is that the fidelity of the recording is not as important as the songwriting and the performance. I'm not claiming this tag for myself or my band, but I do think that there are artists for whom "lo fi" can be a meaningful term rather than an excuse, as you imply.
 
Heh-heh... what's the battle cry?

"Screw you all with your 'good sound' and 'high-quality sound reproduction'.... I *want* my stuff to sound like shit!"

It's my opinion, but to me - for the artists that eschew this attitude - this "battle-cry" sounds more like wannabe-whining than anything that should be taken too seriously....

YMMV
 
I suppose that's true part of the time, but I think that placing an overemphasis on production can stifle creativity and spontanaiety. For some artists, it's better to "strike while the iron is hot," so to speak. For musicians that very prolific, this is especially true. If you can write 100 great songs in a year (I can't, but I'm sure there are people who can), you probably can't afford to spend thousands of dollars recording every single one of these songs in a fancy studio and adding mellotron, harmonium, timpani, gong, gamelan, cello, xylophone, etc. to each one. What I'm trying to say is that the immediacy and easiness of "lo fi" recording pays off for some people. I personally would rather listen to an excellent song with mediocre production than a mediocre song with excellent production, and I think most music fans would agree. For many people, the song is more important than having crystal clear sound.
 
Part of the definition of "good production" means not getting in the way of the music..........

A Van Gogh is a Van Gogh, even if Vincent painted a masterpiece on a piece of toilet paper... but do you honestly think it would have had the same impact?

The recording studio is the artist's canvas - it makes no sense not to present a song in its best light....
 
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