This is a funky one . . .

  • Thread starter Thread starter chessrock
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Is this what everyone's raving about... the "Wilco" drum sound? I've no idea, since I'm too damn lazy to listen to any Wilco for comparison :o ;)

Seriously... those drums.... sound great, but like they're stuffed with pillows or something... really dead, dead dry...

Crybaby wah wah wah... ah, yeah...that takes me... back... :confused:

Very tight production, at least that's what these cheapo noise maker things on each side of the monitor say...

Backward cymbals... cool to hear that, on a very otherwise organic-sounding production.

And if this is what you call "funk", chessrock, what would it be like to see you dance? :eek:


;)

(actually there are a few funky bass fills... but otherwise IMO 'tis closer to R & B...)
 
welllllllllllll...............it's,.........it's a little funky. I like it, whatever you want to call it. Need a wailing solo somewhere though.
 
Lt. Bob said:
Need a wailing solo somewhere though.
Click to expand...

I still say it's funky, and that's that. I declared it's funky, because it has a wah pedal and wah pedals are funky. :D

It does need something on the solo. That's why I added the tambo, shaker, sampled bongo, and backwards cymbals (I hope the fellas don't mind). It still sounds like it's lacking something to me, but it's better. I mean, at least now, that section sounds kinda' cool with headphones on. :D

Hey Participant, thanks for the stuffed-with-pillows comment. I actually got the feeling that's exactly what the band was looking for. Very minimal . . . three mics and a very dead room.

You wouldn't want to see me try to dance, by the way. Maybe for the comedy factor. I pretty much smoke on bass, though, for a white guy. :D
 
wow...when I hear something like this I feel even dumb posting any comments about it...this is great
everything is cool, but I just find the guitar (the wah that's going all the time) interrupting the vocals a bit. I had to think what to listen to: guitar or the vox...but I guess you went for it coz you wanted it to be as funky as it can right??:D
 
the recording sounds good, but I thought the drums were a little dead sounding, and the bass drum was too low.. I also thought the opening of the high hat and the cymbals seemed louder than the vocals.. I wasn't crazy about the vocals, but it was still pretty cool and contained a fair level of funk..
 
From some of the comments, it looks to me like I could possibly cheat the vocals up in the mix just a tad. There might be some extra business competing with them (cymbal openings and extra guitars). I could possibly cheat some of that stuff down at parts.

My original inclination was to boost the hell out of the presence on the drums and get more snap out of them. I'm glad I resisted the urge, because the sound kinda' grows on me after a while. It's not something everyone will like, but they (drums) have a refreshing late 70's thing going on (makes me think of Pink Floyd, Eagles, and other 70's bands I grew up with).

Thanks for the comments.
 
Hey Chess,
Very cool man. I actually like the tune quite a bit. The music composition end of this reminds me heavily of "The Brand New Heavies". They were a jazzy r&b funk instrumental band from the early 90's. Regarding the mix and instrumentation: I like the drums too...... for the most part I dont think they need to be any bigger (maybe the snare just a touch). I like the flat sounding toms alot in this, and the cymbal recording smokes. The bass is nice, low and punchy (coulda been a bit more elaborate and in the pocket, but it suffices nicely). I think there might be a bad punch at :21. The guitars KICK ASS!! The wah'd chord that youre panning to the side during the funky wah stuff is a very nice touch and location. Great tone on those too........ really cool!!
My main nit is the vocs. A good reference for these might be some early Chili's. Anthony K. does alot of this kinda stuff alot. I like the performance, but they could be a bigger. Im not sure its a level thing..... maybe a distant double for fattening.... Im not sure. Some bg's would be nice in this too (for a little more dynamic in the vocal part of the mix).
Again, all nits man. This is cool stuff, and i like the style direction of the band. Great recording man.

G
 
The guitars are definitely cool - both the tone and the parts. I liked the sound of the toms and snare. Don't care for the highhat - it's a bit harsh.

The bass has a great sound to it - it could be a bit higher in the mix. Or maybe boost some lows on it.

Yeah I heard the pop at :21 too (showed up at :19 for me, oh well). Something's not right with the vocals, or maybe the singer. His voice is not cutting through enough.

Some poor lyrics here and there IMO.
 
Just so long as no one dogs the shaker and tamborine.

Those were performed by yours truly. :D I take my shaker wizardry very seriously.

Say, I'm sorry for any added confusion here, but anyone listening to the tune for the first time . . . I screwed up on the name of the song. It's actually called "Just Like So."

Thanks for the comments. I'm going to have to look in to what I can do with the vocals. They seem to sit nicely, eq-wise from my end. I have a little bit of a short delay and some verb, but I'm kind of at a loss as to anything else I could do without washing it in effects. I always like doubling vox, but this one's already tracked.

Any ideas?

Thanks!
 
Real nice job chess.

All I could add is the kick drum needs a little snap/boom. sometimes it gets lost behind the chicka chicka.

The ride cymbal sounds awesome!
Shakers are a nice touch!
A very clean recording indeed.
 
And......

Don't mess with the Vox.
If Anything they could be brought up a tad, or spread around at times if you want but the tone and FX you are applying now fit perfect with the tune.
With this kind of arrangement it seems that a tad here or there of anything can move the song off balance.
But then again I am a self proclaimed "Hack Artist" and off balance is the best I can do!
 
I like the bass and the wah wah guitar. Those are recorded very nicely. Those wah wah's are hard to get without getting edgy and you succeeded. The vocalist is not so clear, but its his performance and not your recording that is responsible for that. I wanted the drums more in my face.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that this song could benefit by creative use of anything at your disposal to add contrast and interest to the tracks. Echo, compression, even some extreme mixing to pull things forward and back. occasional FX sprinkled in. As is, the tracking is fine, but with this song, I'd say mix the sucker into another universe a la Hendrix.

Overall, everything sits about right in the mix to my ear, so don't get me wrong. I just want to hear some different character to the sound in places.
 
crawdad said:
I'll go out on a limb here and say that this song could benefit by creative use of anything at your disposal to add contrast and interest to the tracks. Echo, compression, even some extreme mixing to pull things forward and back. occasional FX sprinkled in. As is, the tracking is fine, but with this song, I'd say mix the sucker into another universe a la Hendrix.
Click to expand...

So the backwards cymbals and sampled bongos weren't enough for you. :D Hmmm. This sounds like it could be fun. I think I'll take you up on this one and revisit the tune. I'll keep the original for my client and post a Crawdad version and see what you think of it. This could get interesting.
 
Yeah! Go nuts! Ask yourself "What would Jimi do if he came back today?!" :D Most importantly, have fun and be irreverent! Do you think Crawdad would want BBTTE added to some of the tracks? Sure he would! That guy is totally nuts!
 
I dug it!
We used to have a band that played college parties here in Milwaukee that sounded eerily just like your stuff,their name was R-mutt.

9.5 THE FUNK SCALE!:cool:
 
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