Well... here goes nuthin... :p My first submission.

  • Thread starter Thread starter WATYF
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WATYF

WATYF

...happier than you.
Well... I made this recording for a CD we're doing. The youth band I play in at my church is recording a CD this summer. (Fortunately, it's a big church and we have a pretty decent budget for this recording) so anywhoo... they want us to do all original material... which means we need to write songs. So I came up with this little ditty over the course of the last week and recorded it so that I could play it for the other band members and give them an idea of the structure and melody and what not...

so here it is....

oh wait... first... the disclaimers...!!! (muahahaha!!!)

#1... I can't sing!!! Keep that in mind while listening... (trust me,.. it won't be hard to keep in mind.. :p ) I'm only doing this so the vocalist can hear the supposed melody.

#2... I can't play guitar... I am just a lowly drummer for the band... my guitar skills are just a tiny bit above "hack".. so don't bother critiquing the guitar playing.. :p

#3.. yes... I know that lead guitar sounds like crap.. :D Since I'm not actually a guitaist.. I don't actually own an electric guitar... so I borrowed my brother's Strat Plus... (because he wouldn't lend me his '68 Les Paul... go figger) :p And since I don't own an elec. guitar.. it goes without saying that I don't own guitar effects... and since my brother wouldn't lend me his huge guitar effects peddle conglomeration, I had to borrow his measly Pandora's Box. :p Basically digital effects in a can...

Now... overall I'm "O.K." with how this turned out as far as a "scratch" recording is concerned... a couple things I would like advice on is the accoustic guitars.. I still can't figure out how to make them sound like they're not in another room... they always sound like they're too much in the "background."

Anyway... anything other than that you wanna comment on, feel free... I can definitely dish it out, so now it's my turn to "take it"... :p

Oh yeah... one last disclaimer...

#4 This is a song aboot God... if you can't handle stuff like that... (i.e. you turn into a pillar of salt when you hear it, or you have sudden overwhelming feelings of guilt. :p ) then please run away now while you still can... :cool:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/watyf/singles

The song is "Every Day"

WATYF


P.S...

Gear:

My beautiful Taylor 414CE
Behringer 602A Mixer
Shure SM58 (vocals and guitar)
Delta 44
n-Track
my lousy voice... :p
 
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got it.. I edited the original post... I'm a NWR newbie... I could barely figure out how to upload the song.. :p

WATYF
 
ah.....something to dig my claws into and critique WITHOUT restrictions....;)

I think it needs some Metallica sounding drums and a sizzling casio keyboard lead to take you up to the heavens:D

ok, ok....that's out of my system!!!

you can sing dude...who you kiddin'??

I think the acoustics are ok...not great, but sound fairly decent. I thought the song was JUST acoustic, actually for quite awhile!!

I would personally add a 'tight' room sound to the acoustics and put them in a space...which seems to be what they might be lacking. I think they are almost too upfront sounding. But, this is for demo purposes though...eh? so does it matter?

realizing this is contemp. Christian, I found it still hard to keep up with the lyrics... Yeah...you don't nec. wanna pound the listener over the head with, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...etc" and "scare" 'em away, I feel that keeping my interest to listen to lyrics...which I never do much anyway.....I lost what I was thinking about.....:confused: The opening lyrics where pretty blunt what you were singing about, but for some strange reason, I got lost after that.

however...I think you're CD is gonna end up be great...especially with the talant you're showing here. ....even if drummers are bummers!!:rolleyes: :D
 
oh...rereading...you used a Taylor... that explains the decent sound, just plain jane...
 
darn... my casio broke down last week.. otherwise I woulda been smokin'!!! :D

Actually it was gonna just be just acoustics... just so my brother could hear the parts... but I got bored after the second chorus and threw in that lead and accompanyment at the end...

I didn't totally understand you aboot the lyrics? Could you elaborate...? Did you mean that you couldn't hear them well enough... or that they just didn't make enough sense, or what?

As for the acoustics... I'm thinking of getting an Oktava 319 Condensor mic.. hopefully that will improve my sound. (cause in person the git sounds great :p ) I don't know how to get that "tight room" sound you were talking aboot... otherwise I would have... :D Any tips are welcome.

WATYF
 
*gasp*... you did not just slam Taylors!?!? :eek: :eek: :eek:

That's it.. the gloves are off now...

:p

WATYF
 
well,
You've a nice acoustic with a great tone. And you did a fine job of capturing it ( I play a taylor 410 ce) so I'm familiar with the beauty.:)

Not sure what you want as far as advice but, I'll try.
The acoustic takes up most of the mix. Give it a home. The vox are great (when I can hear them) Enough of your self-deprecating bullshit. Sing, my child, sing.
If you are hesitant about the solo, then why throw it down the listeners gullet? I'd make the track much more ambient (maybe even a full stereo pan sweep).
The song itself is pleasant enough. No need to comment on the God thing for me. Sounds like you've a very solid contribution to bring to the table. Thanks for letting me listen.


Peace,
Theron.
 
theron said:
well,
You've a nice acoustic with a great tone. And you did a fine job of capturing it ( I play a taylor 410 ce) so I'm familiar with the beauty.:)

Not sure what you want as far as advice but, I'll try.
The acoustic takes up most of the mix. Give it a home. The vox are great (when I can hear them) Enough of your self-deprecating bullshit. Sing, my child, sing.
If you are hesitant about the solo, then why throw it down the listeners gullet? I'd make the track much more ambient (maybe even a full stereo pan sweep).
The song itself is pleasant enough. No need to comment on the God thing for me. Sounds like you've a very solid contribution to bring to the table. Thanks for letting me listen.


Peace,
Theron.
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That's the problem.. I don't how to "give it a home".. I tried to separate the two acoustics (yes.. there are two of them. :p) but I don't know if I did too good of a job. As for the vocals, on my speakers they're pretty loud (up-front in the mix), but that could be because I have sucky speakers.. :p And does that mean the solo is too loud...? I mean... I didn't like the guitar sound, but I wasn't gonna bury it in the mix just cause of that... otherwise I wouldn't have done a solo.. I tried to correctly place it even though the effect was crappy.

WATYF
 
WATYF -
Chris is right on your vocal abilities, who ya kiddin?

Sure some of those "Waaaait"s into the chorus sound a little strained, but nothing a couple more takes wouldn't cure.

This "rough demo" is better than some fully worked songs I've heard here. There's some spots where the guits are doing little 3 chord/note chops coming out of the chorus (everyday...) that sound a little choppy, but I'm pretty sure by the time you add drums and bass, etc. that'll work itself out.

One point on the mix, I tend to lean on my Pinguin audio meter to help me evaluate things. Rarely do I see the "Correlation-Meter" go into the red. Your vox consistently slam it down into the red area. Are you doubling the vocals throughout? If so, they are looking a bit out of phase.

On the lyric content, I think mixmkr likes his Cont. Christian a little more blunt and over the head. I think you should leave things the way they are.

IMO, This is a good song. Please post the "full blown" version when you finish it.


Queue

If you get a chance, listen to a song I recorded and mixed that is also along the same vein (cont christian) but in a TOTALLY different genre (kinda punk/skate/alterna...)

Queue's Mix of "Trendy"
 
See... that's the thing... those were the best takes... :D I can't do much better than that as far as vocals... but I don't worry aboot it.. that's what we got real singers for... :p

I hear you on the "choppy" stuff... I think I did some annoying strumming patterns at certain points.. when my bro records the final version, he'll do much better I'm sure.
One point on the mix, I tend to lean on my Pinguin audio meter to help me evaluate things. Rarely do I see the "Correlation-Meter" go into the red. Your vox consistently slam it down into the red area. Are you doubling the vocals throughout? If so, they are looking a bit out of phase.
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er.... I have no idea what that means... :) Are you saying my vocals are too loud? I did have a second track of vocals just for certain notes... like the "waits" and the "days" have an accompanyment track just to make it "fuller".

I'm checking oat your tune now.

WATYF
 
from back to front.

Yes, the solo is too loud. Surley, keep it for idea's sake but, I'd leave it a little lower and maybe make a "production" of it's intro and exit with a pan sweep. This might be a bad idea but, just tossing out what is in my current head.

Maybe you did do too good of a job on the acoustics. What I'd do is solo each and make sure they are not too alike. Maybe play with some eq to get the best out of each and try a tighter or wider pan. Goof around but, remember the source....I.E. ME:rolleyes.

And the vox could use a boost IMO. You've a seemingly strong voice. Let it shine.


Hope that clarifies my input. And, I hope you realise that you get better recordings than I do as it is!

Theron.
 
O.K... I took the solo down a little (don't know if it's enough) and separated the gits a little more and "tried" to EQ them differently.. (considering I don't know a thing aboot EQ'ing) :p and brought the vocals out a little more. It's updated at my NWR site.

Hopefully that's an improvement. :p
If you get a chance, listen to a song I recorded and mixed that is also along the same vein (cont christian) but in a TOTALLY different genre (kinda punk/skate/alterna...)
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Well... I didn't like the song itself.. (not really my style.. as you can tell) :p but your mix was good.

WATYF
 
yeah dude I think the singing is pretty good really....

reminds me of erland in some spots... ;)

I agree with mixmkr - i thought it was all acoustic until i read his post.

I think the sound is not bad though...actually its very decent. pretty up front...vocals and such..

I don't think the guitars sound in the background. oh...there is the electric...ok..

well, sounds to me like thats kind of the effect you have one it. (i like the little acoustic riff at like 3:48)...maybe a more straightforward tone would give a more straight sound..

In terms of giving the acoustic a home...I dunno, it's working on my stereo. I like the riff and all...nice song, nice work.
 
yeah dude I think the singing is pretty good really.... reminds me of erland in some spots... ;)
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LOL... what-everrrrr... :rolleyes: :D Don't I wish. :p

I know it seems like an all acoustic song.. like I said, this was initially just supposed to be a quick recording to show to my band,.. but then I started having fun.. :D Now I'm stayin' up till 2am tweaking the mix (which I'm still not totally happy with).

I know what you mean on the tone of the electric... the effects I used pretty much blow biscuits. But I wasn't too worried aboot it.. I was mostly just farting aroond when it came to the elec. Even that little swooping seagull type thing that happens right before the solo is just me bein' silly... I'd never put anything like that in a real song... :p

Did anyone have a problem with it being too quiet? Someone I sent it to said it was real quiet on their PC... and I just downloaded it here at work and it's pretty quiet compared to the mp3 of macle's that I just downloaded. In n-Track, the VU meters were just below peaking, so I can't imagine getting it much louder.

WATYF
 
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no...you're Taylor sounds great [in all it's plain jane glory...ala no gimmicks to aid its' sound]. I've walked into those stores where the room is basically Taylors hanging on the wall, and most of them(gtrs) are all screaming to me, "BUY ME...take me home!!" "I am your new love." Yours is no exception.. Another audio clip showing me why I need one myself. (do they come with whammy bars??)

your twiddles are doing wonders to your ruffie...even with the "tight room reverb" now added on your guitars.:p I think with a low end instrument, this will be just great. The gtr lead is a little screamin'...but would be balanced out with a bass gtr, imo.

The lyrics....they're just fine....I was just rambling on for some reason.

can you get a decent bass patch out of your casio??:)
 
Nah.. I told you,.. my Casio's busted... I think I'm gonna head out to Radio Shack this afternoon and get me a new one... :p

Actually.. I don't have a "tight room" reverb.. I just messed with the EQ and made random changes to each track until they sounded a little different. (lol.. I'm such a pathetic newbie) :p

Speaking of which... does anyone know of a good free (cause I'm cheap) VST plugin for reverb..?? (or any other common effects that you use) I tried freeverb, but that wasn't doin' it for me. Right now, all I use is the Reverb that comes with n-Track.

WATYF
 
ah...but howcome I hear reverb on your acoustics, that sounds like a short decay (like a 15 x15 room with wood planking, and a green wingback chair in the corner)?

even a pathetic newbie would hear that!!:D


oh...you must be sitting in the blue chair, in the other corner, and that's just a nice sounding room you're in...

so...what is it??
 
hell,.. I dunno... :p I just threw some stuff on the tracks till they sounded ok... lol.. I told you man.. I'm a serious hack. :cool:

You might be right though... I think I put the n-Track reverb on the "picked" guitar track (the one that's mostly in the left speaker).. but I don't think there's a "tight room" setting in n-Track's reverb... it might be "metal room".. I think that's it. Is that the same thing?

The vocals are double compressed... :D that was fun to fart around with. I found this compressor plugin called H20 and doubled it up on the main vocal track... that's how I got that "up-front" vocal sound...

my boring voice needed the help anyway... :p

WATYF
 
Everday

I like it and your voice works well with it. Good guitar sound and a very good chorus...would actually haved like to hear it more often. Good job.
 
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