"What You Do To Me" - philbaggs band :D

philbagg

philbagg

Just Killing Time
We're kinda hoping this'll be the first single. We're working on the demo at the moment, and this is the first one to be put down properly.

Just looking for some mix critique, the usual stuff. And if you don't have any, hope you enjoy the song! :)

If anyone's having a problem with the link, let me know and I'll upload it somewhere else.


EDIT 2: LATEST VERSION:



EDIT 1: CHECK THIS ONE INSTEAD (old):


This one is also old:


Lyrics:
It's like a fantasy, the way that you look at me.
I wanna hold it tight, this feeling of ecstasy.
And you just can't fake it, once you've had just a taste of it.
You know you got me, oh you got me, oh you got me good.

Cause I've been waiting all my life for someone like,
The one I know that can make it right.
You touch my hand, and everything feels so fine.
Oooh, what you do to me.

Oh what you do to me.

I shouldn't tell you this, but it's something I have to say.
But since I've seen your face, this feeling won't go away.
And I just can't take it, it's my heart that you're taking.
You know you gotta leave her by tonight.

Cause I've been waiting all my life for someone like,
The one I know that can make it right.
You touch my hand, and everything feels so fine.
Oooh, what you do to me.

Oh what you do to me.

What you do to me!

I can't take it but I can't fake it.
I try to leave you but I just can't make it.
We were meant to be, so just be with me, yeah!

Cause I've been waiting all my life for someone like,
The one I know that can make it right.
You touch my hand, and everything feels so fine.
Oooh, what you do to me.

Oh what you do to me.

What you do to... me.
 
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Philby... I'd been telling everyone you were dead!

Great little power pop ode, very Pat Benatar, as I'm sure you get all the time... really mid-80s sound to it... in a good way.

If it were me, I'd make that washed out Eq deprived section at the start end a bit sooner... I'd kick the sound back to normal just as you start singing... (ok, it's not really you, is it? ;)).

Oh, and I'd like to hear drummer going a bit more batshit crazy in the bits where there isn't any singing... and I'd up the hi hat just a touch in places...

And the uplifted harmony vocal dead on 2.00 took my head off a bit.. can't really say as I'm listening on small headphones at work, but could be clip there perhaps?

Cool tune, bro. Nice! Glad to see you back...
 
Terrible, terrible song. The mix is pretty good though. Nothing really special, but nothing bad either. Tame, pretty polished, nothing scary. The kick is pretty weak. It sounds small and plastic. No body. I don't think the low floor tom should sound deeper than the kick, but in this case it does. Try to fix that. The kick problem is really evident when it's sitting there by itself in the beginning of the song. There's no body to it. The rest of the drums sound pretty good. Everything else sounds pretty right. Good levels. Nothing clashing to me. Sounds like typical chick pop. Tweens will love it. :D
 
Overall sounds real good, nice catchy pop tune,

for lack of a better term, I hear some "one note bass" issues in the mix, especially at 2:00, either theres a big bass build up, or something is drastically EQ'd on a certain freq, that jumps way out when instruments land on that freq. Try listening to the mix cranked up on speakers with good bass response, you cant miss it.

Overall the recording is impressive, excellent work.
 
I agree with Greg on pretty much all of it...

The kick sounds plastic.. in this kind of music you want it to bump a bit more.

sounds like you have some talented musicians to work with... which is a great start.

for the kick.. i'm not sure what you already have done to is... but boosting around 100-200 hz will help... cutting around 300-500 hz will help... and if you want more attack and click then shoot up the 2k-4k range.

after that.. compress that bitch
 
A very "restrained" mix here ... sort of like the car that wants to be a Porche that's being held to Volvo level. It wants to have a certain energy, but just comes off lacking somehow ... short of what it wants to be.

Part of it is in the drums -- and I think Greg hit on it -- they lack oomph and depth and sound kind of cardboard plastic. If that element could be improved, it may solve the issue.
 
I agree with the other's comments.

A couple things I'll add - good performances all around. Good singer.

There are sections in the verses where the mix gets a little lopsided. The guitar on the right is just too powerful for the guitar on the left to compensate. So the balance shifts distinctly to the right.

I might cut down the reverb on the backing vocals. They seem out of place with the rest of the tracks. I'd probably say the same thing about the lead guitar parts too.
 
Cheers for the comments guys...

Latest version in first post!

Btw Greg, we all know you loved it :D
 
Man... Phill... I quite like it! Kick in the beginning is pretty bad to my ears. I was really hoping it would get bigger when everything else came in. If it did, I didn't notice it. Gotta get some depth in that thing!

When the vocals get doubled (or FX'ed) at the beginning, her otherwise pretty smooth vocals become harsh in my headphones when turned up loud. Possibly clipping a bit? I didn't think the vocal doubling helped much in the beginning (when she says "and you just can't fake it..."). I'd start the doubling and FX during the first chorus.

I think also, that this song is too soft. No edge, except in the vocals. The snare drum doesn't bite at all, no real drive. The driving force is the vocals, and her voice doesn't cut it as a main driver, in my opinion. Gotta maintain focus on the vocals, but let the other instruments have an edge - especially the snare... I want it to cut more. Sometimes during the chorus, the snare is almost completely buried.

Guitars sounds awesome. Bass is great. Vocal harmonies are awesome. Not quite sure I like what the auto-tune is doing to her voice in some places, where she goes into vibrato.

All in all, I really like the song. I'd probably be spending days on this mix.

I hesitate to say, but I'd kick myself if I didn't - if ya want real drums, just let me know. I'd love to see if I could do it justice. :)
 
Thanks for the comments lads.

PoeticIntensity said:
Man... Phill... I quite like it! Kick in the beginning is pretty bad to my ears. I was really hoping it would get bigger when everything else came in. If it did, I didn't notice it. Gotta get some depth in that thing!

When the vocals get doubled (or FX'ed) at the beginning, her otherwise pretty smooth vocals become harsh in my headphones when turned up loud. Possibly clipping a bit? I didn't think the vocal doubling helped much in the beginning (when she says "and you just can't fake it..."). I'd start the doubling and FX during the first chorus.

I think also, that this song is too soft. No edge, except in the vocals. The snare drum doesn't bite at all, no real drive. The driving force is the vocals, and her voice doesn't cut it as a main driver, in my opinion. Gotta maintain focus on the vocals, but let the other instruments have an edge - especially the snare... I want it to cut more. Sometimes during the chorus, the snare is almost completely buried.

Guitars sounds awesome. Bass is great. Vocal harmonies are awesome. Not quite sure I like what the auto-tune is doing to her voice in some places, where she goes into vibrato.

All in all, I really like the song. I'd probably be spending days on this mix.

I hesitate to say, but I'd kick myself if I didn't - if ya want real drums, just let me know. I'd love to see if I could do it justice. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the tips PI, if I go back to the drawing board with this one, I'll definitely look into these tips a bit more. Kinda tough when you're trying to do all the writing, recording and mixing for your own band while learning a ton of covers for the next rehearsal each week :o I'm trying to get the next one out already. Just a rough demo, not looking for 100% perfection (although close enough is nice too :) )

Friend and ex-student of mine works in radio, and a lot of production (selling artists and their works to record companies) with a lot of affiliates. Reckons we should get this into a record company asap. Could be cool :drunk:

As for the real drums, I'd say yeah if it was just my own solo stuff, but we're holding out until we have the facilities and equipment to record our own drummer. He wrote all the drum parts for the song, but he's the only person not REALLY on the recording :o

Kickass drummer too, so whatever he does should be pretty sweet.

FoulPhil said:
The 30 seconds I listened to sounded great :D
Click to expand...

Why only 30 seconds? :confused:
 
philbagg said:
Just a rough demo, not looking for 100% perfection (although close enough is nice too :) )
Click to expand...

Mission accomplished. I was listening very, very critically to this one, so all my comments reflected anything I heard that wasn't considered perfect. It really is well-done.
 
PoeticIntensity said:
Mission accomplished. I was listening very, very critically to this one, so all my comments reflected anything I heard that wasn't considered perfect. It really is well-done.
Click to expand...

Thanks PI :) Nice finish to the "all of this is WRONG!!" feel of the thread - or at least what a negative thinker like myself would see :)
 
Intro is somewhat lower in volume than the rest. Guitars remind me of old Benetar stuff. Girl singer is definitely new school though so I think more rasp would suit this better. However, I never condone the ripping of vocal cords just to sound like Pat B. lol.... Actually she's an amazing singer in her own right so I'll shut up now.... Rockin Tune @_@ love it!
:D:D:D:D
 
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