Work In Progress - Gravity

[Chili]

Working on a new song.... I'm not done yet, but I've got to head out of town for a week and won't be able to work on it. So, I thought I'd throw it up here and get opinions.

I love jam bands and this kind of goes in that vein. That means it's a little long; about 6 1/2 minutes. Whew. And I'm not done yet. I want to maybe double it, but that depends on the feedback I get. If I do add more, it will switch styles so it's not too boring, then maybe back for a reprise at the end.

Anyways, thanks in advance for any comments...

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8111727

 

[nickg]

Nice track!

Sounding good Chili! I like especially like the piano part in it, it really adds some life and character to the song, and keeps it flowing. The lyrics are well written as well. My only suggestion at this point would be to consider compressing the bass a little more to help try and smooth it out a bit. Is it possible I'm hearing one of the bass notes being a little flat? I think it's on "F". I wouldn't minding hearing a few more drum fills in the first half of the song. Can't wait to hear this finished. Your voice has a really classic sound to it. Nice track!

Have a good trip...

PS. I for one don't really care if a song is longer that 3 minutes. I think if the song keeps flowing, and holds onto the listeners attention, the song can be as long as the musician feels it needs to be. If there's a good vibe, then rock it! Some of our all-time greatest music was longer than 5 minutes!

 

[dodgeaspen]

Nice song Chill. The first thing I noticed on my set up was the piano was a little loud through the mix. The drums were pretty good as well as the bass. Very cool.

 

[WhiteStrat]

My advice: finish this one up! It sounds great.

Just by way of comarison, piano level sounded fine on my rig. A couple things to try: maybe a bit less 'verb on the vox; more bottom end on the drum--sounds like a bit too much sizzle from the cymbals and not quite enough "oomph" from the kick.

Nice stuff!

 

[heatmiser]

I like it!

I hear jam band and I'm thinking big guitar jams, but of course I forget that there are pianos out there as well, and people jam on them too.

I'm listening on a laptop, so kind of hard to tell, but maybe a bit too much verb overall? I mean, more verb makes sense on a slower tempo number like this, but I just felt like the overall amount kind of stood out. I think the piano sounds great...some nice build-ups through the instrumental sections...couldn't there be just a little guitar soloing as a counterpart though? Bass sounds nice.

I don't find it too long at all and would love to hear an expanded version...wonder what other style you would switch to? Hope you keep going with this.

 

[ido1957]

The thing about jams is that if they are good they don't seem long. This qualifies as one of those...

 

[JRSIV]

You're getting into some Heatmiser territory with the bass Chill; sounds awesome. I hear some string squeak and there are a few notes that are pitchy but it adds character to the song. Enough of making everything "perfect" in a track and just robbing it of all soul!! Sorry for the tangent...

The piano and drums are MIDI I'm presuming. The piano works; has a full sound and just enough room around it to sound legit. The piano mixing needs some balance though, maybe a larger stereo spread. The drums sound alright on the main groove but the fills sound a little mechanical at times. Since you said this was in the early stages that's really the only track I'd overhaul.

Vocals sound cool and are well sung with good lyrics. The guitars need to come up because there's some cool sounds coming from the extreme left and right but the piano's are overshadowing it. All in all a really cool track Chill. Really nice mood and chord structure. Looking forward to the final mix.

 

[Chili]

Wow, everyone. Thanks much. I'm sorry it took so long to reply, I pulled a 12 hr shift today. I don't go to customer sites very often, but when I do, I'm usually there for a while.

I plan on going more with this, kind of in a Pink Floyd way. I'll be redoing vocals, I'll look at reverb and other comments. I'll respond more when I get some more time.

Thanks again!!!

 

[nzausrec]

That's nice mate.
Was the piano midi, was it hand played or piano scrolled?
Drums sound good to me.
Sounds mallow with good feel.
It has heaps of places in which to stick in leads, faster piano trills and things and also a lead guitar could slide in - maybe even a flute.
I heard once, maybe Eric Clapton, that the slower songs are the hardest. I think he means because the feel is more sustained so creative, not sure.

[I hear some string squeak and there are a few notes that are pitchy but it adds character to the song. Enough of making everything "perfect" in a track and just robbing it of all soul!! Sorry for the tangent...

I completely agree. Actually I was listening to Rick Astley's Vincent and it has a badly eq'd bass. It actually thumps and clips quite badly. Yet, the song is great and we all still listen to it. The reason the hit bands sound good enough for radio is because it costs a million dollars to produce their song(s). We don't have that luxury - most of us do this in our bedrooms yet still sound radio worthy. This number above is radio worthy enough. Crikey, it was 20 years ago, it still is now.
The important thing is to get all levels pretty much right, all the instruments standing on their own within the song .. and the song itself. Too much is not necessary. Look at Kayne West's really shitey number Stronger, with so much overkill on the morphoder and layers upon layers of it and other effects, it just sounds like ..shite. A song should not be made from the effects. Effects should help the song along.
Yet he's number one. I don't understand that. Something wrong with today's youth perhaps.

 

[joeym]

10+ for the songwriting on this one Dave, very impressive indeed!
I find the mix very good. The snare is a little too bright for my taste, but I'm a metal guy so don't mind me... It still sounds very good. What I notice here and there are some timing hitches, but you can edit those. Splendid piano work, is that a real one or a plugin? I love your bass tone it's totally clear and you can hear every note. Are you gonna put anymore guitar on this. Some David Gilmore type sounds wouldn't be bad. Great job well done!

Joey

 

[Chili]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. Glad to see people don't mind the length of it.

I'm not quite sure where I'll be taking it next... definitely do a change up. I'm sure guitars will be more prevalent in the 2nd half. Lyrics were the hard part on this song. I've got ideas on what I want to say, but am having trouble culling the words. That's why I repeated the 1st verse.

The drums are midi, ezdrummer. The piano is me!! I did a few punch-ins and comps to edit out some flubs. I have a really old Alesis kybrd and I love the grand piano patch on it. I have yet to find anything else that sounds as good as this one. Unfortunately, I have no clue how to edit it to expand the stereo field or lower reverb. The only thing I did with it once in the DAW was bring down the lower freq's so it wasn't competing with the bass. Speaking of which, definitely love the Heatmiser Bass reference. He does some awesome Dead covers!!!

Thanks again!!

 

[mattdee1]

Look at Kayne West's really shitey number Stronger, with so much overkill on the morphoder and layers upon layers of it and other effects, it just sounds like ..shite.

"I'm really happy for you Chilli, and Ima let you finish, but Phish is the greatest jam band of ALL TIME!"

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Sounds great, the only thing I wasn't crazy about was the drums (cymbals) sounded a bit tinny on the high end.

Matt

 

[Gregois Le Punk]

cool, thanz for posting that!

 

[rayc]

What everyone else said basically mate. Cool as!!!
Could use some more drums fills early on, the bass is really cool & melodic, the piano sits fine in my ears - lead when it's lead, rhythm when rhythm.
Chill some of the cymbal sizzle and take this to the next level if you jam on - or not - it works as is but could easily get into blissed out tantric smoke 'em if you've got 'em territory if you want to.
I enjoyed listening to it (I have a slight penchant for trippy stuff - & no that wasn't slight paunch {well, I have that too...}).

 

[Anfontan]

Powerful stuff Dave, that rhythm section is great, lots of punch to it. The piano sounds amazing, the vocal is very good! I like it a lot, give me a holler if you want more guitar in there...

 

[Chili]

"I'm really happy for you Chilli, and Ima let you finish, but Phish is the greatest jam band of ALL TIME!"

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Sounds great, the only thing I wasn't crazy about was the drums (cymbals) sounded a bit tinny on the high end.

Matt

Ya know, I like Phish, just ain't crazy about them. It took a lot of listening on Sirius Radio's Jam On station to finally get them. I'm more of a Grateful Dead or DMB jammer. Thanks man, I'll take a look at the cymbals!!

cool, thanz for posting that!

...and "thanz" for posting that too.

What everyone else said basically mate. Cool as!!!
Could use some more drums fills early on, the bass is really cool & melodic, the piano sits fine in my ears - lead when it's lead, rhythm when rhythm.
Chill some of the cymbal sizzle and take this to the next level if you jam on - or not - it works as is but could easily get into blissed out tantric smoke 'em if you've got 'em territory if you want to.
I enjoyed listening to it (I have a slight penchant for trippy stuff - & no that wasn't slight paunch {well, I have that too...}).

you know, the bass got mentioned a lot on this song and I truly appreciate that. I just don't know what I did different. Maybe the difference lies to what I did to everything else. Not much guitars to mud over the bass. I knocked off the low end of the piano.

Well, the "blissed out tantric smoke 'em if you've got 'em territory" was where I wanted to take this and I'm glad you got that. I hope I don't disappoint when I finish this up.

Powerful stuff Dave, that rhythm section is great, lots of punch to it. The piano sounds amazing, the vocal is very good! I like it a lot, give me a holler if you want more guitar in there...

Thanks Tony. I might take you up on your offer.

 

[mattdee1]

Ya know, I like Phish, just ain't crazy about them. It took a lot of listening on Sirius Radio's Jam On station to finally get them. I'm more of a Grateful Dead or DMB jammer. Thanks man, I'll take a look at the cymbals!!

Heh, to be honest, I don't like Phish at all. Somebody mentioned Kanye West and I just had to do a play on his infamous "Ima let you finish" meme.

 

[Greg_L]

Sounds pretty good to me. I'm not crazy about the drums, but whatever. You use what you got. I'm not at all a fan of jams, jam bands, or jam mentality, but I had no problem sitting through this, so kudos. Nice piano work and bass.

 

[dastrick]

I liked it. It has a great feel to it. And I am a huge fan of jam bands. Phish, Grateful Dead, DMB, Widespread Panic. DMB being #1.

The only thing that stuck out to me was the drums. As said before they sound a little mechanical at times and the timing is off slightly in a few parts. I would love to hear it with real drums. Maybe one of these drummers on HR would be willing to track them for you.

Other than that...definitely keep it going. Great job.

 

[Chili]

Heh, to be honest, I don't like Phish at all. Somebody mentioned Kanye West and I just had to do a play on his infamous "Ima let you finish" meme.

Ahh, that's where that came from. I tried googling it and didn't come up with anything. I'm so far behind on yesterday's pop-culture....

Sounds pretty good to me. I'm not crazy about the drums, but whatever. You use what you got. I'm not at all a fan of jams, jam bands, or jam mentality, but I had no problem sitting through this, so kudos. Nice piano work and bass.

Cool man, glad you you didn't puke.... or did you???

I liked it. It has a great feel to it. And I am a huge fan of jam bands. Phish, Grateful Dead, DMB, Widespread Panic. DMB being #1.

The only thing that stuck out to me was the drums. As said before they sound a little mechanical at times and the timing is off slightly in a few parts. I would love to hear it with real drums. Maybe one of these drummers on HR would be willing to track them for you.

Other than that...definitely keep it going. Great job.

Thank ya much. Still a work in progress. I will be spending a lot of time reworking the drums. Yeah, there are some timing issues with the piano. I don't know if I want to go back and punch in on those or not. Sometimes I'm okay with leaving that stuff in just to keep it human. Mostly because I'm lazy...