This way...

[Comte de St Germain]

This is the lovely, most galactic mixture of the fluids from a 5 string bass and piccolo snare.

[Goes211]

mmm...that 80's revival is not gonna make us any younger...move over The Edge :D

I'm listening on crappy headphones...not going to comment on the sound.

I actually quite like this.
I do believe the singer should sing it like he means it.
A take with more intensity (do not confuse this with screaming) would do wonders to lift the song.

Also, to my ears, at around 3:44 and up to the end, the bass starts playing a different song in a different key. By a stroke of luck they still are almost in the same tempo. Planet alignment or something.

[conejito]

I actually quite like this.
Yeah, so do I. Then again, I was a teenager in the '80s. Heheh.

I do believe the singer should sing it like he means it.
A take with more intensity (do not confuse this with screaming) would do wonders to lift the song.
Agreed. Get his girlfriend to break up with him the day before the next recording session. That should do the trick. She can make up with him after he nails the take. I'm only half kidding.

Also, to my ears, at around 3:44 and up to the end, the bass starts playing a different song in a different key. By a stroke of luck they still are almost in the same tempo. Planet alignment or something.
I see what you're saying, and I also kind of get what the bass player was going for. Unfortunately, he missed it, and should re-thiink the part - simplify harmonically. The frenetic quality of the playing should be maintained, though.

Uh... I think I just inadvertantly criticized a critique. :Roll eyes:

[Goes211]

I see what you're saying, and I also kind of get what the bass player was going for.

Oh trust me, I know exactly what he was going for... :lol:
He never quite made it, though.
It's an interesting point.


Mr. St G., I'm not going for a dig at your bass player here, just commenting on a situation I've seen too often in the studio and live.


Why do people try to play above their chops, especially on the big day of going into the studio ? Music is not about breaking records. "New bass champion Harmon Neenot just beat the 16th note-a-thon on Bitchslap's latest release. While the performance was quite impressive from a sporting point of view, the other members of the band were eager to point out that, in fact, musically, it sucked."
It's cool to try something and to let rip. In fact it's recommended. But it takes a bit of vision to recognize that your own take might not be best and that, as the old saying goes, less is often more. But that takes having musicians who listen and play for the song instead of playing for themselves and other musicians.
I say the Red button on the tape recorder or the Delete key on a Daw should be used with less parcimony.

[Comte de St Germain]

Your comments are spot on.

He's not my bass player, he's somebody else's.

I'm not going to make excuses for the band, I think they have great potential especially since the band has been together less than 6 months and as you noticed the bass player just joined the band (he's 19) and is playing a monsters parts.

This is the singers first band, we've already talked with his girlfriend and the rest of his friends/family and like in the Truman show, they are all on board.

This is their first EP and was done very quickly.

Once they get off the road I have no doubts that they will be a well oiled machine.

They are heading to the northeast soon...

I have a great feeling about these guys.

We have a trust now, the next one will have whip cracking at the front end.

[dikledoux]

Can't comment on the bass playing as my laptop is incapable of reproducing anything resembling a bass.

This song comes off as Christian Rock. That's not a dig at the category, just that the lyrical content and treatment give me that vibe immediately. There's one lyrical passage at the end of the chorus (something like "...are you leading me up or - - farther down") that gives it a possible twist in a very different direction. But the song sounds like ready-for-Christian-radio material and written to that target market. That being said, I can't stand stuff that comes off like it's written for a target market because there's always the following issues:
- trite and overused lyrics, standard subject matter
- same old pop-rock sounds and arrangements
- no chances taken

The thing is well executed, especially given the band's time together as mentioned earlier. The drummer is killing - very nice playing. But it sounds like a ton of other stuff if it's not Christian rock, and if it IS Christian rock, it sounds like a bajillion other things.

For lyrical content offenders, here are the first ones that I caught:
- If you'll only take my hand
- Is this the way to be free
- give yourself unto the water (UNTO??? WTF)
- just let go your hand (weren't they just asking me to TAKE the hand?)

I guess if the lyrics were more engaging, I'd be more.... engaged. Sorry for being such a jaded hardass about the material.

dik

[Comte de St Germain]

This song comes off as Christian Rock. That's not a dig at the category, just that the lyrical content and treatment give me that vibe immediately.

You are right.

This is also the "most literal" of the batch.

This exercise has been very reassuring to my insincts as well, everything that has been brought forth here is right on the money.

That said, I've seen the band live and "they have it."

Some of their other tunes are more egglike and less "hooky" others are just catchy as sin.

Did I say that?

Thanks for taking the time to listen.

[MacGregor]

This is their first EP and was done very quickly.


I read this very often and I always wondered why someone
thinks it's good idea to leave a very first impression to the
general public which is 'done very quickly'.

[Comte de St Germain]

I read this very often and I always wondered why someone
thinks it's good idea to leave a very first impression to the
general public which is 'done very quickly'.

Funny.

Back in the golden age that's what musicians aspired to.

So is the 100 track Britney approach your preference or should we be encouraging inspired performances done like bands used to do it?




They didn't get pre-pro in.

They now know to do it next time.



Have you even listened to the track?


No I'm not getting defensive, just curious.

[volthause]

I liked it. Very spacious mix. There seems to be some freaky super wide stereo stuff in there... either that or I'm getting a migraine.

Don't care too much for the religious slant of the tune, but I guess that's neither here nor there.

[MacGregor]

So is the 100 track Britney approach your preference or should we be encouraging inspired performances done like bands used to do it?


No, that's a misunderstanding, I didn't meant to judge the
absolute quality of these songs.
It's all realitve.

If you have time for just one song do just one song!

If you can do 2 songs in the same time 'very quickly' you'll have
2 bad songs instead of 1 average song.
Or 2 average songs instead of 1 good song.
Or 2 good songs instead of 1 great song.
Or 2 great songs instead of 1 Grammy winner.
Or 2 Grammy winners instead of 1 song our children will still
sing in 40 years.

[Comte de St Germain]

No, that's a misunderstanding, I didn't meant to judge the
absolute quality of these songs.
It's all realitve.

If you have time for just one song do just one song!

If you can do 2 songs in the same time 'very quickly' you'll have
2 bad songs instead of 1 average song.
Or 2 average songs instead of 1 good song.
Or 2 good songs instead of 1 great song.
Or 2 great songs instead of 1 Grammy winner.
Or 2 Grammy winners instead of 1 song our children will still
sing in 40 years.


I disagree.


Some of the most timeless stuff was done "very quickly."

More time does not mean more passion.

[MacGregor]

I disagree.

Some of the most timeless stuff was done "very quickly."


That's correct, but most of the most timeless stuff was not done "very quickly".
That's the other side.


More time does not mean more passion.

Yep, I won't disagree here.

[Cosmic Pig]

On my crap comp speakers I didn't hear such a big problem with the bass... maybe not that solid with the kick, but it didn't jump out as overplayed. He was busier in the sparse parts to pick up the holes and held it down in the big parts.

I thought the vocals could have been more believable, but I can hear with more time in the studio he'll be able to nail it. And the guitar intro needs something... less echo... slower tempo matched echo maybe. the echo seems to catch the groove later in the verses. But even when it's working it's a little ear distracting when the vocal is present.

I wasn't a fan of the synthy drone bits in the intro. The sound seemed a little dated. Same with the synth sound after the first chorus.

I dig the snare all to pieces. Overall I'd say it's a great first round Comte... you could work these guys and get some good stuff. With their road jaunt they might come back all gelled and ready to give'r shit.

Cos.

[Mixerman]

This is the lovely, most galactic mixture of the fluids from a 5 string bass and piccolo snare.

Love the switch from the picccolo snare to the deep one. I'm not sure if you're looking for comments or not, but I guess I'll give mine anyway.

At 3:14 the picking guitar going down the arpeggio is on the left and a power chord guitar is on the right. At 3:39 two more big guitars come in with power chords. one left one right, the left one bigger and louder than the right (from what I can tell). I get why you did this in theory, it provides another lift for the end of the song. And were I mixing this, I probably try something similar. Logically, it's a good idea. However, I think that in this case, you would be better off having that bigger guitar that comes in on the right at 3:39, play from 3:14 on. This will make your secondary lift, the one you are trying to manufacture less effective, but I'm not sure it's ncessary, and I'm not sure you can't find another way to bump it up a notch there.

The main reason I argue this, is because I feel the counterbalance against that line is important. The drums aren't quite the right kind of "big" to act as the counterbalance. At the moment, because those big guitars that enter at 3:39 have so much low end to them, it's as if the bottom falls out of the mix. It could also be the drums that make me feel this way.

Now, personally, I think the hi hat is too loud in this mix. I don't know how the drummer is playing, and your hands might be tied here. But to me the hi hat is very distracting to all the other great things happening with this track. If there is any way to turn this down in the mix, I'd highly recommend it.

I also think the big guitars can be louder in general, but that feeling could tie directly into the idea that the hi hat is too loud. You know at this stage of a mix, making one tiny change can fix 5 things or cause 5 new problems in a mix. Bringing down the hi hat could potentially fix all the mix issues, including everything I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

At the end of the song, I'm a little confused by what the bass player is attemting. I guess he's trying to be inventive, but that's some serious jazz at times there. You know, I don't like to squash a person's creativity in a session, but a rub is a rub. I don't mind some good dissonance. But what he's doing in the bass doesn't make any musical sense to me. Maybe he has too many strings. :very happy:

I feel like the singer has better in him. I'd ask him to give it up a little more. I know he can do it. I can tell by listening to him. He's just a little restrained. A little timid. Perhaps now that he has a take that he's happy with, you could coax him to experiment a little, in hopes of beating it. If you're not the producer, well, that's that then. Moving on.

Mixerman

[Calvin]

I hear what some of you are saying with regard to the '80s, but to me this tune sounds contemporary enough. Maybe I'm just too stuck in the '80s myself to know the difference. :grin:

Overall I like this tune a lot. Very nice stuff.

A couple notes:

In addition to the bass issues mentioned above, I'm also hearing some tuning issues with the bass at the top of the tune. Actually, anytime the bassist is using that low B string. Could just be me, though, and I am listening through headphones. I do like what the bassist does at about the 1:09 mark, although to me the entire bass track is a bit too polite.

I'm also wanting to hear the guitars coming in at the :25 mark hit with more authority. To me there's a bit of a letdown at that point.

Then again, what do I know. Probably not much, so grain of salt and all.

[Comte de St Germain]

I'm also wanting to hear the guitars coming in at the :25 mark hit with more authority. To me there's a bit of a letdown at that point.

Then again, what do I know. Probably not much, so grain of salt and all.

Me too.

Both you and MM made great points, as with all mixes there were hurdles, some were cleared and others have shown up on your radar clearly.

You gotta play the hand you are dealt and sometimes you can bluff more successfully than others.

In hind sight I would have reamped the :25 guitars, edited the shit out of the bass, futzed more with the hat and gotten the vocalist into more of a mood.

I did this on subsequent tracks and will on the full length when they get there.

Thanks all, for spending the time to listen and comment.

[seagate]

I guess if the lyrics were more engaging, I'd be more.... engaged...

Better than my latest effort:

You are the wife of the baker, you have all your bagels in a row... doh doh dah...

:lol:


Great song though...
I like the singers voice but agree he needs to push more.