Start an EP with a slow song?

[Bivouac]

So, I'm finishing up the recording to our first EP, right? Well, I got this idea to start off the CD with a short, slow, 3/4 time song with just a couple organs and a really cool Rhodes-like part with a modulated delay on it. It kicks really hard into the second song that's really upbeat with some intense lyrical content and I really like that dynamic...

...but are people going to understand a 1:45 "preface" type song on a five or six song EP?

A lot of my favorite albums start off with slow songs, but I can see where a lot of people wouldn't be into it. What are your thoughts?

Here's the secret site. The songs are stuck together to demonstrate what I'm talking about (a few parts are still missing, but you get the idea). The stream blows, so please click the download. I apologize for not having any webspace, but it's seriously two clicks:

http://www.purevolume.com/syncsyncsync

I'd really appreciate any thoughts on the subject and any comments on the mix. I'm a complete hack beginner working with some of the most embarrassing equipment possible so I'm sure I deserve your wrath...

[dnafe]

I like what I heard but depending on the rest of the tunes it may be inappropriate.

(Nice fence sitting Don!)

in otherwords if the tunes are more like the second song I think you might be shooting yourself in the foot.

By the way what I heard seemed overly hyped in the upper mids but I qualify that by saying I'm listening on a laptop with headphones yada yada

[Bivouac]

Yeah, the rest will be pretty upbeat except for the intro to one song...

Upper mids, huh? Well, that's better than boomy bass or shrill high end, right?

'preciate it :)

[Carlo]

To me, the mood you describe in the first tune is matched by the second, although in a very different manner. I like it, and I am a sucker fo a drone line...it sets up a tension, that the second song seems to squeeze even harder.

I do think that the effect of the first song could be magnified by shortening it...drop right into that second verse, and drop into the second song more abruptly, more abstractly.

But again, I'm a sucker for a drone...:Thumbsup:

[Bivouac]

If we decide to go this route, I certainly will be shortening the gap between the songs. I want it to "peak" a little higher too...

It's still kind of up in the air though...

[st robert]

i scanned through the tunes real quick and like what i hear, although for an ep, let's get in touch with our adhd inner child...

why not split the slow song in two?

right at 1:17 drop in the gits of song two minus the cymbal swell thingy and bash through.

then later in the ep, say, between song 4 and 5 go back to the slow bit and continue painting that picture.

can't comment on the mix and shit downstairs on this computer, but it just sounds a bit low fi, kind of like a lot of my stuff, so when i get to it upstairs, i may be able to identify how to help further...

love the tuba.

rob

[Carlo]

i scanned through the tunes real quick and like what i hear, although for an ep, let's get in touch with our adhd inner child...

why not split the slow song in two?

right at 1:17 drop in the gits of song two minus the cymbal swell thingy and bash through.

then later in the ep, say, between song 4 and 5 go back to the slow bit and continue painting that picture.

can't comment on the mix and shit downstairs on this computer, but it just sounds a bit low fi, kind of like a lot of my stuff, so when i get to it upstairs, i may be able to identify how to help further...

love the tuba.

rob

My thoughts, exactly...I'm too much of a wuss...:Surprised:

[Bivouac]

i scanned through the tunes real quick and like what i hear, although for an ep, let's get in touch with our adhd inner child...

why not split the slow song in two?

right at 1:17 drop in the gits of song two minus the cymbal swell thingy and bash through.

then later in the ep, say, between song 4 and 5 go back to the slow bit and continue painting that picture.



Interesting you say that. This version was already cut in half...and I was considering using the rest as a reprise at the end. I still like the idea of shortening it again though...



can't comment on the mix and shit downstairs on this computer, but it just sounds a bit low fi, kind of like a lot of my stuff, so when i get to it upstairs, i may be able to identify how to help further...

Well, if the mix sounds lofi, it's because I'm inept :)

It wasn't something I was going for, just a general lack of skills and proper equipment...



love the tuba.

rob

Wait...what tuba?

[aframe9999]

intro's too long for me too. i'm loosing interest and wondering if something exciting is going to happen by the end of the first minute. But I have to wait........ and wait.

I would agree with the others.... cut it up, stick the last half at the end of the whole thing or somewhere inbetween.

I dig the sound though. singer has a very Counting Crows vibe...

cool