Factory Yoyo presents: Madame Moto Remix 4-24

I have been working on a lot of Police-influenced stuff lately. I have a pretty solid Police-homage song completely written and cannot come up with any vocal ideas that work within that context. So what does one do? Write another one!
 
So this ended up more as an influence than an homage. Thanks to Cian McGovern for his help with the backing vocals and a few hook ideas.
 
It is the sad story of a frequent business traveler who falls in love with a Tokyo lady of the night.
 
Madame Moto

4-24 New mix
http://soundcloud.com/hammertoe/madame-moto-remix

Thanks, Lynn. I spent more time on the mix of this one than I probably should, but I wanted to try a new technique of shunting some of the bass off to the sides to give the snare and vocal a bit more room to breathe. And I also like my bass playing on this one, so it was even more of an excuse!

There are 6 different guitars layered into this, and it was a real challenge to keep them from turning into axe soup.

Domo Arigato Madam Moto... I don't get a law enforcement vibe? I don't get it? Unless that Japeneese part was like from a 911 call? Now if you did something else that was a take off on this, would it be considered Quasi Moto?

jamesyoyo

       
It is the sad story of a frequent business traveler who falls in love with a Tokyo lady of the night.   

 
 

A member of the Secret Service no doubt!

Very nice.  

knocked out production... I love the sound of this... really impressive... Wow... 

Thanks guys for the kind words.

Shad:
You've been missed, glad you are back with us.

Bats: 
Bass washed out? Seriously? It booms on every system I play this on....that is weird.

I'm listening on a really good set of cans & I do mean a really good set of cans due to the hour of the night it is over here in my geo local ..

the Bass is not washed out  , it's pretty happening in the mix .

your mix has a lot of air and space , everything moves nicely in the way the music frames the story of the tune ...

I can tell a lot of imagination went into this song  ..

the pilots announcement was pretty cool ... although they never ever forget to mention the airline ( just a thought)  

Yow Za  WoW Za , what a risky subject matter  huh...lol

all the best,

Kenny

James: really impressive idea here. What I love the most? You're not afraid to use effects and use them great! I loved the snare sound...a little 8k would make it crack a bit more....but this is killer.

I hear what Bats is talking about man because I hear it on this end too. I hear enough bass...but it's like...how can I explain this without upsetting you....let me think.

Ok, it's like when the song first started, it sort of gave me an almost am radio type feel...like I was expecting it to open up frequency wise and it never did. The kick drum I can't even hear all the time...so this definitely adds to the thin-ness factor. It's weird, I can't even say it's thin...it just doesn't seem to open up and grab the frequencies my ears are expecting to hear maybe? Like...maybe you were a bit conservative on the lows and the "air" highs or something? That's the best way to explain it really. But I love the song, your performance, your voice and the instrument choices here.

I saw you had asked about the bass I used in the tune for Philip. On that one I used a 5 string into a modded kidney bean bass Pod. I got a buddy that mods stuff like that and he made that thing sound so good, it's been my go to piece for just about everything. Most times though, I'll DI into a Manley ELOP or a Drawmer tube compressor....but this POD has been so good to me, I've been sticking with it. From there once I get the sound into Sonar, I use either a Sonitus compressor or the UAD NEVE 33609 and then enhance it with the UAD Helios because it really does a nice job with the percussive frequencies on bass in the 1k-3k range. High pass at 80 Hz and adjust the Q to taste and I'm done with it. Compression depends on the piece...but most times I'm at 4:1-5:1 with the attack set for how I pick. I use felt picks so the transients aren't off the hook ever and it's a bit smoother. Not as good as fingers, but I can't play with my fingers so I cheat.

Anyway, this is a great tune that I enjoyed very much. I'd have to download it and scope it/mess around to tell you what I'd do to thicken it up a little...but I'd definitely start with a better kick drum with impact as well as some better air frequencies in the upper end of the spectrum. As it is, it's a great mix...but something is missing to thicken it up a bit. It's actually a perfectly balanced mix that a mastering engineer would love so he could work his magic without all the crap people do before hand. :) Awesome job brother...you're extremely talented and I hope nothing I've said here offends you as it's not my intent....honest.

-Danny

Very smooth brother James and best vocal from you yet!!!

You catch the vibe with this tune, but I agree with Bat and Danny the bass though present lacks a little which I think Danny covered.

Wow, just came back to the forum after a short break to be greeted by this!

All I can say is that it sounds excellent - not only good production but a great song.

Cheers,
Terry.

twisted6s


I think the critique about the bass that some of the brothers are making really has more to do with the kick. Because the kick is not a "thumpier" kick and sometimes disappears a little the bass, at those times, appears to fly solo which believe it or not I like. The thick and thin feel gives a nice push-pull effect to the mix.

Y'all know I post here to get crits, and I try to warmly receive them even when I don't like them (or agree with 'em! ;) ). But for the life of me, I am mystified on this whole bass commentary.
I have listened to this tune on my brand new car, my iPhone, my unforgiving kitchen all-in-one PC, my iPad, and on the studio setup with the sub on and off. The bass is huge everywhere. It is slightly quieter during the verses, which was intentional.  I did do a pretty radical thing of using channel tools to move a bass send feed to the sides, but left the sub-80hz stuff smack in the middle. The whole rule of thumb is the low freqs either have the bass or the kick as the fundamental, and in this instance I moved the bass underneath the kick, which is kinda appropos to the somewhat 80s sound of the track.
 
And Tony is right: I was going for a push pull effect.

Listening again on a different system, set of small Teac concentric speakers, no sub, as I said previously the Bass is there but. 

It is subjective at the end of the day. 

My Event 20/20's, which I use in the studio, are known for their bass extension.

James it is your tune and if you are happy with the mix then the mix is right.

foxwolfen


I kinda have to admit, I was wondering a bit about that myself. I am normally very "bass conscious"; if the bass is off I tend to mention it. But, this song is very well balanced IMO. I am really curious about what they are hearing, and why. I wonder if it is because many people push the bass too far and expect to hear that.

I personally don't think it's the bass totally. The bass itself is loud enough on my end. I don't know if I like the frequency that was selected to push the low end...that's subjective though. What I'm hearing is lack of kick thump and a bit more low mids than I'd use. The mids sort of stop the energy from being there. It's just sort of dark yet doesn't have the pump.
 
Snare sounds like there are no snares resonating yet I love the sound he got there. A little more presence would nail that part for me. But if he adds a kick with a bit of 55-65 Hz to it, that bass may be ok right where it is because it IS loud enough. We just have no "oomph" in the kick drum which would accentuate the bass guitar as well. A little less verb/effects could tighten it up too...but again, subjective and I love it when guys aren't afraid to use effects. That said, the effects in this could be smoothing it out just a bit more than they should be.
 
I was going to download this and scope it out James...maybe mess with it to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. But it's not downloadable and I don't even see it appear in my cache. At any rate, if you like it brother....stick with the mix you have. I like it...I'm just hearing a different flavor on the over-all eq curve man. Still a great piece of music no matter what. :)
 
-Danny