Breaking Through

Finally, after more medical shenanigans than I would want to bore you with here, the first output from my X2 project studio setup. 

I usually write songs for local singers to put into their covers sets as original material nowadays, but this is more in my own vein so to speak. Composition and all instruments by myself, Bvox by my lovely and talented friend and co-performer Dawn T Baker.
Comments and critique welcome. 

Garry Kiosk

https://soundcloud.com/garry-kiosk/breaking-through

Hi John, thanks for the comments. Funnily enough, the noise you hear at the beginning and end of the track is quite deliberate, and comes via a z3ta patch that I tweaked. The rest for the track is quite noise free. I did it for a retro / vinylish sound as a contrast to the main body as an intro and outro theme. I had a su****ion it might be picked up as unwanted noise rather than a production choice.... I may reconsider, based on listening to comments, wondering what others think? 

I wanted to produce a track to stretch my limited production skills, as it's the only way to learn. With separate drum tracks, there were 35 tracks in total and I learned a lot trying to prevent too much frequency masking, it was hard to get the vocal to emerge at first but I found a way, by cloning the original twice, leaving off effects and putting them panned 25% l and r, nudging a few samples and bringing in at a lower level than the main treated vocal. I want to go to the next level, and happy to consider any constructive comments such as yours. Thanks.

WRT the other track, it is only a demo, recorded outdoors in a slight breeze simply to capture the song and make it available for the singer and her band to familiarize with it. Thanks for listening to it though! 

Garry 

I thought the noise was a water sound.  Go figure.  I get the Floyd vibe too.  Nice tune.  I don't have any suggestions on the mix.  I agree the voice could come up a bit.

Very nice composition. I like the texturing of the sounds. The drums work very well, as do the vocals.  The Synth strings aren't optimal but they work.  I think you did a great job blending the organ in. Guitar playing is very appropriate and lends it's own texture to the song.   Overall a very nice production. The work that you put into this is quite evident. Enjoyed it! 

As well as remove the 'noise' on the z3ta patch for a totally clean sound, gonna work the drums and strings a little more this weekend....

Agree that this is floyd like.  Listening on my headphones.  Is the bass too loud?

Nice atmospheric tune; I really like the lead guitar tone--is that a Stratocaster?

I'm going to go contrarian on the white noise here: I like the idea, but it's not finished yet. I notice that the vocal is boxed in with EQ to give it a certain vibe as well.

I agree with both of those choices as intriguing. If you can, I'd say, vary both of them in the song.

Start with the white noise in the intro, but then take it away suddenly at a critical point in the song, make it an important moment in the listener's ear.

Likewise the vocal (which I agree I'd like to here more center-front instead of center-tucked in): use that EQ for a specific vibe--then show us two or three radically different settings for changes at just the right musical spot.

I think of McCartney's "Uncle Albert" as a clever use of sounds like this. Sticking with the Beatles, "Honey Pie" makes effective use of an 'antique' sound--with a sudden switch away from it.

Nice moody music Garry - Pink Floyd all the way. Excellent.

Thanks very much for the comments Blipp. I tried to leave the clicker in the kick drum to translate to small laptop speakers and the like. I also did a first mix with massive sounding drums and more compression, but it just seemed, to me anyway, to overwhelm the track. As always its a matter of degree. I am going to remix and try for several improvements.

Thanks for the guitar comments, I worked hard to get that sound. Also, yes Dawn has a great voice for recording and I intend to work with her more on my own material.

Thanks

Garry

Bob Oister


Hi, Garry,
 
Very cool song with a definite Floyd vibe and great playing and singing!
 
I love how the piano and synths counter very nicely with that sweet sounding strat, and the solos are fantastic.  Actually, I kind of like the low-fi effect during the intro and the trailing off type ending fits the theme of the song perfectly.
 
Excellent work, my friend, best wishes! 
Bob

What can I say, from the Oistermeister himself ! Except..


Thank you Bob.


Garry