New Song

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gtrpastor
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2014/04/02 01:51:15 (permalink)

New Song

Just finished a song... 
 
https://soundcloud.com/sean-peifer/because-of-you
 
I'd appreciate any suggestions, especially on how to get the drums to sound better. Thanks.
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    evadianepug
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 01:58:08 (permalink)
    I can't tell you what to do with the drums.  I've never figured that out.  I like your song and you did a nice job on it.  I keep thinking there's something I'm hearing that shouldn't be there but I can't figure it out so I would say that everything there belongs.  I actually liked it the more I listened.  

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    #2
    gtrpastor
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 02:12:45 (permalink)
    Thanks for the reply evadianepug. And for your kind words. I'm not sure what shouldn't be there--maybe it's the acoustic guitars(?). 
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    RussjWhite
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 02:36:48 (permalink)
    keep the acoustic gt in! It helps fill the tune out nicely. One thing thing that pops out to me is that the vox are a little too up front in the mix. Lead solos is very nice, perhaps bring the vox down to that level. Good work. :)

     
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    M_Glenn_M
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 13:53:33 (permalink)
    The drums seem fine to me. I'd consider raising the "dug dug dug" guitar (What IS that called anyway?) as it is a big part of the rhythm function.
    Not necessarily volume but clarity/definition?
    Perhaps less compression or some NY comp to let the attack thru a bit?
    Nice song


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    gtrpastor
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 18:38:49 (permalink)
    gusrogers - Thanks for taking time to listen and for the advice. (I was thinking that maybe the acoustic guitars were making the recording sound muddied--there's a lot more acoustic than electric). After listening again with fresh ears, it really does sound like the vox are really loud--especially on the chorus. Maybe I'll try bringing down the vox a bit and repost it later. (Unfortunately, when I work on song I get kind of sick of it and need a bit of a break =-P).
     
    M_Glenn_M - Thanks for the listen and the reply. I hadn't thought about the chunka-chunka guitar being turned up. Maybe I'll try that and see how it sounds. About the compression, though... I've read up on compressors, and I've experimented with them but they seem a bit ethereal to me. Not quite sure how to use them correctly. Pardon my ignorance, but what is "NY comp?" (I looked it up on Google and found: New York State Compensation Board--pretty sure that's not it). By letting the attack through, do you mean decreasing it? 
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    Lynn
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 19:36:56 (permalink)
    The good news is that the song is catchy, the performances are very good.  The arrangement gives it a nice modern but classic sound.  As for the drums, I don't know what version of Sonar you are using, but there are some very good compressors for the ProChannel that can make these drums fatter and sit in the mix better.  I think if you get the drums to pop more, the levels on everything else will fall into place.  I give each drum in my kit (virtual) its own track, process each drum separately, then send them to their own bus and glue it all together with one of PC's bus compressors.  EQ to taste.  With just a little tweaking, this song will be a gem!

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    #7
    gtrpastor
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 19:47:02 (permalink)
    Lynn - Thanks for listening and for the helpful comments about the drums. I'm using X2a Producer, with Session Drummer 3. I have all the instruments separate (on ten tracks I think). I use the PX-64 Percussion Strip on each separate drum track. Then I route it all to a drum bus. I'm having a bit of a problem figuring out compression though. It seems like I'm squishing everything. Thanks for the comments on the song.   
    #8
    M_Glenn_M
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 21:49:06 (permalink)
    Compression reduces the peaks so you can raise the levels allowing you to hear the rest of the track better.
    It will dull down the impact.
    New york compression is a trick whereby you blend an uncompressed track with a copy that is heavily compressed.
    That way you keep the initial impact (like the crack of the drum or the initial hit of the guitar) while also bringing up the subtleties of the rest of the sound.
    Lots of compressors and other plugins have a blend function like the Prochannel compressors (wet/Dry) that does the same thing only easier.
    The attack is about how soon you want the compressor to start compressing.
    If you slow it down, more initial hit gets thru.


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    #9
    jude77
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 22:30:06 (permalink)
    I like your song and the arrangement a lot!!  As for the drums I've never found Session Drummer to sound very good (but that may just be me-others are welcome to disagree).  If you upgrade to X3 it adds XLN Addictive Drums which, to me, sound much better.  Also, I noticed you have your snare hit on the 4th beat of each measure.  That is very interesting musically, but have you considered adding a hit on the second beat of every other bar, to add some motion to the track?  Just a thought.
     
    I hope you have great success with your music!!
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    The Band19
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 22:43:21 (permalink)
    Am I hearing a bit of a 90s punk vibe? :-)
     
    It's funny because I don't think of this music when I think about spiritual music, but hey? It's an outreach 
     
    I have a few spiritual originals, and lots of Christmas music (I love Christmas music) 
     
    I like that everything that's happened, it's because of you where you drug it up and held it? That was pretty cool.
     
    I'm working on one called "It's all because of you!" (but it's about my ex and has a slightly less uplifting message...) Good job on this one and welcome to the forum!
     
    "New york compression is a trick whereby you blend an uncompressed track with a copy that is heavily compressed." I was sandwiched between two fat guys on the subway there once... Talk about New York compression! And yes, Mr. MGM is correct, typically you would send to a squashed track (HARD compression) and send that to a drum bus (output) then send your dry track to that same drum bus, and compress it to taste there (not squashed) so you get a blend of the smashed (me late at night) and the drier sound (me at say 1:00 PM) You'll still want to compress/limit the finished product a bit, but blending in that squashed with the dry and then treating them both is definitely a technique you should try out ;-) Different techs for different sounds but that one's a keeper... The heavily crushed track gives it punch, but the drier track lets it ring a bit, and the mix of the two provides an excellent dynamic mix.  (can provide if done correctly) Also for music like this, you should "saturate" the drums.
    post edited by The Band19 - 2014/04/02 22:52:57

    Sittin downtown in a railway station one toke over the line.
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    gtrpastor
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/02 23:54:49 (permalink)
    M_Glenn_M - Your explanation makes things a little clearer. For some reason when I read about compression it's like my brain shuts off. I think I need a visual tutorial. Time for me to check out YouTube...
     
    jude77 - Thanks for the comments. I'm glad you liked it. I hope that I can upgrade to X3 soon. I'd like to try Addictive Drums. As for the drum beat, it's pretty weak in this song (no drum fills, no toms at all, and I'm not a drummer). Maybe I'll experiment with  your suggestion though. 
     
    TheBand19 - Dude, you're a crack up! I like your explanation of New York compression. As for the style, it's probably the result of my playing garage/rock/metal in the late 80s and early 90s. For better or worse, that sound is stuck in my head. As for the spiritual part, that's also stuck in my head (hence the user name--I am actually a pastor). I guess I wasn't thinking of it as outreach. The song just came into my head one morning over Cheerios and coffee. I hope your version of "Because of You" brings you some form of catharsis. Thanks for the comments. I appreciate your taking the time to listen.
    #12
    The Band19
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    Re: New Song 2014/04/03 00:32:02 (permalink)
    I was raised Cathardic.
     
    Went to CCD.
     
    I had Catharsis once, but saw a dermatologist for a few months? And he cleared it right on up.
     
    Clean as a whistle at this point? Just had her checked from stem to stern... You have to stick with the treatment schedule though? 
    post edited by The Band19 - 2014/04/03 00:33:57

    Sittin downtown in a railway station one toke over the line.
    #13
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