luvbucker
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Song - looking for feedback
I'll be honest. I spent way too much time trying to put this together. As a result, I hear a bizillion things wrong with this track. I guess some of that that goes with producing your own stuff. I'd just like to hear your comments, good, bad, cruel or indifferent. Just to see what sticks out to you. Its not a particularly poetic piece, so I'm more interested in how the overall sound and production quality grabs you. Go ahead and pound away at it, I don't bruise easy.  http://www.soundclick.com/bands/9/cwoodmusic.htm Thx in advance C Wood
< Message edited by luvbucker -- 2/27/2004 5:02:07 PM >
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jsaras
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/27 18:52:40
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The production needs a LOT of work. Are you using a SoundBlaster card? :} Any particular reason you decided to do this in mono?
The song is reminiscent of Eric Clapton. It'd be cool with some horn parts added.
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luvbucker
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/27 19:18:06
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Thx for responding. Actually, I didn't do this in mono. I'm not sure why its coming across that way from soundclick. What I did in mastering was to split the instruments equally. Either far left/right or not as far left/right. So maybe that's defeating the purpose of stereo. I tried to create room in the mix for each instrument, but I may have done that poorly. I have an Aardvark 24/96 sound card so I can't really blame the hardware. You say a LOT of work, and I appreciate the honesty. I just need to work on my technique I suppose. Just don't know where to start really. I wrote this with horns in mind, but haven't really pursued that. I agree that would sound good. Thx for the Clapton reference. That's at least encouraging.
< Message edited by luvbucker -- 2/27/2004 7:18:39 PM >
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JCinNJ
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/27 19:43:08
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I'm not a pro like Jonas, but I'm a listener and a buyer of music as well as a pretty bad player of all sorts of music.
Barring the lack of stereo, I thought it was pretty good. I woudn't mind hearing some soulful sisters singing back up. And yes, Clapton came to my mind too.
"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." - Edgar Allan Poe
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jsaras
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/27 20:06:44
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I'm 98% sure it's mono. I hit the mono switch and there was absolutely no change in the sound whatsoever. I noticed the noise at the beginning of the song as well as its general lo-fi sound. Even I cant fix this one  ! Perhaps the MP3 encoding got messed up? The Aardvark is decent. Can you describe the rest of your signal chain?
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luvbucker
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/27 20:37:15
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All the drums and keys are coming from my Alesis QS81 synth. That's also the source of the noise I'm afraid. Vocals are running through an Alesis Microverb and my Strat is through a Line 6 Pod. Everyting runs into the Aardark breakout box and I just do the best I can from there.
Contributing to the lo-fi sound overall might be (I'm hoping) the fact that I used SoundForge 5 and gave the whole MP3 a shot of "Live Ambiance" reverb. I read somewhere that part of the mastering process was to do something to make the mix sound like its all in the same room. Perhaps I overdid that.
Well, its my first recording ever, so it should only get better from here. I'm definately going to dig into this mono problem, and see what went wrong there.
Thanks for the feedback - and JCinNJ, I'm glad you like it. Thanks.
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rgfors
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/27 22:34:55
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No Wine I won't comment on the mixing as I think that has been covered, what I will talk about is this song. Don't let the comments on the mix get you down, this is a great song! The vocals and guitar are absolutely excellent. With this type of talent, it doesn't matter if you ever learn how to mix, as someday you will be in a position to where you can say "there are people who do that". If you want help with horns or mixing, many people on this forum will help. I for one, would be happy to do some horns for you. Take a listem to some of my stuff by following the link, and see if you like what I do with 'em...
post edited by rgfors - 2005/02/26 04:04:07
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Taliesin
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/28 03:38:31
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cool tune,well sung and great guitars ! wonderful mood !
Mixing we can learn but soul,feel and a heart for music not.
Take care
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Brando
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/28 09:01:22
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Great tune - liked it a lot. I agree - the Clapton Force is strong with you, young Skywalker.
No comments on the mix - I listened on my family PC through the multimedia speakers. Sounds radio-ready to me.
good luck
Brando
Cakewalk, Studio One Pro, Reaper Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL ASUS Prime Z370-A LGA1151, 32GB DDR4, Intel 8700K i7, 500 GB SSD, 3 x 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Pro 64
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luvbucker
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/28 12:43:11
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Wow. Thanks for the compliments on the song. Its very nice.
Randy, thanks for the offer. I checked out your site and you have some good stuff there. I think I'm just going to leave this as it is for now and come back to it later. I'm going to move on to some other tunes in the meantime.
Thanks to everyone for the comments. This is a great forum!!
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Brad
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/28 13:24:13
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BUCKER,
I dig the song alot. Vocals, & guitar have the feel.. I'm not commenting on the mix cuz that's a personal preference, If the song comes through it comes through. It's got feeling and a groove. That's most important. I can hear all the instruments.. As far as horns or backup chick vocals, I always love that stuff, and I'm partial to always having it. But I'm not so sure ya need it. Sometimes less is best and I do dig the song. Slappin' on horns and backup vocals will make it a differnet song. Not good bad or better, just different.
Keep playin. I want more..
Brad
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jsaras
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/28 14:09:45
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ORIGINAL: luvbucker
I read somewhere that part of the mastering process was to do something to make the mix sound like its all in the same room. Perhaps I overdid that.
mbi That's rarely necessary, but if you're inclined to do that try this: Turn the "reverb out" to zero, trun up the "early out" to about -10db. Use early reflection style "mode 6". You'll feel a bit of a "studio booth" appear and the mix will seem to move to the front a bit more. Attenuate the frequencies below 300hz to keep it clean in the bass range. Another similar sounding option is to use Sonic Foundry's "Simple Delay". Set the dry out to zero (all the way up). Set the delay time to 0.035 or 0.053 and slide the "delay out" slider until you just begin to feel it. Instant "third dimension". Keep it real!
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kenk
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/28 15:03:42
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hey... this is a cool song and the clapton comparisons are accurate (not a bad thing!). i think some backup vocals on the chorus are a must for this tune. As far as the mix goes... personally I don't think the drums, bass and organ are very convincing. they sound flat, as in uninspired. your vocals and guitarwork is passionate, but not the other instruments. i think you would have much better results if those parts were played by real musicians (that's not to imply that you're not a real musician, i can just tell you're mainly a guitarist!!). lastly, i think it's probably good for you to step away from the song for a while... i find that coming back to songs with 'fresh' ears helps. great job for the first one.
Ken K http://www.kenk.com Intel Q6600::DP35DPM mobo::2Gb RAM::Radeon 1550::MOTU828 mk II::Sonar 7PE
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Richard Brian
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/02/28 16:22:56
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No Wine This has a great feel to it. The mono thing had me checking my playback settings. Killer groove.
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Poorboys Studio
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/10 16:57:04
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Great stuff...!!! I too will reserve my comment on the mixing
but love the Clapton Feel keep it up you'll get it...!!!
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mlavin00
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/11 11:37:15
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I'll also leave the production feedback to the pros. Great song! The vocals remind me of Trey Anastasio (however you spell) of Phish. Great vibe and guitar playing. This had my head bobbin'. I'm a guitar teacher and I dig what you are doing with this piece. How did you get your guitar sounds? What are you using? All the guitar tech stuff that I like to know.
Mitch
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luvbucker
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/11 13:03:34
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First, thanks to everyone that posted a response. They've been very helpful and appreciated.
I know I said I was going to leave this one alone for a while, but I actually couldn't wait to try out some of the advice I was getting. So... I'm happy to say I did figure out my stereo/mono issue and cleaned up a bunch of the noise. I reposted it last night to soundclick. (that's the version Mitch heard)
I'm sure its not pro quality still, but it should be better than it was.
thx
Charlie
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luvbucker
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/11 13:07:00
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Poorboy, thanks for the kind remarks and I hope I'm getting it. This forum helps a ton. Thanks.
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No12
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/11 13:22:10
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ORIGINAL: luvbucker
I'm happy to say I did figure out my stereo/mono issue and cleaned up a bunch of the noise. I reposted it last night to soundclick. (that's the version Mitch heard)
I'm sure its not pro quality still, but it should be better than it was.
Before I came to know that you reposted an edited version, I heard the song, and got surprised to get stereo effects. I was wondering how so many pros talked about stereo/mono issue. Subsequently, I found this msg. The song is nice. Good composition, good arrangement. Carry on. Kishore www.soundclick.com/sensation
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luvbucker
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/11 13:52:33
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ORIGINAL: mlavin00
How did you get your guitar sounds? What are you using? All the guitar tech stuff that I like to know. Now onto something I can actually talk about!!  Mitch, I have a Fat Strat and swapped out the HB for a Seymour '59 Trembucker which I 'm VERY happy with. I also swapped the singles out with Duckbuckers. I run thru an early version Line6 Pod and use the Brit Classic setting most of the time. A big plus IMO is that I'm able to run all that into an Alesis Microverb. I think this gives it a presence that I wouldn't otherwise get. I'd love to be able to mic a 60's Fender Deluxe, but if I had everything I wanted, my wife would leave me for being broke!  Thanks for the compliments on the song. Charlie
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Blades
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/11 15:00:16
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I only heard the better, edited version of the song, and I think it sounds great overall. It has a good vibe and the production, while not prestine or perfect, does not distract from the tune and the whole feel it gives. As a drummer, I'd love to hear this with either real or something more "real-like", drumming wise. I heard a lot of Clapton like everynoe else, but it was almost overshadowed in parts by the Stevie Wonder "Superstition" (or superstitious) - not a bad thing, but I was a bit surprised no one commented on it yet. You'd probably like some of the stuff a friend of mine here in Atlanta is doing. You can listen to of his guitar based funky blues at www.soundclick.com/kevinwyglad I wouldn't labor over this too much more (unless you wanted some programmed v-drums, in which case you'd drop me a line).  Blades
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jsaras
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/11 18:51:07
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MUCH better! With a little judicious EQ and compression here and there you could make this sound REAL good.
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onevision
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/12 11:09:37
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On my second listen now, what a great song and mix too!
never heard the mono'ish version so can't comment.
Clapton yes, i would love to hear Paul Rodgers (free, bad company) have a go at the vox, not meaning you never did a good job (boy did you not half) but just think this song is perfectly written for his vox.
well done and lets hear more please.
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Martin Schiff
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/16 11:10:08
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Great song, Charlie. You've got lots of potential.
I didn't hear the mono version, but there is something that I find distracting in the new version. Parts of the drumset seem to be panned hard left and other parts hard right. Unless you had two drummers, that's kind of strange.
-- Martin
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Jg1007
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/16 17:18:24
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This is a great song! I especially like the question and answer technique with the vocals and guitar. That is something I try to use in my music as well. It is very effective. The only thing I can comment on is that it seemed like the overall volume of the mix is a little lower than what I hear on other commercial songs. I compared it to a couple of other and in yours I had to raise the volume to get the same level. Otherwise I love it. JG http://www.soundclick.com/ginzo
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luvbucker
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/17 01:39:18
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ORIGINAL: Martin Schiff
Great song, Charlie. You've got lots of potential.
I didn't hear the mono version, but there is something that I find distracting in the new version. Parts of the drumset seem to be panned hard left and other parts hard right. Unless you had two drummers, that's kind of strange.
-- Martin
thanks Martin. Yeah, I'm still struggling with the whole mastering/mixing.... actually... the whole recording process. I actually panned them pretty close to center, but I also thought they sounded hard left/right in the final mix. I just decided to let it go. thanks for listening. The only thing I can comment on is that it seemed like the overall volume of the mix is a little lower than what I hear on other commercial songs. I compared it to a couple of other and in yours I had to raise the volume to get the same level.
Otherwise I love it.
JG
Again I can only claim ignorance. :) I'm fairly happy with the result nonetheless. Thanks
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jimlownes
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2004/03/23 00:44:48
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cool tune.....dude
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rgfors
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RE: Song - looking for feedback
2005/02/24 02:51:46
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Hey Charlie..
I went to your site and listened to "No Wine" again. I still say this is my all time favorite song that I've heard on the forum. Your "new" mix is terrific and this song just flat rocks.. Great job..
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