• Songs
  • HTTK - Scandalous Grace (p.3)
2016/08/04 10:53:49
Danny Danzi
evadianepug
Good song, Reece.  I remember when you were taking the vocal lessons.  You have really come a long way since then.  I couldn't sing a song like this to save my life.  You have the right voice on the right song.  You probably remember that I am not the mix guy of the Pugtones so I can't offer too much there.  It sounds good, buddy!




Glad I'm not the only one that noticed the improvement in his voice. We sometimes concentrate so much on production that we may miss a really great performance. That's one of the issues we all can pick up from time to time being engineers or hobbyists etc. I actually like when I could listen to something and didn't know what production was. It allowed me to enjoy music for what it was, not what I felt it should or could be. :)
 
These days I try to only comment on production if something sticks out to me as "OK this definitely sounds like it can be buffed out a little." 
 
I feel like you.....like I'm almost not qualified to comment on production due to "art" being so subjective. Who am I to tell someone what colors their portrait should be? We know some of the guys like to hear the opinions of others. I just try to stick to the blatantly oobvious stuff and it keeps me out of trouble. Lol! :)
2016/08/04 11:41:05
michaelhanson
 

Danny,
 
I feel like you.....like I'm almost not qualified to comment on production due to "art" being so subjective. Who am I to tell someone what colors their portrait should be? We know some of the guys like to hear the opinions of others. I just try to stick to the blatantly oobvious stuff and it keeps me out of trouble. Lol! :)




Funny that you say that Danny, I actually trust your engineering skills immensely.   
 
I, however, feel that way all of the time.  I find myself rarely commenting on production as well, music (art) being such a subjective medium.  I find it hard to critique songs, lyrics and production, even within our own band.  I find myself only pointing out the things that I feel are obvious, as well.  If it is a song that either Reece or Sean have written, I always defer to them to make the final decisions on their creations.  As a group, we have all fallen into the trap from time to time, that we should have spoken up more about something that we thought, wasn't quite right.  
 
That is why this songs forum is soooooo valuable to all of us.  It helps immensely to have other ears hear what we have been working on for months and have, maybe become to accustom to hearing critically.  
2016/08/04 13:22:47
Danny Danzi
michaelhanson
 
Funny that you say that Danny, I actually trust your engineering skills immensely.   
 
I, however, feel that way all of the time.  I find myself rarely commenting on production as well, music (art) being such a subjective medium.  I find it hard to critique songs, lyrics and production, even within our own band.  I find myself only pointing out the things that I feel are obvious, as well.  If it is a song that either Reece or Sean have written, I always defer to them to make the final decisions on their creations.  As a group, we have all fallen into the trap from time to time, that we should have spoken up more about something that we thought, wasn't quite right.  
 
That is why this songs forum is soooooo valuable to all of us.  It helps immensely to have other ears hear what we have been working on for months and have, maybe become to accustom to hearing critically.  




I'm glad somebody does...lol! Thanks Mike. :)
 
Truth be told, some people don't want to hear opinions. They can get defensive. We have all experienced this, myself included. But I think some of the defensive stuff is due to how someone decides to tell you their feelings. The important thing is tactfulness as well as respect, as we are, in my opinion, commenting on "someone's child". (as I like to refer to songs.) Hmm, there's a sentence gone wrong...lol...I think you get what I'm saying. :)
 
I really think the key is treading softly, yet you have to be honest and also open-minded. There was a time on here where some of the posters would just speak out in ways that were like a king on a throne barking at people. Those types ruin it for people and make others not want to post. We don't need to walk on eggshells, but we don't need to annihilate someone to the point where they may not want to post a song ever again.
 
Now as a group, you have to handle things a little differently. And where the issue can be there, you're never in front of each other physically. Text can get lost so easily man....it's just unreal as you know. Add in someone from another country that may have different ways of saying things to where there, it's common...here we take offense...and bang, instant issue. Always try your best to communicate with your band mates. Sometimes we may need to bend a little and allow, other times....well, you have to tell it like it is while always being respectful and you should be ok.
 
I find in my real original band, I only comment on something the guys offer that has little to no value. Like if they decide to put a power jam right in the middle of a pop song, in some situations, I don't think it is the right move for the song. I love that they play their butts off...but for me, it has to be about the song. Then again, here's the reverse....if you have a hook that can draw people in, who's to say you can't do a 4 bar power jam in a pop song? it's less predictable, even if I may think it's not the right move. See, there we go again with "subjectivity." LOL! There is no right or wrong....other than to comment on something that might be blatantly obvious. :)
2016/08/05 10:44:49
philz
Very powerful and moving song, Reece.  Vocals sounded fine to me.  I personally found the hats and cymbals prominent to the point of almost being distracting, but maybe that's just me.  Towards the end, I kept wishing for a tambourine to come in and take over for the cymbals.  But these are just nits... overall excellent work by all.
2016/08/05 17:00:14
Freddy J
Awesome job on this one!  Reece, your vocals really do sound good!  The only suggestion I might have is that the harmonies/bgv's were a bit hard to hear.  However, this could be an artifact of my cheap (cheap not just inexpensive) system.
2016/08/06 17:18:27
Beagle
Danny - thanks again for your ears and advice!  I have readjusted the EQ on some of the instruments and adjusted the EQ on the Master bus (there was no "canned" master plugin - just EQ and compression with my own settings).  
I have also adjusted the kick and bass EQ and brought them up in the mix more.  
 
I appreciate your feedback!
 
Phil - thanks man!  I appreciate it and appreciate the feedback!  I have adjusted the EQ on the master bus and it has made a change on the overall sound of the drums, I don't know if it has addressed your concern directly or not, but the drums have been adjusted in the mix by doing so.  let me know what you think!
 
Freddy!  thanks for stopping in and listening and for your comments!  I have boosted the BGVs in the latest mix - let me know what you think!
 
thanks again everyone for the great feedback!  we really appreciate it!
2016/08/09 17:46:43
stevec
Overall the mix sounds pretty good here, but I've only listened to the latest version.   I would personally still add a bit of ambiance to the lead vocal using delay and/or reverb, but that's subjective - the vocals themselves sound really good.   I also like the way the harmonies surround it.
 
2016/08/11 08:27:40
Beagle
Thanks so much for the listen and comments Steve!  I appreciate the suggestion and I'll look into it!
 
2016/08/11 17:37:25
Rikkie
Hi Reece and co,  y'all are getting good at this, excellent vocal performances, as a guitarist I have to say turn it up and the solo is way to short ; )
 
Rik
2016/08/11 17:41:59
jamesyoyo
Man, your voice has gotten so much stronger these past few years.
 
Sounds good from here.
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