Hello Cakettes,
 Hope everyone is doing well.  DT is kicking off 2016 with a new tune called SOS. 
 
The guilty party:
Tom McCaffrey:  Vocals, lyrics, bass, mixing
Preston Richardson:  Drums, percussion, drum engineering, audio clips/sounds
Tony Wood:  Guitars
 
We welcome all comments....good, bad, ugly....about the mix, the content, the style, our spelling, etc.  All feedback is good, unless it comes from a vocal mic.
You can find the song here....
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13305147
or on our latest song page of the Distant Towers website
 
Thanks for taking the time to check our tune out and for any feedback/comments.
 
For those of you who like to hear about the process, this is the song that almost got away.  The original idea (guitars over a drum loop) was not very strong and Tom had taken a stab at some vocals that neither he or I were very impressed with.  I set the tune aside forgetting that I had sent it to Preston.  Preston laid down some drums to the idea and played past where I stopped the guitars.  The new drums inspired some new guitar ideas in my head and allowed me to edit and loop Preston's drums which led to me completing the entire song structure.  The newly formed song went back to Tom and he found a groove we all liked.  So guitars were retracked and Preston laid down all new drums.  The only original track left in the final version is the very first lead guitar.  We decided to keep that.  The song you hear now is the original idea with about 3 minutes added on to the end.  The original idea ended immediately after the first lead break, everything else came after Preston did his rough drum ideas.  It was a lot of fun to do.

I'm always surprised how a song can go from "meh" to toe-tapping by throwing out something, or simply changing the beat.
 
That said, the break section at 2:20 to 3:30 is not the best part of the song and needs something to make it stand out more. It starts off just fine but just doesn't hold together well, especially with that bangin' solo that comes in right after.
 
Mix sounds pretty good, with everything clearly heard.
 
Regards,
Dan
 
 
 

Very cool Tony, always interesting hear how the creative process works. This turned out great, really hooky and melodic. Tasty main riff and solos. Excellent drums and percussion from Preston, he really went to town on this one! Tom's holding down that groove and the vocals are great as always. Love that breakdown/coda around 4:30.

I pop in here most days and there are a number of peeps that when I see a new tune from them it always adds a little lift to my day, James, Ed, Daryl, SteveC, Bob, Kenny, Freddy, Tim, Gonzo, DT to name a few of the many.

I enjoyed your tune, it made my furry ears smile and my furry feet tap, thanks

Great stuff - mix, performances and, above all, energy are excellent.
I agree with Dan that the pre-solo section falls a little flat. The solo itself is kick arse

I don't know exactly what it is, but you guys just have a "sound" that is yours.  This is no exception, a bit banging and a bit quirky.   I do agree about that breakdown part though... it needs a little something to keep the groove moving along IMO.   I half expected to hear drums there I think, or percussion of some kind. 
 
Oh, and the guitars are big and wide.   I likes that. 

Dan:  Thanks for taking a minute to listen and for the good critique and thoughts.  Do you think having more drums in that middle section would improve it?  We dig it like it is but it is always good to hear about it from another perspective, thanks.
 
James:  Thanks for the listen and for the kind assessment.  That little coda/breakdown started as an accident but sparked an idea that led to the finish riff you hear now.
 
Wookiee:  Thanks!  We appreciate you keeping us on your list and that it made your toes tap.
 
Daryl:  Thanks for the listen and for the good crits.  Can you pinpoint anything specifically about the middle part that might bring it up a notch in your ears?  I appreciate the honest thoughts on it.
 
SteveC:  Thanks for putting an ear on this one and for the good critique and honest thoughts.  We liked the fact that the middle part kinda "drops out" and then goes into the solo but it is good to hear other folk's thoughts on it.  Based on the number of comments, it could be the lack of drums.  When I listen I often notice things like that too but then I tend to embrace them after a few more listens.  Just the way my ears work. 
 
Thanks everyone!

CreatingNoise
Dan:  Thanks for taking a minute to listen and for the good critique and thoughts.  Do you think having more drums in that middle section would improve it?  We dig it like it is but it is always good to hear about it from another perspective, thanks.

Dude, I love y'alls stuff. Just wanted to say that first.
 
I don't think that adding drums will really make that much of a difference by themselves. The guitars in that section are completely different from the rest of the song, very dry sounding and almost demo-ish. Some kind of industrial-style percussion or even something more organic would help keep the energy up, but the real problem to me is the fact that the melody in that section just doesn't compare to the powerful stuff that came before and comes after. It just kills the entire momentum of the song without adding any release.
 
K, I'm done.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

Perfect Dan, thanks for the insights!  We liked the sparseness of the drums in that section so good to hear that isn't the biggest issue in your ears.  We like a little ramp down of energy to bring it back up.  Sounds like we took it down a little too far and didn't get back up that hill, LOL.  I'll have to go back and see what guitar patch I used, I'm pretty sure it was a bit grittier than the patch I used for the main guitars in the tune.  Tom was going for a Lou Reed-esque vibe in that break which is a definite contrast to the vox in the rest of the tune.  Your points are taken and we appreciate your candor.