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Another cool tune Jahva. Guitar is sweet!

Some things that come to bear: And remember I'm just the janitor with an opinion is all...

1) The lead work is busier than it should be. Especially at the intro and early parts of the verse. Its not wrong. Its just busy...

2) The Structure has a nice form... The intro reminds me alittle of " "The World Tonight" ...Mixed in with some Wilburies. Of Course, from my point of view that's all major kudos

3) The lyrics are nicely done... the subject ...well , when you wrote this, were you contemplating an exit? LOL . Its a nice romantic expression...

4) Vocals / BG... Production need balanced tracks.

5) Abrupt ending... Add 4-6 counts measure to end of it wrap it up after that brilliant little lick you throw in there...

I wont comment on production, since its always an uphill struggle for all of us. But, its a nice clean compilation.

Thanks Johnny


"PaperDog"

1) The lead work is busier than it should be. Especially at the intro and early parts of the verse. Its not wrong. Its just busy...

After refreshing me ears away from it for a day... I think it sounds a bit rushed or ahead at times rather than sitting on or behind the beat... inconsistent, a redo is on the list. But really for performance issues I hear. I held back intentionally on it. I wanted it to be more of a signature than just playing to fill a spot or two.

2) The Structure has a nice form... The intro reminds me alittle of " "The World Tonight" ...Mixed in with some Wilburies. Of Course, from my point of view that's all major kudos
Wasn't familiar with "The World Tonight" after one listen I see where you're coming from.

3) The lyrics are nicely done... the subject ...well , when you wrote this, were you contemplating an exit? LOL . Its a nice romantic expression...

Ha... was a two fold an exit and accepting I was never good enough for the stage but still grateful for what i have been able to do...

4) Vocals / BG... Production need balanced tracks.
Yup

5) Abrupt ending... Add 4-6 counts measure to end of it wrap it up after that brilliant little lick you throw in there...

Yeah that's been on my mind to lengthen the song at the end... something I'm going to visit.


I wont comment on production, since its always an uphill struggle for all of us. But, its a nice clean compilation.

I don't do much post with these tunes just a monitor mix after I add individual reverb here and there. At this point they're for my own amusement.

Thank you for taking the time PD!

All of you guys have given some really good feedback...
Much appreciated!

Listened this morning with headphones.

The hi-hat is centered (damn computer speakers!), but the overall sound of them could be better. I had the same problem with a cymbal hit in the 'bell' during one of my songs. A listener-critic said 'there's a ticking in the right speaker'. I had the cymbal panned about 30% to the right, and listened at a soft volume and heard what he heard. When I turned it up it was fine, but at a lower volume all I could hear was the stick hitting the bell, the ringing of the cymbal was too low to hear.
Solution - raise the volume of the cymbal, but EQ it to remove some of the 'tick' of stick hitting the bell, had to search for the right frequency band. I'd suggest the same for the hi-hat - raise the volume but EQ.
Liked it on second listen, the vocals were a little easier to understand with headphones.

Mike in the case of the drums/percussions I use a cheap Yamaha keyboard on most of the sounds just by tapping the key to a click track. I have 3 HH options closed, slightly open (sounds like a shaker) and open.
No real eq'ing yet. Just a bit o' Reverb ere and there!
Maybe I'll try the closed option on a track. Also have 2 rides... one is just a bit higher in pitch than the other but they're both pretty weak. No real sustain with them.
I haven't focused on a final mix yet... still have some performance issues to be worked out. But I will do some percussion tweaking.
Thanks for the input.

Did you record the hi-hats on a different track than the other percussion? If so, you can raise the volume of just that track, then EQ it.
I use EZDrummer, so just raised the volumes on the HH hits in the MIDI piano roll, then EQed after.

Yeah
I have all the drums on separate tracks. I don't use loops or any midi. I like to have the individual control so I can eq the snare, kick HH, toms, ride, crash each by itself.

Yeah
I have all the drums on separate tracks. I don't use loops or any midi. I like to have the individual control so I can eq the snare, kick HH, toms, ride, crash each by itself.

EZDrummer lets you do that! Separate mics for snare, hi-hat, kick, toms, overheads for cymbals (also picks up snare and hi-hat like mic-ing a real drum set). Can't adjust EQ separately for the cymbals, obviously, but you can change the cymbals.

I've never used EZ before. Maybe when I get some xtra $$ I'll look into it.
Drums have been low on the priority list to me and that in turn has made it a real B'tch at times to get them right.

I used to use the rhythm machine in my Boss BR600 and supplement it/replace it with drums played on my keyboard, too.

Keep your eye on Sweetwater's web site - they often have a $29 (or $39) download special on EZD - compared to the $79/$89 price with discs.
Once you learn how to mess with the MIDI files, you can customize it pretty easily, and using a 'humanizer' plug-in, gets the timing to sound less mechanical.

Thanks for the info Mike!

New mix on the site... first tune... "Last Call"
.
I'm stickin a fork in it... is what it is... done!
Again... Thanks for the input.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15367559/Last%20call.mp3

We need better emoticons on this forum! :thumbs up:

New mix on the site... first tune... "Last Call"
.
I'm stickin a fork in it... is what it is... done!
Again... Thanks for the input.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15367559/Last%20call.mp3

That's great.
We could infinitely pick and tweak.
One of the small issues I take with my band-mates and they with me.

Tweak tweak tweak . . . dayum . . . it is what it is, that was yesterday.

Move onward & upward I say.

Thanks Gents...
Right on Sans... it's just a song in this case. I've got others in the mix at the moment that are calling for my attention anyways. I'm ok with where this one landed... hit the target but missed the bulles-eye. Kind of the theme of the song.
This chit is like therapy for me. Just say what you need to say and move on to the next idea.
Peace!